Bytes: Week in Review — Warning labels for social media, Adobe’s hidden fees and a less open OpenAI

Big Tech subscription services are once again in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission. U.S. regulators are suing the software company Adobe, maker of popular programs like Photoshop, saying it gives customers the runaround when they try to quit.

Plus, a look at how nonprofits with links to ChatGPT maker OpenAI are becoming less open about their financials and their internal policies.

But first, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is urging Congress to require warning labels on social media that caution users against the platforms’ potential harms.

Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired magazine, about what a surgeon general’s warning for social media might look like.

More on everything we talked about

“Surgeon General: Why I’m calling for a warning label on social media platforms” from The New York Times

“What research actually says about social media and kids’ health” from The Washington Post  

“The Surgeon General on his social media war” from Politico  

“U.S. sues Adobe over hard-to-cancel subscriptions” from the The New York Times

“U.S. sues Amazon in a monopoly case that could be existential for the retail giant” from NPR

“Adobe’s hidden cancellation fee is unlawful, FTC suit says” from Ars Technica  

“Lina Khan: The most feared person in Silicon Valley is a 34-year-old in DC” from Yahoo Finance 

“OpenAI-Backed Nonprofits Have Gone Back on Their Transparency Pledges” from Wired  

“OpenAI CEO Says Company Could Become Benefit Corporation Akin to Rivals Anthropic, xAI” from The Information

“Elon Musk sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over ‘betrayal’ of nonprofit AI mission” from TechCrunch  

“OpenAI’s unusual nonprofit structure led to dramatic ouster of sought-after CEO” from The Associated Press