🗞️ ChatGPT for Teens

Good morning. OpenAI has launched ChatGPT for Teens, adding age-appropriate protections by default plus a Study Mode that nudges kids through problems instead of handing them answers.

It arrives after a string of lawsuits over chatbot safety and teen mental health, and roughly four years after the thing launched and scaled to 900 million weekly users.

Whether teenagers, historically excellent at getting around parental controls, actually stay inside it is the part nobody can answer yet.

All the headlines and more below...

COMMONWEALTH BANK IS CUTTING QANTAS REWARD POINT RATES TO PUSH 9 MILLION CUSTOMERS TOWARD VIRGIN

Commonwealth Bank is offering more generous conversion rates for Virgin's Velocity program than for Qantas Frequent Flyer points under an overhaul of its Yello loyalty scheme that takes effect 1 October. Customers wanting to convert Yello points to Qantas will need both Yello membership and an eligible credit card. Those converting to Virgin will not. The bank has not disclosed the specific conversion rates.

The redesigned scheme is the first time an Australian bank has built rewards across the full suite of products: home loans, term deposits, debit cards, insurance and trading accounts, not just credit cards. Customers will earn points at rates tied to their loyalty tier rather than the card they hold. The base credit card earn rate will be 0.5 points per dollar, rising to 1.5 points per dollar at the top tier.

The Reserve Bank is also banning credit card surcharges from the same date. The RBA's interchange fee cap is dropping from 0.8% to 0.3% of transaction value, costing banks an estimated $660M annually. Together the changes have already pushed Westpac to announce fee hikes and benefit cuts, including removing free travel insurance on its credit card range.

CBA's pivot to Virgin also reflects competitive pressure from Qantas, which has expanded its own banking offer to include credit cards, home loans, insurance and margin loans.

More than 9 million customers are already enrolled in the existing Yello program.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• The federal parliament is set to pass major NDIS reforms after the Senate approved a bill with 63 amendments that brought the Coalition’s support. LINK

• AUSTRAC has referred hundreds of mortgage brokers, lawyers, accountants and risky companies to police, tax officials and ASIC as Operation Claw uncovers widespread suspected mortgage fraud involving illicit Chinese funds. AFR

• The federal government is banning unlicensed real-time superannuation communication and tightening anti-hawking rules so advisers may cold call only existing clients after a $1B scandal. AUS

• The NSW government is launching a new scheme next month that offers eligible small and medium businesses 20-40% upfront discounts on battery installations, saving up to $355,000. LINK

SPOTIFY WIPED 75 MILLION AI SPAM TRACKS FROM ITS PLATFORM IN A SINGLE YEAR

The removals targeted bulk uploads, duplicate songs and other automated spam content. LinkedIn flagged AI slop as a "top priority" in July and introduced a dedicated reporting button. Researchers at Google described how YouTube deleted 130,000 channels of low-quality content over 6 months.

The scale of the problem extends beyond music: Amazon listings have filled with fake biographies, Facebook feeds with AI-generated images like "Shrimp Jesus", and Google searches have served up recipes calling for glue on pizza.

The removal campaigns mark a shift in how platforms handle the rise of generative AI tools. What began as isolated oddities has become systematic pollution of the information ecosystem, degrading the quality of results users see and burying legitimate content under automated bulk uploads.

Platforms are expected to tighten detection systems further as generative models continue to lower the cost of producing and uploading content at scale.

COMPANY NEWS

• BHP reported 113 confirmed sexual harassment complaints in the 12 months to July, leading to 109 job losses as scrutiny of remote mining camps intensifies. LINK

• Brookfield has made a takeover offer for Reliance Worldwide, valuing it at $3.6B equity and $4.1B enterprise value, with AustralianSuper seen as a potential obstacle. LINK

• Valley Eyewear has collapsed into liquidation after a Federal Court-ordered urgent sale of the business, triggering a fire sale of more than $600,000 in stock and assets. LINK

• Cochlear reported a 62% fall in full-year statutory net profit to $147.3M as flat implant revenue, weaker Western Europe sales and a $109M non-cash investment hit weighed. LINK

• Hub24 reported a 51% jump in statutory net profit to $120.2M for the year to June 30 as funds under management rose 20% to $164.3B. LINK 

• Challenger reported a 3% rise in normalised net profit after tax to $468M for the year ended 30 June as new partnerships and record offshore annuity sales drove growth. LINK 

• Canva has had its valuation cut 17% to US$34.9B by early backers Blackbird and Airtree as the company pivots to AI and sharply reduces AI serving costs. LINK

• CBA has grown its business banking market share as it lent over $50B to Australian firms in FY26, with about $31B funding productivity-boosting operations. LINK

• Ikea is launching a UK online secondhand platform for its loyalty members to buy and sell used Ikea items locally as it expands trials from Spain and Norway. LINK

• Disney and the ABC have sued the Trump administration to block an early broadcast licence renewal process, alleging politically driven censorship as the FCC denies any retaliatory motive. LINK

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CHART OF THE DAY

The biggest threats to teen’s mental health

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: A new NIH-supported ECHO study has found that higher prenatal exposure to fluoride in public drinking water near current US recommended levels is associated with lower fluid cognition scores in children.

Draft Pick: Melbourne has had Jacob van Rooyen’s 3-game suspension for a severe, careless high strike on Aliir Aliir upheld, potentially sidelining the 42-goal forward for the AFL finals.

Doctor’s Pick: Major study casts doubt on ‘gold standard’ one-night sleep apnoea test.

TRIVIA

What are the 9 countries that border Brazil?

Answers below

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ANSWERS

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, Suriname, Colombia, Guyana

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