Meta to acquire Moltbook, the social network for AI agents

What's Up: Party at the Ballark, Wienerfest, Mocktail Week, Bonsai, Head to the library, MCO’s Concert on the Veranda

Party at the ballparkBlue Cross Park, 1 Portage Ave. EFriday, 4-9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 3-9 p.m.Tickets $76-$600 at goldeyes.comBlue Cross Park will be alive with the sound of contemporary country music and throwback hip-hop tracks this weekend.

The third annual Country Rising and Tacos and Tequila festivals take place on the field of the local ballpark this Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Country Rising lineup includes country-rap headliner BigXThaPlug, as well as Kalsey Kulyk, Corey Kent, Dylan Monroe and Redferrin. Ticketholders can also test their mettle with a mechanical bull ride and hay bale toss.

Saturday’s Tacos and Tequila Festival is headlined by Atlanta rapper T.I., with performances by Fat Joe, Too $hort, Petey Pablo, Frankie J and Murphy Lee. Vendors will be serving tacos and tequila-based cocktails. Catch the lucha libre wrestling show and chihuahua beauty contest between sets.

Meta to acquire Moltbook, the social network for AI agents

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Meta said Tuesday it is acquiring Moltbook, a social network built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents to make posts and interact with each other.

A takeover of the AI experiment by the parent company of Facebook and Instagram comes weeks after Moltbook attracted viral attention as an unusual Reddit-like hub for AI systems trading gossip.

Meta's move reflects the tech industry's ongoing fascination with the promise of AI agents that go beyond a chatbot's capabilities in being able to act and perform tasks on a person's behalf.

Meta said in a statement that Moltbook introduced novel ideas in a “rapidly developing space” and will open “new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.” Meta said it was hiring Moltbook co-founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr. The deal's financial terms weren't disclosed.

Demolition ordered after fire in vacant city home

A Winnipeg firefighter was assessed by paramedics and an emergency demolition was ordered after a vacant house caught fire Thursday morning for the second time in less than three months.

The two-storey home, at Argyle Street and Disraeli Freeway, in South Point Douglas, was boarded up following a blaze that occurred June 1.

Firefighters returned to the house after flames were reported shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday. The house was engulfed when crews arrived.

“Due to heavy fire conditions, crews were unable to enter the structure,” a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service spokesperson wrote in an email to the Free Press.

Adding emergency doctors, nurses and support staff is great, but it won’t break the wait-time logjam

When Premier Wab Kinew recently announced his government had recruited more than 4,700 net new health-care professionals and support workers, the proclamation was met with quite a few rolling eyes.

Rural Manitoba homeowner charged with shooting at accused thieves

A homeowner in southern Manitoba has been charged after he fired shots at a group of people accused of stealing from his property, police say.

Officers were sent to the Rural Municipality of Dufferin Saturday after a report of a theft in progress. RCMP said four people went to the property, located about 95 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, and returned later the same day driving two vehicles stolen from Watrous, Sask.

The owner of the property, a 66-year-old man, saw the suspects on a motion-activated camera and saw someone transferring fuel from a portable container into one of the stolen vehicles. The man confronted the group and fired shots towards the vehicles, police said.

Three people stayed at the scene until officers arrived and took them into custody, RCMP said. Various items believed to have been stolen from the property were found in the back of a truck. A fourth suspect fled in the other vehicle.

Legal aid underfunding violates Charter, lawsuit claims

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is taking the provincial and federal government to court, alleging that decades of underfunding for criminal legal aid violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Whether you are rich or poor should never determine whether you are found guilty of a crime,” Shakir Rahim, co-counsel in the case and director of the CCLA criminal justice program, said in a news release.

“Legal aid is supposed to protect that principle, ensuring that every person receives adequate legal representation.”

Funding for legal aid is woefully insufficient and has been for decades, the non-profit organization said.