Category: News

Linden Lab announces AI Town Hall with Philip Rosedale

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Town Hall meeting space

During the March 2025 Community Round Table / Town Hall meeting (which I have summarised here, complete with the official video of the event†), there was a peaceful demonstration by some Second Life users on the use of AI / generative AI within the platform. Such concerns have also been formulated elsewhere, such as this document outlining objections to AI on the Feedback Portal.

At the time of that meeting, Lab CTO, Philip Rosedale stated the company would look to hold an open Town Hall meeting to discuss concerns about AI, together with the opportunities it might present, and on community values around the use / presentation of AI in Second Life.

On Monday, April 14th, 2025, the Lab officially announced the event, now entitled Second Life Town Hall on AI & the Future of Our Virtual Community.

Meeting Date, Time and Location

Meeting Purpose

To quote from the official blog post:

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly present in both our physical and virtual worlds, the Second Life community is coming together for a Special Town Hall event to explore its evolving role and impact within our shared metaverse.
This special event will include an open and interactive conversation focused on the opportunities, concerns, and community values surrounding AI in Second Life. We’ll be diving into topics that matter deeply to residents—from identity and authenticity to economic impact, creative ownership, and the future of social interaction.
This event will be hosted by Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, who will facilitate a lively discussion with the community on all-things-AI.

Topics under consideration for discussion are listed as:

  • How AI-generated avatars may affect identity and trust in social spaces
  • Generative AI and the Second Life creative economy.
  • Emotional manipulation, consent, and transparency with AI-driven characters
  • Use of AI in customer support and other non-in-world services
  • Balancing creative opportunities and responsible use of emerging AI tools

Participation

The meeting is open to all Second Life users and will  – I presume, as there was no direct mention of this in the official announcement when I read it – be livestreamed. Direct participation in the event is being offered in one of two ways:

  • Those who have questions / comments / thoughts on the potential / current use of AI in Second Life can submit such questions or comments for consideration during the event via this form.
  •  Those wishing to make an initial brief presentation or give prepared comments on the subject should submit a request via this form.
via Linden Lab

†While they are not officially representative of the Lab or these meetings, please note that I attempt to provide summaries of meeting such as these, and for a number of user group session within these pages.

Second Life Mobile “Dash for Cash”

Posted on by Inara Pey
Enabling push notifications on the SL Mobile App

On Thursday, April 3rd, 2025, Linden Lab announced a further promotion to encourage the use of the SL Mobile app through a giveaway of Linden Dollars. The promotion – called Dash for Cash – is available to all Second Life users – Basic and any subscription tier.

How It Works

  • Throughout April, the Lab will send out a notification to Mobile users.
  • Users then have a limited time period to log-in to Second Life via the Mobile app and claim a L$ prize.
  • To ensure a chance to claim:
    • Make sure you are using the latest release of the Mobile app (at the time of writing, 2025.3.548 (Android) / 0.5.537 (iOS)).
    • Enable push notifications on the app to receive the Dash notifications via Menu → Settings → Notifications → enable App Communications, per the images at the top of this article.
      • Note you may have to click on a blue button at the bottom of the Notifications screen and confirm you wish to allow the app to send notifications, if you are doing this for the first time.
    • You’ll also see a Dash for Cash announcement in the mobile app’s Lobby, reminding you to check in daily.
You can view the official Dash for Cash blog post in your device’s browser directly from the SL Mobile Lobby, if required.
  • Wait for the Dash for Cash notification & on receipt, log-into SL via the Mobile app.
  • Those doing so within the specified time will have the amount specified in the notification credited to their SL account.

Notes

  • Linden Dollar amounts may change.
  • Everyone can win, but Premium Plus, Premium and Plus members are eligible to receive higher L$ rewards than Basic users.
  • Note that Dash for Cash is in addition to the Streaks Rewards, which currently remain unchanged in format and availability.

Again, please refer to the official blog post for full details.

Linden Lab announces March 2025 Community Round Table

Posted on by Inara Pey
Adapted from Linden Lab

Updated, March 12th: The venue for the Round Table has changed, and the venue details below have been updated to reflect this.

After a recent pause in holding them, Linden Lab has announced the date and subjects for the their next in-world Community Round Table meeting.

From the official blog post:

Project Zero is a significant step towards making Second Life accessible directly through web browsers. Following your feedback, we’ve made substantial progress in enhancing the platform’s performance and usability. During the upcoming Community Roundtable, Philip Rosedale will share some news about these developments and the project roadmap. The Product and Engineering teams will also talk about the overall Roadmap and strategic vision for Second Life in 2025. 

Question from user are invited on the subject, and those wishing to submit a question in advance can still do so via this anonymous form. As usual, I will endeavour to provide a written summary† of the event as soon as I’ve collated notes and quotes following the event.

via Linden Lab

†While they are not officially representative of the Lab or these meetings, please note that I attempt to provide summaries of meeting such as this, and for a number of user group session within these pages.

Second Life “March Mobile Millions”

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Destination Guide on the SL Mobile – part of the first March Mobile Millions challenge

On Monday, March 3rd, 2025, Linden Lab announced a new promotion to encourage the use of the SL Mobile app, with a stated prize pool of up to L$31 million, with up to L$1 million in individual prizes to be claimed. The promotion is available to all Second Life users – Basic and any subscription tier – with no purchase necessary.

How It Works

  • Log in to Second Life Mobile and complete each week’s challenge every day in March.
  • Challenges will be announced every Monday through until March 24th, 2025 and will run through until 12:00 noon on the following Monday.
  • Each challenge must be completed every day for the time it is running.
  • One participating user will be randomly selected for a “March Millions MegaWheel Ticket”.
  • Winners get access to the “VIP Spin & Win Event”, where they can spin for up to L$1 million Linden Dollars (winners will be notified in-world).
    • Prize amount start at L$10,0000, approx. USD $40.00 (15 in 48 opportunities), and rise to L$1 million, approx.: USD $4,000 (1 in 48).
    • Winners of amounts valued at USD $600 or above will be required to submit either Form W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification (US citizens) or Form W8-BEN – Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals) (non-US citizens).
  • This “Spin & Win Event” will take place weekly in a mystery inworld location inside Second Life, and will be streamed live to the Second Life YouTube channel.
  • For full rules and prize details, please refer to the official blog post.

Week One Challenge

Open from Monday, March 3rd through 12:00 noon, Monday March 10th.

  • Use SL Mobile to log-in to Second Life and teleport to three different locations listed in the Mobile Destination Guide.
    • Launch SL Mobile.
    • Navigate to Places in the menu.
    • Select the Destination Guide and pick a Destination to visit.
  • Then pick two more from the Destination Guide and visit them as well.

Note that the next challenge will be announced on Monday, March 10th, 2025.

Again, please refer to the official blog post for full details.

Seraphim, AI Character Designer round-out “Membership Mania” Month

Posted on by Inara Pey
Character Generator (see below) – via Linden Lab

On Monday, February 24th, Linden Lab announced the final rounds of perks and enticements in their February “membership mania” promotion to encourage users to subscribe to the Second Life membership tiers (Plus, Premium and Premium Plus). This is the third such announced for the month, and comprises the following:

SeraPlus – In Association with Seraphim

via Linden Lab

SeraPlus is an all-new exclusive perk in partnership with Seraphim and available to Plus, Premium, and Premium Plus members intended to bring subscribers “all new exclusive, high-quality virtual items from some of Second Life’s top creators”.

Starting in April, Plus, Premium, and Premium Plus members will be able to claim their new perks inworld at the Seraphim region including:

  • Quarterly SeraPlus Boxes: Four times a year, members will receive a curated box filled with exclusive virtual creations from some of Second Life’s top creators.
  • Monthly Exclusive Gifts: For each of the remaining eight months of the year, members will receive one additional exclusive item created in partnership with a top creator.

Expanded Access to the Updated AI Character Generator & More Profile Picks

Expanded Access to the AI Character Designer

At the end of 2024, Linden Lab announced the Alpha release of a new AI Character Generator utilising Convai, a platform for developers and creators proving an intuitive approach to designing characters with multimodal perception abilities in both virtual and real world environments. At the time, the service was only available to Premium Plus subscribers – although it was suspended shortly thereafter so it might be overhauled in response to feedback (see: Linden Lab leverage Convai for AI character generation in Second Life).

With this announcement, the Character Designer is re-launched, and is now available to all three subscription tiers: Plus, Premium and Premium Plus.

Members can now access this innovative tool to craft and customize virtual characters with intelligent responses, unique personalities, and immersive roleplay capabilities. It’s an exciting way to enhance community-building, storytelling, and social interaction in Second Life. While still in development, we’re excited to give a wider audience early access to this experimental creator tool.

– from the Lab’s official announcement

Profile Picks Increased for ALL Second Life

  • In response to multiple requests from users, Linden Lab will be increasing the number of Profile Picks users can have from 10 to 20.
  • This will require a simulator update, and so the capability will be rolling out “over the next couple of weeks”.

Membership Mania Offerings

As noted, the above is the third such multi-part promotion linked to Second Life subscription tiers, with the first two being:

In addition, at the start of the month, the Lab released the latest Premium Plus Linden Home “Thousand Islands” theme – see A look at the Thousand Islands Linden Homes theme in Second Life.

Links

Further Second Life “membership mania” from Linden Lab

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Tuesday, February 18th, Linden Lab announced a further set of rewards and perks for Second Life subscribers / members as a part of their February “membership mania” promotion. Coming on to of the announcement of expanded membership perks on February 10th (Lab announces Second Life “membership mania”), this sees the Lab announce:

  • Free Mesh Uploads for Premium Plus Members.
  • The chance to win one of three gaming PCs.

Free Mesh Uploads for Premium Plus Members

  • This has been promised since shortly after the introduction of the Premium Plus membership level in June 2022 (see: Second Life Premium Plus launches + some notes; updated).
  • This capability is added to Premium Plus members being able to upload textures, animations, and sounds without fees.
  • Mesh items can currently be uploaded for free at the  Radiantia Sandbox – however, the capability will be rolled out across all regions, so that Premium Plus members will be able to upload mesh items from anywhere on the grid.

 PC Giveaway

Important: for specifics on the giveaway, including AMOE, drawing and odds, and other rules and requirements – please refer to the Lab’s official blog post.

  • HP OMEN 45L Intel i9 RTX 4090 Gaming Desktop

    Between now and 23:59 SLT on February 28th, 2025, the Lab is holding a giveaway of three gaming specification desktop PCs comprising:

    • For Plus members: Thermaltake LCGS Quartz i460 R4 Gaming Desktop with a stated value of US $899.
    • For Premium members: Skytech Gaming PC Desktop with a stated value of US $1,999.
    • For Premium Plus: HP OMEN 45L Intel i9 RTX 4090 Gaming Desktop, with a stated value of US $4,679 USD.
  • All eligible Plus, Premium, and Premium Plus members are  automatically entered into the giveaway to win the PC in accordance with their subscription membership.
  • In addition, the Lab offers an Alternate Method of Entry (AMOE) via mail, and entries must be received by 23:59 SLT on March 9th 2025.
  • Due to local regulations and/or restrictions, this promotion is not open to residents of the following countries: Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Poland, Russia, India, China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and any country under U.S. embargoes or trade sanctions.
  • Winners will be solely responsible for any applicable taxes, duties, or import fees, and for the submission of required paperwork (US: Form W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification; Non- US: Form W8-BEN – Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals)).
  • Again, please refer to the official blog post for full rules / requirements and notes on the giveaway.

Links