Tech News Weekly (Audio)

Emily Forlini, a tech journalist from PCMag, delves into the serious implications of AI, discussing a lawsuit against OpenAI after a tragic incident involving a teen. She raises concerns about the misuse of AI and the emotional ties users develop with technology. Joining her is Allison Johnson from The Verge, who reviews the Google Pixel 10 Pro, highlighting its impressive Magic Cue feature. They also touch on Meta's bold $10 billion investment in a massive data center in Louisiana, aimed at fueling its AI ambitions.

Amanda Silberling from TechCrunch joins to discuss the privacy crisis surrounding the app TeaOnHer, which has exposed users' sensitive data. Patrick Holland from CNET shares insights from the Made by Google event, highlighting the innovative features of the newly unveiled Pixel 10 and Pixel Watch 4. They also delve into the growing issue of AI-generated articles in journalism, raising concerns about integrity and misinformation. The conversation blends ethical tech discussions with the excitement of new product features.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent on this episode of Tech News Weekly! Apple is rumored to launch a series of AI-powered devices, the upcoming Pebble Time 2's design is shown off, a look into a global SMS phishing scam ring, and the blood oxygen feature is returning to Apple Watches? Apple is seeking to expand its product offerings into AI-powered robots, home security, and smart displays, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble smartwatches, unveils the design of the company's Pebble Time 2* watch. Harrison Sand, Senior Security Consultant for mnemonic, unveils Darcula. This global SMS phishing-as-a-scam ring sends SMS messages hoping to steal credentials from those who click on the links in the messages. And Apple announces that it's bringing back the Blood Oyxgen feature for Apple Watches, which was a clever workaround following a recent U.S. Customs ruling against Masimo. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guest: Harrison Sand Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zocdoc.com/tnw cachefly.com/twit

Abrar Al-Heeti from CNET joins Mikah Sargent this week on Tech News Weekly! Tesla has been found partially liable for a fatal crash in 2019. Project Ire from Microsoft can autonomously identify malware at scale. Age verification is slowly being rolled out across the internet. And OpenAI announced GPT-5! Abrar discusses Tesla's being found partially liable in a fatal 2019 crash and ordered to pay $243 million in damages. Tesla seeks to appeal the ruling. Mikah shares a new AI model from Microsoft called Project Ire that can analyze and classify malware in software. Age verification is slowly being rolled out to numerous websites that host adult material and harmful content. However, there are concerns with how this is being utilized, which raises privacy concerns for users. And Sabrina Ortiz of ZDNET joins the show to chat with Mikah about everything announced at OpenAI's unveiling of its latest AI model, GPT-5. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti Guest: Sabrina Ortiz Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zscaler.com/security go.acronis.com/twit smarty.com/twit

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins Mikah Sargent this week on Tech News Weekly! Jennifer shares her first impressions of Alexa Plus. The growing overlap between consumer wellness gadgets and regulated medical technology. And Google's rolling out a machine-learning age verification model to detect account users who are under or over the age of 18. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has spent some time with Amazon's new, AI-powered Alexa, Alexa Plus. She shares her excitement and criticisms for the new voice assistant. Victoria Song of The Verge joins Mikah to talk about wearable tech companies using the idea of "wellness" technology to skirt FDA regulation on medical technology. And Mikah talks about Google's rollout of a machine-learning age verification model to verify account users' age in the U.S. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Guest: Victoria Song Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: spaceship.com/twit uscloud.com threatlocker.com for Tech News Weekly

Dan Moren joins Mikah Sargent for this episode of Tech News Weekly! A zero-day bug was discovered in Microsoft's SharePoint. T-Mobile's new satellite texting service, T-Satellite. Apple announces AppleCare One. And Meta's Reality Labs published new papers on the latest advancements in its wrist-based controllers. Mikah shares details about the zero-day bug discovered in Microsoft's SharePoint on Monday, which affected over 400 organizations worldwide. Jeff Carlson of CNET spent some time using T-Mobile's new satellite-based service, T-Satellite, and shares his thoughts on the company's Starlink-based service. Dan Moren talks about Apple's latest iteration of its device coverage program, AppleCare One, a $19.99/month subscription that covers up to three devices of your choice. Breaking news as Apple's iOS 26 Public Beta arrives Thursday morning! And Mikah talks about the latest on Meta's wrist-based controllers that use surface electromyography (sEMG) to allow you to interact with paired devices. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren Guest: Jeff Carlson Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: zocdoc.com/tnw

Emily Forlini, a tech journalist from PCMag, dives into brain-computer interfaces, spotlighting Synchron as a rival to Neuralink. Emanuel Maiberg from 404 Media discusses the ethical concerns surrounding Hugging Face hosting over 5,000 non-consensual AI models. They also explore Beeper's innovative relaunch to streamline messaging across platforms and highlight OpenAI's new ChatGPT agent, capable of executing tasks independently, raising questions about safety and AI responsibility.

Dan Moren joins us this week! Rumors are circulating about an A18 MacBook Pro and iPhone 17 Air from Apple, Samsung just held its Galaxy Unpacked event this month and unveiled updates to some of its products, AI bots are scraping obituaries for profit, and a new browser war is emerging between two AI companies. Dan Moren talks about the rumored A18 MacBook Pro and iPhone 17 Air that Apple could announce this year as ways to appeal to broader consumer markets. Mikah Sargent shares the Galaxy Z Flip7, Galaxy Z Fold7, and the Galaxy Watch8 that Samsung unveiled at its recently held Galaxy Unpacked July 2025 event. Joe Supan of CNET joins the show to talk with Mikah about how AI is starting to scrape obituaries shared on social media networks like Facebook, and is being monetized for profit. And Mikah discusses an upcoming AI-powered browser war that looks to challenge Google Chrome, with companies like Perplexity launching Comet and OpenAI soon to launch its own web browser. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren Guest: Joe Supan Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: go.acronis.com/twit uscloud.com

Amanda Silberling joins Mikah Sargent this week for Tech News Weekly! X is piloting the use of AI chatbots to generate Community Notes. The Supreme Court's porn ruling and what it means for internet privacy. Microsoft tests using AI to diagnose medical cases. And what's new with the Nothing Phone 3? Amanda shares the story she wrote for TechCrunch about how the social media company, X, is testing an AI program that can help generate Community Notes for its posts. Mikah talks about the Supreme Court's ruling on a Texas law requiring age verification to access adult websites and what this could mean for internet privacy in the future. Mikah also shares research that Microsoft conducted on utilizing AI to help diagnose medical cases that even expert physicians struggle to figure out. And Andrew Lanxon of CNET joins the show to talk about the Nothing Phone 3 and what he experienced from his hands-on with the device. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Amanda Silberling Guest: Andrew Lanxon Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zscaler.com/security cachefly.com/twit

This week on Tech News Weekly, Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini explore RFK Jr.'s ambitious plan to get health trackers on every American's wrist, Apple's CarPlay Ultra facing resistance from automakers, landmark AI copyright rulings, and Fairphone's latest sustainable smartphone offering. RFK Jr.'s Wearable Health Initiative - Emily Forlini discusses the HHS Secretary's vision for every American to wear health trackers within four years, examining both the potential benefits of democratizing health data and concerns about privacy, data collection, and the government outsourcing public health monitoring to tech companies. Apple CarPlay Ultra vs. Automakers - Mikah explores Apple's ambitious expansion beyond infotainment to control entire car dashboards, revealing which manufacturers are embracing or rejecting the technology, and discussing the fundamental question of who should own the in-car experience - tech companies, automakers, or consumers. AI Copyright Rulings Shake Tech Industry - WIRED's Kate Knibbs breaks down two precedent-setting court decisions involving Meta and Anthropic, explaining how judges ruled AI training as "transformative" fair use while leaving the door open for piracy-related damages that could reach into the trillions. Fairphone 6: Sustainability Meets Modularity - Will Sattelberg from 9to5Google showcases the latest repairable smartphone featuring modular backplates, a dedicated "Moments" mode for digital wellness, and an ambitious 8-year software support promise, though US availability remains limited. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini Guests: Kate Knibbs and Will Sattelberg Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: drata.com/technews storyblok.com/twittv-25 code TWIT25 hoxhunt.com/securitynow