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Sep 3, 2025 • 5min

Netflix updates its Moments feature and PayPal and Venmo are giving out Comet invites

Netflix launched a scene-clipping feature for mobile last year called “Moments,” which lets users quickly save their favorite scenes from shows and movies within the Netflix app. The streaming giant rolled out an update on Wednesday, allowing users to specify both a starting point and an endpoint when saving a scene. Also, invites to Perplexity’s new AI-powered web browser, Comet, are one of the web’s hottest commodities these days. The new product was made available first to the AI firm’s $200-per-month Max subscribers and a small group of invitees. But now there’s a new way to jump ahead on the waitlist. On Wednesday, PayPal announced it’s giving its customers, including PayPal and Venmo users, early access to Comet as well as a free year’s subscription to Perplexity’s premium service, Perplexity Pro, normally $200 per year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sep 3, 2025 • 10min

Google avoids break up, but has to give up exclusive search deals in antitrust trial , and more tech news

Google will not be forced to break up its search business, but a federal judge has tentatively ordered other changes to the tech giant’s business practices to keep it from further anticompetitive behavior. Also, the battle over $20 billion worth of climate-related funding authorized by Congress continues as an appellate court ruled on Tuesday in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency, which had terminated Biden-era grants made to nonprofits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sep 2, 2025 • 7min

OpenAI to route sensitive conversations to GPT-5 and introduce parental controls

OpenAI said Tuesday it plans to route sensitive conversations to reasoning models like GPT-5 and roll out parental controls within the next month — part of an ongoing response to recent safety incidents involving ChatGPT failing to detect mental distress. The new guardrails come in the aftermath of the suicide of teenager Adam Raine, who discussed self-harm and plans to end his life with ChatGPT, which even supplied him with information about specific suicide methods. Also, Instagram is testing a new Picture-in-Picture feature for watching reels, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. The feature allows users to watch reels in a small, floating window on their screen while browsing other apps to allow for multitasking. The feature was first spotted by app researcher Radu Oncescu. Users who are part of the test will see a pop-up notifying them about the new feature and how to turn it on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sep 2, 2025 • 7min

Space investing goes mainstream as VCs ditch the rocket science requirements

Five years ago, investor Katelin Holloway made what she calls a “literal moon shot” investment. A founding partner of the generalist venture firm Seven Seven Six admits she and her team had “no clue” what rocket company Stoke Space was talking about when they pitched the firm on its reusable launch technology. She says, ‘we knew full well we were not the specialist.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sep 1, 2025 • 5min

Taco Bell is having second thoughts about relying on AI at the drive-through plus cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI

Taco Bell’s chief digital officer says the company is having an “active conversation” about when to use and not use AI. The company has apparently rolled out voice AI-powered ordering at more than 500 drive-throughs. Also, it’s only been since June that Meta invested $14.3 billion in the data-labeling vendor Scale AI, bringing on CEO Alexandr Wang and several of the startup’s top executives to run Meta Superintelligence Labs. But the relationship between the two companies is already showing signs of fraying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Sep 1, 2025 • 6min

Murder at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene plus Nvidia's two mystery customers

A homicide investigation has rocked the final days of Burning Man after a man was found dead “lying in a pool of blood” Saturday night at the Nevada desert festival, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. According to the New York Times, the grim discovery occurred around 9:14 p.m. just as the festival’s iconic wooden “Man” effigy began its traditional burn. Also, customers, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week the chipmaker reported record revenue of $46.7 billion during the quarter that ended on July 27 — a 56% year-over-year increase largely driven by the AI data center boom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Aug 29, 2025 • 6min

Mastodon says it doesn’t ‘have the means’ to comply with age verification laws; also Trump administration’s deal is structured to prevent Intel from selling foundry unit

Decentralized social network Mastodon says it can’t comply with Mississippi’s age verification law — the same law that saw rival Bluesky pull out of the state — because it doesn’t have the means to do so. Also, The Trump administration seems intent on controlling Intel’s ability to make key business decisions around its floundering foundry business unit. According to reporting from the Financial Times, at a Deutsche Bank conference on Thursday, Intel’s CFO David Zinsner shared new details about the company’s recent deal with the Trump administration, which gave the U.S. government a 10% equity stake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Aug 29, 2025 • 6min

Anthropic users face a new choice – opt out or share your chats for AI training

As TechCrunch's Connie Loizos writes, Anthropic is making some big changes to how it handles user data, requiring all Claude users to decide by September 28 whether they want their conversations used to train AI models. While the company directed us to its blog post on the policy changes when asked about what prompted the move, we’ve formed some theories of our own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Aug 28, 2025 • 10min

MathGPT.ai expands to over 50 institutions, also Mississippi’s age assurance law puts decentralized social networks to the test

Following a successful pilot program at 30 colleges and universities in the U.S., MathGPT.ai is preparing to nearly double its availability this fall, with hundreds of instructors planning to incorporate the tool. Schools implementing MathGPT.ai in their classrooms include Penn State University, Tufts University, and Liberty University, among others.  In other news, an overly broad age assurance law in Mississippi is leading to arguments about which platforms — Bluesky, Mastodon, or others — offer the best solution for avoiding crackdowns on internet freedoms. The company that makes the Bluesky social app announced last week that it would block access to its service in the state of Mississippi, rather than comply with the new age verification law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Aug 28, 2025 • 7min

Nvidia reports record sales as the AI boom continues, also 911 centers are so understaffed, they’re turning to AI to answer calls

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, reported another quarter of sustained sales growth in its earnings statement Wednesday, with $46.7 billion in revenue, a 56% increase compared to the same period last year. That growth was largely fueled by AI-dominated data center business, which saw a 56% year-over-year increase in revenue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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