This Week in Tech (Audio)

TWiT 1077: I Would Download a Car - New Jury Ruling Could Reshape Social Media Liability

Big Tech just faced a courtroom reckoning, with Meta and Google found liable for platform "addictiveness" in a social media trial that could unleash a tidal wave of lawsuits. Find out why attorneys, entrepreneurs, and everyday users are suddenly on edge. • Social media addiction lawsuits hit Meta, Google, YouTube • Section 230 and First Amendment implications debated after court verdicts • Supreme Court sides with Cox; ISPs not liable for user piracy • Elon Musk's lawsuit over X (Twitter) ad boycotts thrown out • Anthropic versus Department of Defense: AI contracting dispute and retaliation claims • FCC's confusing foreign-made router ban and consumer tech fallout • Major supply chain attack: LiteLLM malware infects AI devs • The rise (and risks) of AI agents with voice, identity, and personification • Turing Award honors pioneers of quantum cryptography • Antimatter on the move: CERN's oddball truck experiment • Sci-fi and reality blur as Neal Stephenson walks away from the metaverse • Privacy and consent worries escalate with AI-powered recordings and surveillance • Digital shelf pricing arrives at Walmart and Kroger • Flipper Zero: voice-controlled hacking gadget gets an AI upgrade • Age verification laws create headaches for OS and app developers • Official White House app called out for surveillance and security blunders • Is AI progress barreling toward a dystopian tech future? Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Harper Reed [https://harperreed.com/], Brian McCullough [https://bsky.app/profile/brianmc.bsky.social], and Cathy Gellis [https://mastodon.cloud/@cathygellis/] Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech [https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech] Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * doppel.com [http://doppel.com] * outsystems.com/twit [http://outsystems.com/twit] * zscaler.com/security [http://zscaler.com/security] * meter.com/twit [http://meter.com/twit] * ZipRecruiter.com/twit [http://ZipRecruiter.com/twit]

TWiT 1076: I'm Monitoring the Situation - Meta's Horizon Worlds Stays Alive Against The Odds

Elon Musk faces a multi-billion dollar verdict after a California jury finds his tweets misled Twitter shareholders, raising the stakes for tech CEOs with unchecked social media influence. Plus, CBS kills its legendary radio news service while podcasting explodes, signaling a dramatic shift in how America consumes, trusts, and pays for news. * CBS News Shutters Radio Service After Nearly a Century * A US appeals court puts on hold an earlier ruling that had blocked Perplexity from using its agentic shopping tool to shop on Amazon's marketplace * FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms * The 49MB Web Page * Microsoft unveils MAJOR improvements coming to Windows 11 this year — movable Taskbar, reduced RAM usage, less AI and ads, and much more CONFIRMED: "We are evolving how Windows is built behind the scenes to raise the quality bar" * Meta will shut down VR Horizon Worlds access in June * Meta changes course on Horizon Worlds VR shut-down * Gamers react with overwhelming disgust to DLSS 5's generative AI glow-ups * Jury agrees that Musk's tweets during Twitter takeover misled investors * After three months, Samsung is ending sales of the $2,899 Galaxy Z TriFold * 200,000 Devices Erased? Pro-Iran Hackers Hit US Firm With Data-Wiping Attack * Japan to allow 'proactive cyber-defense' from October 1st * Sears Exposed AI Chatbot Phone Calls and Text Chats to Anyone on the Web * Arizona AG files criminal charges against Kalshi over 'illegal gambling' * Major League Baseball Steps Into the Prediction Markets, Strikes Deal With Polymarket * Polymarket is opening a bar where you can drink and watch the world unravel in real time * It's been 20 years since the first tweet * Project Hail Mary is movie medicine * The futurist who helped define tech trend reports just killed them (literally) * This new cassette player has USB-C and Bluetooth, in case you want to ditch Spotify Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Janko Roettgers [https://sfba.social/@jank0], Dan Patterson [https://www.danpatterson.com/], and Lisa Schmeiser [https://bsky.app/profile/lschmeiser.bsky.social] Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech [https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech] Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * meter.com/twit [http://meter.com/twit] * shopify.com/twit [http://shopify.com/twit] * outsystems.com/twit [http://outsystems.com/twit] * preview.modulate.ai [http://preview.modulate.ai]

TWiT 1075: The Commonwealth Club - Meta Layoffs, DOGE Data Theft, & the Rise of AI Fails

From "gainfully employed robots" to AI that accidentally ruins lives, this week's conversation unpacks the real-world fallout of futuristic promises. Leo, JPT, Iain, and Richard tackle energy sources, social media effects, tech layoffs, and the algorithms quietly taking charge. * Meta is planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount * Meta Said to Push Back Launch of Avocado Model * Social media addiction trial: the plaintiff, Meta, and YouTube make closing arguments; jurors begin deliberations Friday on liability for harm to children * Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal * Bluesky CEO Jay Graber will step aside * Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam * X says it suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 over spam and manipulation * Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X * Musk admits xAI 'not built right' — weeks after Tesla invested $2 billion * Nvidia Is Planning to Launch an Open-Source AI Agent Platform * Amazon Wins Court Order To Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Bots * Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases * DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery * U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court * Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them * EcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homes (related to the plug-in solar story) * TerraPower gets permit to build reactor * Ex-Uber CEO Kalanick Debuts Plan for 'Gainfully Employed Robots' * Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud * Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case * Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power * Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff * How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world * 'Flying Cars' Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer * YouTube surpasses Disney, Paramount, WBD in 2025 ad revenue * Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns * Swiss e-voting can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them * Tony Hoare, Turing Award-Winning Computer Scientist Behind QuickSort, Dies At 92 Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Iain Thomson [https://bsky.app/profile/iainthomson.bsky.social], Richard Campbell [https://twit.tv/people/richard-campbell], and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy [https://twit.tv/people/jennifer-pattison-tuohy] Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech [https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech] Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * expressvpn.com/twit [http://expressvpn.com/twit] * preview.modulate.ai [http://preview.modulate.ai] * monarch.com with code TWIT [https://www.monarch.com] * spaceship.com/twit [http://spaceship.com/twit] * threatlocker.com/twit [http://threatlocker.com/twit]

TWiT 1074: Chicken Mating Harnesses - Supreme Court Rules AI Art Not Copyrightable

Between copyright-free AI art, government blacklists, and data brokers run amok, this episode spotlights the fierce new battles for privacy, agency, and control in our digital lives. Plus, hear Cory Doctorow break down why the AI gold rush may be headed for a colossal crash. * Pentagon Officially Tells Anthropic It Is a Supply Chain Risk * Trump moves to blacklist Anthropic AI from all government work * If AI is a weapon, why don't we regulate it like one? * Sam Altman's greed and dishonesty are finally catching up to him * ChatGPT user base surges 350% in 18 months as it nears 1 billion weekly active users * AI-generated art can't be copyrighted after the Supreme Court declines to review the rule * Chardet dispute shows how AI will kill software licensing, argues Bruce Perens * Grammarly is using our identities without permission * Alphabet Grants Sundar Pichai Stock Awards Worth Up to $686 Million * Google vs Epic Games ends with Android app stores, lower fees * Google Ends Its 30% App Store Fee, Welcomes Third-Party App Stores - Slashdot * Xbox CEO confirms next-gen 'Project Helix' console will play PC games * Motorola Partners With GrapheneOS - Slashdot * Data Broker Breaches Fueled Nearly $21 Billion in Identity-Theft Losses * CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples' Movements * Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous 'Stop Cop City' Protester * COPPA 2.0 passes the Senate again, unanimously this time * South Korean Police Lose Seized Crypto By Posting Password Online * Iranian drone strikes at Amazon sites raise alarms over protecting data centers * Charter Gets FCC Permission To Buy Cox, Become Largest ISP In the US * How Big Diaper absorbs billions of extra dollars from American parents * Anne Wojcicki's Plan to Revive 23andMe: Rich Donors, Improved Tests—and Maybe Even MAHA * Bundle of human neurons hooked to silicon learns to stumble through Doom * 10% of Firefox crashes are caused by bitflips * Seagate Just Unleashed 44TB Hard Drives Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Joey de Villa [https://www.globalnerdy.com/] and Cory Doctorow [http://craphound.com/] Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech [https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech] Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * zscaler.com/security [http://zscaler.com/security] * joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT [http://joindeleteme.com/twit] * meter.com/twit [http://meter.com/twit] * NetSuite.com/TWIT [http://NetSuite.com/TWIT] * bitwarden.com/twit [http://bitwarden.com/twit]

TWiT 1073: Broetry in Motion - Anthropic Stands Up to The Pentagon

Anthropic's clash with the Pentagon pits tech ethics against government demands, raising explosive questions about AI's role in surveillance and weaponry. If you care about who controls the future of artificial intelligence, this episode is a must-listen. * Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight * The whole thing was a scam * OpenAI allows NSA to use GPT for surveilling Americans * Anthropic's Claude hits No. 1 on Apple's top free apps list after Pentagon rejection * Layoffs at Block * Crypto exchange Gemini plans to lay off up to 200 staff, exit Europe, and Australia * Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for Paramount Takeover * An update on our model deprecation commitments for Claude Opus 3 \ Anthropic * Keep Android Open * Colorado moves age checks from websites to operating systems | Biometric Update * Open source calculator firmware DB48X forbids CA/CO use due to age verification * New Apple product launch starts Monday, Tim Cook confirms * Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked: The Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy Buds 4 and more * Here's how the new Samsung Galaxy S26 compares with last year's S25 * Hacked Prayer App Sends 'Surrender' Messages to Iranians Amid Israeli and US Strikes * The Big One: The cyberattack scenarios that keep officials up at night * CISA replaces acting director after a bumbling year on the job * New AirSnitch attack bypasses Wi-Fi encryption in homes, offices, and enterprises * Victory! Tenth Circuit Finds Fourth Amendment Doesn't Support Broad Search of Protesters' Devices and Digital Data * Enthusiasts used their home computers to search for ET—scientists are homing in on 100 signals they found * Americans now listen to podcasts more often than talk radio, study shows | TechCrunch * Burger King Will Use AI To Check If Employees Say 'Please' and 'Thank You' * Uber Previews Its Dubai Air Taxi Service - Slashdot * Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died * Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion, Song of Kali, dead at 77 Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Molly White [https://www.mollywhite.net/], Owen Thomas [https://x.com/owenthomas], and Harry McCracken [https://bsky.app/profile/harrymccracken.com] Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech [https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech] Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * Melissa.com/twit [http://Melissa.com/twit] * expressvpn.com/twit [http://expressvpn.com/twit] * canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT [http://canary.tools/twit] * ZipRecruiter.com/twit [http://ZipRecruiter.com/twit] * helixsleep.com/twit [http://helixsleep.com/twit]