This Week in Tech (Audio)

* Coldplay kiss-cam flap proves we're already our own surveillance state * Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance * (OpenAI LLM's gold medal-level performance on the world's most prestigious math competition * Thinking Machines Lab Raises $2 Billion at $10 Billion Valuation * The Epic Battle for AI Talent—With Exploding Offers, Secret Deals and Tears * Trump Signs Stablecoin Bill, Delivering Win for Crypto Industry * Engadget Podcast: Ancestra director Eliza McNitt defends AI as a creative tool * DOGE staffer with access to Americans' personal data leaked private xAI API key * DOGE Put Free Tax Filing Tool on Chopping Block After One Meeting With Lobbyists * EU backs down on Big Tech tax ahead of US trade deal * Reddit begins age verification checks for UK users * Roblox will require a facial scan or government ID to have unfiltered chats * EU to test age-check app under new child safety rules - 9to5Mac * Trump administration to spend $1 billion on 'offensive' hacking operations | TechCrunch * A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers * Uber to invest in Lucid and Nuro in massive robotaxi deal * YouTuber leaked iOS secrets via friend spying on dev's phone, Apple lawsuit claims * This Is the Commodore Comeback Fans Have Waited for—but the Odds Are Still Against It * I Tested the Galaxy Z Fold 7: It's Slim, Powerful and Surprisingly Practical Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Abrar Al-Heeti [https://twit.tv/people/abrar-al-heeti], Iain Thomson [https://bsky.app/profile/iainthomson.bsky.social], and Devindra Hardawar [https://bsky.app/profile/devindra.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 shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * ZipRecruiter.com/Twit [http://ZipRecruiter.com/Twit] * helixsleep.com/twit [http://helixsleep.com/twit] * uscloud.com [http://uscloud.com] * zscaler.com/security [http://zscaler.com/security] * storyblok.com/twittv-25 code TWIT25 [https://storyblok.com/twittv-25]

* A New Era of Internet Regulation Is About to Begin * Australia is quietly rolling out age checks for search engines like Google * Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK * House "crypto week" could change how Americans use, save money * Latest stablecoin bill addresses foreign issuers, national security safeguards * Grok team apologizes for the chatbot's 'horrific behavior' and blames 'MechaHitler' on a bad update * Grok 4 seems to consult Elon Musk to answer controversial questions * European Union Unveils Rules for Powerful A.I. Systems * Gemini can now turn your photos into video with Veo 3 * Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features * Belkin shutting down these Wemo smart home products in 2026 * It's YouTube vs. Netflix as the Streaming Wars Come Down to 2 * Jack Dorsey launches a WhatsApp messaging rival built on Bluetooth * GameStop's Nintendo Switch 2 stapler sells for more than $100,000 on eBay after viral mishap * Professor Oak's voice actor, James Carter Cathcart, has died Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Harper Reed [https://harperreed.com/] and Amy Webb [https://twit.tv/people/amy-webb] 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 shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * expressvpn.com/twit [http://expressvpn.com/twit] * NetSuite.com/TWIT [http://NetSuite.com/TWIT] * bitwarden.com/twit [http://bitwarden.com/twit] * shopify.com/twit [http://shopify.com/twit] * oracle.com/twit [http://oracle.com/twit]

* SCOTUS Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton * Adalytics finds 9,000+ pirated movies, including summer blockbusters, TV shows, and live sports on YouTube, amassing a collective 250M+ views from July to May * SCOTUS granting cert to Cox v. Sony * Bartz v. Anthropic AI copyright case * Kadrey v. Meta AI copyright case * Microsoft layoffs hit 9,000 employees in new wave of cuts * Here are the letters that let Apple and Google ignore the TikTok ban * Identities of More Than 80 Americans Stolen for North Korean IT Worker Scams * Everyone in tech has an opinion about Soham Parekh | TechCrunch * Elon Musk's Starlink Adds $750 Congestion Charge * Mystery recall of iPhone engineers may be Chinese interference in Apple's plans Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Cathy Gellis [https://mastodon.cloud/@cathygellis/] and Nicholas De Leon [https://x.com/nicholasadeleon] 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 shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * storyblok.com/twittv-25 code TWIT25 [https://storyblok.com/twittv-25] * zscaler.com/security [http://zscaler.com/security] * miro.com [http://miro.com] * oracle.com/twit [http://oracle.com/twit] * canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT [http://canary.tools/twit]

* The panel discusses the current gaming environment * More on Apple's Trust-Eroding 'F1 The Movie' Wallet Ad * Low-income broadband fund can keep running, says Supreme Court * The Supreme Court just upended internet law, and I have questions * Meta and Anthropic prevailed in copyright suits against them, but the rulings have major caveats and don't address when AI output might infringe copyright * ICE Is Using a New Facial Recognition App to Identify People, Leaked Emails Show * Meta says it's winning the talent war with OpenAI * Android phones could soon warn you of "Stingrays" snooping on your communications * Tesla Ordered to Stop 'Deceptive Practices' on Cars' Self-Driving Capabilities in France or Face Thousands in Fines * Trump's 'big beautiful bill' could mean slower Wi-Fi for you * Future of States' AI Laws Hinges on Senate Rules for Tax Bill * The NO FAKES Act Has Changed – and It's So Much Worse Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Dan Patterson [https://www.danpatterson.com/], Patrick Beja [https://notpatrick.com/], and Daniel Rubino [https://twit.tv/people/daniel-rubino] 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 shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * NetSuite.com/TWIT [http://NetSuite.com/TWIT] * shopify.com/twit [http://shopify.com/twit] * zscaler.com/security [http://zscaler.com/security] * outsystems.com/twit [http://outsystems.com/twit] * expressvpn.com/twit [http://expressvpn.com/twit]

* Pope Leo makes AI's threat to humanity a signature issue * Why We Don't Talk About Job Destruction * Israel-Tied Predatory Sparrow Hackers Are Waging Cyberwar on Iran's Financial System * Iran restricts internet access to ward off Israeli cyberattacks * The AI Slop Fight Between Iran and Israel * It's Official: Streaming Is Now the King of TV * AI search finds publishers starved of referral traffic * Mastodon updates its terms to prohibit AI model training * For the first time, social media overtakes TV as Americans' top news source * Trump extends TikTok ban deadline for a third time * The People Search Sites in the Suspected Minnesota Killer's Notebook Are a Failure of Congress * 40,000 Cameras, From Bird Feeders to Baby Monitors, Exposed to the Internet * Pavel Durov on his arrest in France, Macron, Russia, the FBI — and the fight for Telegram * WhatsApp's rollout of ads will change the app forever * Here's your first look at the rebooted Digg Host: Leo Laporte [https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte] Guests: Jason Calacanis [http://calacanis.com/], Amanda Silberling [https://twit.tv/people/amanda-silberling], and Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ [https://bsky.app/profile/padresj.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 shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit [https://twit.tv/clubtwit] Sponsors: * spaceship.com/twit [http://spaceship.com/twit] * uscloud.com [http://uscloud.com] * canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT [http://canary.tools/twit] * storyblok.com/twittv-25 code TWIT25 [https://storyblok.com/twittv-25] * ZipRecruiter.com/Twit [http://ZipRecruiter.com/Twit]