This week in tech

The Electric State, Kill Switches, Baidu's AI, Scopely, Careless People, Gemini Robotics

• An arbitrator instructs a former Meta employee to stop promoting and publishing her book alleging company misconduct; publisher Flatiron Books earlier objected
• DeepMind's latest AI model can help robots fold origami and close Ziploc bags
• Future Today Strategy Group, or FTSG.
• Intel has a new CEO
• Russo Brothers' Busy, Boring Netflix Sci-Fi
• Directors Anthony and Joe Russo say they're building a high-tech studio aiming to help artists use AI as a creative tool to make films, shows, and video games
• Baidu launches two new versions of its AI model Ernie
• Startup Claims Its Upcoming (RISC-V ISA) Zeus GPU is 10X Faster Than Nvidia's RTX 5090
• Pokemon Go is getting a new owner after almost 9 years with Niantic
• Developer convicted for "kill switch" code activated upon his termination
• TikTok will play 'calming music' to remind teens to stop using the app
• F-35 kill switch concerns non-US countries
• Firmware update bricks HP printers, makes them unable to use HP cartridges
• Sonos Cancels Its Streaming Video Player - Slashdot
• Everything You Say To Your Echo Will Be Sent To Amazon Starting On March 28
• Musk-led cuts drive US consumer protection agency to ask for Amazon trial delay

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Amy Webb, Glenn Fleishman, and Mikah Sargent

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• 'Spring forward' no more: Trump and Musk want to end Daylight Saving Time changes. Here's what health experts say
• The $100 Trillion Disruption: The Unforeseen Economic Earthquake
• Apple Is Delaying the 'More Personalized Siri' Apple Intelligence Features
• An audit found that 10 top AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, repeated false claims from a pro-Kremlin disinformation network 33% of the time
• Digg is getting another revival, this time with an injection of AI
• The Weird and Wacky Gadgets We Saw at MWC 2025
• AMD finally has a decent NVIDIA killer with the Radeon 9070 + 9070 XT
• Sources: there haven't been negotiations between ByteDance and prospective TikTok US buyers, amid confusion over who's leading Trump administration negotiations
• Crony Crypto Capitalism
• Utah Passes First US App Store Age Verification Law
• The modern era of low-flying satellites may begin this week
• YouTube Premium and Music Surpass 125 Million Subscribers
• America's Justice Department Still Wants Google to Sell Chrome
• Remembering 'Space Ghost' Voice Actor George Lowe

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Devindra Hardawar, Mike Elgan, and Louis Maresca

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• Amazon Alexa event live blog: all the news from the keynote
• Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus
• An in-depth look at Apple's AI crisis, as some in Apple's AI division believe that a true conversational "LLM Siri" won't be ready until iOS 20 at best in 2027
• Google's co-founder tells AI staff to stop "building nanny products
• 'I want him to be prepared': why parents are teaching their gen Alpha kids to use AI
• Skype is shutting down after two decades
• Researchers accuse North Korea of $1.4 billion Bybit crypto heist
• House Democrats take aim at $TRUMP crypto meme coin
• Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard suggests UK broke agreement in secretly asking
• Apple to build iCloud backdoor
• Biden Justice Department downplayed U.K. demand for Apple 'back door'
• "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered U.S. Cybercommand to "stand down" on Russia
• Meta Apologizes for Error That Flooded Instagram With Violent Content
• YouTube Says It Now Has More Than 1 Billion Monthly Viewers of Podcast Content
• 'The Brutalist' Director Brady Corbet Responds to AI Backlash
• Netflix is building an anti-Disneyland
• An small microbial ecosystem has formed on the International Space Station
• All 50 States Have Now Introduced Right to Repair Legislation

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Emily Forlini, Doc Rock, and Janko Roettgers

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• Over $1.4 billion taken from Bybit crypto exchange
• Apple Removes Cloud Encryption Feature From UK After Backdoor Order
• iOS18.4 Beta adds priority notifications, support for robot vacs in Apple Home, but no smarter siri
• Amazon's revamped Alexa might launch over a month after its announcement event
• OpenAI now serves 400M users every week
• The New York Times adopts AI tools in the newsroom
• Amazon Appstore for Android is shutting down in August
• Spotify is making it easier to release audiobooks narrated by AI
• California privacy regulator seeks to fine Florida data broker after huge breach of Social Security numbers
• Donald Trump Is Turning CISA Into The Embodiment Of His Election Conspiracy Theories
• Asus Continues Fragrant Device Trend With an Aromatic Mouse - Slashdot
• iPhone 16E: all the news on Apple's new $599 phone
• Smart ring tracks health, fitness data with long battery life

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Abrar Al-Heeti, and Larry Magid

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