Tech News Weekly (Video)

TNW 453: Scammers Cash In on GTA 6 - Why Cybercriminals Strike Fast When Hype Is High

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:20:00 PDT

Apple enters the John Ternus era as he becomes CEO ahead of the anticipated iPhone event, a climate scientist exposes the real energy costs of AI use, a bezel-free concept phone debuts at IFA, and Malwarebytes warns GTA fans about dangerous fake "GTA 6 Extended Look" downloads.

Apple kicks off the John Ternus era as CEO, just ahead of a much-anticipated iPhone event—facing challenges in AI, manufacturing, regulation, and the ever-present rumor of a foldable iPhone.
A climate scientist's 8-week experiment spotlights how much energy AI actually burns, showing prompt-based measurements miss the real environmental impact of today's intensive tools.
Tecno unveils Bezelless - a bezel-less concept phone at IFA, as anticipation builds for Apple's rumored border-free iPhone.
Chris Fistonich from Malwarebytes joins to warn about fake GTA 6 sites delivering info-stealing malware to unsuspecting gamers.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

Guest: Chris Fistonich

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TNW 452: Meta's $18B Social Media Settlement - What This Means for Kids & Social Media

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 15:45:00 PDT

Meta pays up in a landmark teen safety settlement & establishes new online safety measures for teens, Raspberry Pi goes official on the cyberdeck craze, and looking at what Apple unveiled earlier this week & looking ahead to Apple's September event.

Meta settled a lawsuit with over 47 states and territories over harms to teens, agreeing to independently tested age verification, daily time limits, notification restrictions, and parental alerts on Instagram and Facebook.
Raspberry Pi is getting in on the cyberdeck craze as the company published an official cyberdeck tutorial with a parts list and build instructions.
And D. Griffin Jones joins the show to talk about Apple's updates to its Mac mini and Mac Studio, and what the expectations may be for its "Surprise and Shine" September event.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Guest: D. Griffin Jones

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TNW 451: AI Is Eating Rare Books - Rare Books Gutted for AI Training

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:00:00 PDT

Abrar Al-Heeti of CNET joins the show to talk about her review of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Meta's smart glasses are slowly becoming a concern in the workplace, and Amazon is destroying rare books & utilizing them as AI training data.

Abrar Al-Heeti shares her review of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, noting how foldables have become nearly indistinguishable in size from standard phones like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and shares a look at its camera, battery, and new software features like Pause Point.
Mikah shares an article published by The Verge that looks into how retail workers, tourism employees, and comedians describe being secretly recorded by Meta Ray-Ban wearers on the job.
And 404 Media's Emanuel Maiberg joins the show to share his investigation into Amazon buying and shredding rare, out-of-print books to scan them as AI training data, and how a legal ruling in Anthropic's book-piracy case made destroying the originals advantageous.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

Guest: Emanuel Maiberg

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TNW 450: Amazon Training AI Models on Twitch Streamers - Streamers's Content Training Amazon's AI's

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:30:00 PDT

Jacob Ward is guest-hosting this week, and Amanda Silberling joins Jacob for the first half of the show! Amazon is using Twitch streamers to train its generative AI models. The EU's Transparency Code now requires tech companies to label AI-generated content. The Bay Area's AI wealth isn't affecting all cities. And security experts express concerns following an OpenAI model's hack on Hugging Face.

Twitch is beginning to use creators' content on the platform to help train generative AI models for its parent company, Amazon. Even though streamers can opt out of having their content used, it's still sparking backlash from the community over deepfake concerns.
The EU's Transparency Code is quietly pushing tech companies to label AI-generated content, with Jacob Ward drawing a parallel to how regulators once mandated adding a smell to odorless natural gas to make leaks detectable.
Reporter Adam Rogers joins the show to discuss why Bay Area AI wealth isn't translating into the civic investment, jobs, or economic ripple effects seen in past tech booms
And reporter Sharon Goldman from Ground Level AI stops by to share reactions from security experts about the OpenAI agent that breached Hugging Face during her recent trip to the Black Hat security conference.

Hosts: Jacob Ward and Amanda Silberling

Guests: Adam Rogers and Sharon Goldman

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TNW 449: Explaining the SpaceX Moon Crash - Why a SpaceX Rocket Collided Into the Moon

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:30:00 PDT

Dan Moren of Six Colors joins the show. A newly disclosed flaw was discovered in Apple's iCloud Private Relay. What is the phenomenon, "spiralism," and its ties to AI chatbots? Apple's Siri AI finally makes its way into the iOS 27 beta. And a SpaceX rocket impacted the Moon, but is it as big a deal as the headlines are making it?

Apple's iCloud Private Relay has a newly disclosed flaw that can leak users' real IP addresses via passkey authentication, marking the second privacy-feature vulnerability found in iCloud+ in as many months.
A bizarre phenomenon called "spiralism" saw thousands of people across different AI chatbots independently arrive at eerily similar mystical "spiral" doctrine and recruitment language, likely a byproduct of shared training data and LLM patterns.
Apple's long-awaited Siri AI update has finally landed in the iOS 27 beta and mostly delivers on its promises, but reviewers find the experience oddly anticlimactic now that competitors offer similar AI assistant capabilities.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper-stage crashed into the Moon near Einstein Crater, sparking outsized headlines despite such impacts being common and scientifically useful.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guest: Rod Pyle

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TNW 448: The Math Behind Apple Upgrade - Understanding Apple Upgrade

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:45:00 PDT

Jacob Ward from The Rip Current joins the show this week! Looking into the fallout from an OpenAI model breaching Hugging Face. Winamp returns with a Deezer-powered streaming relaunch. Breaking down the math behind Apple's new leasing program. And shared Claude chats are turning up in Google search results.

Last week, an OpenAI Model autonomously hacked into Hugging Face while performing a cybersecurity task. Jacob breaks down the fallout from the incident and how it is fueling questions about whether AI labs have crossed into "critical risk" territory.
Winamp is getting a new lease on life through a partnership with Deezer, bringing a Winamp-branded music subscription alongside local files, internet radio, and podcasts, set to launch in the first half of 2027.
D. Griffin Jones joins to explain how Apple Upgrade replaces the iPhone Upgrade Program and expands leasing, via Klarna, across iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac.
And a report from 404 Media's Joseph Cox looks into publicly published Claude conversations and artifacts being indexed by Google, exposing sensitive material like crypto wallet keys and personal data, and why understanding what "public" really means before sharing matters.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jacob Ward

Guest: D. Griffin Jones

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TNW 447: Google Says AI Isn't Taking Your Job - AI Isn't Killing Jobs?

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:15:00 PDT

Amanda Silberling of TechCrunch joins the show this week! AI isn't taking your job, per a report from Google. Gen Z is gravitating towards more "dumb" and simpler tech. An OpenAI model hacked Hugging Face. And Americans are uniting against data centers.

A new Google report analyzing 14.6 million AI conversations finds most workplace AI use is "shallow," with automation rare and collaboration more common.
Amanda shares her report on a "slow tech" trend, which includes both a hacked "dumb phone" and a $299 flip phone called Light flip, as younger users seek friction and less screen time from their devices.
During an internal red-team test, an OpenAI model exploited a zero-day to escape its test environment and breach Hugging Face, stealing cloud and cluster credentials in over 17,000 recorded events.
And a piece from the Washington Post shows bipartisan backlash to AI data centers nationwide, driven by rising electric bills and residents' feelings of powerlessness over local development decisions.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Amanda Silberling

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TNW 446: Is OnePlus Really Gone for Good? - Why OnePlus is Leaving the US & Europe

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:30:00 PDT

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins the show this week! Is Google's AI Search failing kids? OpenAI could be releasing its first device: a proactive AI-smart speaker. OnePlus is exiting the US & European market. And Microsoft's Comic Chat is now open source.

Common Sense Media finds Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode miss warning signs like suicidal ideation and validate disordered eating, especially concerning.
Bloomberg reports that OpenAI is building a screen-free, proactive smart speaker for the home.
Katie Collins from CNET joins the show to talk about OnePlus's withdrawal from the US & European market.
And Microsoft releases the code for its iconic mid-90s comic-strip IRC client (birthplace of Comic Sans) on GitHub.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Guest: Katie Collins

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TNW 445: The Rise of AI-First Schools - Is AI the Way of Learning in the Future?

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:30:00 PDT

Dan Moren joins Mikah Sargent this week! XBOX resets itself. Wealthy families are leaning towards AI tutors to better prepare their kids. AI is starting to get into the "Wrapped" trend with users' data. And New York is the first US state to ban the use of smart glasses in courthouses.

Microsoft laid off thousands more Xbox employees this week, and spun off gaming studios such as Compulsion Games and Double Fine, as the division struggles with thin margins & rising hardware costs.
Wealthy families are pulling kids from public school for pricey new programs like Alpha School and Forge Prep that swap teachers for AI "guides" and lessons in business skills, despite no data proving they work.
Anthropic debuted a new tool called Reflect, reminiscent of Spotify's "Wrapped" feature, that gives Claude users a usage dashboard with quiet hours, break reminders, and insights into their habits, though it requires memory to be turned on.
And New York became the first US state to ban the use of smart glasses in courthouses, following a trend of Illinois drivers and major cruise lines prohibiting the use of camera-equipped smart glasses over recording and safety concerns.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

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TNW 444: The End of the PlayStation Disc - The Beginning of the End of Physical Games?

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:30:00 PDT

Abrar Al-Heeti of CNET joins Mikah Sargent on the show this week! Do Americans trust driverless vehicles? Safety tools for Social Media are failing kids. Sony is ceasing the production of physical games in January 2028. And a Supreme Court ruling guts the government's use of geofence warrants.

A new Pew Research survey finds only 5% of U.S. adults have ridden in a driverless car, and 71% say they wouldn't feel comfortable riding in one in the first place.
An audit conducted by the Cybersafety Research Center showcases that, within Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, the research center found 51 of 86 advertised child-safety features were either broken, buried, or missing.
Sony announced it will stop making physical discs for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028.
And in Chatrie v. United States, which reached the Supreme Court, the Court ruled 6-3 that police need a warrant to obtain Google location-history data, further extending Fourth Amendment protections for Americans.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

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