Tech News Weekly (Audio)

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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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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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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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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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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