This Week in Tech (Audio)
This Week in Tech is the top-ranked flagship tech podcast from TWiT.tv. Every Sunday, Leo Laporte and a roundtable of insiders explore the week's hottest tech news from AI to robots, and PCs to privacy. When it comes to tech, TWiT is IT.
Records live every Sunday at 5:15pm Eastern / 2:15pm Pacific / 22:15 UTC.
TWiT 1008: Internet Legal - Australia's Social Media Ban for Kids, Smart Home Nightmare, Bluesky's Ascent
In this week's episode of This Week in Tech, Leo Laporte and guests Devindra Hardawar, Doc Rock, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy discuss a wide range of topics including Australia's ban on social media for under 16s, the latest in smart home technology and Matter protocol, CES 2024 expectations, Black Friday sales records, Elon Musk's legal battles, the FTC's efforts to protect consumers, and the growing threat of infrastructure sabotage. The panel also touches on the lifespan of smart devices, the ownership of social media accounts, and the growth of Bluesky. Australia bans social media for everyone under 16, sparking a discussion on the challenges of age verification, the necessity of such measures, and the potential impact on children's social lives Jennifer shares her thoughts on the progress and challenges of Matter protocol, the future of smart home technology, and the killer use cases like energy management that could drive broader adoption Devindra looks forward to checking out the latest tech at CES 2024, while the panel discusses the impact of potential tariffs on consumer electronics prices Black Friday online sales hit a record $74.4B, up 5% from last year, with over half of spending done on mobile devices and a surge in traffic to retail sites from AI chatbots Elon Musk files for an injunction to halt OpenAI's transition to a for-profit, accusing the company of discouraging investors from backing rivals like his own xAI Musk admits X is throttling links, effectively limiting people from reading news on the platform, which could impact content creators and marketers The panel discusses the implications of X's objection to The Onion buying InfoWars, reminding users that they do not own their social media accounts or followers As alternative social media platforms like Bluesky gain traction, the panel considers the challenges of managing multiple platforms and the potential for a more decentralized social media landscape The FTC releases a report on the hidden lifespan of smart devices, highlighting the need for transparency and the potential security risks of unsupported devices FTC changes its telemarketing rules to better protect consumers from growing 'tech support scam' calls Supreme Court considers whether ISPs should be liable for users' piracy, with potential far-reaching consequences Concerns rise over infrastructure sabotage as a Chinese ship's crew is suspected of deliberately dragging an anchor for 100 miles to cut Baltic cables Meta plans to build a $10B subsea cable spanning the world to support its services and ensure data traffic flow Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Doc Rock, and Devindra Hardawar Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: NetSuite.com/TWIT bitwarden.com/twit e-e.com/twit INFO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT - code TWIT100
2 hours 47 mins
1 December Finished
TWiT 1007: All the Hotdogs in the World - China's "Salt Typhoon" Hack, Google on the Chopping Block, Recall AI
In this episode of This Week in Tech, the panel tackles the "biggest hack in US history," the future of AI, and the role of government in tech. From the Chinese hack's implications to Microsoft's AI-powered Recall, the Supreme Court's tech-related cases, and the push for social media age verification, Leo Laporte, Patrick Beja, Wesley Faulkner, and Alex Wilhelm provide insightful analysis and lively discussion on the most pressing issues facing the industry today. China's "Salt Typhoon" hack, dubbed the "worst hack in our nation's history," which compromised US telecommunications infrastructure and allowed surveillance of high-profile individuals The panel debates the challenges of securing outdated infrastructure and the role of government in regulating tech companies DOJ's push for Google to sell off Chrome to break its search monopoly, and the potential implications for competition and innovation Alex Wilhelm's article "If you like startups, you should love anti-trust" and the importance of fostering competition in the tech industry Microsoft's Windows 365 Link, a $349 mini PC that streams Windows from the cloud, and the potential for thin client computing Microsoft's Recall AI feature, which records and indexes users' screen activity, raising security concerns but offering potential benefits for users The Supreme Court's involvement in cases related to Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data breach and the fate of America's low-income broadband fund The panel also discusses their personal experiences with parenting in the digital age and the challenges of balancing screen time, privacy, and education for children Meta's push for Apple and Google to verify users' ages on social media platforms, and the challenges of implementing effective age verification while protecting user privacy Amazon's talks with Instacart, Uber, Ticketmaster, and others to enhance its AI-powered Alexa assistant Spirit Airlines filing for bankruptcy amidst financial losses and mounting debt payments Alex laments the addition of ads to Amazon Prime Video and the panel debates the tradeoffs of bundled subscription services Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Patrick Beja, Wesley Faulkner, and Alex Wilhelm Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: Melissa.com/twit shopify.com/twit veeam.com lookout.com bitwarden.com/twit
3 hours 9 mins
24 November Finished
TWiT 1006: Underwater Alien Civilizations - Bluesky Growth, Tyson Vs. Paul, AI Granny
How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, Is Handling Explosive Growth Netflix's Live Mike Tyson Vs. Jake Paul Fight Battling Sound & Streaming Glitches In Lead-Up To Main Event Biden Asked Microsoft to "Raise the Bar on Cybersecurity." He May Have Helped Create an Illegal Monopoly. CFPB looks to place Google under federal supervision, setting up clash Apple's Tim Cook Has Ways to Cope With the Looming Trump Tariffs Apple Removes Another RFE/RL App At Request Of Russian Regulator Here's Why I Decided To Buy 'InfoWars' Elon Musk's X Corp. files notice in Alex Jones' Infowars bankruptcy case Spotify's Plans For AI Generated Music, Podcasts, and Recommendations, According To Its Co-President, CTO, and CPO Gustav Söderström This 'AI Granny' Bores Scammers to Tears Congress ponders underwater alien civilizations, human hybrids, and other unexplained stuff In Memoriam: Thomas E. Kurtz, 1928–2024 Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Alex Kantrowitz, Daniel Rubino, and Iain Thomson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit Fundrise.com/TWIT 1password.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT NetSuite.com/TWIT
2 hours 41 mins
17 November Finished
TWiT 1005: $125,000 in Baguettes - iPod Turns 23, The $1.1M AI Painting, Roblox
Apple launched the iPod 23 years ago, and changed the world Apple Quietly Introduced iPhone Reboot Code Which is Locking Out Cops How the 2024 US presidential election will determine tech's future Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Tim Cook and other tech leaders congratulate Trump on election win AI didn't sway the election, but it deepened the partisan divide YouTube dominated Election Day as viewers guzzled 84 million hours of presidential news The other election night winner: Perplexity Dogecoin and other memecoins surge as Trump wins presidential election Detroit to Accept Crypto for Tax Payments in Bid to Spur Tech Innovation, Fuel Economic Growth Painting by A.I.-Powered Robot Sells for $1.1 Million OpenAI defeats news outlets' copyright lawsuit over AI training, for now Anthropic teams up with Palantir and AWS to sell AI to defense customers OpenAI acquired Chat.com Even Microsoft Notepad is getting AI text editing now Roblox is banning kids from 'social hangout' spaces Reddit Passes Snap Canada orders shutdown of TikTok's Canadian business, app access to continue Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Abrar Al-Heeti, Dan Patterson, and Lisa Eadicicco Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: lookout.com ziprecruiter.com/twit mintmobile.com/twit e-e.com/twit expressvpn.com/twit
2 hours 45 mins
10 November Finished
TWiT 1004: Embrace Uncertainty - Political Texts, Daylight Saving Time, Digital Ad Market
The panel discusses the implications of the 2024 US elections to the tech industry Alexa's New AI Brain Is Stuck in the Lab Why do we keep changing our clocks? ChatGPT Search Online political ads--we're almost done! Elon Musk Wants You to Think This Election's Being Stolen Open-source AI must reveal its training data, per new OSI definition Chinese sanctions hit US drone maker supplying Ukraine Digital ad market booms for Big Tech Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Nicholas De Leon, and Amy Webb Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: bitwarden.com/twit lookout.com NetSuite.com/TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT
2 hours 52 mins
3 November Finished