This Week in Tech (Audio)

iPhone 17 event live blog: on the ground at Apple's keynote Google Court Doc: Open Web Is In Rapid Decline Anthropic Judge Rejects $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement (1) The Software Engineers Paid to Fix Vibe Coded Messes What to expect from Meta Connect SpaceX strikes $17B deal to buy EchoStar's spectrum for Starlink's direct-to-phone service Tesla Wants Out of the Car Business Tesla Offers Elon Musk an Unprecedented $1 Trillion Pay Package Gen Z protests in Nepal, sparked by a social media ban, have killed nearly 2 dozen and injured hundreds. Here's what to know Microdramas are TikTok turned up to 11, and they're coming for your time and money Tiny Vinyl is a new pocketable record format for the Spotify age Kodak's mini camera fits on your keyring and is smaller than an AirPods case Geek News Central Mourns the Loss of Todd Cochrane Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Dan Patterson, Victoria Song, and Jason Hiner Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at 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 Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit bitwarden.com/twit oracle.com/twit shopify.com/twit NetSuite.com/TWIT

Google walks away from another monopoly ruling with barely a scratch, while tech giants gather at the White House to praise a president who holds their futures in the balance. Inside, our panel questions whether "playing the game on the field" is killing tech innovation and U.S. privacy for good. Google avoids harshest penalties in landmark search monopoly ruling Google fined $3.5 billion by EU over ad-tech business Probe finds Houston police using surveillance tool like a search engine iPhone 17 specifications leak, 'Air' model rumors, and what to expect at Apple's Awe Dropping' event Instagram coming to iPad after 15 years Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to settle author copyright claims Apple accused of training AI models on pirated books Trump hosts tech CEOs at first event in newly renovated Rose Garden Postal traffic to the US down over 80% amid tariffs, UN says Satellite companies like SpaceX ignore astronomers' calls to save the night sky Microsoft says Azure service affected by damaged Red Sea cables Meta still hasn't given up on the Facebook poke after 21 years Fake celebrity chatbots send risqué messages to teens on top AI app First brain-wide map of decision-making charted in mice NVIDIA's sale-and-leaseback chip schemes raise questions about AI bubble Tesla changes meaning of 'full self-driving' and gives up on autonomy promise Atlassian agrees to acquire The Browser Co. for $610 million Warner Bros. Discovery sues AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement in major legal battle Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Alex Wilhelm and Harry McCracken Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at 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 Sponsors: zscaler.com/security miro.com smarty.com/twit ZipRecruiter.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

Cloudflare's latest moves to police who can access the internet and governments' push for age verification set off alarms for the future of the open web, as panelists debate the hidden costs of centralization and regulation. Microsoft fires four workers for on-site protests over company's ties to Israel Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 water Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue FBI cyber cop: Salt Typhoon pwned 'nearly every American Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification law UK's Online Safety Act censors the internet — a preview of US proposal Meta updates chatbot rules to avoid inappropriate topics with teen user Meta reportedly allowed unauthorized celebrity AI chatbots on its service UK's demand for Apple backdoor may have been broader than previously though Bluesky now platform of choice for science community SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight in stunning comeback FCC rejects calls for cable-like fees on broadband providers The web does not need gatekeepers Intel warns a US equity stake could trigger "adverse reactions" US firms are racing through a $1 trillion buyback spree in record time Microsoft reveals two in-house AI models Authors celebrate "historic" settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action A rule exempting small packages from tariffs is ending today Framework is working on a giant haptic touchpad, Trackpoint nub, and eGPU for its laptops Germany fines economist Thomas Vierhaus €16,100 for sarcastic X posts Google wants to make sideloading Android apps safer by verifying developers' identities South Korea bans smartphones in all middle and elementary school classrooms Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Cory Doctorow, and Louis Maresca Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at 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 Sponsors: shopify.com/twit ZipRecruiter.com/twit NetSuite.com/TWIT zscaler.com/security smarty.com/twit

You should buy a faster CPU The Trump-Intel deal is official Trump signals fourth delay of TikTok ban Trump to tap Airbnb co-founder as first government design chief Meet Macrohard, Elon Musk's AI simulation of Microsoft Google announces Pixel 10 lineup with heavy AI integration Gemini for Home is Google's biggest smart home play in years Copilot app gets a glowup, new features, for Windows 11 Apple explores using Google Gemini AI to power revamped Siri Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance law 4chan will refuse to pay daily online safety fines, lawyer tells BBC Sports streaming enters a bold new era Waymo can now test its self-driving vehicles in New York City Oura secures decisive legal victory with ITC patent ruling T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal—judges disagree Developer gets prison time for sabotaging former employer's network with a 'kill switch' Nonprofit search engine Ecosia offers $0 for control of Chrome Perplexity's Comet AI browser tricked into buying fake items online Agentic browser security: indirect prompt injection in Perplexity Comet New zero-day startup offers $20 million for tools that can hack any smartphone YouTuber Mark Rober is getting a Netflix series German court revives case that could threaten ad blockers Satya Nadella says Microsoft must move beyond Bill Gates' software factory vision More frozen shrimp recalled for possible radioactive contamination Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Daniel Rubino and Paris Martineau Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at 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 Sponsors: zscaler.com/security expressvpn.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT smarty.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit

Privacy preserving age verification is bullsh!t The Supreme Court lets Mississippi's social media age-verification law go into effect Meta's flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York. AI data centers made Americans' electricity bills 30% higher AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over Ford reveals breakthrough process for lower priced EVs More thoughts from Sam on the Ford EV platform Popular car brand wants you to pay monthly to unlock more horsepower Apple Plots Expansion Into AI Robots, Home Security and Smart Displays Elli-q After researchers unmasked a prolific SMS scammer, a new operation has emerged in its wake Starlink tries to block Virginia's plan to bring fiber Internet to residents China Launches Three-Day Robot Olympics Featuring Football and Table Tennis The Key to Crack the CIA's Mysterious 'Kryptos' Sculpture Is Up for Sale PACER Hacked By Malicious Entities, Briefly Turning It Into A Useful Source For Federal Court Documents Court blocks FTC investigation into Media Matters' alleged scheme against X Google AI Overviews linked to 25% drop in publisher referral traffic, new data shows Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Sam Abuelsamid, and Lisa Schmeiser Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at 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 Sponsors: miro.com storyblok.com/twittv-25 code TWIT25 ZipRecruiter.com/twit expressvpn.com/twit zscaler.com/security