Tech News Weekly (Video)

Emily Forlini of PCMag joins Mikah Sargent this week! A look into Synchron's headquarters, Beeper relaunches its messaging services after being acquired by Automattic, OpenAI releases its new agentic AI service, and an AI service company is hosting over 5,000 nonconsensual AI models of real people.

• Emily shares her time checking out Synchron, a company developing brain-computer interface implants that is considered a significant competitor to Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk.


• Mikah talks about Beeper's relaunch of its messaging app, which runs on devices and offers premium services such as access to more accounts and power-user-type features.


• OpenAI launched its new agentic AI service, ChatGPT agent, Thursday morning. This service can complete work for you on your computer and perform a variety of tasks for you.


• And Emanuel Maiberg of 404 Media shares his reporting into Hugging Face and how it is hosting over 5,000 AI models of real people, without consent, following another company, Civitai, which previously banned these models.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini

Guest: Emanuel Maiberg

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Dan Moren joins us this week! Rumors are circulating about an A18 MacBook Pro and iPhone 17 Air from Apple, Samsung just held its Galaxy Unpacked event this month and unveiled updates to some of its products, AI bots are scraping obituaries for profit, and a new browser war is emerging between two AI companies.

• Dan Moren talks about the rumored A18 MacBook Pro and iPhone 17 Air that Apple could announce this year as ways to appeal to broader consumer markets.


• Mikah Sargent shares the Galaxy Z Flip7, Galaxy Z Fold7, and the Galaxy Watch8 that Samsung unveiled at its recently held Galaxy Unpacked July 2025 event.


• Joe Supan of CNET joins the show to talk with Mikah about how AI is starting to scrape obituaries shared on social media networks like Facebook, and is being monetized for profit.


• And Mikah discusses an upcoming AI-powered browser war that looks to challenge Google Chrome, with companies like Perplexity launching Comet and OpenAI soon to launch its own web browser.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guest: Joe Supan

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Amanda Silberling joins Mikah Sargent this week for Tech News Weekly! X is piloting the use of AI chatbots to generate Community Notes. The Supreme Court's porn ruling and what it means for internet privacy. Microsoft tests using AI to diagnose medical cases. And what's new with the Nothing Phone 3?

• Amanda shares the story she wrote for TechCrunch about how the social media company, X, is testing an AI program that can help generate Community Notes for its posts.


• Mikah talks about the Supreme Court's ruling on a Texas law requiring age verification to access adult websites and what this could mean for internet privacy in the future.


• Mikah also shares research that Microsoft conducted on utilizing AI to help diagnose medical cases that even expert physicians struggle to figure out.


• And Andrew Lanxon of CNET joins the show to talk about the Nothing Phone 3 and what he experienced from his hands-on with the device.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Amanda Silberling

Guest: Andrew Lanxon

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This week on Tech News Weekly, Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini explore RFK Jr.'s ambitious plan to get health trackers on every American's wrist, Apple's CarPlay Ultra facing resistance from automakers, landmark AI copyright rulings, and Fairphone's latest sustainable smartphone offering.

• RFK Jr.'s Wearable Health Initiative - Emily Forlini discusses the HHS Secretary's vision for every American to wear health trackers within four years, examining both the potential benefits of democratizing health data and concerns about privacy, data collection, and the government outsourcing public health monitoring to tech companies.


• Apple CarPlay Ultra vs. Automakers - Mikah explores Apple's ambitious expansion beyond infotainment to control entire car dashboards, revealing which manufacturers are embracing or rejecting the technology, and discussing the fundamental question of who should own the in-car experience - tech companies, automakers, or consumers.


• AI Copyright Rulings Shake Tech Industry - WIRED's Kate Knibbs breaks down two precedent-setting court decisions involving Meta and Anthropic, explaining how judges ruled AI training as "transformative" fair use while leaving the door open for piracy-related damages that could reach into the trillions.


• Fairphone 6: Sustainability Meets Modularity - Will Sattelberg from 9to5Google showcases the latest repairable smartphone featuring modular backplates, a dedicated "Moments" mode for digital wellness, and an ambitious 8-year software support promise, though US availability remains limited.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini

Guests: Kate Knibbs and Will Sattelberg

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This week on Tech News Weekly, Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy talk cybersecurity vulnerabilities with over 40,000 exposed internet cameras, Wyze's new security features following past breaches, a study on youth mental health and addictive tech use, and the launch of Trump Mobile's new phone and cellular plan.

• 40,000 Exposed Internet Cameras: A cybersecurity investigation by BitSight reveals that over 40,000 internet-connected cameras are accessible to anyone with a browser and IP address, many of which use default passwords or lack basic security features.


• Wyze Introduces "Verified View" Security Feature: Following previous incidents where users could see other people's camera streams due to cloud failures, Wyze launched a new security feature that stamps user metadata onto footage for an additional layer of verification to access photos and videos.


• Study Challenges Screen Time Assumptions for Youth Mental Health: A major JAMA study tracking over 4,000 kids from ages 10-14 found no direct link between screen time duration and suicidal behavior, but instead identified addictive usage patterns as the real culprit.


• The Launch of Trump Mobile: The new "47 Plan" offers 20GB of data for $47.45/month, along with a $499 phone claimed to be "made in America," though tech experts question both the value proposition and manufacturing claims.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

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