Jacob Ward of The Rip Current podcast and newsletter joins Mikah Sargent this week! The impact that generative AI is having on energy and our climate. The privacy and social issues around AI wearables. And everything that was announced at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event.

• Jacob shares a paper published recently that covered generative AI and how the massive use of GPU energy is causing concerns about its impact on the climate.
• Mikah talks about a new wearable AI companion device called Friend and how these always-listening devices present privacy challenges for not just others around the user but also for the company itself.
• And Zac Hall of 9to5Mac was at Apple's 'Awe Dropping' event this past Tuesday and was fortunate to get his hands on the new hardware the company announced. He shares his initial thoughts on the new AirPods Pro 3 and iPhone Air!

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jacob Ward

Guest: Zac Hall

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Abrar Al-Heeti of CNET joins Mikah Sargent this week for Tech News Weekly! Apple plans to build its own AI search engine to rival OpenAI. OpenAI is working on improving its models to help users in mental distress. Apple's September event is right around the corner. And the judge in the antitrust case against Google ruled this week!

• Abrar talks about Apple's plans to create a search engine that seeks to rival OpenAI's search engine as the company continues its aggressive expansion into AI.
• (Content Warning) OpenAI previews its plan to improve its AI models to help users in mental or emotional distress. This follows a recent lawsuit that was brought against the company following a teen's suicide.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors stops by to lay the foundation for what Apple could announce at its upcoming event on September 9th.
• And Leah Nylen of Bloomberg joins the show to share an update on the Google Antitrust case that the judge ruled on!

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

Guests: Dan Moren and Leah Nylen

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Emily Forlini of PCMag joins Mikah Sargent on Tech News Weekly this week! OpenAI is being sued following a teen's suicide, which was blamed on ChatGPT. Detecting and countering the misuse of AI. A review of the Pixel 10 Pro. And Meta has poured $10 billion into rural Louisiana to build an ambitious data center.

• (Content Warning) Emily talks about a lawsuit that was brought to OpenAI following a teen's suicide after using ChatGPT.
• Mikah discusses Anthropic's recent threat intelligence report, which examines how bad actors are finding ways to misuse the company's AI models.
• Allison Johnson of The Verge chats with Mikah about her review of the Pixel 10 Pro phone and how the new feature, Magic Cue, impressed Allison at times.
• And finally, MIkah shares how Meta has invested $10 billion into a rural part of Louisiana to build a large data center to fuel the company's AI ambitions.

(If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - call or text 988 or chat online at chat.988lifeline.org. If you are located outside the United States, please visit findahelpline.com to find a helpline in your country.)

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Emily Forlini

Guest: Allison Johnson

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Amanda Silberling of TechCrunch joins Mikah Sargent on Tech News Weekly! An info-sharing app is creating a privacy, harassment, and security crisis for its users. AI-generated stories are infiltrating news sources. And everything unveiled at this year's Made by Google Event.

• Amanda talks about an app called TeaOnHer that has exposed users' personal data, such as driver's licenses.
• Mikah shares how Wired and Business Insider recently removed published freelance articles on their websites after information was brought forward that indicated these articles were AI-generated.
• And Patrick Holland of CNET was at the Made by Google event on August 19th and shares his thoughts on everything unveiled!

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Amanda Silberling

Guest: Patrick Holland

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Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent on this episode of Tech News Weekly! Apple is rumored to launch a series of AI-powered devices, the upcoming Pebble Time 2's design is shown off, a look into a global SMS phishing scam ring, and the blood oxygen feature is returning to Apple Watches?

• Apple is seeking to expand its product offerings into AI-powered robots, home security, and smart displays, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
• Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble smartwatches, unveils the design of the company's Pebble Time 2* watch.
• Harrison Sand, Senior Security Consultant for mnemonic, unveils Darcula. This global SMS phishing-as-a-scam ring sends SMS messages hoping to steal credentials from those who click on the links in the messages.
• And Apple announces that it's bringing back the Blood Oyxgen feature for Apple Watches, which was a clever workaround following a recent U.S. Customs ruling against Masimo.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Guest: Harrison Sand

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Abrar Al-Heeti from CNET joins Mikah Sargent this week on Tech News Weekly! Tesla has been found partially liable for a fatal crash in 2019. Project Ire from Microsoft can autonomously identify malware at scale. Age verification is slowly being rolled out across the internet. And OpenAI announced GPT-5!

• Abrar discusses Tesla's being found partially liable in a fatal 2019 crash and ordered to pay $243 million in damages. Tesla seeks to appeal the ruling.
• Mikah shares a new AI model from Microsoft called Project Ire that can analyze and classify malware in software.
• Age verification is slowly being rolled out to numerous websites that host adult material and harmful content. However, there are concerns with how this is being utilized, which raises privacy concerns for users.
• And Sabrina Ortiz of ZDNET joins the show to chat with Mikah about everything announced at OpenAI's unveiling of its latest AI model, GPT-5.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

Guest: Sabrina Ortiz

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Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins Mikah Sargent this week on Tech News Weekly! Jennifer shares her first impressions of Alexa Plus. The growing overlap between consumer wellness gadgets and regulated medical technology. And Google's rolling out a machine-learning age verification model to detect account users who are under or over the age of 18.

• Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has spent some time with Amazon's new, AI-powered Alexa, Alexa Plus. She shares her excitement and criticisms for the new voice assistant.
• Victoria Song of The Verge joins Mikah to talk about wearable tech companies using the idea of "wellness" technology to skirt FDA regulation on medical technology.
• And Mikah talks about Google's rollout of a machine-learning age verification model to verify account users' age in the U.S.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Guest: Victoria Song

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Dan Moren joins Mikah Sargent for this episode of Tech News Weekly! A zero-day bug was discovered in Microsoft's SharePoint. T-Mobile's new satellite texting service, T-Satellite. Apple announces AppleCare One. And Meta's Reality Labs published new papers on the latest advancements in its wrist-based controllers.

• Mikah shares details about the zero-day bug discovered in Microsoft's SharePoint on Monday, which affected over 400 organizations worldwide.
• Jeff Carlson of CNET spent some time using T-Mobile's new satellite-based service, T-Satellite, and shares his thoughts on the company's Starlink-based service.
• Dan Moren talks about Apple's latest iteration of its device coverage program, AppleCare One, a $19.99/month subscription that covers up to three devices of your choice.
• Breaking news as Apple's iOS 26 Public Beta arrives Thursday morning!
• And Mikah talks about the latest on Meta's wrist-based controllers that use surface electromyography (sEMG) to allow you to interact with paired devices.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guest: Jeff Carlson

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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, on 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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