FCC Bans Foreign Drones; Alexa+ Now Works With Several Additional Services; iOS 26.3-AirPods Like Pairing for 3rd Party Devices Under EU’s DMA; OpenAI & Google Chatbots Still Make Deepfakes of Women-But Bikinis Not Bare

The FCC has effectively banned foreign drones. Mashable.com reports that the ban includes the most popular drones out there, the ones from China’s DJI. DJI presently has some 90% of the world drone market. The ban includes components, too…so even building them in another country besides China is not going to get them into the US. The FCC claims the ban is for national security…it seems that horse has been out of the barn for a number of years, however. One bright spot…According to the FCC, those who already own drones will not be affected by the ban. Consumers in the U.S. can continue to own and operate their DJI drones or any other drones made by companies affected by the blacklist. Additionally, retailers can continue to sell drone models and products from blacklisted companies that have already been approved for sale.

Amazon is making Alexa+ work with several additional services in 2026. According to TechCrunch.com, you will be able to use Alexa+ with Angi, Expedia, Square, and Yelp. Now, if you need home handy services, or want to book a hotel, or the like…you have more options. I would note that not all AI assistants and chatbots are as useful as they should be yet. Yesterday, I called a pharmacy to refill a couple of prescriptions. Instead of just keying in my information and getting it confirmed, the overly solicitous chat bot took at least twice as long to get the job done. Hopefully, they will get better!

It shouldn’t have taken a law to make it happen, but the European Union’s Digital Markets Act has pushed Apple to bring AirPods like pairing to third party devices. Macrumors.com notes that the change comes in iOS 26.3. This means gadgets like 3rd party earbuds will be able to pair with an iOS device just by bringing them close to the iPhone or whatever iIOS product, and the simple, one-tap pairing will begin. In addition, 3rd party smart watches will now be able to get notifications from an iPhone. I have an Apple Watch, and use this feature all the time. With the phone always on mute…due to on-air obligations, and not wanting a phone ringing or buzzing on-air, I can just glance at the watch and see who is calling or texting, and call them back after I am finished on air. For fans of other smart watches that aren’t Apple’s, this will be a really nice feature. The ear bud pairing is cool, but really a one-time use feature…then you just use them as always…but without a big pairing hassle. 

It’s a step in the right direction, but still creepy. While there are nasty deepfake making sites still operating, mainstream AI has generally blocked making nude photos of people. Ah, but even the big ones are still not completely free of creepiness. Both Google and OpenAI chatbots will still make deepfakes of women in bikinis. Wired.com reports that one had been spotted on Reddit. After being notified of this, Reddit removed the offending image. Of mainstream chatbots, only xAI’s Grok still allows making not safe for work images. Google just strengthened its guardrails for Gemini last month in an effort to block sexually explicit content…which would include bikini deepfakes. OpenAI’s ChatGPT users are prohibited from altering someone else’s likeness without consent and that the company takes action against users generating explicit deepfakes, including account bans. As with all things computing, people are always going to find ways around the guardrails. It’s like the radar detectors vs police radar…a constant battle. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.