Android Warns if Scammer Asks to Share Screen; iPhone Testing Under Screen Face ID; OpenAI Brags of Time Savings for Workers; ICEBlock Sues Trump Administration for Censorship

Posted: December 8, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Google has a new feature for in-call scam protection. Bgr.com reports that should you be on a call and share your screen with someone…then open a financial application like one of your bank apps, the feature in Android will check to see if the person you are talking with is in your contacts. If not, Android will pop up a warning that the call is likely a scam. It is hoped that this will stop a lot of social engineering attacks that allow bad buys to steal your info and drain money out of your bank accounts. The feature has been released in the UK first as a pilot program, but it appears to be a big success…so look for it in a release in the US soon. 

A new leak says Apple is now actively testing under-screen FaceID for next year’s iPhone 18 Pro models…using a special ‘spliced micro-transparent glass’ window built into the display. according to macrumors.com, a Chinese leaker going by ’Smart Pikachu’ is the source. This source has previously put out accurate supply chain details on Chinese Android hardware. This does confirm what a report from the Information put out in May of this year saying that the upcoming iPhone won’t have a dynamic island…just a pinhole in the upper left corner of the screen. Others say there will still be a dynamic island, but the pill shape will be smaller. We will know for sure in September.

For those who have continued to ask ‘What can AI really do for me,’ OpenAI has put out new data extolling the virtues of ChatGPT in enterprise use. TechCrunch.com says that the report from OpenAi shows 8 times growth in usage since November 2024, and close to 36% of us businesses using ChatGPT enterprise…compared to 14.3% for competitor Anthropic. OpenAI says based on the data that participants are saving 40 to 60 minutes a day with their enterprise products. This doesn’t take into consideration the amount of time spent learning the systems, prompting, or correcting the AI output though!

The ICEBlock app developers have sued the Trump administration for censorship and ‘unlawful threats. NPR notes that a suit filed in federal court today…Monday…in D.C. asks a judge to declare that the administration violated the First Amendment when it threatened to criminally prosecute the app’s developer and pressured Apple to make the app unavailable for download, which the tech company did in October. After Apple removed ICEBlock from the App Store, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that “we reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so.” The justice department has not commented so far. Although Apple isn’t named in the suit, the legal action claims “For what appears to be the first time in Apple’s nearly fifty-year history, Apple removed a U.S.-based app in response to the U.S. government’s demands.”  It is worth mentioning that even though the app is no longer available for download, the app actually still works for those who have it. 

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

Anthropic Moving towards One of Biggest Tech IPOs Ever; Meta Makes $7 Billion a Year from Scam Ads; New Law Could Mandate Speed Limiters on Cars; India Drops Government App Preinstall Demand on Phones

Posted: December 3, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Anthropic, backed my mighty Amazon, is moving towards what may be one of the biggest tech IPOs ever. Benzinga.com reports that the company has engaged powerhouse law firm Wilson Sonsini as it aims to set the valuation of the AI company at over $300 billion. The maker of the Claude large language model may be going public in 2026 at this rate. Rival Open AI, the makers of ChatGPT is also quietly preparing for an IPO, but no timeline has been indicated for them to go public. 

We all see them….some scammy ads on Facebook. Why does Meta allow them to continue? Money, that’s why. According to mashable.com, Meta is bringing in about $7 billion a year on scammy ads. There have been ads for an alleged AI photo editor that turned out to be malware when you downloaded it for example. Reuters did an investigation and found there were an estimated 15 billion ‘higher risk’ scam ads presented to users on Meta platforms eery day. An internal document seen by Reuters showed that around 10% of Meta’s ad revenue in 2024  “would come from ads for scams and banned goods.” According to the report from Reuters, Meta “only bans advertisers if its automated systems predict the marketers are at least 95% certain to be committing fraud” — while other likely scammers simply get charged a higher rate as punishment. Caveat emptor…let the buyer beware!

Some luxury and super car makers have limited top speeds for years…although those limits might be anywhere from 135 to 200 mph. Now state lawmakers in Wisconsin are looking at passing a law that would make some drivers install speed-limiting devices on their cars. Bgr.com notes that the bill would be aimed at people who have had at least two reckless driving convictions during a 5 year time span. The limiters would restrict the speed to no more than 20 mph above the posted speed limit. Wisconsin is #5 among states for speed related incidents. The limiter device would cost about $1700. They are including assistance in the bill for people who would be at a real hardship to afford the gadget.  

India has backed off a mandate to make smartphone makers pre-install a government app on phones. Bgr.com reports that there were concerns…even from lawmakers there…that the mandate would expand government access to users’ devices and weaken privacy protections. The anti-theft and cybersecurity protection app will remain voluntary. 

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

Samsung Bows Trifold Galaxy Z; Amazon Releases New AI Chip; Apple AI Chief Retiring; Your Boss May See Your Google Messages

Posted: December 2, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung has rolled out its Galaxy Z Trifold smartphone. The three panel phone will be available in Korea on December 12, and also will be released in China, Taiwan, Singapore, and the UAE. It won’t drop in the US until the first quarter of 2026. No pricing yet but it is widely expected to be over the $2000 price of the Z Fold two panel model. Interestingly, if you fold it improperly, it will vibrate and show an on screen alert to warn the user. It has a 10 inch inner screen, and a 6.5 inch outer screen when folded. It is a fat 12.9 millimeters closed, but a thin 3.9 mm…not counting camera bump…when unfolded. It is powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 chip, and has a 5600 mAh battery. The cameras? There’s a rear 12 MP ultra wide, a 200 MP wide angle lens, and a 10 MP telephoto lens. The main screen and cover screen both have 10 MP front cameras. 

Amazon Web Services, which has been building its own AI training chips for some time now, just introduced a new version known as Trainium3. According to TechCrunch.com, the 3 nanometer process chip brings a big performance jump from the last generation. Amazon says it is 4 times faster, and has 4 times more memory. The chips are also 40% more energy efficient. Also important…the Trainium4 chips are in development. That future generation will be able to interoperate and extend their performance with Nvidia GPUs while still using Amazon’s homegrown lower-cost server rack technology. 

Apple’s head of AI John Giannadrea is leaving the position, and will retire from Apple in 2026. Macrumors.com notes that he will serve as an advisor until his retirement. His replacement is an AI researcher that used to work for Microsoft…Amar Subramanya…who will step in as Apple’s VP of AI. Besides Microsoft, Amar spent 16 years at Google, where he was head of engineering for Google’s Gemini Assistant. This all comes in the wake of iOS 18’s major Siri failure. Apple is reportedly partnering with Google for a more advanced version of Siri and other planned Apple Intelligence features. 

Google has added a new app to company-managed Pixel phones that allows IT administrators to see all the RCS messages sent and received on specific devices. Androidpolice.com reports that this only applies to Pixels that are owned by companies. The purpose is a bit less nefarious than at first glance. It is to satisfy regulatory requirements that make businesses archive business messages in the event of a legal discovery situation or a freedom of information requests. In the past, the info was archived by carriers, and companies didn’t have to mess with this. Now that RCS apps encrypt, that isn’t an option…so Google has rolled out this archival application. To avoid the encryption issue, the messages are archived on the phone…and IT can see them remotely. You want to avoid your private messages being seen? Use your personal phone if you are messaging your sweetie.

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

Intel Will Make Non-Pro iPhone Chips; Netflix Drops Cast Support from Phones on ‘Most TVs; Amazon Chatbot Rufus Drove Black Friday Sales; Google Testing Big Gemini App Revision

Posted: December 1, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple has relied on Taiwan Semiconductor for essentially all its system chips for some time now. That is about to change. Bgr.com reports that now Intel will produce non-Pro Apple iPhone chips. Intel is also readying to make lower-end Apple M chips for Macs and MacBooks. Those should be out in 2027. For now, anyway, Apple will still rely in TSMC to make its most powerful A chips for mobile and M chips for Macs. If Intel is able to ensure quality, not only can Apple negotiate the price of future chips, but it can also promote some of its processors being manufactured in America. It is rather ironic to use Intel to make Apple’s own silicon, as Apple will phase out actual Intel chips in Macs when it releases macOS 27. 

Netflix has now dropped support for Google Cast on most products. According to 9to5google.com, with its latest mobile app updates Netflix has all-but-removed the ability to use Google Cast to your TV. Instead, the streamer requires that you use the native app on your TV. Users started noticing the change over the past two weeks or so, and the folks at Android Authority highlighted a support page where Netflix confirms the change. You can still used the remote from your TV to navigate to the Netflix app and launch it on your TV. Netflix had already dropped support for AirPlay on iOS. Better hunt around for that TV remote if you don’t have it handy. Mine is right by my cable remote (yes, I still have cable), but except for selecting apps like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon…it’s pretty useless. 

Amazon has had a button for its AI chatbot Rufus since 2024, and not that many people have used it. Apparently got a workout on Black Friday…with Amazon saying it got a ‘surge’ of adoption. TechCrunch.com notes that data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower indicates that in the US, Amazon sessions using the chatbot were up 100% on Black Friday, compared to the previous 30 days. Sessions that didn’t include Rufus were just up 20%. Amazon also saw a 75% day-over-day increase for sections that included Rufus and resulted in a purchase. That compares with just a 35% day-over-day increase for sessions without Rufus that had resulted in a purchase. For overall shopping, Adobe Analytics, which tracks more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail websites, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites increased by 805% year-over-year on Black Friday. 

Google has been at work, making incremental improvements to its’ Gemini app. Still, it hasn’t been as useful as ChatGPT…but that may be changing. Androidpolice.com reports that Google is making a huge investment in the mobile app…giving it a revamped interface that will open up more of Gemini’s power to users. Besides Android, lead producer for Google AI Studio Logan Kilpatrick says Google is working on a native Gemini app for MacOS. Right now, the only way to access it is via a browser. I can confirm that it is clunkier to use with the button on Chrome. Over the weekend I tried this in a search for an ancient car logo. I finally gave up on the Gemini via browser and dropped the graphic into ChatGPT and got a result in seconds. Let’s hope Google gives us that kind of power when they upgrade the mobile Gemini app interface and release a native app for MacOs as well as Android. 

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

iPhone Reclaims Top Spot After 14 Years; RAM Prices Astronomical As GPU Prices Drop; Bug in Jury Software Exposes Personal Info; OpenAI Claims Teen Violated Their Rules in Suicide Case

Posted: November 26, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

For the first time in 14 years, Apple has taken back the crown as the world’s top smartphone maker from Samsung. Macrumors.com reports that the move is due to the popularity of the iPhone 17, particularly in China. Overall iPhone shipments are projected to grow 10% in 2025, compared to Samsung’s 4.6% growth..according to Counterpoint Research. For 2026, it looks like the more budget conscious are also going to be eyeing the iPhone 17e. The well-heeled will make up a small bump as we noted yesterday…Apple will likely sell only about 5.4 million of the pricy folding phone starting next September. Adding to Apple’s predicted strong continuing sales…the 2027 model will be they 20th anniversary, and it is expected that Apple will make some spectacular changes to the iPhones…or at least hype features to make us think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I was just talking with my son the IT guy last night about the crazy high pricers of computer RAM. He was complaining that in trying to buy a DDR5 RAM kit to upgrade a laptop, the prices were much higher than before. According to arstechnica.com, there is a shortage mainly caused by the AI boom. Prices are more than double in a number of cases than they were just a few months ago. Keep in mind that this won’t affect your purchase of a PC or laptop…the big manufacturers have deals in place to buy massive numbers and their prices will not be affected under their contracts. On the plus side, as memory prices have gone nuts, GPU prices have actually dropped. You can actually buy high end graphics cards for less than suggested retail prices right now should you be in the market for one of those. 

Most people get them at some point or another…a postcard with a jury summons. Now, TechCrunch.com says that a bug has been found in the systems used by several states that exposed peoples’ personal information. At least a dozen juror websites made by government software maker Tyler Technologies appear to be vulnerable to the exploit, according to a security researchers. Some of the states include California. Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. Tyler has said it is fixing the flaw now. The bug meant it was possible for anyone to obtain the information about jurors who are selected for service. To log into these platforms, a juror is provided a unique numerical identifier assigned to them, which could be brute-forced since the number was sequentially incremental. The platform also did not have any mechanism to prevent anyone from flooding the login pages with a large number of guesses, a feature known as “rate-limiting.”

ChatGPT argues in a court filing that it shouldn’t be held liable in the death of a 16 year old because the youngster violated their rules. Gizmodo.com notes the AI company said in the document that there was “[M]isuse, unauthorized use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT.” Those are potential causal factors that could have led to the “tragic event” that was the death by suicide of 16-year-old Adam Raine. The firm apparently denies responsibility, and is reportedly skeptical of the “extent that any ‘cause’ can be attributed to” Raine’s death. Raine’s family is suing OpenAI over the teen’s April suicide, alleging that ChatGPT drove him to the act. An attorney for the Raines family, Jay Edelson, said in an email that OpenAI “tries to find fault in everyone else, including, amazingly, saying that Adam himself violated its terms and conditions by engaging with ChatGPT in the very way it was programmed to act.” He also claims that the defendants, “abjectly ignore” the “damning facts” the plaintiffs have put forward. We’ll keep an eye on this case, which is really what they call an issue of first impression…AI assisting a user to commit suicide.

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

Amazon Testing New Fast Delivery Setup; Folding iPhone-May be $2400; Landlord Rent Setting Tool Gets Gutted; Amazon Web Services- $50 Billion to Build Government AI Infrastructure 

Posted: November 25, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is trialing a new rapid delivery idea in Seattle. Geekwire.com reports that Amazon is using a closed Amazon Fresh site as a mini warehouse for  most popular and fast moving items. It is something like a convenience store…open 24/7 but not to you. It functions as a pick up site for  Amazon Flex drivers. Amazon employees will fulfill online orders…picking and bagging items from a stock room, then putting them on shelves for Flex drivers to pick up and deliver to the nearby neighborhoods within hours of ordering. Flex drivers are independent contractors who deliver packages using their own vehicles, signing up for delivery blocks through the Amazon Flex app. The program has often been described as Uber for package delivery. 

We’ve heard price rumors ranging from the $1900 plus level up to $2500 for the upcoming folding iPhone. Now, according to mac rumors.com, analyst Arthur Liao is postulating it will be $2399. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously said it would land at between $2000 and $2500, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has predicted it will be somewhere around $2000. The foldable ‌iPhone‌ will be expensive because of the premium components that Apple plans to use. The display panel and hinge will push pricing toward the upper end of market expectations, Fubon Research suggests. One truly big deal is that the iPhone is expected to be the first folder with no crease at all in the middle of the screen. Fubon Research sees Apple selling about 5.4 million of the folders in 2026. That is a pretty modest number compared to 228 million total iPhones sold in 2024, the last full year we have figures for. 

A controversial tool used by landlords to set rental prices has had its ears pinned back after a settlement with the Department of Justice. The DOJ said in a press release that the proposed settlement “would help restore free market competition in rental markets for millions of American renters.” The antitrust settlement is with RealPage. For years since the pandemic started, rental prices outpaced inflation, and the DOJ suspected that RealPage was the dominant force driving a market that never favored renters. Under the settlement, RealPage admits no wrongdoing, and doesn’t pay a fine. Arstechnica.com notes that if the court approves the deal, however, RealPage has agreed to update its software so that rival landlords cannot access “competitively sensitive information to determine rental prices in runtime operation.” Additionally, RealPage will “remove or redesign features that limited price decreases or aligned pricing between competing users of the software.” And the company will “cooperate in the United States’ lawsuit against property management companies that have used its software.”

Amazon is spending an eye-watering $50 billion to build out AI infrastructure for the US government. Techcrunch.com reports that it will be a ‘high performance computing infrastructure’ built specially for the feds. It will expand government agency access to AWS AI services. Amazon will break ground on the data centers in 2026. Amazon has long supplied cloud infrastructure to the US government…starting back in 2011. 

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

Amazon Leo-Faster Satellite Internet; OpenAI Settles on ‘Device’; Apple iOS27-Internal Improvements No Major Changes; Tesla Can’t Sell Cybercabs Until A Regulatory Exemption is Obtained

Posted: November 24, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Watch out StarLink! Amazon Leo is starting to roll out its fastest satellite internet service. Geekwire.com reports that the sat internet was previously known as Project Kuiper. Amazon has started shipping its top of the line terminals to select customers for testing. Although Amazon is way behind SpaceX Starlink at the moment, they are touting their top tier global broadband service…dubbed Leo Ultra…as having 1 gig per second download speed and 400 mbps upload speed. The antenna is 20 by 30 inches in size, and it’s powered by a custom chip optimized for videoconferencing, real-time monitoring, and cloud computing. It can connect directly to Amazon Web Services and other cloud networks. There are two lower tier services, too. Leo Nano uses a compact 7 inch antenna and it has download speeds of up to 100 mbps. Leo Pro uses a standard 11 inch antenna and has download speeds of up to 400 mbps. Amazon says they are continuing to build things out, and will be launching more satellites. At the moment, they just have 153, but they are planning 3,000 more. Pricing hasn’t yet been disclosed on the hardware or monthly plans. 

Since we reported months ago about Jony Ive, former design wizard at Apple, teaming up with OpenAI on a device, all has been quiet. Now, according to theverge.com, Ive and Sam Altman at OpenAI have a prototype of the OpenAI device. This word came out in an interview with Laurene Powell Jobs. Ive said that they are definitely prototyping the device and that it could arrive in ‘less than 2 years.’ There is very little known about the gizmo, except we now know hear it will be screen free and ‘roughly the size of a smartphone.’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the design as ’simple and beautiful and playful.’ Ive commented “I love solutions that teeter on appearing almost naive in their simplicity, and I also love incredibly intelligent, sophisticated products that you want to touch, and you feel no intimidation, and you want to use almost carelessly, that you use them almost without thought, that they’re just tools.” This is in line with the old Steve Jobs mantra that tech gadgets ought to be as simple and un-intimadating as toasters.

After the rather dramatic changes to iOS26, with the ‘Liquid Glass’ look everywhere, Apple says it will focus on ‘quality and underlying performance’ in the iOS 27 release. 9to5mac.com says it will be something of a Snow Leopard update, where Apple will drill down on quality rather than bowing flashy new features. That said, they will still add some new AI features….tow of them worth noting. One is their new AI health agent, that will launch with a rumored Apple Health+ subscription. The other is Apple’s first AI powered web search. Count me among the people that will be happy with Apple just cleaning up things in the OS to make it more reliable and robust. I know flashy updates are a necessary thing…like the changes to styling on new car models, but the ‘under the hood’ stuff really makes a difference…in software as well as in cars!

Elon Musk has hyped the driverless Cybercab endlessly, but none will be sold or hitting the streets without a regulatory exemption…which Tesla hasn’t yet obtained. The reason is that the vehicle doesn’t have any controls…no steering wheel or pedals, among other requirements. The company still doesn’t have authority for full self-driving for the vehicle, either. Amazon’s Zoox has applied for a waiver for its vehicles that lack standard controls. Alphabet’s Waymo doesn’t need waivers, as they are leaving conventional controls in all their robotaxi vehicles. Musk has insisted that the Cybercab will remain without controls, but Tesla’s board chair, Robyn Denholm, has said that Tesla has contingency plans to install a steering wheel and pedals if necessary. 

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

iPhone 18 Could See Big Upgrades; TikTok Will Now Let you Choose How Much AI Content You See; YouTube TV’s “Lower Cost Sports Bundle” Coming; CDC-US Close to Losing Measles Elimination Status

Posted: November 19, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Several cool changes may be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro series. Bgr.com reports that the first thing might be a major camera upgrade…a variable aperture. If this makes your eyes cross as too camera nerdy, the net is it would improve low-light pictures and make brighter scenes more realistic with better depth of field. Another rumor has a smaller dynamic island coming, and in fact…Apple may hide the FaceID sensors under the display…that rumor is coming from both analyst Ross Young and Bloombergs Mark Gurman. Another possibility is Cupertino adding a single pinhole cam in the upper left corner of the display. Sources in China have the 18 Pro thicker and heavier…probably due to a bigger battery. This has been rumored for a while, but the iPhone 18 Pro may have its processor made using a 2 nanometer process…that means more power without sapping battery life. A cool rumor has Apple adding support for 5G networks via satellites, which would expand satellite connection from emergency calls to mainstream use…this means for you using your iPhone 18 Pro with unlimited online access anywhere in the world. 

TikTok is now adding a setting that lets you pick how much AI generated content you want to see in your ‘For You’ feed. According to techcrunch.com, they are also adding more advanced labeling tech for AI generated content. Since OpenAI has launched Sora, realistic AI-generated videos have been posted to TikTok. Additionally, many TikTok users are leveraging AI to create visuals for posts about other topics, like history or celebrities. TikTok says that with the new AI-generated content control, users who want to see less of this sort of content can now dial things down, while those who enjoy it can choose to see more of it.

YouTube may be preparing to launch a new, ‘lower-cost’ sports bundle in 2026, after cutting a deal with Disney. 9to5google.com notes that there’s a catch…there’s always a catch. MLB.TV won’t be included. Disney’s ESPN unit just recently finalized a deal with MLB.TV…probably at a significant bump in cost. Another issue that has held up a deal with the House of Mouse sports content is that traditional cable and satellite providers have had similar access to the content, but up to now, Roku Amazon, and Apple have never had access to Disney’s direct to consumer content. As the saying goes…stay tuned.

In a sad report…thanks Robert F. Kennedy, Jr…CDC date confirms that the US is only about 2 months away from losing measles elimination status. Arstechnica.com reports that Federal health officials have linked two massive US measles outbreaks at the border of Arizona and Utah as a continuation of the explosive outbreak in West Texas that began in mid- to late-January. That is, the two massive outbreaks are being caused by the same subtype of measles virus. The finding that the outbreaks are linked means there’s been continuous circulation within the country for about 10 months. If the same measles virus subtype from the outbreaks—dubbed 9171—continues to spread and surpasses the 12-month mark in January 2026, the US will lose its elimination status.

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

Google Bows Gemini 3 AI & Antigravity Agent; iPhone 17 Powers Apple to 25% of China’s Phone Sales; Cloudflare-Latent Bug Caused Huge Outage; Anthropic Now Valued at $350 Billion

Posted: November 18, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Google has released its Gemini 3 AI, and a new agent called Antigravity. Arstechnica.com reports that the release of Gemini 3 Pro is just available in a limited form today, though. Google is touting more immersive, visual outputs and fewer lies, Google says. The company also says Gemini 3 sets a new high-water mark for vibe coding. In addition to Gemini 3, Google has also unveiled a new AI-first integrated development environment…or IDE…named Antigravity. Google says 3 has improved simulated reasoning abilities, and better understanding of text, images, and video. Google says math and coding are the primary focus of this release. Google says people should think of Antigravity  as a “mission control” for creating and monitoring multiple development agents. The AI in Antigravity can operate autonomously across the editor, terminal, and browser to create and modify projects, but everything they do is relayed to the user in the form of “Artifacts.” 

The lower priced iPhone 17 has helped Apple to pick up 25% of China’s smartphone sales. According to bgr.com, the base model 17 made up 80% of Apple’s iPhone sales in China. Apple sold 37% more iPhones than last year in China. The top line iPhone 17 Pro Max is experiencing shipping delays in China, but just 2-5 days. The premium phone segment is still hotly contested…The Huawei Mate 80 flagship phone is coming out, and that is expected to cut into Apple’s market share. 

Cloudflare had a major outage this Tuesday morning that took down or snarled a significant piece of the internet. TechCrunch.com says the outage hit ChatGPT, Claude, Spotify, X, and others. In a post on X, Cloudflare’s chief technology officer Dane Knecht said a latent bug was responsible, and he apologized for the outage. The problem occurred when Cloudflare’s bot mitigation system started to crash after a routine configuration change. A few users were still having some issues logging onto their Cloudflare dashboards by late morning.

As part of new strategic partnerships with both Nvidia and Anthropic, Microsoft will pour up to $5 billion into Anthropic, while Nvidia will dump $10 billion into the AI startup. Cnbc.com notes that this will put the valuation of Anthropic…maker of the Claude AI model…at around $350 billion, up from $183 billion in September. Anthropic has committed to purchasing $30 billion of Azure compute capacity from Microsoft and has contracted for additional compute capacity up to 1 gigawatt, according to a blog post. Anthropic has also committed to purchase up to 1 gigawatt of compute capacity with Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems. Amazon Web Services continue to be Anthropic’s primary cloud provider, however.

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

Bezos Co-CEO in AI Startup; Major Tech Investor Dumps Nvidia; Door Dash Data Breach; Steam Machine-Easy Cheats in Games an Issue

Posted: November 17, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Jeff Bezos has apparently decided he couldn’t stay away from running a company, even with all his billions. Bezos is now co-CEO of an AI startup called Project Prometheus…which has raised $6.2 billion in funding. This will be the first time the former Amazon founder and CEO has been in an actual working executive role since leaving the Amazon CEO position in 2021. The details are scant about Project Prometheus. On LinkedIn, the only description is ‘AI for the physical economy.’ The other co-CEO is Vic Bajaj, who formerly worked in research at Alphabet’s ‘moonshot’ division Google X. Vic is also a director at biotech startup in Seattle called Xaira Therapeutics. Bezos said earlier this year that there are signs of an AI “industrial bubble” — but also said the technology will bring massive benefits to society. “When the dust settles and you see who are the winners, society benefits from those inventions. … The benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic,” according to Bezos.

Just last week, we reported on a major investor-a Japanese billionaire- selling all his Nvidia stock. Now comes word that tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel has sold ALL his Nvidia stock. According to raw story.com, the sale had amounted to about 40% of a Thiel controlled hedge fund. One post on line said just “Uh, oh.” This is another red flag that there is very likely an AI bubble, and that it may be getting precariously close to popping. There has been some $350 billion pumped into AI this year just in the US. The AI boom reportedly now makes up about a third of the value of the entire stock market. It isn’t helpful that Sam Altman – CEO of OpenAI – about the U.S. government being the “insurer of last resort,” suggesting that taxpayers may be forced to bail AI companies out should they financially collapse. Well, the government has bailed out banks and savings and loans…but of course, not the poor, working poor, or middle class…nor has it helped younger people get into homes. Kamala Harris’ plan to give new home buyers $25 grand to do that seems like it might have been a lot better investment for the government than bailing out billionaires that have bet big on a flaky at this point but promising technology. 

DoorDash has had a data breach that includes user phone numbers and physical addresses. Techcrunch.com says that DoorDash hasn’t released a number affected…but that it does include customers, delivery workers, and merchants. The company did say that “no sensitive information was accessed by the unauthorized third party and we have no indication the data has been misused for fraud or identity theft at this time.” No social security numbers or driver licenses, or bank information or credit card info was exposed in the hack. All affected users have been notified. 

A lot of gamers are looking at jumping to the new Linux-based Steam Machine from Valve. One sticky issue is keeping some popular games off the platform and may keep some gamers from switching. Engadget.com reports that the problem is its Linux OS. It is apparently way easy to make cheating software for Linux based operating systems. This has kept some big games like Fortnite and Rainbow Six Siege from porting to the platform. Still, for a lot of folks that are unhappy with the intrusiveness of Windows 11…and the specter of Windows 12 even possibly being subscription based like Office 360…something Microsoft has backed off of for now…I expect to see a good minority of users jump to the Steam Machine. As with the Mac Mini, you do need to get your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor…but those things are widely available. 

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

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