OpenAI Releases ‘Dots’; Apple Pressed over ICE Tracking App Removals; Android Auto Gemini-Can’t Call 911; Google Play Adds Usage-Based Billing Subscriptions for AI Apps
Posted: September 29, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Android Auto, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, gemini, llm, technology Leave a commentEven as controversy continues to roil things after OpenAI agents escaped and hacked Hugging Face, OpenAI moves ahead in releasing new agents anyone can use with minimal supervision. It is worth noting that they are holding back their latest ChatGPT model due to safety concerns. That said, Engadget.com reports that at their DevDay event today in San Francisco, OpenAI announced Dots…pitching them as proactive, always-on AI systems that can chip away at tasks for you every hour of the day. “The magic of dots is when they bring you work done the way you would do it, sometimes before you even think to ask,” the company explains. It points to an example where a tester’s Dot noticed they had forgotten to bill a publication for an article. The Dot prepared an invoice and sent it on the person’s behalf after it obtained their approval. Dots can interact with more than 4,000 apps using OpenAI’s ecosystem of plug-ins. Dots will come in Pro, Business, Premium, and Enterprise tiers and be available in select markets to users…who can choose one primary Dot to name and customize. OpenAI says eventually you will be able to control teams of Dots. Or will they control you? Ok, just kidding…kinda.
Apple is getting continued blowback over dropping ICE tracking apps such as ICEBlock from the App Store. The Trump administration had claimed that the apps endangered officers. According to arstechnica.com, US Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has opined that Apple has no evidence to support claims that apps raised safety concerns. Instead, the lawmaker accused Apple of using immigrant deaths with no connection to the apps to justify censoring Americans who have the right to record ICE activity. It appears that Apple is “working with the government to violate its customers’ First Amendment rights to record and report on the activities of their own government,” Raskin said in a letter to Apple sent Monday, CNN reported. To ensure that no Americans’ core speech rights are violated by removals unconstitutionally ordered by the government, Raskin has asked Apple to “send a full list of the apps it removed following concerns from the Justice Department” so that it will finally be possible to “conduct an independent review of those removal decisions.”
Something crucial to keep in mind if you use Android Auto and have to call 911…do it yourself, don’t ask Android Auto’s Gemini to do so. The latest iteration apparently won’t. Androidpolice.com says that in posts to Reddit and to the Android Auto community forum, there were posts like this one: “Three times at least in the past month I have needed to call 911 and my Gemini assistant integrated via Android Auto says calling or dialing 911.. and stops.” Apparently past versions COULD call 911. If you go to the Gemini Apps Help page, you can find a section called ‘What Gemini Apps Can’t do.’ It states right there that it can’t make emergency services like 911. If you use Android Auto and the Gemini app in your car, do yourself a favor…if you need to call 911…just dial 911 directly.
Android developers will get payment options around subscriptions in Google Play apps they build. 9to5google.com notes that this means to you as a user you should keep an eye out for User-Based Billing to support generative AI apps and other usage based services. This new way of extracting a few more bucks from you is being termed ‘prepaid metered billing.’ It means users can automatically top off their balance when it drops below a set threshold. Everybody—but everybody in tech—as well as other sectors…is pushing for some kind of regular subscription. You can easily be into hundreds of bucks a month flying out the door on them. Everything from Netflix, public radio, MS Now, and now your agentic AI apps will have lovely subscriptions for you to keep track of. Add yours up…you may be surprised at how much this nickel and diming takes out of your account every month.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Nvidia-Software Platform to Stop AI Agents from Bad Actions; Meta Muse AI Wants Full Disk Access & Your Passwords; Google Messages…Some Nice Upgrades; Meta & YouTube WILL Run Musk Documentary Ads
Posted: September 28, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, llm, technology Leave a commentWith two of the biggest AI companies, Anthropic and OpenAI basically asking to be regulated, and with the escaped AI agents hacking into both companies, and now several government websites, now Nvidia says is is bowing a new software platform to allow AI developers to set up safeguards for agents and prevent them from breaking out of their ‘sandboxes.’ Cnbc.com reports that the Open Agent Safety Platform..according to Nvidia…could have prevented OpenAI’s HuggingFace incident in July. That’s when OpenAI models escaped containment, accessed the open internet and breached Hugging Face, which operates an open-source developer platform. One component of the platform is called Nvidia OpenShell, which runs on central processors and sets limits on agent capabilities. Nvidia also announced Sentry, which monitors agents and runs on network chips, not CPUs or GPUs. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates noted over the weekend that a ‘kill switch,’ as California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for…is probably a bit naive, but this Nvidia platform may be a start.
Meta has really been pushing its AI Muse as an agent that can do all sorts of things for you…including shopping on the net. Now, according to zdnet.com, a tech reporter got set to give it a try…but has found that it not only wants access to your calendar, contacts, and email messages, but also wants to store your logins and passwords. Excuse me, but what? This from the AI agent of a company that lied about privacy controls and shared private data with advertisers, resulting in FTC penalties. This is the company that discriminated in housing ads algorithmically based on users’ race, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin, and was penalized for it by the Justice Department. Well, if you are up for sharing all of the above, it apparently does work pretty well as a personal assistant. One caveat on internet purchases…Amazon has blocked it because it wants too much access to your personal info that Amazon has! In 1984, big brother may have been watching, but in 2026, a number of big tech firms are watching…and hoovering up whatever shreds of your personal info companies don’t already have…but they will be so helpful!
Google Messages has updated, and a few nice touches are included. First of all, timestamps are easier to see. In addition, androidpolice.com notes that you can long press on a message instead of having to go to the venue to get quick access to Replay, Forward, Copy, Star, Delete, Select more, and Info. You can also long-press to highlight parts of a message if you want to copy and paste specific text. A couple of little things, but it is cool to have some of the tools more accessible for quick action. A lot of us live with our messaging apps pretty constantly, so a few seconds here, a few there can really add up.
After most social media platforms had refused to carry ads for the upcoming documentary by Alex Gibney on Elon Musk. TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and of course X had all refused to run the ads. After some blowback, now Meta and YouTube will be running the ads after all. TechCrunch.com says that Meta actually put out a statement that said ‘This was an error and the ads are being restored.’ I haven’t seen any yet on Facebook, Instagram, or Threads…but am on the lookout for them. YouTube said in an update over the weekend that ‘the trailer has always been available on YouTube.’ A couple of the platforms had initially claimed the ads were political advertising, but since Musk isn’t running for anything, that’s hard to justify. Musk has railed against Alex Gibney, who has directed acclaimed documentaries including “Going Clear” (about the Church of Scientology) and “The Inventor” (about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos), as well as a movie about Steve Jobs. “Musk,” his latest, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month and has received almost universally positive reviews. The film currently has a 100% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is set for theatrical release in the United States on October 9.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Meta Connect Hardware Headlines
Posted: September 24, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, Tech, technology Leave a commentThere was plenty going on at Meta Connect during the Zuckerberg keynote yesterday. Here are some of the hardware highlights. The did indeed roll out the camera-free AI glasses we talked about earlier this week. The glasses are designed by Essilor Luxottica, and they start at $349. The claimed battery life is 12 hours between charges. You can use them to listen to music and podcasts, take calls, translate speech, and of course chat with Meta’s AI assistant, Muse. Meta claims they have high-quality audio, but tiny speakers in the bows of glasses are unlikely to give you AirPods quality sound, let alone top quality sound from a good set of headphones. The glasses will be open for preorder on October 13th at any rate.
Meta also showed off an all-new gadget. They call it Muse Charm, and it is a little AI device with a screen and a lanyard to hold it. Theverge.com compared it to a smart watch without the watch band. Meta didn’t give anyone a chance to play with the device, but it looks like it has several mic holes and a small camera. Meta plans to ship the Charm in time for the holidays. Pricing and other deets are coming soon according to Zuckerberg.
The big reveal at Connect was some new Meta VR Glasses. They are oversized, and look more like goggles, but are much smaller and lighter than the headsets Meta and others have offered in the past. The bows just sit on your ears like a regular pair of glasses. Engadget.com notes that you can’t see through them without the passthrough feature turned on. At 100 grams, they are heavier than the Meta Ray-Bans, but much lighter than the Quest 3S or really any other headset. They do have a separate pack that houses the battery power and processing. It has a clip so you can hang it on a pants pocket, but it is really too big and heavy for that…clipping to your belt is better. There are no controllers, the device picks up on hand and eye movements to take commands. The gesture recognition is much like the Apple Vision Pro at $3500. So what do the Meta VR glasses cost? They will start at $1299 and should be out this spring.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re…’Metafied’ for now.
Meta-Human Callers Back Up Muse AI; Meta Connect is Later Today; New Anthropic & OpenAI Models-More Power for Less Money; Microsoft Cuts Xbox Jobs; Discord Revised Age Verify Policy
Posted: September 23, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, llm, technology Leave a commentMeta Connect is later today, with the keynote set for 4PM Pacific. We’ll have more on the announcements tomorrow. Meanwhile, Meta has been testing what they term ‘human concierges’ for Muse AI…that is, contractors taking over some calls placed through the agent. Thenextweb.com reports that For half of Meta’s employees, the ‘human agent calls’ option was enabled, with an opt-out for those who did not wish to participate. Daniel Roberts, a Meta spokesperson, told Reuters that employee feedback had been “overwhelmingly positive” and that the purpose of the test was to help shape the safety and privacy protections before its public release. It is worth mentioning that other AI firms have also used humans to intervene or to just select the best answer out of several that the large language model comes up with before sending out the answers to users. Meta opened Muse to US users on September 8th, and the agent can send out email, make purchases, and book travel on the user’s behalf.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest models are offering a bit more power than the last generation but with notably less cost. According to arstechnica.com, both AI makers have made the latest models more efficient, but not strikingly more capable. With some companies having burned through their AI budget for the year in just one quarter, more efficiency and lower cost are pretty critical to trying to expand use of the AI models. Even with lower cost, the token system employed by the AI companies still make it really difficult to know how much you are spending when you query the models.
Microsoft is laying off a bit less than 600 people worldwide as they continue to restructure the Xbox division. Around 300 of the folks getting pink slips are in Washington. Geekwire.com notes that in July, Redmond had said that around 3200 roles would be gone by the end of the year…that’s about 20% of the division. Work on the new Halo game will move to Activision, which Microsoft bought in 2023. A much reduced team will stay on at Halo Studios. Activision is also taking over World’s Edge.
Discord has bowed its revised age verification rules. The platform had planned to enact a policy this year that would have required either a facial age estimation or an ID scan for users who couldn’t have their status as adults confirmed by its internal tools. The company announced in February that it would be delaying those changes in response to concerns about privacy and the collection of personal data involved in both of those verification methods. Concerns is putting it mildly….there was a fierce blowback by users. Engadget.com says that starting this week, Discord will automatically sort users into either the Adult or Teen age group based on markers such as how long the account has existed, the servers they’re in and their general activity levels. Discord will not be accessing messages or calls to determine an age estimate, and the individual’s age group will not be displayed on their profile or shared with other server members. Discord users will be able to check which group they’ve been sorted into under the Account Status section of the User Settings menu. For an expected 90 percent of platform’s audience, no further action will need to be taken if they are placed in the correct group.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Google Avoids Another Breakup Attempt; FTC Alleges Amazon Rigged Ad Auctions; Uber Deleting 3,000 Jobs; Apple Joins Google in Shameful ‘Lake America’ Label
Posted: September 2, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Amazon, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, books, chatgpt, Google, Uber Leave a commentWhen I read about attempts to break up Google…or for that matter, Meta or Amazon, I keep coming back to the government’s years long work on breaking up AT&T. How’d that work out? The pieces of AT&T basically reassembled as a couple large telcos, and now we have really 3 big cell companies…two of which are Verizon and AT&T…both large chunks of the old AT&T that was supposedly broken up. With that said, Google has dodged the bullet on another break up attempt by the government. Theverge.com reports that a US district Judge, Leonie Brinkema, has declined the Justice Departments’s request to make Google sell off parts of its ad tech business. The court DID say it would adopt most of the behavioral changes proposed by the parties, with some modifications. But those won’t become public until the parties meet to work out any additional proposed revisions and to review the judge’s opinion for confidential information that must be redacted. They could include proposals like restricting Google from using self-preferencing ad auction tactics or letting third-party ad tech tools access the same real-time information as Google. Google can still appeal, but they may really want to go with this deal, and at least put off risking a ruling that does force them to spin off part of their very lucrative ad business.
The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states have sued Amazon, alleging that it has conducted a secret scheme to overcharge advertisers for seven years. According to arstechnica..com, the filing asserts that Since 2019, Amazon.com, Inc. has secretly and systematically overcharged its approximately 1.2 million advertising customers by manipulating the ‘auctions’ that it uses to set the price of ads on its platform,” the lawsuit said. “Amazon represents, and advertisers believe, that competitive auctions set the prices for advertising on its leading e-commerce website. But, in reality, Amazon overrides and replaces the actual auction results with higher prices set by Amazon to increase its profits.” Amazon says the ‘FTC cherry-picked’ details, and that the lawsuit is ‘misguided.’ The FTC says customers paid more than they would have if Amazon operated the auction in the way it claimed it did. This should be an interesting trial to follow, unless the online giant decides to settle…with the Feds and 22 states after them, that might be their best option.
Uber has chopped about 3,000 jobs, as it moves to what it claims is a more efficient organization. This will be close to 10% of the 34,000 employees of the ridesharing firm. Engadget.com says they are removing management layers and aiming to be “simpler and faster.” Uber will continue to have its global teams based in New York and San Francisco, and will continue to have tech hubs, as well as regional and country-based teams.
Apple has joined Google in caving to the whims of Donald Trump and his latest antic of renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. They had previously done so with the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Techcrunch.com reports that the foolish name will only appear on the Maps app in the US, and not elsewhere. Reportedly, this came after a call direct from the White House to the C Suite at Apple. Also according to reports, rank and file Apple employees are furious that the top suits gave in to Trump on this ridiculous move. This has also caused Apple Maps users….like Google Maps users…to leave in sizable numbers and switch to Mapquest, which has stayed at the top of Apple’s App Store downloads, besting ChatGPT…which had been at the top for some time. It is rather appalling that huge tech firms fear a megalomaniacal president enough that they feel like they have to go along with such foolish and childish moves. It’s sad for us that we will have to put up with this clownish behavior for the next two years. As for me, I am unaffected…I will just keep using the Inrix map software in my car that I haven’t paid to update…so the lake will remain Ontario, as the gulf has stayed Mexico!
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Will Drop Down to 15% Cut on Outside App Store Purchases; YouTube Starts Counting Views Earlier; First Test Flight of Large Electric Plane-$5 Electricity Cost; Anthropic Watermark System-Some Users Really Angry
Posted: August 17, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, anthropic, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, electric-plane, gemini, technology, YouTube Leave a commentUnder the gun from the US District Court of Northern California to reduce their cut of purchases, Apple has now proposed commissions of 15% from standard apps, and larger discounts for developers enrolled in special Apple Programs. TechCrunch.com reports that small business developers would pay a 5% commission on payments. Developers in the Video Partner Program, News Partner Program, and Mini Apps Partner Program would pay 10%. Subscription renewals would also be reduced to 10%. All this is in Apple’s court filing. Cupertino had delayed and appealed, but last week the Supreme Court rejected Apple’s plea to pause the lower court action. This all flows from the lawsuit that has been ongoing for years brought by Epic Games. Apple had been taking a 30% cut originally….a pretty hefty commission.
YouTube is getting set to start counting views as soon as a video starts to play, aligning them with what Instagram, TikTok, and their own Shorts do. According to theverge.com, X still doesn’t count a view until a couple seconds have passed. YouTube will keep their original view counting method, but it will be under an ‘engaged views’ metric.
This is some pretty exciting news. The first test flight of a large-sized electric airplane has been completed, and it only used $5 worth of electricity! Arstechnica.com notes that the plane was the Heart Aerospace X1. How long did it fly on that $5 bucks? A half hour. That would work out to a 4 hour flight costing about $40 in electricity…a hell of a lot cheaper than Jet A fuel. The X1 plane is the size of a regional plane like fly between a couple of close cities frequently. It is noticeably quieter than a jet…the plane is a propeller craft though, not a jet. It has a range of 500 miles…plenty for those commuter hops between cities. When I fly from Denver to Colorado Springs, it is always on one of the small Canadair regional jets flown by a subsidiary of the likes of United or Delta. That’s 15 minute flight, so figure the fuel cost would be $2.50. Will airlines buy these and charge less for those flights? I won’t hold my breath…but if it keeps them from raising ticket prices, that would be cool.
Anthropic has stirred up a hornet’s nest with some users, as it has announced a controversial watermarking system. On Friday, the company put out a blog post trying to justify it. Gizmodo.com says that the watermarking is intended to comply with the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act. The watermarking will make it harder for users to get away with pretending they wrote AI-generated text. Apparently…according to posts on X…a number of users have cancelled their accounts over the watermarking. Anthropic claims the watermarking will not be distinguishable by users. They are basically using the same tech as Google uses in its SynthID watermarking system. Some Claude users admit that they don’t want their AI-generated work to be detected by clients and school faculty who expect work to be done by a human. I say good for Anthropic and Google. In a college situation, professors used to be able to spot something copied from Cliff’s Notes in a New York second. It’s harder with AI generated text, so the watermarking is a good thing in my opinion.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Google Shows Pixel 11, More; Foxconn Reports Big Profit Increase; Grok Bot is Out; Bluesky Active User Base Shrinks
Posted: August 12, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, Tech, technology Leave a commentNew gadget season is well underway. Last month it was Samsung, now Google, and in September Apple. Engadget.com reports that Google has dropped 4 hew phones…Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold. All the Pro models feature a new camera bar. All the new Pixels are powered by the Tensor G6, which Google says has 20% more power efficiency, 25 percent faster browsing and 15 faster app loading compared to the Tensor G5. The cams have an improved Image Signal Processor. Google is claiming all the Pixel 11 phones will run for 30 hours before you have to charge back up. With the data centers gobbling up chips, Google has had to boost prices on the short supplied chips. Expect to pay $100 more than for the Pixel 10’s. Preorders are open now, with phones shipping August 20th.
The Pixel Watch 5 is also out, starting at $399, a $50 buck boost. You can get a Steph Curry branded version for $579. Google also shows off something new…the Pixel Tag…its first bluetooth tracker. It runs $30. It is about half again as large as an Apple Air Tag, and runs about a year on a battery, just like Apple’s.
They have become less dependent on Apple, and profits are up at Foxconn. According to macdiailynews.com, for the quarter ending in June, the giant contract electronics manufacturer saw profits jump 35%. Interestingly, as Apple remains their biggest account, most iPhones for the US market are now built in India, rather than Taiwan or China. Meanwhile, Foxconn is expanding, building plants that make chips for AI servers. New facilities are going into Mexico and also Texas for Nvidia.
SpaceX AI has announced Grok Bot…which they say is a new kind of AI agent they describe as “AI teammates you can give real work to.” Each Bot gets its own computer, then signs into the apps and services you already use to take on work across inboxes and other tools. SpaceXAI says Bots can complete jobs end to end, only returning when approval is needed. It’s out in beta today on Mac and iOS as well as Windows and Linux for the desktop. SpaceX AI says an Android version is coming soon. Right now, it is restricted to SuperGrok Heavy, Cursor Ultra, and Cursor Teams Premium subscribers.
Bluesky’s active user base has taken a hit…dropping from almost 500 million active users down to about 300. Techcrunch.com notes that X is down too, but not as much as Bluesky. Threads, the app joined at the hip with Meta’s Instagram, has grown over 20%. The good news for Bluesky in light of this drop is that the folks that stay seem to be highly engaged. The jury is still out on whether Threads is picking up users that have basically abandoned Bluesky or if that app is getting all new users.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Four Top Google AI Minds Leave for Startup; Foldable Smartphone Sales to Grow 20% with Apple iPhone Ultra in Mix; SpaceX Earnings Report Spooks Investors; Desktop Linux Exceeds 10% Market Share
Posted: August 5, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, finance, Google, SpaceX, technology Leave a commentTalk about brain drain…four of Google’s top AI whizzes are jumping ship to launch their own AI startup. Wired.com reports that one is Jeff Dean, who co-founded Google Brain and has been chief scientist of Google DeepMind and Google Research. Colleague Sanjay Ghemawat and two others will join him in the fledgling AI company. It is worth noting that Google will have a stake in the new company….but it is still a blow to have so much AI brainpower off on its own. The new firm is called Discovery Loop. The other big brains founding the new AI startup are Quac Le and Oriol Vinyals. Discovery Loop is aiming for making superhuman advances in a variety of fields, including chip design, biology, drug discovery, and material design.
With Apple about to enter the fray with the upcoming iPhone Ultra folder, worldwide folding smartphone sales are expected to be 20% higher than last year. According to macrumors.com, this is despite the tight supply of logic chips and price increases on memory chips due to all the AI data centers gobbling that silicon up. Folders have been around for about 8 years now, with Samsung really driving the category almost single handedly for a good share of that. Apple plans to ship some 10 million folding phones this year…not a big number compared to the total number of iPhones, but a big boost to the folding phone sector.
SpaceX’s first earnings report as a publicly traded company were out yesterday, and the company beat expectations with revenue of $7.8 billion, while analysts looked for $6.82 billion. Arstechnica.com notes that SpaceX had a net loss of about $541 billion, better than the $2.12 billion expected. Even so, shares took a 10% dump after the firm reported capital expenditures of about $16 billion on AI, double last quarter and far more than Wall Street’s expectations…AND SpaceX indicated that spending level would continue for at least 2 more quarters. SpaceX shares have lost about half their initial value from the initial public offering. Worrisome to investors…the majority of their AI revenue has come from leasing excess data center capacity to rival AI firms like Anthropic and Google.
It may not have crossed your mind, but Linux…an operating system favored by gamers and hobbyests…has now passed 10% market share on the desktop. Zdnet.com reports that StatCounter gives the OS 10.65% of the North American market now. Almost all the growth can be blamed on the intrusive Windows 11 from Microsoft. In 2025, Linux only had about 5% of the market. ChromeOS has a bit over 2% of the desktop…and it is a so-called Linux distro. If you add that in, Linux as 12.72%. Windows is at about 60.8% in North America, while the MacOs has about 12%…roughly the same as Linux. (It should be noted that the MacOS is built on a base of Unix, as is Linux.) Linux is free and easy to install. It resembles Android in a way….infinitely customizable, and a plus is no one is pushing their AI on you if you use it.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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