Microsoft Cuts Back Copilot AI Bloat; Reddit Looks at ID Verification to Battle AI Bots; Hackers Selling Data of 6 Million Verizon Users; Samsung Rolling out AirDrop Support

Posted: March 23, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Microsoft is rolling back a bit when it comes to the intrusiveness of its AI assistant, Copilot in Windows 11. TechCrunch.com reports that the company will reduce AI Copilot integration in some apps…beginning with Photos, Widgets, Notepad, and its Snipping Tool. Pavan Davuluri, the EVP of Windows and Devices wrote on the company’s blog that the goal is to focus on AI experiences that are ‘genuinely useful.’ What a concept! This ‘less ls more’ angle probably flows from increased consumer pushback against AI bloat. A Pew Research study that just came out this month showed that half of US adults are more concerned than excited about AI…up from 37% in 2021. 

Reddit is getting flooded with AI bots. In order to deal with the onslaught, the platform is considering a controversial move: requiring ID verification. According to mashable.com, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman discussed the problem on the tech show TBPN. He emphasized that ‘Reddit is for humans.’ Huffman said regarding screening out bots that “The most lightweight way is something like face ID or touch ID or broadly the family of technology that’s called passkeys.” He went on to say “Every platform wants to know ‘is this is a person?’ Now Reddit’s version is ‘is this a person but we don’t want to know which person this is.'” That is a huge deal for Reddit, which has made its bones on the ability of users to maintain their anonymity. Whatever they do, it is likely that Reddit will get blowback from their highly opinionated and privacy prone users.  

Hackers have gotten ahold of the data from 6 million customers and employees of  one of Verizon’s largest Verizon Authorized retailers Androidpolice.com says the info is now for sale on the dark web. That’s bad enough, but you’ll love this part…61 gigs of data is available for $1200. Your data on its own is a pretty cheap commodity. The retailer is Russell Cellular, which has over 2,000 employees and 750 locations. What is exposed in the breach? Names, phone numbers, email addresses, account numbers, device identifiers, and more. It also included employee usernames, passwords, and access roles; Verizon is also aware of the leak, and has begun an investigation, and promises to share the results of such when they become available. You can bet they are going to lock things down and make changes.  

Samsung is rolling out AirDrop support over its QuickShare, starting today. The support will initially be for The Galaxy S26, 26+, and 26 Ultra. 9to5google.com notes that AirDrop showed up on Google Pixel 10 devices in late 2025, and has now expanded to Pixel 9 phones. The support allows sharing between Samsung phones and Apple’s devices. One point with Samsung: unlike Pixel, where AirDrop support is enabled by default, you have to choose it. Under QuickShare settings, look for ‘Share With Apple Devices.’ For the Apple user to receive the shared picture or whatever, that Apple user needs to select ‘Everyone’ mode…that’s also true on the Galaxy devices if they are receiving from an Apple device. 

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

Amazon Announces 1-3 Hour Delivery; Tim Cook Denies Retirement Soon; Galaxy Z Trifold Being Discontinued; Google ‘Personal Intelligence’ Expands to All US Users

Posted: March 17, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is making it easier for users to find products eligible for its’ 1 hour and 3 hour delivery options. The ease comes via a new ‘getitfast’ page for same day delivery. Theverge.com reports that the 1 hour delivery is presently available in parts of major metro areas like LA, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. In addition, it is available in smaller cities like Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; and American Fork, Utah. 3-hour delivery is offered in over 2,000 cities and towns, which includes large, mid-size, and small cities. Amazon has even tested 30 minute deliveries in Seattle and Philly…though if you need it that fast…hey, jump in the car and run to the store, for Pete’s sake! Amazon 1 hour delivery is $9.99 for Prime members, or $19.99 extra for non-members. the 3 hour window runs $4.99 for Prime members or $14.99 non-prime. You can already get same-day delivery free for Prime members on orders over $25. 

Rumors have been floating around since last year about Tim Cook, who has turned 65, retiring from Apple. Now, according to macrumors.com, Cook cooled those rumors off at least a bit in an interview on Good Morning America. Cook in fact called it merely ‘a rumor,’ and while he didn’t explicitly confirm or deny that he will be stepping down as CEO anytime soon, he said ‘I Can’t imaging life without Apple.’ Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, is widely viewed as Cook’s most likely successor. Cook reportedly gave oversight of Apple’s design teams to Ternus at the end of last year, and Ternus has been making a lot more public appearances in interviews and in product introduction videos over the past few years. Cook has been Apple CEO since 2011. 

In what may be a record for short smartphone life, Samsung has discontinued the Galaxy Z TriFold in just 3 months. It just went on sale in the US the end of January. 9to5google.com says Samsung claims it never intended to sell to the mass market…and at $2899 they weren’t going to! It may not just be the cost, but the complexity of trying to make a device with two hinges and three inner display sections. Add in the rapidly increasing RAM prices due to AI, and it was probably a perfect storm that ended the tri-fold device. 

Google is bringing “Personal Intelligence” to all US users. Techcrunch.com notes that the AI assistant will now tailor its responses by connecting across your Google ecosystem, such as Gmail and Google Photos, to all users in the U.S. Previously only available to paid users, Personal Intelligence is available in AI Mode in Search, the Gemini app, and Gemini in Chrome. The feature is off by default, but users have the option to choose it. For those concerned, Gemini doesn’t train directly on your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library. Instead, it trains on specific prompts in Gemini or AI Mode and the model’s responses, Google says.

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

YouTube Expands Deepfake Detection to Politicians; Meta Buys Moltbook; Amazon to Have Senior Engineers Sign Off on AI-Assisted Changes; PetPhone Lets Your Pet Call You-Maybe

Posted: March 10, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

YouTube is expanding its deepfake detection, adding detection of politicians, government officials, and journalists. Techcrunch.com reports that it will be using its likeness detection tech, which identifies AI-generated deepfakes. Members of the pilot group will get access to a tool that detects unauthorized AI generated content and gives them a way to ask for removal of such if they think it violates YouTube policy. The tech is similar to YouTube’s existing Content ID system, which detects copyright-protected material in users’ uploaded videos, the likeness detection feature looks for simulated faces made with AI tools. The company noted it’s advocating for these protections at a federal level, too, with its support for the NO FAKES Act in D.C., which would regulate the use of AI to create unauthorized recreations of an individual’s voice and visual likeness.

Meta is gobbling up Moltbook, the social network that resembles Reddit, except it is essentially a network of AI agents. The platform has just been around since January. According to engadget.com, Moltbook and its creators Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr will be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs. Schlicht used OpenClaw to create a bot named “Clawd Clawderberg” and asked it to create a social network for AI agents. And that’s how Moltbook came to be.For what it’s worth, Clawd Clawderberg is a play on “Mark Zuckerberg” and Moltbook is a clear riff on “Facebook,” so it’s somewhat fitting that Schlicht vibe-coded his way to a job at Meta. It also emerged that it was relatively easy for humans to pose as AI agents and post on Moltbook. As nutty as this seems, it isn’t that much weirder than Zuck’s coming up with the virtual world a couple years ago where we were all going to live and have our avatars act for us. 

Amazon is now going to make senior engineers sign off on any changes made by AI tools. FT.com says this is after a number of outages and incidents. Amazon gathered a large group of engineers for a meeting earlier Tuesday to dig in to what it termed a spate of outages and incidents using the AI coding tools. Amazon’s website and shopping app went down for nearly six hours this month in an incident the company said involved an erroneous “software code deployment”. The outage left customers unable to complete transactions or access functions such as checking account details and product prices. Junior and mid-level engineers will now require more senior engineers to sign off any AI-assisted changes. This makes one pause at Square’s parent company laying off 40% of engineers because AI can do the work…Jack Dorsey may have to rethink his action there, too. Fast is great…saving money on salaries is great if you are management…but accuracy is mandatory…and so far, AI hasn’t had the most sterling track record when it comes to accuracy. 

One of the unusual gadgets showed off at Mobile World Congress was the PetPhone. Cnet.com notes that the device actually came out in September, but really just got shown at the show. The device is a cellular tracker that attaches to your pet’s collar. Unlike AirTags, that rely on nearby phones to track, this thing has its own GPS and cellular transceiver to keep track of your pet. That’s all well and good, but what they are touting seems iffy. PetPhone claims your cat or dog can call you. To call, though, the dog or cat must jump 3 times in a row. Try training a cat to do that. It’s like the old joke if cats could text you, they wouldn’t. Even getting a dog to do this might be a challenge. If you are up for it though, PetPhone is $90 bucks at Amazon, Chewy, and other retailers. There’s a subscription…the cheapest is a 3 year term for $5 a month with the first month free.

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

Anthropic Sues Government over ‘Supply Chain Risk; Russian Government Hackers Hitting Signal & WhatsApp; Pennsylvania Newest State Fighting Dynamic Pricing; Sony Testing Playstation Dynamic Pricing

Posted: March 9, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

After the government not only cut ties with Anthropic over their refusal to let the government use Claude for mass surveillance of US citizens or operating weapons systems without human intervention, the government also designated the company as a ‘supply chain risk,’ with can significantly affect their business. Engadget.com reports that Anthropic has now sued the government over this, as expected. The lawsuit claims the designation is unlawful and violated free speech and due process rights. Anthropic’s statement to media said “These actions are unprecedented and unlawful. The Constitution does not allow ​the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech.” The AI company further said that the government action was part of an ‘unprecedented and unlawful…campaign of retaliation.’ Now, the slugfest in the courts begins.

The Netherlands Defense Intelligence and Security Service has reveled that the Russians are in the midst of a ‘large scale global’ hacking campaign against Signal and WhatsApp users. According to techcrunch.com, they are using phishing and social engineering technics instead of malware to take over accounts on the apps. They are posing on Signal as the app’s support team. On WhatsApp, they are abusing the ‘linked devices’ function, that lets users access WhatsApp from a secondary device like your laptop or tablet. Just a word to the wise. Even platforms that have fully encrypted messaging can be hacked.

Pennsylvania is the newest state to jump into the fight against dynamic pricing. A bill in their legislature would ban ‘unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce,” namely, promoting or engaging in dynamic pricing. In the bill, dynamic pricing refers to changing the prices of essential goods or services within a 24-hour period based on demand or other factors, including the use of artificial intelligence. Mashable.com notes that dynamic pricing has become more common with retailers the last few years. Sometimes you will see something about ‘surge pricing’. Another aspect is surveillance pricing, which uses customers’ behaviors and characteristics to set different costs for the same items. And algorithmic pricing uses data — sometimes generalized data, such as when demand is highest, and other times personalized data, such as one’s demographic — to determine cost. Here you thought that just the increase in gas prices from the Iran war was bumping up grocery prices! Other states considering legislation concerning surveillance pricing are Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Speaking of dynamic pricing, a site called PSprices has been tracking prices on Sony’s digital game store, and noticed that some games were being offered at different prices to different users. What’s more, those offers are tracked in the PlayStation API with experiment identifiers.The site says Sony is running A/B testing on prices for over 150 games in 58 regions…although so far, the US doesn’t see to be included. This is yet another reason states are stepping in where the feds won’t, and passing laws against dynamic pricing…which is such a sneaky way to take more money out of your pocket…and in a lot of cases, without you even knowing it.

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

Discord Delays Global Age Verification; Touchscreen MacBook Pros; App Warns if Smart Glasses are Present; The Pentagon-Anthropic Drama Continues

Posted: February 25, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Discord delayed its worldwide age verification due to tremendous blowback. Now, they have kicked the can down the road a bit more. Theverge.com reports that instead of rolling out global age verification next month, it will be delayed until the second half of 2026. Discord has flatly denied rumors that they will require face scans and ID uploads from everyone just to use the platform. Discord says that before it rolls out age verification globally, it will add more options for users to verify their age (including with a credit card), include documentation of every verification vendor used, add an option for “spoiler channels” in Discord as an alternative to age-gated channels for walling off certain topics, and publish a technical blog post explaining how its age estimation systems work. Discord users are still angry and skeptical, so we will see if this gets delayed again. 

As we have reported, up to 5 new Apple devices will be coming in the next few weeks. Also, Apple has been working on perfecting a touchscreen Mac. 9to5mac.com reports that Apple seems to have developed a way to support touchscreen use without making the interface elements gigantic. When user touch a button or control, the interface will bring up a new type of menu surrounding their finger that provides more relevant options for touch commands. When the user taps an item in the menu bar at the top of the screen, the set of controls will enlarge to be more easily selectable with a finger. It sounds a lot like what Apple does with the size and shape changing Dynamic Island on iPhones. According to reports, the screen will look just like a normal MacBook screen unless you touch it…so if typing is your preferred input, you are good to go…but you can also reach up and tap something on the screen to get to an item or app quickly. We’ll see how it all works…it sounds much like an iPad with a keyboard, actually. 

Remember Google’s Glass, and how bars, restaurants, and other establishments had signs banning them? The wearers were called ‘Glassholes.’ Apparently, the apprehension of being furtively filmed by someone in smart glasses is still around. It seems a bit overly paranoid to me…considering the proliferation of cameras on the streets, and in businesses at this point. One big retailer even has had cameras at their entrances, as well as scanners, and then serves people with bargains they think the person might like on their app. Well, if you are one who is freaked out by smart glasses, rejoice! A new app will let you know if there is a pair close to you. Engadget.com says the app is called Nearby Glasses. It will user the unique Bluetooth signature transmitted by smart glasses and send a push alert to notify you that someone is wearing the glasses nearby. The app maker claims that his app is particularly important for your privacy (what privacy?), as Meta is working to add facial recognition to its Meta Ray-Bans. Right now, Nearby Glasses is available at the Google Play Store, but not on Apple’s App Store. 

We reported that the Department of Defense has now allowed Musk’s xAI into its classified systems. FT.com reports that Pete Hegseth is going to also allow ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini into the classified systems, which had…up to now…only seen Anthropic’s Claude available. The Secretary has now threatened to cut Anthropic from the DoD supply chain unless the company agrees to letting DoD use its tech for ‘all lawful military applications’ by Friday. Anthropic has refused to let its AI be used for domestic surveillance and for lethal autonomous weapons systems. Hegseth has threatened to not only drop Anthropic from its supply chain, but he says he will invoke the Defense Production Act…which allows the president to exert control over domestic industry in the interest of national defense. The cutting Anthropic from the Defense Department supply chain would cost the company $200 million. We will have to wait for Friday to see if the DoD follows through with its threats. 

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

Meta Partners with AMD on Chips; OpenClaw Wipes Out Meta Security Researcher’s Inbox; Military Will Use Grok in Classified Systems, Apple Testing a ‘Deep Red’ for iPhone 18 Pro

Posted: February 24, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

AMD has landed a huge account…and possible part owner. They have cut a multi-year deal with Meta for up to 6 gigawatts worth of GPUs. Gizmodo.com points out that 6 gigawatts is enough to power almost 4.5 million homes! The first 1 gigawatt deployment will be in place by the 2nd half of 2026, and will include custom chips optimized specifically for Meta’s workloads. The announcement also says that Meta will be a top customer of AMD’s 6th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs. The agreement includes performance-based terms that could allow Meta to acquire up to 160 million AMD shares, about 10% of the company, if certain milestones are met. 

AI can be a great tool. but still makes some terrible moves. We’ve noted here about the various AI agents hallucinating, as the AI industry likes to say…in other words, it makes stuff up some of the time. Now, here’s another scary problem. According to techcrunch.com, OpenClaw AI was ask by a Meta AI security researcher to check her overstuffed email inbox and suggest what to delete or archive. The agent went crazy, and deleted all her email in a ‘speed run,’ despite her giving it commands from her phone demanding that it stop. OpenClaw is an open source AI agent. It is something of a darling of a lot of silicon valley types right now…except when it goes nuts like it did on Summer Yue’s inbox!

This just makes me shake my head, but the US Department of Defense is apparently going to use Elon Musk’s Grok in its classified systems. Engadget.com notes that the Pentagon has been in a squabble with Anthropic, which makes Claude. Anthropic doesn’t want their AI used for mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. Although ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude have been approved for the DoD, up to now only Claude  has been allowed for the military’s most sensitive tasks in intelligence, weapons development and battlefield operations. Claude was reportedly used in the Venezuelan raid in which the US military captured and extracted the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife. Musk agreed that xAI could be used for any lawful purpose…including mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. 

This is a more ‘fluffy’ topic than I normally cover, but it caught my eye. Mashable.com reports that Apple is testing a ‘deep red’ color for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models. This will be the first red iPhone since 2022..and Apple may keep the cosmic orange color. That tone is apparently very popular in China. The upcoming iPhone Fold? Nope, it will be drab…with likely colors being black, white, dark gray, or silver. Probably only two of those shades will make it to the final phone. Hey, as much as they cost, you will probably buy a case to protect it anyway.

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

SpaceX Acquires xAI; French Cops Raid X Office in Paris; Amazon “just Walk Out’ Tech Will Survive; Firefox Will Have AI Off Switch

Posted: February 3, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

xAI has officially been acquired by SpaceX. Both companies are owned by Elon Musk. Techcrunch.com reports that at least on paper, this creates the world’s most valuable private company. xAI and X…formerly Twitter…have been bleeding cash. It is thought that Musk will eventually try to merge this new private company into Tesla. More immediately, Musk wants to create data centers in space, and launch a stunning number of satellites into space. As for revenue, xAI has been burning through a billion a month, and presently, SpaceX generates up to 80% of its revenue from launching its own Starlink satellites. 

X and its Grok AI chatbot are the bad boys of online platforms, having become a swamp of deepfake nudes and explicit images of minors. Now, benzinga.com notes that French police have raided the Paris offices of X. This is part of the ongoing criminal investigation into whether Grok was used to generate and distribute illegal content, including explicit deepfakes and Holocaust denial. The investigation into Grok AI began last month due to a rise in explicit deepfakes, including those involving children. Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for “voluntary interviews” scheduled for April 20. As reported by the outlet, X has not yet released a statement regarding the raid.

We reported last week that Amazon is shuttering all its grocery stores except for Whole Foods. They had some pretty cool tech, including the ‘Just Walk Out’ feature…no check stands. According to geekwire.com, the ‘Just Walk Out’ tech will survive the closures…minus the palm-scanning. Independent stores that have used Just Walk Out will now need to use a card or tap a phone to pay instead of scanning their hand. Amazon has licensed the Just Walk Out tech to some 360 locations in 5 countries. The palm scanning had been dinged by many as being too intrusive. We use biometrics on our own phones…which allegedly stays in a secure enclave on the phone…but palm scanning in various stores seemed creepy to many. 

What day would be complete without some new story about AI, the golden tech topic of the moment? Well, if you aren’t crazy about AI, or just feel…as I do…that it is not ready for prime time yet, but is being shoved at us by companies who have invested wild amounts of money into it…one organization is giving you an out. Mashable.com reports that Mozilla’s Firefox browser will be launching an AI off switch! If you have been bugged by AI ‘enhancements,’ or even actually bugged by the likes of Chrome with a pop-up imploring your to take advantage of AI in some task you don’t need any help with, this will be a real plus. In a post, Mozilla says that the AI controls will give Firefox users the ability to “block current and future generative AI features.” Starting Feb. 24, users will be able to toggle a setting called “Block AI enhancements.” Mozilla has a video out showing how the AI controls work. The Cliff’s Notes version is that you can control the AI settings for: translations, alt text in pdf’s, AI enhanced tab grouping, link previews, AI chatbot in the sidebar, and more. AI hallucination free browsing…what a concept! 

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

Apple-5 All New Products Coming; Musk Aiming to Take SpaceX Public; YouTube Working to Curb ‘AI Slop’; OpenAI Will Ship 1st Hardware in 2026

Posted: January 21, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s unusual for Apple to release more than one new product in a year, but this year will be a banner one for Cupertino. The Apple folks are reportedly going to bow 5 all-new products this year. Macrumors.com reports that most of these have been rumored for some time. At any rate, they include a smart home hub with screen (honestly, mockups look like a HomePod with an iPad attached), a FaceID doorbell, a cheaper MacBook with an A18 chip borrowed from the iPhone line, a folding iPhone, and…this one seems like the fabled ‘one more thing’ of the Jobs era…augmented reality glasses. While the latter may not make it out until 2027, Apple will likely show them off this year. It’s expected they will be similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses…and like the latest of those, they will have in-lens display. 

We just reported that Anthropic, makers of Claude, plans an IPO this year. Now, Elon Musk has flipped, and will try to do an IPO of SpaceX this year, with the specific intent to beat Anthropic’s public offering, and also Google, which wants to build space based data centers. According to engadget.com, this rush has to do with Musk wanting to build AI data centers in space. Google recently announced it was looking into putting a data center in space, with test launches scheduled for 2027. Musk reportedly wants to beat his rival to the punch, but SpaceX would need the billions of dollars in capital that an IPO would deliver. Putting a giant center in space isn’t cheap. Musk wants to complete the IPO by July. 

Right now, over a million YouTube channels are using AI tools daily. Now, variety.com says that YouTube’s chief Neal Mohan has announced that the platform is taking steps to minimize the spread of low-quality AI content — aka “AI slop.” Mohan did note that later this year, “you’ll be able to create a Short using your own likeness,” as well as produce games with a text prompt and experiment with music. The YouTube chief continued, writing  “Throughout this evolution, AI will remain a tool for expression, not a replacement.” 

OpenAi is apparently getting set to ship their first product this year, and it will likely be ear buds. You may recall that we reported earlier that OpenAI had acquired Jony Ive’s startup io. Well now, techcrunch.com reports that the hardware may ship in the last half of this year. We do know that the device won’t have a screen and will be pocket sized. For now, the gadget is code-named ‘Sweet Pea.’ It is expected the design will be quite unique compared to most existing ear buds. They will run on a custom 2 nanometer processor and handle AI tasks locally instead of sending requests to the cloud. OpenAI has talked to both China’s Luxshare, and also to Taiwan’s Foxconn. They plan to ship 40-50 million units of the gadget.

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

Post AI World- Rant Clark Reid Tech Report Commentary

Posted: January 19, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

A subscriber commented that I do a lot about AI and much is— or seems repetitive. I replied to him…’no kidding’  I have touched on this here, but will elaborate a bit more now. My son in IT and I have had many conversations about AI. Both of us think it is an enormously hyped bubble. 

I have read a number of other folks who report on AI who think the same. There is a serious dot com bubble vibe to all this. Billions…maybe into the trillions…have been pumped into generative AI, and so far the returns have been puny. This may be the year…or maybe next year…that the big money people decide to pull the plug. We just reported a few days ago how some large PC makers are really disappointed about sales of AI capable PCs. The public just doesn’t see all that much value in it.

Can it be useful? Certainly. I have a granddaughter that is halfway through engineering school who uses it. She built a resume with ChatGPT, then had it do mock interviews with her. She got a good summer internship that will probably lead to a good job when she graduates. Her Mom uses it in her work a bit, but it’s just a tool that can do some things more quickly so far. Those are good uses, indeed. Some lawyers are finding it useful in drafting pleadings quickly. Most use Anthropic’s Claude. A few early on found out the hard way that the generative AI sometimes makes up cases or statutes, so even if it drafts a petition or response in 2 to 5 minutes…you will need to spend an hour or two double-checking the citations. It still saves a ton of time in this case. Now, Lexis has introduced an AI product for attorneys…I just got a snipe ad from them.

Super intelligence? One of the creators of Large Language Models left OpenAI to start his own startup. He has been joined by Jeff Bezos as Co-CEO. We reported on this here recently. He said upon leaving that generative AI is a dead end and he is going to try to figure out another way to get to super intelligence. The head of Meta’s AI has just left, too…and he also said AI isn’t going to become super intelligent and is a dead end. 

So the net is, in my view, generative AI will be a good tool and can be a time saver for people…but as for it being embedded in robots that will displace millions of jobs…nope. It isn’t going to have that capability, no matter how much Big Tech tries to will it to do so. Perhaps the next big thing will do those things…time will tell. Meanwhile, citizens, workers, bosses, and politicians had better be figuring out a way to pay a good living to all the people in the country after the next big thing and robotics displace much of the workforce. The folks in power love having more money and power, and are fine with regular people having next to nothing…BUT…a number of them understand that they don’t want to be on the receiving end of modern day mobs with pitchforks and torches coming for them. The time is now to figure out how to make this work. Even Elon Musk…who is no genius, except at buying up companies that are going somewhere and convincing the masses that he is a rocket scientist…when actually he just employs them…understands that people can’t just be displaced. He has said that in the future, no one will have to worry about money to live on…but has offered no specifics. Again…time to get thinking about this, billionaires and politicians.

I’m Clark Reid, and you aren’t ‘Technified’ now, but perhaps stimulated to ponder our post AI and robotic inhabited world. 

Gemini Personal Intelligence for Email & Photos; YouTube Bows Way for Parents to Block Kids from Shorts; Amazon Testing Superstore; Tesla Self-Driving Switches to Subscription

Posted: January 14, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Big Tech’s AI continues to push into all aspects of our computer lives, and now Google’s new Personal Intelligence will scan your email, photos, and apps to gain context for answers…IF you let it. Zdnet.com reports that the Personal Intelligence system is off by default. Personal Intelligence is new branding, but Google’s Gemini 3 is the core of it all. If you switch it on, it will pull details from your email and photos that could be useful in answering a question. Apple Intelligence does much the same…and IT will now have Gemini to help it to bulk up and do better at answering questions. 

YouTube is adding to parental controls. Now, Moms and Dads will be able to block kids from watching Shorts, or just limit the amount of time. According to TechCrunch.com, parents will also have the capability to set custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminders for their kids. In addition, since is can be a hassle to switch from your adult account to the kid account, YouTube says it will update the sign-up experience within the app to make it easier for parents and kids to toggle between their accounts with just a few taps… of course, that requires the parent or child to actually remember to make the switch.

Amazon has experimented with small stores and heavy automation, including just walk out pay systems that allow a person to pick up the goods and go…with their card being charged as they leave. Now, Amazon is going for Walmart, with a planned superstore in the Chicago area…it’s 229,000 square feet. Geekwire.com notes that Amazon says the store will offer fresh groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise, making it convenient for customers to shop a broad selection of items in one trip. That very much sounds like a Walmart super store or a Costco. Even with all the online shoppers Amazon has, data indicates that some 93% of their online customers still shop at a physical Walmart. 

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving option is no more as a purchase. Elon Musk announced on X that from now on, it will strictly be subscription beginning February 14th. Engadget.com reports that no pricing was announced…although up to now the subscription has been $99 a month or $999 a year. The shift could be advantageous for buyers, particularly if they decide to dump their new Tesla or trade it in. It will also allow prospective owners to hedge their bets, as Tesla has overpromised on the feature since it was first announced. Even the name is hype…it has never been, and isn’t now really ‘full self-driving.’

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

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