OpenAI Can Use Cloud Providers Besides Microsoft Now; Elon’s Suit vs OpenAI Starts; US Wants to Cut Chip Equipment for China; Palantir Employees Distressed About Firm’s ‘Descent into Fascism’

Posted: April 27, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The agreement between OpenAI and Microsoft has been modified. 9to5google.com is reporting that now, OpenAI will be able to serve all its products using cloud providers other than Microsoft. Up to now, GPT AI has only been available via Microsoft Azure. It’s possible that by using Google and other cloud providers that prices could come down for usage. OpenAI already uses Google Cloud for its flagship ChatGPT product. In the deal, Microsoft will continue to have a license to OpenAI IP for models and products through 2032…but the license is now non-exclusive. 

OpenAI, one of the darlings of Large Language Models, was co-founded by Elon Musk a few years ago. Musk took his football and went home when he wasn’t named CEO…and Sam Altman was. Now, Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is set to start today with jury selection getting underway. According to theverge.com, the Musk team’s legal theories against OpenAI have included breach of contract, unfair business practices, and false advertising. It is worth noting that in the meantime, Musk started his own firm, xAI, which is part of the SpaceX and Starlink conglomerate he owns….which has filed for an IPO. It remains to be seen if Musk can get anywhere with this case, but if nothing else, it can embarrass and damage Altman and OpenAI, which may be enough for Musk…even if the case flops. This will be his 4th lawsuit against OpenAI. There will be one winner…the attorneys for both sides, which are no doubt billing top rates to both Musk and OpenAI. 

There is legislation in Congress that is called the Match Act. Thenextweb.com says it is aimed at requiring countries such as the Netherlands and Japan to ‘align their chip equipment export restrictions’ with American rules within 150 days or face unilateral US enforcement, including an expanded Foreign Direct Product Rule that would give Washington jurisdiction over equipment containing any American technology, regardless of where it was manufactured. What that means is China would lose access to machines used in all advanced chip making. China has warned that this would “severely disrupt the international economic and trade order and seriously undermine the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain and supply chain.” Considering how much chip production is in China, this is no doubt true. The bill has already made it out of committee in the House, and a companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. The US has already had restrictions on selling the most powerful AI chips to China. These bills would benefit Nvidia, but could cost ASML…which makes chip lithography machines…about 20% of its revenue that comes from selling machines to China. Its revenue share from China was 33% in 2025. Meanwhile, China is barreling ahead in the effort to design its own chips that match Nvidia’s top AI chips. 

Their software is widely used by governments to identify and track people, and apparently some employees are warning about Palantir’s ‘descent into fascism.’ Wired.com notes that the company was started with initial capital from the CIA, so spying is at its heart. The company that was cofounded by Peter Thiel makes and sells software that acts as a high-powered data aggregation and analysis tool powering everything from private businesses to the US military’s targeting systems. It initially was aimed at fighting terrorism from abroad. More recently, the company has been criticized for enabling ICE sweeps. Former employee have expressed concern that as one put it “a sufficiently malicious customer is, like, basically impossible to prevent at the moment” and could only be controlled through “auditing to prove what happened” and legal action after the fact if the customer breached the company’s contract. It is at least disturbing if not alarming that the company might not be able to track misuse of its products if a bad acting agency wipes its audit logs. It definitely seems like Palantir is becoming more like the all-seeing eye from ‘Lord of the Rings’ that it is named for. 

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

Apple Testing 4 Versions of Smart Glasses; Zuckerberg Building AI Clone for Meetings; Human X Conference-Lots of Buzz About Claude; Californians Sue over AI Tool for Doctor Visits

Posted: April 13, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple has often not been first to test the water with new devices…dating clear back to the iPod…but have come to the party late with devices that wow users and grab a big chunk of market share. Engadget.com reports that they are now getting closer to entering the smart glasses sector. Cupertino is testing out 4 different styles for its smart glasses, which will compete with Meta’s Ray-Bans. Apple could end up releasing some or all 4, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. One style is a big rectangular frame that echoes the Ray-Ban Wayfarers, a second is a slimmer rectangular design much like the glasses CEO Tim Cook Wears. A third style is a large oval or circular frame, and the 4th version is a smaller round or oval frame. Apple is allegedly planning several colors…black, light brown, and ocean blue among them. The Apple glasses are expected to capture photos and videos, but are meant to better sync with an iPhone, allowing users to take advantage of Apple’s ecosystem for editing, sharing, phone calls, notifications, music and even its voice assistant, according to Gurman. The release of Apple’s smart glasses could even coincide with the upcoming improved Siri that should arrive with iOS 27. Mark Gurman also predict that the glasses could be revealed as early as the end of this year or early 2027. 

There are those who hate meetings, and those who say they don’t but are lying! Now, according to theverge.com, Mark Zuckerberg is working on an AI clone to replace him in meetings! Meta is training the clone to interact with and provide feedback to employees. It is being trained not only to mimic Zuck’s image and voice…but will have his mannerisms and will reflect his tone and public statements, “so that employees might feel more connected to the founder through interactions with it.” This sounds suspiciously like the failed Metaverse they were working on a couple of years ago which was just discontinued. I can remember Zuck demoing it, and showing how we would all have an avatar in that virtual world to act for us. What’s old is new again!

The Human X AI conference was held in San Francisco this past week. Techcrunch.com says that Anthropic’s Claude chatbot was getting lots of buzz. Interestingly, OpenAI’s ChatGPT wasn’t on the lips of a lot of attendees or vendors. One vendor told a TechCrunch reporter that they were using Claude a lot, but he felt ChatGPT and OpenAI had gone downhill…or in internet lingo, ‘fell off.’ OpenAI has been getting dinged for being to scattershot lately, and has moved to be more focused. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude seems laser focused. Claude has now started being integrated into Microsoft Word for some paid legal users, and can revise and edit contracts and documents…leaving legal formatting intact. Anthropic does emphasize that any legal document still needs to be reviewed carefully by an attorney. A note: there have been two incidents at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home the last few days. One involved a fellow with a Molotov cocktail, and another was a shooting of a gun towards Altman’s home. The man that had the cocktail was caught and is in jail at the moment. Police are still looking for the shooter, who took off in a vehicle.

Some Californians have sued Sutter Health and MemorialCare over an AI transcription tool which was used to record them without their consent. Arstechnica.com notes that doing so is a violation of both state and federal law. Apparently, the medical staff used a program called Abridge.AI. That system quote “captured and processed their confidential physician-patient communications. Plaintiffs did not receive clear notice that their medical conversations would be recorded by an artificial intelligence platform, transmitted outside the clinical setting, or processed through third-party systems.” Sutter has been partnering with Abridge for 2 years. 

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.

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. 

Google’s Gemini 3 Flash-Pro Level Performance; Amazon in Talks to Pump $10 Billion into OpenAI; Trump Administration Wants to Break Up Climate Research Center; Bluesky Bows Privacy-Focused ‘Find Friends’ Feature

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

Google has rolled out Gemini 3 Flash for consumers and developers. 9to5google.com reports that Google says this brings pro level performance with it. They are also claiming it will bring “frontier intelligence built for speed at a fraction of the cost.”  Google says that Gemini 3 Flash surpasses 2.5 across the board, and 3 Flash is comparable to 3 Pro, even beating it in some areas. Gemini 3 Flash will be available in the model picker as two options: “Fast” for quick answers and “Thinking” for complex problems. Gemini 3 Pro will appear as “Pro” for advanced math and code prompts. 

As tech giants continue to pump unimaginable amounts of cash into artificial intelligence. Now, Amazon is in talks to invest $10 billion in OpenAI and supply its Trainium chips. According to engadget.com, this deal would push OpenAI’s valuation over $500 billion but is likely to raise more questions about the company’s circular investment agreements involving chips and data centers. The new deal would require OpenAI to use Amazon’s Trainium AI chips and rent more data center capacity from Amazon Web Services (AWS). That’s on top of the $38 billion that OpenAI has already committed to renting servers from AWS over the next seven years. As has been reported widely…and caused a lot of concern…OpenAI has thus far lost more money than it makes.

The Trump administration’s head of the Office of Management and Budget…and key author of Project 2025…Russell Vought…has moved to break up a major climate research center. Arstechnica.com says it’s the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This is what has been termed a crippling blow to climate research in the US and is being widely decried by scientists.Vought has called it “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.” He apparently isn’t intelligent enough about climate change to understand that we are at or near a hair on fire stage of climate change. Vought wants to further target what were termed “green new scam research activities.” It is rather amazing and terrifying that one person or a small group of people may be able to bring about the end of humanity…although they will comfortably not live long enough to see that spiral really gain speed. Good luck, humans.

Bluesky has rolled out a friend-finding feature that they say respects privacy. TechCrunch.com notes that there is a rub people may not care for: to use the feature, the app matches you with friends from your saved contacts in your phone’s address book…but only if both people have opted in. “Contact import has always been the most effective way to find people you know on a social app, but it’s also been poorly implemented or abused by platforms,” the company explained in its announcement. “Even with encryption, phone numbers have been leaked or brute-forced, sold to spammers, or used by platforms for dubious purposes. We weren’t willing to accept that risk, so we developed a fundamentally more secure approach that protects your data.” That’s great. I love Bluesky, and trust them more than other platforms…but I never have and don’t intend to willingly upload my contacts list! If you want to…have at it!

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

Next Year’s iPhone’s May Get Big Overhaul; SoftBank Sells All Its Nvidia Stock; Meta’s Top AI Scientist Leaving to Found Startup; Sony-84.2 Million PS 5s Sold

Posted: November 11, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple may be making some major changes to next year’s iPhones. At the top of the list…adding a 2nd camera to the poor-selling iPhone Air. 9to5mac.com reports that the new model may be delayed until Spring 2027 in order to redesign and add a second camera. The other big change to the line will be adding the new iPhone Fold…or whatever they end up calling it. Right now, it looks like the Fall 2026 rollout will only include the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and Fold. The base iPhone 18 may be joining the Air in a Spring rollout. 

In a big move in the AI world, SoftBank has sold its entire stake in Nvidia for $5.83 billion. According to cnbc.com, the company is going ‘all in’ on its stake in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. SoftBank said in a statement this wan’t a knock on Nvidia, of which they were an early backer, but that they needed some $30 billion in capital as they continue to pump money into ChatGPT and other investments. OpenAI is now showing up as worth some $500 billion…while Nvidia is a leader in the trillion dollar valuation club. 

Meta has paid astronomical amounts to steal AI experts from other companies, but now their top AI scientist is bailing…to found his own startup. Gizomodo.com notes that Yan LeCun is in talks to raise capital. Meta, like Apple, is admittedly running behind leaders like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in the AI race. Meta has taken out some $27 billion in loans to pour into their AI race.

Sony has announced that they have now sold 84.2 million PlayStation 5s since it was introduced. Engadget.com says that they actually sold more PS5s last quarter than a year ago…3.9 million compared to 3.8 million. The company is still concerned due to the flaky tariff regime of the Trump administration and also the delay of Grand Theft Auto VI. That said, Sony now predicts they will make $29 billion in gaming revenue for the full year ending March 31, 2026. 

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

OpenAI Cuts Training Deal With Amazon; Microsoft AI Head Says Only Biological Beings Can Be Conscious; Apple Will Upgrade Siri with Google Gemini; Neural Net Finds Enzyme That Can Break Down Polyurethane

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

OpenAI has made a deal for some $38 billion for AI training with Amazon. Theverge.com reports that Amazon Web Services that will give the AI giant access to “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia GPUs to power its AI models. The seven-year partnership comes as Microsoft continues to loosen its grip on OpenAI, dropping its status as its exclusive cloud provider and losing the first right of refusal to host its AI workloads. In a press release, OpenAI said it will “immediately” start using AWS compute to train its AI models, with “all capacity targeted to be deployed before the end of 2026, and the ability to expand further into 2027 and beyond.”

The CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has come out and said what a lot of us have believed to be true….that only biological beings are capable of consciousness, and that developers and researchers should stop pursuing projects that suggest otherwise. According to CNBC.com, he told a conference in Houston,  “If you ask the wrong question, you end up with the wrong answer. I think it’s totally the wrong question.” Suleyman says it is particularly important to draw a clear contrast between AI getting smarter and more capable versus its ability to ever have human emotions. “Quite simply, we’re creating AIs that are always working in service of the human,” he said.

Apple has of late being using ChatGPT to answer more detailed queries that Siri gets, buy handing off to the large language model…but first asking you if it is ok if your prompt leaves the Apple private server system. Now, a change is afoot. 9to5mac.com picked up a report from Mark Gurman that says starting this spring, Apple will use a bulked up version of Siri, backed by Google Gemini models. Here’s the difference, though. The Gemini models will run on Apple’s private servers, giving the user much more privacy than with the old system. The new Siri setup will have three distinct components; a query planner, a knowledge search system, and a summarizer. Google Gemini models will run on Apple’s servers and provide planner and summarizer capabilities. It should be able to do much more personalized questions, like ‘What was that book Mom recommended?’ This setup is similar to what Samsung does with its Galaxy phones. Many Galaxy AI features are really Google Gemini with a light Samsung coat of paint on them.

With the continuing issues around plastic pollution, here’s a bit of a ray of sunshine…A neural network has found an enzyme that can break down polyurethane. Arstechnica.com notes that the plastic is often found in the soles of shoes…which get thrown out when worn and the plastic remains for the ages. The enzyme can break the plastic down into useable chemicals within 12 hours! The new enzyme is compatible with an industrial-style recycling process that breaks the polymer down into its basic building blocks, which can be used to form fresh polyurethane. This may help reduce the some 22 million metric tons of polyurethane that was made in just 2024! 

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

Nvidia Breaks $5 Trillion Barrier; Samsung-Ads on Smart Fridges Coming; OpenAI Finally Moves from Nonprofit; Westinghouse-New Nuke Reactors Deal for More US Electricity

Posted: October 29, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

https://youtu.be/q7icACPfq50

No more than a day after I reported about Apple getting into the $4 trillion valuation club, and mentioned that Nvidia was the first member of that elite group…things have changed. Cnbc.com reports that Nvidia has just pierced the $5 trillion valuation mark. The stock was up 3% Wednesday, which gets them across the line. The latest move higher comes shortly after CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia expects $500 billion in AI chip orders and announced plans to build seven new supercomputers for the U.S. government. The stock price, which closed up 5% in the previous session, has climbed nearly 50% year-to-date.

I am pretty happy with my ‘dumb’ fridge, and have friends and neighbors that are as well. Meanwhile, appliance makers are forging ahead with more ‘smart’ refrigerators…and now comes the inevitable…Samsung has fridges with integrated displays. If you guessed that they are going to start serving ads on the displays, you aced the test! According to macrumors.com, Family Hub refrigerators in the US are getting a widget that shows ads. Samsung is calling it a ‘pilot program,’ and says the promotions and curated advertisements will be ‘offered’ to some fridge owners. Family Hub refrigerators start at $1899, but go up to $3499. They come with 21.5 and 32 inch screens….hey, that’s bigger than my monitor I use with the computer I do these videos on! The initial ads will just be for Samsung products. The ads are opt out…but you know a lot of people won’t be able to figure out how to do that, or won’t take time to try. Oh, boy. I’ll be keeping my old, dumb fridge for a while longer!

This is a big non-newsy story. It finally happened, but the battle over it has been going on for over a year. OpenAI has finally announced that it completed its recapitalization, and is becoming a for-profit corporation. Gizmodo notes that this is in spite of one of the company’s co-founders, Elon Musk. Of course, Musk has his Grok, integrated with the X platform that is AI and definitely not non-profit! Back to OpenAI…the new structure will have 2 separate entities….the OpenAI foundation, which will remain a nonprofit and which will have partial control over OpenAI Group, which is the new ‘public benefit’ corporation. Under the new structure, OpenAI Group will be able to do things that a for-profit entity can (and a non-profit can’t), like raise more money and acquire companies. It will also get its own board of directors, which the Foundation will appoint. OpenAI Foundation will own 26% of the now for-profit OpenAI Group, valued at around $130 billion, and will continue to be granted shares of the company as it grows. Microsoft will hold a 27% stake in the for-profit arm, which is currently valued at about $135 billion. Microsoft also announced that, as a part of this shift, it will continue to hold intellectual property rights to OpenAI models and future products through 2032. The remaining 47% of the company’s stock will be held by other investors and the employees of OpenAI Group.

In an announcement that was a bit light on details, Westinghouse announced it has a deal with the Trump administration to build $80 billion worth of new nuclear reactors for power generation. Arstechnica.com reports that the government has also indicated it has finalized plans with GE Vernova and Hitachi to build the reactors. During Trump’s Japan visit, it was announced that “Japan and various Japanese companies” would invest “up to” $332 billion for energy infrastructure. This specifically mentioned Westinghouse, GE Vernova, and Hitachi. Westinghouse claims the $80 million will be enough to build out 8 reactors, but it is only enough for 5 larger sized reactors. The deal mentions some smaller modular reactors, but right now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn’t approved that type of reactor. 

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

Walmart Partners with OpenAI-Buy Right in ChatGPT; Satellites Leaking Personal Data & Secrets; CA Law-Big Fines for Deepfake Nudes and Restricts Bots Advising Kids; Windows 10 Support Ends Today-But You can Extend It

Posted: October 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Walmart has cut deal with OpenAi to let shoppers make faster purchases within AI chatbot ChatGPT. CNBC.com reports that Walmart said in a statement that the AI feature will be “multi-media, personalized and contextual,” adding that Walmart is “running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future.” The news release didn’t say when customers could start buying goods from Walmart using ChatGPT. Last month, OpenAI announced Instant Checkout, that allows purchases such as those from Walmart. Initially, the feature just supports single item purchases from Etsy sellers. Besides Walmart, the feature will work for Shopify soon. No details on the cost, but OpenAI has said it will charge companies a fee for transactions made using ChatGPT.

We have stories weekly of data leaks…I could report on nothing else and not even scratch the surface. Here’s a new wrinkle, though…data beamed from satellites has been grabbed by researchers at UC San Diego and the University of Maryland…using an $800 off-the-shelf satellite receiver system! According to wired.com, the researchers found that almost half of geostationary satellite signals, including many carrying sensitive consumer, corporate, and government communications, have been left entirely vulnerable to eavesdropping. They picked up T-Moble users’ calls, airline passengers’ Wi-Fi browsing in-flight, and communication of utility companies, as well as US and Mexican military and law enforcement communications…which revealed location of personal, equipment, and facilities. It’s time for satellite using companies…and governments to tighten up and encrypt data bounced to and from satellites!

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed the first-ever US last regulating companion bots in a move to protect kids. Arstechnica.com notes that the law will attempt to shield kids from companion bots and deepfake porn. California will require any companion bot platforms—including ChatGPT, Grok, Character.AI, and the like—to create and make public “protocols to identify and address users’ suicidal ideation or expressions of self-harm.” In an effort to stop kids from being cyber-bullied with deepfake nudes, the new law has vastly increased fines…up to now, they ranged from $1500 to $30,000. Now, a victim can go for up to $150,000 for a malicious violation. Not only that, any victims…including minors… can seek that level of damages. Here’s hoping other states get on board and protect children from malicious use of bots and chat apps. 

Windows 10 support officially ends today. If you have a computer that can run Windows 11, you may want to update to that for free. If you don’t like the Recall feature or have a box that won’t run 11, you can still sign up for Extended Security Updates…and you should. Engadget.com reports that first off, update the computer. Next, be using an administrator account. You will have to verify if you can upgrade to Windows 11…do so if you want and you’re done. If not, sign up for ESU by selecting Update & Security from the Settings menu. Click on ‘Enroll now.’ You will again be pestered to sign up Windows 11 of course. With the Extended Security, you have an extra year to either update to 11 or if your computer won’t run 11, replace the computer….or put Linux on it! 

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

Amazon Redesigned Echo; YouTube Settles with Trump for $24.5 Million; Newsom Signs California AI Safety Bill; Amazon Partners With FanDuel- Offers Personalized NBA Bet Tracking 

Posted: September 30, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon has bowed new hardware today, as expected. One thing Amazon has been dinged for is sound quality, even in the so-called Echo Studio. Apple’s HomePods blow them away sonically. Well today, engadget.com reports that the upgraded Echo Studio is out…and it can handle immersive Dolby Atmos and double as a home theater speaker. It features new drivers, a new chip, and new design. The Studio has 3 full-range drivers plus an excursion woofer for maximum bass. The new chip will run Alexa+ on the Studio, and it has advanced speech and audio processing. The design is a change…no longer a large cylinder..the new Studio is a spherical shape. The blue light ring for Alexa is now on the front instead of the top. It is 40% smaller than the old model. The new studio is available for preorder today for $220, and it ships October 29th. 

Another company has caved and paid off on a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against them. According to arstechnica.com, Alphabet, parent of Google, has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle the suit. The suit was over Trump’s YouTube account being suspended after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6th. Trump will have the money contributed on his behalf to the Trust for the National Mall..which includes support for construction of his monstrous 90,000 square foot ballroom on the White House property. 

Governor Newsom has signed the first-in-the-nation AI safety bill that sets new transparency requirements on large AI companies. TechCrunch.com notes that the new law requires large AI labs – including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google DeepMind – to be transparent about safety protocols. It also ensures whistleblower protections for employees at those companies. In addition, it creates a mechanism for AI companies and the public to report potential critical safety incidents to California’s Office of Emergency Services. Companies also have to report incidents related to crimes committed without human oversight, such as cyberattacks, and deceptive behavior by a model that isn’t required under the EU AI Act. Anthropic backed the bill, while Meta and OpenAI lobbied against it. 

Amazon is partnering with FanDuel to offer personalized bet tracking and Odds View for their “NBA on Prime” streamed basketball games this season. Geekwire.com reports that offerings from Prime Sports also includes fully-customizable multi view offering, AI-driven highlights on demand, live stats, the ability to shop within the game, and more. The ability to shop within the game? Of course…it’s Amazon after all!

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

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