This Week in Tech (Audio) TWiT 1078: The Great British Marmalade Scandal - Building Your Own Router
9 snips
Apr 6, 2026 
Abrar Al-Hiti, CNET tech reporter; Patrick Beja, veteran tech podcaster; Iain Thompson, technology journalist. They debate court challenges to addictive social apps and whether design should bear legal blame. They unpack AI tool leaks, Anthropic restrictions, and OpenAI's big podcast buy. They explore router supply bans and how to build your own router.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Google Opens Gemma Mini To Encourage Local AI
- Google released a compact Gemma model as open weights under an Apache license to encourage corporate adoption and local use.
- Leo says this could spur more egalitarian AI by enabling companies and researchers to run models locally without hyperscaler lock-in.
Courts Treat Social Apps As Product Design Issues
- Recent U.S. court cases treated algorithmic social apps as defective products, not just publishers, opening a path to liability for design choices.
- Panelists argued Section 230 shouldn't shield product design that intentionally promotes addictive patterns, especially for young users.
Protect Young Users With Age Rules And Labels
- Consider limiting younger users' access and create labeling or age-appropriate versions rather than blanket bans.
- Panelists pointed to measures like YouTube Kids, content labels, and societal education as middle-ground approaches.
