This Week in Tech (Audio)

Harper Reed, engineer and AI practitioner focused on agents and tooling; Brian McCullough, tech journalist known for concise news rundowns; Cathy Gellis, technology attorney who explains court rulings. They dig into a major social media liability verdict and Section 230 implications. Conversation covers supply-chain attacks like LightLLM, risks of personified AI voice agents, FCC router policy confusion, and landmark court decisions reshaping tech liability.

Yanko Roettgers, AR/VR and streaming media reporter; Dan Patterson, audio and misinformation strategist; Lisa Schmeiser, enterprise comms and telecoms editor. They debate Meta reversing Horizon Worlds' shutdown and what that means for XR. They unpack FBI use of location data and the collapse of CBS radio as podcasting reshapes news. They also touch on Windows 11 changes, DLSS5 backlash, and Musk's tweets legal fallout.

Richard Campbell, veteran tech podcaster with deep industry chops; Iain Thompson, transatlantic commentator on tech and culture; Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Verge reviewer and smart-home specialist. They spar over Meta’s AI costs and layoffs, the delay of Meta’s Avocado model, rampant bot and fake-AI problems across platforms, Perplexity vs Amazon on agent shopping, DOGE-related data drama, and real-world AI failures like misidentifying people.

Joey de Villa, an AI developer advocate with long-standing community ties, and Cory Doctorow, author and digital-rights activist, spar over AI’s legal and ethical frontiers. They tackle the Supreme Court ruling on AI art, government blacklists like the Anthropic ban, AI’s economic bubble and potential crash, pervasive data-broker breaches, and surveillance risks from everyday tech.

Harry McCracken, tech writer who digs into product history and AI trends; Owen Thomas, business journalist covering tech and regional industry; Molly White, critic of Web3 and tech accountability. They debate Anthropic's refusal to enable Pentagon surveillance or autonomous weapons. They discuss the PR surge for Claude, potential government pressure, GPU constraints, AI-driven layoffs, and risks around surveillance and autonomous weapons.

Nicholas De Leon, Consumer Reports electronics reporter; Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ, the 'Digital Jesuit' offering ethical and devil's-advocate takes; Sam Abuelsamid, automotive tech analyst specializing in AVs. They dive into jailbreaking fighter jet software, social media use and youth harm debates, AI and voice-cloning risks, Ring surveillance expansion, Amazon van GPS mishaps, and robotaxi safety and EV market shifts.

Wesley Faulkner, founder of Works Not Working, talks tech and work culture. Thomas Germain, BBC technology correspondent, breaks down tracking and privacy reporting. Stacey Higginbotham, Consumer Reports journalist, focuses on privacy, IoT, and policy. They debate whether social platforms are engineered to be addictive, algorithm transparency, surveillance creep from devices and ads, TikTok tracking, and age verification risks.

Mike Elgan, tech and AI commentator who studies cultural trends; Lou Maresca, Microsoft Copilot engineering lead and AI systems expert; Larry Magid, internet safety advocate focused on kids and policy. They spar over AI-powered Super Bowl ads, agentic personal assistants and sandboxing, orbital data centers and satellite risks, social media harms and school phone bans, plus zero-day finds in new models and privacy threats like hidden cameras.

Victoria Song, Verge reporter on AI and gadgets; Devindra Hardawar, Engadget editor with a skeptical take on consumer tech; Gary Rivlin, Pulitzer-winning author on AI. They dig into Moltbook, a social space for AI agents and its safety quirks. Conversations jump to AI in defense, surveillance tradeoffs, SpaceX orbital ambitions, and Apple’s creator fees.

Doc Rock, a YouTuber and Ecamm partnerships director, drops cultural tech anecdotes. Patrick Beja, French tech podcaster in Paris, explains European contingency planning. Alex Stamos, cybersecurity and AI expert, parses security, elections, and AI safety. They tackle TikTok’s new privacy terms, Microsoft handing over BitLocker keys, Europe’s tech failover plans, and AI image and CSAM legal questions.