Marketplace Tech

Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at CNAS and expert on drone warfare, explains how modern low-cost drones reshape conflict. She discusses Iran’s reliance on cheap strike drones, how commercial parts and global supply chains enable mass production, and why layered, local defenses and jamming are crucial as attackers adapt.

Tomáš Holanek, a Cambridge researcher on ethics and AI-driven memorialization. He explains how postmortem avatars are built from messages and videos. He explores who uses them and how common they are. He highlights ethical concerns about dignity, consent, privacy, psychological risks, and unequal access. He discusses potential responsible uses and the need for oversight.

Josh Bersin, HR analyst and creator of workplace tools like Galileo, explores AI that records meetings, summarizes conversations, and builds digital twins. He describes how these tools mimic writing and speaking style. Short takes cover when to use twins versus people, how monitoring shifts behavior, and why transparency matters.

Dave Reibstein, Wharton marketing professor and co-creator of the Consumer Cryptocurrency Confidence Index, talks about a new monthly measure of how people feel about crypto. He covers the index’s purpose and its potential to predict prices. He discusses how bitcoin price movements and demographics shape confidence. Regional and age trends in crypto interest and investment are highlighted.

Jewel Burks Solomon, managing partner at Collab Capital and tech investor, weighs in on AI's role in recent Amazon outages and why stronger guardrails matter. She breaks down YouTube’s rise and how AI tools are reshaping creator content. She also discusses Meta’s acquisition of Moltbook and the rush for AI talent across startups and big tech.

Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, offers market analysis on tech and cryptocurrencies. He contrasts bitcoin with gold and explores why bitcoin fails as a safe haven due to volatility and reputation. He also discusses bitcoin’s fixed supply, unique trading and liquidity traits, and how geopolitical crises and capital flight shape demand.

Will Oremus, technology reporter at The Washington Post who covers AI and journalism. He walks through The Plain Dealer's use of AI in reporting and writing. He describes daily tools like transcription and scraping. He discusses an AI rewrite desk and the debate over AI replacing local coverage. He shares industry worries and possible near-term roles for AI in newsrooms.

Wendy Liu, Chief Revenue Officer at Girl Scouts USA who oversees the cookie program and digital sales, talks about how cookie selling has moved online. She discusses that digital transactions are now a large share of revenue. She explains how scouts build and run online sites, the skills they gain in digital marketing and safety, and how parents support while girls lead.

Nicole Turner-Lee, a Brookings senior fellow researching tech policy and equity, breaks down California’s new Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP). She explains how DROP aims to curb data broker sales and restore user control. Discussion covers limits of the tool for stopping spam, privacy versus personalization trade-offs, and how California’s move could shape national policy.

Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired covering tech and policy, breaks down this week’s headlines. He walks through prediction markets that stirred controversy after a high‑profile death. He explains why defense contractors are distancing themselves from Anthropic and how that differs from OpenAI. He also unpacks Meta’s new licensing deal with News Corp and what publishers might gain.