This week on Tech News Weekly, host Mikah Sargent is joined by guest co-host Dan Moren to discuss Siri privacy concerns and how Apple could leverage AI to improve the user experience. Jason Hiner of CNET reports on CES 2025 on the latest TV displays, NVIDIA's AI innovations, and more. Then Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, weighs in on Meta's controversial decision to end fact-checking on its platforms.

• Dan's latest column explores how Apple could use AI to benefit users by improving spam filtering, search capabilities, and automation. Implementing these features would align with Apple's focus on simplifying technology.
• Apple released a statement clarifying that Siri recordings are not being used to build ad profiles, despite an ongoing conspiracy theory that devices are always listening. In reality, ad targeting is based on online behavior.
• At CES 2025, new TV display technologies were announced including brighter OLED panels likely using "tandem OLED" and a new mini-LED backlight system from Hisense for improved color depth.
• Lenovo showcased an expensive laptop prototype with a screen that rolls up to double in size, though it may have limited practical appeal for now.
• NVIDIA unveiled COSMOS, an AI framework to generate synthetic training data for robots and self-driving systems, which could accelerate future autonomous innovations.
• Offbeat CES products included an electric spoon that makes low-sodium foods taste saltier to promote healthier eating, and aggressively priced TVs from TCL.
• Meta announced it will end fact-checking and rely on community moderation, which CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed argues will amplify the spread of misinformation and cause real-world harms.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guest: Jason Hiner

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In the first episode of 2025, Mikah and Abrar discuss Meta's plans to add AI bots to their social media platforms, the rise of AI-generated phishing scams, the trend of parents giving their kids retro tech devices to reduce screen time, and the current state and future potential of passkeys for secure logins.

• Meta plans to populate Facebook and Instagram with AI-generated bot accounts that can create content, share posts, and interact with users, in an effort to drive engagement as user growth stagnates. Abrar and Mikah debate the pros and cons of AI bots on social media.
• Cybersecurity experts have seen a significant increase in sophisticated phishing scams using AI to generate hyper-personalized messages mimicking people's communication styles, with over 90% of successful cyberattacks now beginning with phishing emails. Abrar and Mikah discuss cybersecurity training and email filtering used by companies to combat this.
• There's a growing trend of parents gifting their kids retro tech like Walkmans, portable CD players, and MP3 players in an effort to reduce screen time. Mikah and Abrar reflect on the appeal of single-purpose devices and bonding over music.
• Passkeys, a new login technology aiming to replace passwords, have seen increasing adoption but face usability challenges and inconsistent implementation across sites and devices. Mikah explains how passkeys work and recommends using password managers for now, as both hosts agree passkeys aren't quite ready for mainstream adoption yet.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

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A look back at some of our favorite interviews from the past year:

• Emily Forlini of PCMag and her story about the AI "dating scene" AI through ChatGPT Plus and AI boyfriends and her somewhat lackluster experience.
• Jennifer Pattison Tuohy and the breaking news that the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Apple for claims that the company has an illegal monopoly over the smartphone market.
• Amanda Silberlng and her story that she wrote about how how AI images have entered this year's Met Gala's online discourse through celebrities who "appeared" on the Met Gala carpet.
• Abrar Al-Heeti and her story about how Harvard students created an app called I-XRAY that uses Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses and facial recognition to find personal data on people in real-time, raising privacy concerns.
• Leah Nylen of Bloomberg talks with Mikah about the Google Antitrust Case and The Department of Justice's recommendations that could reshape the tech giant.
• And Nick Steele and David Turner from the FIDO Alliance join Mikah to discuss the Alliance's new specifications involving passkeys and their portability.

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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