Marketplace Tech

In the U.S., battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars have been more expensive than their gasoline-powered counterparts, costing about $8,000 more on average. Experts say EVs are poised to achieve price parity with internal-combustion engine vehicles in just a few years though, because the single costliest part of an EV — the battery that powers it — is getting cheaper.

Four months after Australia’s landmark law that banned all minors under the age of 16 from creating or owning social media accounts, the California legislature is trying to follow suit.

But free speech advocates worry that these laws will infringe on the First Amendment rights of many kids and even adults. However, Aaron Mackey, the free speech and transparency litigation director at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, says there is growing sentiment to regulate and protect children from the harms of social media.

“Marketplace Tech” host Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Mackey about how we can still protect kids and consumers without restricting free speech.

On this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review,” Big Tech operations in the Middle East from companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft could be targeted by Iran. And California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new AI executive order with a not-so-thinly veiled message to the Trump administration. But first, Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX reportedly took a first step towards a highly anticipated initial public offering this week. The company made a confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that potentially puts it on track to go public at a more than $2 trillion valuation in June. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at WIRED, to learn more.

It is day 34 of the internet blackout in Iran. But while it is the longest in their history, it does not mean that Iranians are without internet.

In Iran, there is the global internet, and then the intranet, or National Information Network, which is controlled by the Iranian government. Right now, only the NIN is available, and Iranians have been digitally isolated from the outside world, according to Amir Rashidi, the director for digital rights and security at the Miaan Group, a human rights nonprofit.

“Marketplace Tech” host Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Rashidi about the current status of internet connection in Iran.

In rare verdicts, juries in New Mexico and Los Angeles sided against multiple Big Tech companies last week.

In Los Angeles, Meta and Youtube were found liable for intentionally creating addictive products, while in New Mexico, Meta was found to have violated state law and misled consumers on child safety guardrails.

The result of these two cases will ripple to the thousands of pending cases against Big Tech companies across the country and could impact future legislation. “Marketplace Tech” host Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Eric Goldman, co-director at Santa Clara University’s High Tech Law Institute, about the verdicts.