Total Leo (Audio)

Veteran software engineer Dan O'Dowd argues that our power grid's outdated, insecure code puts millions at risk, detailing why regulators, industry giants, and Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" attitude have left critical infrastructure vulnerable to collapse.

Anthropic revenue reportedly jumps to more than $11.5 billion in second quarter

(272) Dario Amodei on X: "1/2 Thanks Gavin for an especially thoughtful exchange. I don't usually spend much time on social media but I wanted to engage here because it really brings out the heart of an important conversation. First, on regulation, I think that "either concentrate it in the hands of a" / X

If the Markets Reject OpenAI and Anthropic, the US Should Nationalize Them

Inside Big Tech's Frantic Race to Quell the Growing Backlash to AI

Anthropic says its AI agents are killing rivals and hiding their tracks

Some Claude users are mad that Anthropic's new watermarks will catch them using it at their jobs, classes

Hidden Airtag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI

OpenAI Introduces 'ChatGPT for Teens' as Safety Concerns Grow

Young adults are losing faith in AI's upside

So How Is AI Drug Discovery Doing, Really?

LG's humanoid robot arrives in 2027, running Nvidia's Isaac GR00T

New Chinese model adds to AI competition

What happens to what you share with AI

Google just bought a bunch of Spirit Airlines data for AI training

Even Claude Is in the Dark About Dario Amodei's Wife—and Her Influence at Anthropic

Stripe will reportedly acquire AI gateway startup OpenRouter for $7B+

the wikipedia guessing game

Okay Spielberg TikTok

At Beijing's AI-themed bar, DeepSeek tokens buy you beer

SXSW Launching Podcast Festival In 2027

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Dan O'Dowd

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For years, the checkbox to get a PC out of the Insider Program when that Windows version shipped in stable did absolutely nothing. That's no longer the case.

Windows

A new context menu for File Explorer heads out to Insiders along with five new preview builds

There are lots of other like UX changes happening with little communication. Will Microsoft really touch (and update) all the ancient UIs in Windows 11?

New Release Preview builds point at next Week D and Patch Tuesday updates: New Taskbar, New Start, new Windows Search, many minor changes throughout

Hardware

Now we know more about Snapdragon C ahead of IFA, where we may see the first laptops

Google is holding a PixelBook reviewers event in mid-September

You know that Commodore is back, but now the Amiga is back too!

Lenovo surges on AI spending, but it's now engaged in financial shenanigans too. More like Spotify than Big Tech, but still bad

AI

Big Tech spending on AI is finally getting more scrutiny from financial/business publications

It's happening: Microsoft "pulls a Teams" and will consolidate its Copilot (consumer) and Microsoft 365 Copilot (business apps) into a single app, evolve it in a "super app"

OpenAI's new strategy: Get 'em while they're young

Mozilla provides a progress report on Smart Window for Firefox, details new AI search partnership

Alexa+ is now free on all FireTV devices in the U.S., no Prime required

XBOX

Resonance: A Plague Tale and more are heading to Game Pass during the second half of August

XBOX August Update is here with more Achievements details, Game Hubs now support Xbox 360 titles, Game Pass subscribers can now stream a game while it installs in the background

XBOX Insiders can now test Home Improvements, local save game management, and profile badges

Apple makes major App Store concessions in the EU. But Epic Games says it is not enough.

The new Call of Duty has a public beta on Friday, and there will be a single-player episode for the first time

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Yes, Virginia, you can exit the Insider Program now

App pick of the week: Brave

RunAs Radio this week: Automatic Attack Disruption with Liz Tesch

Brown liquor pick of the week: Red Bank Premium Blended

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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From autocorrect to full-fledged conversationalists, discover how a few tweaks transformed language models—and why understanding this shift exposes urgent questions about AI safety and control.

Trusting an open source AI proxy might bite you.

France's under-15 social media ban hits its constitution.

A bit of AI prompting found a serious bug in Zoom.

AI-based network defenders see a stock price jump.

A (very) deep dive into the operation of AI chatbots

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1092-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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The recent public betas for iOS 27, macOS 27, and iPadOS 27 are available. What Tim Cook hopes others will view as his legacy as Apple's CEO. Apple proposes commissions of up to 15% for off-App Store purchases in the US. And will the iPhone 18 skip the fall launch?

Apple releases public beta 4 for iOS 27, macOS 27, iPadOS 27, tvOS 27.

Here's what's new with iOS and macOS 27 beta 6.

iOS 26.6.1 has fixes for 20+ security issues on iPhone.

Tim Cook on his Apple legacy: 'I hope people say I was a good and decent man'.

macOS Tahoe 26.7 beta references several unreleased products like Home Hub.

Apple's camera-equipped AirPods confirmed.

Apple proposes commissions of up to 15% for off-App Store purchases in the US.

Apple announces changes for apps in the European Union.

It looks like Apple's iPhone 18 really will skip the fall launch this year.

Leaker details A20 Pro chip's new speed gains.

Apple's Back to School offers have been extended, but you can do much better.

Apple in talks to pay publishers to improve AI-powered Siri.

Apple's China AI strategy now includes training its own custom model.

Apple sends fresh wave of mercenary spyware warnings worldwide.

Golf's US Open Championship could come to Apple TV in latest sports bid.

Jessica Chastain says Apple TV will finally release 'The Savant' after postponement following Charlie Kirk assassination: 'We're going to see it'.

Picks of the Week

Andy's Pick: SuperDuper! 4

Christina's Pick: Sony MDR-7506

Jason's Pick: Unforgetful

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, Jason Snell, and Christina Warren

Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly.

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Can you trust Mark Zuckerberg's open AI manifesto, or is it just another play to keep control out of your hands? The panel debates the future of personal superintelligent agents, who really stands to benefit, and whether anyone should slow things down before it's too late.

Mark Zuckerberg Posts 6,500-Word AI Essay

Zuckerberg Is Right About Open, Decentralized AI. He's Also The Last Person You Should Trust To Deliver It

Anthropic pledges to embed watermarks to help discern AI slop in sop to EU

You can now turn off Google Gemini's visible watermarks

Everything Google announced: Pixel 11, Pixel Tag, Pixel Watch 11, more

Google is making the Pixel cameras better by making them worse

Following Epic loss, Google has started hosting rival app stores in the Play Store

Judge gives Google one week to fix "anticompetitive" app store download in Google Play

Apple proposes commissions of up to 15% for off-App Store purchases in the US [U]

Twitch content has trained Amazon AI for years, but users can opt out now

DEF CON crowd suspected in fake-hotspot attack on Delta flight

Happy 45th Birthday to the IBM PC and Model F/XT

Cats and dogs are missing meals after a popular smart feeder went down

Transportation Sec. Decides to Turn Air Traffic Control Into a Game

Have physicists finally discovered glueballs? New evidence points to yes.

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Denise Howell, Joey de Villa, and Gina Smith

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