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ICE says it bought Paragon’s spyware to use in drug trafficking cases; plus, Tesla’s cheaper vehicles aren’t helping its declining sales Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told lawmakers that the use of Paragon spyware is necessary to counter terrorists’ “thriving exploitation of encrypted communications platforms.”

Also, Tesla's deliveries in the first quarter were just 6% higher than last year, and Tesla now faces a third straight year of falling sales.

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A new dating app, Sonder, has a deliberately annoying sign-up process (and it’s working); plus Anthropic and Baidu issues Apr 02, 2026

Show notes

Sonder profiles are completely unstructured, encouraging users to build something that looks like a mood board or a digital collage Think MySpace rather than LinkedIn.

Also, Anthropic executives said it was an accident and retracted the bulk of the takedown notices.

And passengers in Baidu's robotaxis were trapped for up to two hours.

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FedEx chooses partnerships over proprietary tech for its automation strategy Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

FedEx recently announced a partnership with Berkshire Gray as the company works with external players to develop its automation tech.

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Why OpenAI really shut down Sora; plus, Mantis Biotech is making ‘digital twins’ of humans to help solve medicine’s data availability problem Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

OpenAI's decision last week to shut down Sora, its AI video-generation tool, just six months after releasing it to the public raised immediate suspicions. The app had invited users to upload their own faces — so was this some kind of elaborate data grab?

Also, Mantis takes disparate sources of data to make synthetic datasets that can be used to build so-called "digital twins" of the human body, representing anatomy, physiology and behavior.

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Stanford study outlines dangers of asking AI chatbots for personal advice Mar 30, 2026

Show notes

While there’s been plenty of debate about AI sycophancy, a new study by Stanford computer scientists attempts to measure how harmful that tendency might be.

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A major hacking tool has leaked online, putting millions of iPhones at risk. Here’s what you need to know Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

Here’s what we know, and what you need to know, about Coruna and DarkSword, two advanced iPhone hacking tools discovered by security researchers. DarkSword has now leaked online.

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Elon Musk pauses changes to X’s creator revenue-sharing program after backlash; Sift Stack bringing the software that helped launch rockets to the factory floor Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

Hours after announcement of the new policy Elon Musk said X is pausing the rollout.

Also, Sift is building the data infrastructure for advanced manufacturing.

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Agile Robots becomes the latest robotics company to partner with Google DeepMind; plus, Ultrahuman ramps up U.S. push with Ring Pro Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

Agile Robots will incorporate Google DeepMind's robotics foundation models into its bots while collecting data for the AI research lab.

Also, Ultrahuman pushes back into the U.S. with Ring Pro, as Oura strengthens its lead in a market driving 60% of global demand.

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FBI says Iranian hackers are using Telegram to steal data in malware attacks; Pentagon’s decision to bar Anthropic ‘retaliation’; and Hachette pulls horror novel ‘Shy Girl’ over AI concerns Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

Hackers working for Iran’s government are using Telegram in hacking operations that use malware to target dissidents, opposition groups, and journalists who oppose its regime, according to the FBI.

Also, in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) equated the DoD's decision to label Anthropic a "supply chain risk" as retaliation, arguing that the Pentagon could simply have terminated its contract with the AI lab.

Plus, Hachette Book Group said it will not be publishing “Shy Girl” over concerns that artificial intelligence was used to generate the text.

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Are AI tokens the new signing bonus or just a cost of doing business?; plus, It’s been 20 years since the first tweet Mar 23, 2026

Show notes

Maybe tokens really will become the fourth pillar of engineering compensation. But engineers might want to hold the line before embracing this as a straightforward win.

On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey posted a simple message: “just setting up my twittr”.

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