AI giants are battling not just in code, but in politics, with behind-the-scenes lobbying, strategic naming, and rumors of blockbuster deals at the heart of this week's wildest tech stories. Get the inside scoop on who's pulling the strings.

• Apparently The Real Reason Anthropic's Models Are Offline: A Six-Year-Old Trump Grudge
• Trump says he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat after G7 meeting with CEO
• Exclusive | Apple to Raise Prices Due to Memory Chip Crunch, Tim Cook Says
• Elon Musk's Next Move May Be a Mega-Merger of SpaceX and Tesla
• Anthropic's latest feud with the Trump admin may actually help it, sales data suggests
• Google's Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer is leaving for OpenAI
• Google's Secret Warrant Fight Over DOJ Pipe Bomb Probe Revealed
• The UK Places a Sweeping Ban on Social Media for Kids Under 16
• Meta lobbies Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits
• Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis to stop them driving into highway construction zones
• Snap Launches $2,195 Specs, Declaring Glasses the Next Computer
• Fox wants to take over your TV — and the tech inside it
• Midjourney goes from generating cat images to full-body ultrasound scans
• Nothing cancels this year's CMF phone due to RAM prices
• The AI IPO boom is different
• Joshua Baer, Capital Factory Founder, Dies in Laredo Plane Crash - RuntimeWire
• Ubisoft's co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Iain Thomson, Owen Thomas, and Doc Rock

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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Jim asks Mikah how to effectively reduce the overwhelming volume of spam texts and robocalls he's been receiving on his iPhone, and for advice to help his wife with the same issue, who uses Android.

Send in your questions for Mikah to hot@twit.tv, and he'll answer them during the show!

Host: Mikah Sargent

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An AUR safety net arrives with Yay v13, adding visibility into packing timestamps. A developer found and fixed ~4ms of hidden mouse latency in KWin stemming from three separate sources. And Canonical announced a local, private, hotkey-activated speech-to-text tool coming in Ubuntu 26.10. You can find the show notes at https://bit.ly/3Sq5Qi4, and happy Linuxing!

Host: Jonathan Bennett

Co-Hosts: Rob Campbell, Jeff Massie, and Ken McDonald

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If you've seen "Disclosure Day" or "Age of Disclosure," you're going to want to join us for this fascinating discussion with famed bestselling sci-fi/sci-fact author Dr. David Brin. Long known for his universe-spanning visions, storytelling skills, and occasionally contrarian viewpoints, this episode will not disappoint! Our discussion ranged from reactions to Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" to why people believe in AI and more. This week's guest co-host is ace science journalist Susan Karlin.

Headlines:

• Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" Premieres to Mixed Reviews
• Alien Lore and the Evolution of Sci-Fi Tropes
• Comparing Modern and Classic Alien Invasion Films
• NASA's NIAC Program and Cutting-Edge Space Concepts
• UFO Conspiracies and Cultural Obsessions

Main Topic: Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" and the Alien Narrative

• Film critiques: Plot, character arcs, and visual effects
• Overused tropes in government conspiracy stories
• Modern alien movies compared to classics like Independence Day and Close Encounters
• Recurring alien mythologies and sci-fi's role in cultural reflection
• Exploration of why UFO conspiracy theories persist
• Insights from David Brin on skepticism, evidence, and hidden truths
• Connections drawn between UFO lore and folklore about elves and fairies
• Examination of AI's parallels to alien encounters, danger, and self-accountability

Host: Rod Pyle

Co-Host: Susan Karlin

Guest: Dr. David Brin

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Dan Moren of Six Colors is in this week for Tech News Weekly with Mikah Sargent. Apple will likely raise the prices of its products in the future. Roku is being bought by Fox. Android 17 arrives for your smartphone! And could your devices come pre-installed with backdoor software?

• Dan talks about an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Wall Street Journal and how it's unavoidable that the company will have to raise the price on its devices in the future due to memory chip costs fueled by AI demand.
• Mikah laments the potential acquisition of Roku by Fox in a $22 billion cash-and-stock deal.
• Patrick Holland of CNET joins the show to talk about Android 17 and the new features within the operating system.
• And Mikah shares an investigation by the Wall Street Journal on how many cheap smart home devices have been secretly hijacked by a Chinese company to create a massive residential proxy network used by state-backed hackers from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren

Guest: Patrick Holland

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Xbox Mode is finally rolling out to Windows 11, giving your PC a full-screen, controller-focused gaming experience that feels more like a console than ever. Dive into how this long-awaited feature changes the way you play and manage games on your desktop.

Host: Paul Thurrott

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Are you overlooking a classic built into every Mac? Mikah Sargent challenges you to give Stickies a week and find out if it deserves a permanent spot on your desktop.

• Fast, frictionless note taking without accounts or setup
• Formatting features: fonts, colors, graphics, and text enhancements
• Color-coded Stickies for easy organization and quick reference
• Advanced options: floating notes, translucency, keyboard shortcuts
• Stickies' limitations: local-only, no device syncing or security features

Host: Mikah Sargent

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In episode 531, Scott Wilkinson answered a listener question about adding a center-channel speaker, but he discovered several other things that needed to be changed in order to get the most out of the system. However, the limitations on the listener's space were frustrating. Since then, another listener offered some additional thoughts, which warrant an update to Scott's original response.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

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