The episode covers Apple researchers' Ferret-UI Light, a 3B-parameter on-device model that interprets on-screen interfaces using a two-pass crop-and-zoom approach, positioned against reported OpenAI smart-speaker work with Jony Ive, Amazon's generative-AI Alexa rollout, and Google's Gemini integration, with Apple emphasizing privacy and local processing. Walmart is highlighted for offering free Google-backed AI training to its US and Canadian workforce (about 1.6 million employees) via an eight-hour professional certificate, with executives saying AI will reshape jobs rather than drive layoffs. Wikipedia, via the Wikimedia Foundation, blocks archive.today citing infrastructure overload from automated requests and alleging some archived captures were altered, raising concerns about archival integrity while distinguishing it from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Research from UNSW Sydney and the Australian National University finds most people—including "super recognizers"—struggle to detect AI-generated faces, increasing risks like fraud and social engineering. The show closes with Bernie Sanders urging to slow AI development, alongside similar readiness warnings from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei about rapid progress toward very powerful systems and the lack of preparedness by lawmakers and the public.

Hashtag Trending would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt

00:00 Hashtag Trending Kickoff + Sponsor: Meter 00:57 Apple's On‑Device AI for App Control (Ferret‑UI Light) 02:01 Smart Speaker Arms Race: OpenAI, Alexa GenAI, Gemini vs Apple's Privacy Play 03:09 Walmart's Plan: Train 1.6M Workers in AI Instead of Layoffs 04:56 Wikipedia Blocks Archive.today Over Load + Integrity Allegations 06:34 AI-Generated Faces Now Fool Most People (Study + Security Risks) 07:57 "Slow This Thing Down": Sanders, Altman & AGI Timelines 09:59 Wrap-Up, Links, Listener Messages + Sponsor Close