August 31, 2025

This Week in Tech 1047: Nerd Harder!

Listen Later

2 hours 54 minutes

Cloudflare's latest moves to police who can access the internet and governments' push for age verification set off alarms for the future of the open web, as panelists debate the hidden costs of centralization and regulation.

Microsoft fires four workers for on-site protests over company's ties to Israel

Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 water

Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue

FBI cyber cop: Salt Typhoon pwned 'nearly every American

Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification law

UK's Online Safety Act censors the internet — a preview of US proposal

Meta updates chatbot rules to avoid inappropriate topics with teen user

Meta reportedly allowed unauthorized celebrity AI chatbots on its service

UK's demand for Apple backdoor may have been broader than previously though

Bluesky now platform of choice for science community

SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight in stunning comeback

FCC rejects calls for cable-like fees on broadband providers

The web does not need gatekeepers

Intel warns a US equity stake could trigger "adverse reactions"

US firms are racing through a $1 trillion buyback spree in record time

Microsoft reveals two in-house AI models

Authors celebrate "historic" settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action

A rule exempting small packages from tariffs is ending today

Framework is working on a giant haptic touchpad, Trackpoint nub, and eGPU for its laptops

Germany fines economist Thomas Vierhaus €16,100 for sarcastic X posts

Google wants to make sideloading Android apps safer by verifying developers' identities

South Korea bans smartphones in all middle and elementary school classrooms

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Cory Doctorow, and Louis Maresca

Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech

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August 31, 2025

This Week in Tech 1047: Nerd Harder!

Listen Later

2 hours 54 minutes

Cloudflare's latest moves to police who can access the internet and governments' push for age verification set off alarms for the future of the open web, as panelists debate the hidden costs of centralization and regulation.

Microsoft fires four workers for on-site protests over company's ties to Israel

Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 water

Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue

FBI cyber cop: Salt Typhoon pwned 'nearly every American

Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification law

UK's Online Safety Act censors the internet — a preview of US proposal

Meta updates chatbot rules to avoid inappropriate topics with teen user

Meta reportedly allowed unauthorized celebrity AI chatbots on its service

UK's demand for Apple backdoor may have been broader than previously though

Bluesky now platform of choice for science community

SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight in stunning comeback

FCC rejects calls for cable-like fees on broadband providers

The web does not need gatekeepers

Intel warns a US equity stake could trigger "adverse reactions"

US firms are racing through a $1 trillion buyback spree in record time

Microsoft reveals two in-house AI models

Authors celebrate "historic" settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action

A rule exempting small packages from tariffs is ending today

Framework is working on a giant haptic touchpad, Trackpoint nub, and eGPU for its laptops

Germany fines economist Thomas Vierhaus €16,100 for sarcastic X posts

Google wants to make sideloading Android apps safer by verifying developers' identities

South Korea bans smartphones in all middle and elementary school classrooms

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Cory Doctorow, and Louis Maresca

Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:

shopify.com/twit

ZipRecruiter.com/twit

NetSuite.com/TWIT

zscaler.com/security

smarty.com/twit

...more