Marketplace Tech
Monday through Friday, Marketplace demystifies the digital economy in less than 10 minutes. We look past the hype and ask tough questions about an industry that's constantly changing.
Episodes
Snap's new smart glasses received mixed reactions — mainly on aesthetics
Meta responded to plummeting morale this week with a pledge to do better with company snacks. Plus, the new AI augmented reality smart glasses everyone's talking about, and not in a good way. But first, SpaceX is acquiring the AI coding startup Cursor a week after it's IPO took off like a rocket.The company hit a $2.5 trillion valuation at one point, but has dropped since then. Marketplac
Online casting scams hit Hollywood
AI has ushered in a golden age for scams. There are the deepfake kidnapping calls, the vibecoded ecommerce websites and one of the latest, according to a recent article in the Hollywood Reporter, is a casting scam targeting aspiring actors. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with labor and media reporter Katie Kilkenny who wrote about how this scheme typically unfolds.
Who should get an AI kill switch?
Last week, the Trump Administration ordered Anthropic to cut off access to its most advanced AI models — Mythos 5 and the pared-down public version, Fable 5 — from foreign nationals due to reported security weaknesses in Fable's safeguards.In response, Anthropic shut them down for everyone including the handful of companies that had been granted access to Mythos.One of those companies is
Are our electric grids too big to function?
Demand for power is growing thanks to the rapid expansion of data center infrastructure across the U.S. But as utility bills continue to rise, states and grid operators are turning to address problems in grid infrastructure. Reliability and affordability are among the largest concerns for regulators and consumers alike. On July 23rd, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold a me
It's a tough time to break into cybersecurity
On today’s episode, Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino walks us through how AI is making it harder to break into the cybersecurity sector.
Why Siri AI isn't coming to the EU
The White House is not giving up its push to preempt states from passing their own AI laws, something it tried and failed to accomplish last year. We'll get into it on today's “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review.” Plus it looks like federal regulators might actually put some rules on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. And Siri AI is coming to an Apple device near you later
Can humans and AI complement each other?
Should you learn prompt engineering, or maybe a physical trade? There's almost no skill that AI won't eventually surpass, according to neuroscientist Vivienne Ming.In her new book, "Robot-Proof: When Machines Have All the Answers, Build Better People," she argues humans still have qualities AI can't replicate, like curiosity, social intelligence and a sense of inner purpose. And honing th
A climate change solution from science fiction
Earth keeps getting hotter. And despite some efforts to slow planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, they're still rising, leaving a lot of people hungry for alternative climate solutions. One idea: reflect sunlight away from Earth. Amy Scott, host of the Marketplace climate podcast, “How We Survive,” looked into one out-there proposal to do just that, and whether it could one day become
When AI fabricates your quotes
File this under the definition of irony: last month, The New York Times reported that a high-profile new book, "The Future of Truth: How AI reshapes reality," includes several quotes that appear to be made up or misattributed. Author Steven Rosenbaum acknowledged he'd used AI in the writing process.One of the quotes came, allegedly, from a book by data journalist and NYU professor Meredit
The Take It Down Act is in full effect. Now what?
Enforcement of the Take It Down Act began last month. If tech firms don’t comply and take down non-consensual intimate images — AI-generated or not — within 48 hours of being notified, they face financial and criminal penalties.Lauren Feiner is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, who’s been writing about the law. She walked us through how platforms have been responding.
SpaceX is reportedly overvalued ahead of its IPO
SpaceX is targeting a $1.77 trillion valuation, but some analysts think it's worth half that. Plus, Florida sues OpenAI — the first state to take legal action against an AI company. But first, President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week, similar to the one he called off last month, asking AI companies to give the government a first look at advanced models that could have na
Maryland's plan for the AI future
When a store offers different shoppers different prices depending on factors like the weather, the time of day, and what the store knows about each buyer, it’s called dynamic pricing.This spring, Maryland, became the first state to ban this practice in grocery stores. The state’s governor Wes Moore proposed the law. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Gov. Moore at the statehouse in
AI bots are collecting debts — or at least trying to
If you have a debt, you may get a call, a letter or a text prodding you to pay it back. Now, that call could come from an AI agent.The AI debt collection market is expected to reach $16 billion by 2034, according to the Kaplan Group. Kate Nibbs of Wired has been reporting on this and said these bots are not as effective at getting people to pay back the money they owe.
Wall Street sets its sights on an AI futures market
There is growing demand for time with GPUs, the chips that power artificial intelligence. AI companies need those chips in order to keep their models up and running. And to do that, they can reserve time with a GPU. Now, there’s interest from Wall Street in creating a futures market for this AI compute time, essentially treating it like a commodity. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke
What happened to alternative energy investments from the 1970s?
The price of oil has gone up significantly since late February, when the US invaded Iran. And when oil prices see a crazy rise, it makes other sources of energy look more attractive. But we’ve been here before - back in the 1970s, oil prices skyrocketed, and people started to turn to alternative or renewable energy sources. But, for a few reasons, it didn’t stick. Marketplace’s Stephanie
The great AI race to Wall Street
This week, rideshare drivers in Massachusetts unionize; plus, Robinhood lets AI agents trade on behalf its customers.But first, there’ve been hints for a while that Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX are planning to go public in the near future. Last week, SpaceX filed its initial public offering prospectus, also known as an S1, which is meant to help investors understand the company’s business
Plug-in solar is gaining traction in the U.S.
Like the name suggests, plug-in solar panels can be plugged into an electrical outlet just like you would your toaster. But instead of using electricity, they send power back to be used elsewhere in the home.In most of the country, plug-in solar is neither illegal nor legal. But energy policy consultant Bentham Polis, who's also a senior researcher with the Clean Energy States Alliance, s
Amid AI backlash, brands are emphasizing the human side of marketing
Public backlash to content generated by artificial intelligence has pushed brands to reconsider how AI is used in their marketing.Some companies are swerving away from AI and finding ways to prove that their advertisements were made by humans.One of those humans is Ash Xu, a commercial director and online content creator. Brands hire her to make a commercial plus a behind-the-scenes video
Startups are betting on a legalized peptide market
Peptides are short chains of amino acids. GLP-1 weight loss drugs are peptides. Insulin is one, too. And there are thousands of others. Now, people are seeking out peptides in the hope of better muscles, better skin, better memory, better…everything. Many of the peptides people wanna try are available for research use only but the Food and Drug Administration might change this. In July, t
How one company is using AI for improved wildfire risk mitigation
The wildfire risk mitigation company Technosylva helps utilities, insurers and government agencies predict where and when a fire could spark. It uses historical weather data to make those predictions and suggest changes to help prevent or mitigate a fire. For example, maybe moving a tree branch that's close to a power line so it doesn't fall and start a fire.The company is nearly 30 years
Google search gets an AI makeover
On this week’s Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review, we take a look at how college graduates do not wanna hear about AI. Plus, what we all learned from the Musk v. Open AI case. But first, AI was unsurprisingly front and center at Google’s annual I/O developer conference. Among a suite of new AI products, Google said it updated its iconic search bar. Now, when searching in AI mode, the
AI's double-edged (cyber) sword
Anthropic’s newest AI model, Mythos, is so good, the company says, at uncovering security vulnerabilities that it's too dangerous to release to the public. Anthropic shared a preview version with a select group to help patch the holes that Mythos finds.But the prospect of a super-hacker AI system is still sending some business leaders into a panic. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino repo
What we learned from the Canvas hack
Earlier this month, a group called ShinyHunters took responsibility for a hack on the education platform Canvas, which is used for coursework at colleges. In a letter posted online, the group threatened to leak data it took from the platform, including billions of private messages between students and teachers. Canvas was also temporarily unavailable, disrupting students’ ability to do th
Study finds AI is making the internet more artificially happy
As of mid-2025, about a third of newly published websites were generated by artificial intelligence. That’s a massive increase from just three years before when the number hovered around zero. The AI written text provides fewer diverse viewpoints and is generally presented in a cheerful manner. That's all according to an early study out last month. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke wit
Canada to share its hydropower with Northeast U.S.
Hydropower is one of the oldest forms of energy creation, and uses the flow of rushing water to create electricity. The province of Québec, Canada, has historically had an abundance of it and, later this spring, will start supplying hydropower to New York City.This is the second big hydropower line to link Québec and the Northeast U.S. this year, after a line to Massachusetts came on boar
Meta wants AI chats to be private
This week, WhatsApp is offering private chats with its AI. Plus, Princeton will now hold supervised exams after a rise in AI-fueled cheating.But first, Google’s self-driving car division Waymo opted to do a voluntary recall of 3,800 of its robotaxis. This comes after a Waymo drove into a flooded road in San Antonio, Texas. The car was empty and no one was hurt, but Waymo is now updating i
Why audio deepfakes are so hard to spot
Voice cloning is the use of artificial intelligence to generate a clone of a real person’s voice, imitating the sound, when they pause and what words they typically emphasize. And it can be hard for people to identify voices as being AI-generated.Research last year from UC Berkeley professor Hany Farid, an expert in digital forensics, found that people correctly identify a voice as AI-gen
Raising kids in an AI-driven world
In order to write her new book “I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI To Do ‘Almost’ Everything," journalist Joanna Stern decided to invite artificial intelligence into every aspect of her life — including her family life. She has a wife and two sons. On their spring break, she took them to Phoenix, where it's easy to hail a driverless car. They rode in a bunch of them, including one that t
What AI can and can't do for you (for now)
Imagine if you invited robots - smart ones or “smart-ish,” at least - into every aspect of your life. Your emails and texts are all composed by an AI, the bots look at a photo of what’s in your fridge and figure out what you can make for dinner. They even become emotional support, providing advice and sometimes companionship. Journalist and founder of media company New Things, Joanna Ster
Amid Silicon Valley scramble for AI agent productivity, "token anxiety" takes hold
There's a new flex in Silicon Valley: how big is your AI agent swarm? They can work on your behalf, autonomously, 24/7, on whatever goal you give them. You might think having an army of AI minions could free up some time, maybe make work more chill. But, you’d be wrong, as Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino reports.
Anthropic’s new, powerful allies: Elon Musk and SpaceX
On this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review,” we’ll discuss why Apple is paying a $250 million settlement over its Apple Intelligence tool and its capabilities. Plus, GameStop makes a surprising buyout offer for eBay. But first up: Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude, announced a new computing deal this week with SpaceX and its AI division, xAI. Anthropic will get access to
Elon Musk is in court arguing that OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit model
Back in 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman got the idea to start a nonprofit AI lab to develop artificial general intelligence that benefits all humanity. The lab would also make its technology open source, calling it OpenAI.All that is according to a complaint filed by Elon Musk, who has since parted ways with the organization. And now he is suing OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman and its president
Does AI save time in police work?
Technology has been transformative for how police officers do their jobs. Body cameras, speed detection technology and surveillance drones are some prominent examples. And now, law enforcement departments are trying to figure out if and how they want to add artificial intelligence to the mix. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Greg Barber, a science and technology journalist who re
Can AI improve your odds of finding good childcare?
The startup Winnie is a marketplace for childcare. It works like this: Parents type in the age of their kid and their zip code, then different childcare providers in the area will pop up. You can also filter by languages spoken, and whether you want a childcare center or home-based daycare or another option. It's free for parents to use.But the company was founded back in 2016, when AI se
A bill that bans kids from using AI chatbots is gaining momentum
The GUARD Act is a bipartisan bill that would prohibit companies from letting kids under 18 interact with what the legislation calls "AI companions,” which are chatbots designed to encourage the simulation of an interpersonal relationship.This comes after some harrowing stories of teenagers who developed relationships with chatbots and then harmed themselves or others. The bill just passe
Taylor Swift vs. AI
This week, Taylor Swift trademarked her voice and image in what appears to be a bid to protect against AI misuse. Plus, a Japanese airline is experimenting with humanoid robots to help with baggage.But first, Google landed a deal with the Pentagon to let its AI models be used for classified work. A Google spokesperson told us in a statement that the company is proud to be providing its se
Middle East tensions are putting tech supply chains under pressure
The war with Iran has upended supply chains including for materials that are critical to building the electronics we use everyday, such as a certain kind of thermoplastic, copper, and helium. We are now dealing with shortages of all of them. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Jeff Janukowicz, an analyst with the research firm IDC, to learn more.
How this startup is bringing nuclear power to AI data centers
There's been renewed interest in nuclear power in recent years, thanks in part to demand from tech companies in search of reliable energy to power their AI data centers. The startup Kairos Power has jumped on this opportunity. Its nuclear reactors are cooled by molten salt. They also use golf-ball sized nuclear fuel, instead of uranium rods cooled by water used by traditional reactors. Mi
Introducing the world’s largest Math Olympiad database
The International Math Olympiad is a yearly competition for students, most of them high school age, who compete to solve six difficult math problems. They're chosen from a pool of math problems submitted by different countries that participate in the competition. The problems that don't make the cut previously have mostly just been lost; there was no one place you could go to find them.Bu
What a reform to Section 702 could look like
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, allows government agencies to collect information about foreign nationals located abroad. That surveillance can happen without a warrant and the government can order email providers to turn over any messages of a particular foreigner, including those with a U.S. citizen.Section 702 is set to expire this week. President Don
Bytes: Week in Review — Apple’s new CEO, Meta's latest AI play, and Roblox's safety updates
This week, Meta is reportedly laying off 10% of its workers. But in the meantime, it's also capturing their mouse clicks to train its AI models. Plus, Roblox settles with states over child safety concerns. But first, Apple's CEO is stepping down. The company announced this week that CEO Tim Cook is moving on from that role after about 15 years. His successor is John Ternus, a senior vice
Anti-AI data center sentiment is becoming a political issue
Lawmakers around the U.S. are moving to restrict data center development. Maine, for example, recently passed what's being called the country's first statewide ban on data centers. The measure would prohibit building any new data centers until late 2027.As of this taping, Maine's governor, Janet Mills, was reportedly still undecided on whether she'd sign the bill. And 13 other states are
When do tech companies need to be consistently profitable?
The social media company Snap recently announced it’s laying off about 1,000 workers — 16% of its employees. The company said these changes will reduce costs by more than half a billion dollars and help establish a path to net income profitability.This move comes after one of Snap's investors, Irenic Capital Management, wrote a public letter to the company outlining what it needs to do to
News sites are blocking access to Internet Archive's Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a project of the Internet Archive. It sends out web crawlers to take snapshots of the internet, creating a digital library of web pages. But now, some news publications are blocking its crawlers over concerns that AI companies will access the Wayback Machine’s publicly available archive and then train their AI models with the content.Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes t
California buildings must limit "embodied carbon." Here's what that means
California became the first state to regulate embodied carbon in its building code. That’s changing the construction industry even beyond the state border. More than a third of planet-warming emissions come from buildings and construction. Marketplace’s The rest of it is what’s called embodied carbon. That’s the emissions that it took to make the steel, concrete, glass and insulation, and
Bytes: Week in Review — AI companies divided over proposed state law, Amazon buys Globalstar, and Spotify to sell physical books
This week, Spotify is letting its users buy physical books. Plus, Amazon acquires the satellite service provide Globalstar. But first, state lawmakers in Illinois are considering a bill that says developers of large AI models can’t be held liable for critical harms caused by those models, as long as the developer doesn't intentionally or recklessly cause the harm and has published a safet
One way to avoid AI altogether? Retire early
The share of older workers is on the decline — about 37% of people age 55 and above are now active in the labor force. About a decade ago, it was around 40%.The pandemic chased some older workers out, and others can simply afford to retire. Another factor that's causing some to exit? The emergence of artificial intelligence. Learning how to interact with it as a tool, maybe even as a coll
How botnets infiltrate the internet of things
Routers, computers, web cameras — they all connect to the internet. And they can be infected with malicious software that lets someone else take over. The device becomes a bot, essentially.A group of these devices networked together then becomes a botnet. And these botnets can then be used for nefarious purposes, like distributed denial of service attacks, without the device owners even k
States are getting crypto‑curious
State governments invest their money a lot like a person might. Some treasuries, some mutual funds, a dash of corporate bonds, all intended to grow over time. Now, some states are looking to cryptocurrency as an investment. In 2025, at least nineteen states considered laws allowing some state funds to be invested in digital assets. Three states — Texas, New Hampshire, and Arizona — actual
Is “made by humans” the new premium label?
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes was shopping recently with her seven-year-old who was drawn to a “Relaxolotl,” a tea infuser shaped like an axolotl. And it had a label: “designed in Rhode Island, by people.” Genuine Fred makes the relaxolotl. President Jason Amendolara told “Marketplace Tech” the company adopted the saying over a decade ago, before artificial intelligence was really in th
Bytes: Week in Review — Anthropic's new AI model, a referendum on data centers, and NASA livestreams journey to space
This week, a Wisconsin city votes to restrict future data center development. Plus, the astronauts on Artemis II take their journey to social media. But first, Anthropic announced this week it has a new AI model called Claude Mythos Preview.The company says it’s extremely good at finding security vulnerabilities. So good that Anthropic is not releasing the model to the general public. Ins
Trust in government data practices is rapidly deteriorating
For years, consumers have worried about how the private sector — namely, big tech — handles their personal data. Now a new survey from the Center for Democracy & Technology suggests a large majority are also concerned about how the federal government uses their data.Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Elizabeth Laird, director of equity in civic technology at CDT, to learn
Are humans losing the ability to think for themselves?
As humans have integrated artificial intelligence into their daily lives, there is growing concern that AI is doing the bulk of the thinking.According to the paper: “Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender,” by Gideon Nave and Steven Shaw of the Wharton School of Business, they’ve deemed it a “cognitive surrender.”“Marke
By 2030, EVs could cost the same as their gas guzzling siblings
In the U.S., battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars have been more expensive than their gasoline-powered counterparts, costing about $8,000 more on average. Experts say EVs are poised to achieve price parity with internal-combustion engine vehicles in just a few years though, because the single costliest part of an EV — the battery that powers it — is getting cheaper.
Would banning teens from social media violate their First Amendment rights?
Four months after Australia’s landmark law that banned all minors under the age of 16 from creating or owning social media accounts, the California legislature is trying to follow suit.But free speech advocates worry that these laws will infringe on the First Amendment rights of many kids and even adults. However, Aaron Mackey, the free speech and transparency litigation director at the n
Bytes: Week in Review - SpaceX's IPO, Iran threatens U.S. tech firms and California's new AI executive order
On this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review,” Big Tech operations in the Middle East from companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft could be targeted by Iran. And California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new AI executive order with a not-so-thinly veiled message to the Trump administration. But first, Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX reportedly took a first step towards a hi
34 days without internet in Iran
It is day 34 of the internet blackout in Iran. But while it is the longest in their history, it does not mean that Iranians are without internet.In Iran, there is the global internet, and then the intranet, or National Information Network, which is controlled by the Iranian government. Right now, only the NIN is available, and Iranians have been digitally isolated from the outside world,
Meta and Youtube held liable for their addictive products
In rare verdicts, juries in New Mexico and Los Angeles sided against multiple Big Tech companies last week.In Los Angeles, Meta and Youtube were found liable for intentionally creating addictive products, while in New Mexico, Meta was found to have violated state law and misled consumers on child safety guardrails.The result of these two cases will ripple to the thousands of pending cases
Too much AI in the office is causing "brain fry"
The promise of artificial intelligence is that it will take on all the boring tasks we don’t want to do and free us up to do the fun, high-level work. But managing the AI tools can be its own kind of work. A new study from the Boston Consulting Group found that when workers have to closely monitor and manage their AI tools can cause cognitive exhaustion, which they dubbed “AI brain fry.”M
MLB brings automated ball-strike tech to the Big Leagues
In baseball, calling balls and strikes is a kind of art form. Now, a little more science is being added to the artistry. Major League Baseball has introduced the automated ball-strike, or ABS, challenge system. If a batter, catcher, or pitcher disagrees with the human umpire's call, he can tap his hat. Then, the ABS system uses cameras to say whether the pitch was indeed in the batter's s
Bytes: Week in Review — Meta, YouTube’s social media addiction case, a new AI literacy course, and Kalshi’s prediction market self-regulation
The prediction market platform Kalshi announces new rules this week. Plus, the Department of Labor introduces an AI literacy course. But first, a jury in Los Angeles this week found that Meta and YouTube were negligent in what’s being called a landmark case.The social media companies were accused of intentionally designing their platforms to be addictive, which caused harm to a young user
The tech transforming Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge
It's been two years exactly since the Francis Scott Key Bridge here in Baltimore was hit by a container ship, the Dali, causing it to collapse. When it fell, the state lost a well-traveled highway that served commuters as well as truckers moving goods around the port of Baltimore. Now, the state is rebuilding the bridge. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Jim Harkness, chief engine
Why digital archiving is more than "store and ignore"
There are few worse feelings for a radio journalist than when you realize some tape you thought you had nicely stored is actually gone. And when we say tape, we mean the digital sound recording. All digital files are stored on physical media, such as hard drives or what's called in the industry of digital archiving, "LTO data tape." And anything physical can fail. So, some companies and l
U.S. regulators eye rules for prediction markets
Marketplace's Meghan McCarty Carino takes a look at how platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are allowed to function in states with varying gambling restrictions, plus what the CFTC is looking at to try to rein such platforms.
What do students lose when they rely on AI for homework?
More than 60% of middle, high school, and college students in the U.S. are turning to AI for homework help, according to a new study from Rand. Some use it to help them brainstorm or like an encyclopedia. Others do it to get answers. But while kids are relying more on AI, about two-thirds of students surveyed in the study also believe that this AI use will hurt their critical thinking ski
Bytes: Week in Review — Gecko's $71M contract with U.S. Navy, BuzzFeed doubts its business viability, and Amazon offers faster delivery
This week, Amazon speeds up delivery even more. Plus, will BuzzFeed stay in business?But first, Gecko, a robotics startup, landed a $71 million contract with the U.S. Navy. The 13-year-old Pittsburgh-based company says it'll be using its drones and wall-climbing robots to help find defects on ships. Then, it will use artificial intelligence to model current and future structural issues.Ma
How low-cost drones are used in modern military strikes
There have been decades of attempts to make destructive drones, going back to World War I. The technology has advanced significantly since then. Drones now range in size from tiny — as in, fitting in the palm of your hand — to so big they look like little planes.Stacie Pettyjohn directs the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. She spoke with Marketplace’s Stephanie H
The ethics of using AI to immortalize the dead
There's an emerging industry that uses artificial intelligence to create simulations of people who've died. These post mortem avatars are also called griefbots.Some critics, including Tomasz Hollanek, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, say this practice raises a number of ethical issues. He walks us through the mechanics of how this technology works, and how it may or may not be
AI-powered workplace tools keep tabs on employees
More and more companies are incorporating artificial intelligence into their workflows — from AI assistants that record and analyze meetings, to AI notetakers that keep track of what's said, to AI summaries and analyses of emails.Workers may know this technology is being used, but some of these tools, which record and monitor, can still catch them off guard. Still, Josh Bersin, an human r
How confident are crypto consumers?
Here at Marketplace, we often report on a monthly economic indicator from the University of Michigan called the consumer sentiment index. It basically looks how people are feeling about the economy. Now, a team of academics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School have used that index as a model to create something similar though much more niche: how people feel about cryptocurr
Bytes: Week in Review - Amazon and AI, YouTube tops the media market and Meta buys an AI-only social network
This week, the AI chatbot social network Moltbook finds a new home. Plus, YouTube dominates the media landscape. But first, a look at AI-related site outages at Amazon. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Jewel Burks Solomon, managing partner at Collab Capital, about all these headlines for this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”
Why Bitcoin falls short as a safe haven in geopolitical turmoil
Pretty much since its inception, the cryptocurrency bitcoin has been compared to gold: There’s only so much of it, its value isn't tied to any fiat currency. But gold is a traditional safe haven asset, while bitcoin isn't, necessarily. Gold surged in value when news first spread that the U.S. had attacked Iran. Bitcoin didn’t see the same immediate flight to safety. Marketplace’s Stephani
An Ohio newspaper gives AI a byline
The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio, has been around since the 1800s. Now, it's leaning into a very 21st century tactic: embracing the use of artificial intelligence in its journalism. That includes AI actually writing articles.The paper's editor, Chris Quinn, says incorporating artificial intelligence is critical to its success. Will Oremus, tech reporter at The Washington Post
What do Girl Scouts get out of selling cookies online?
Girl Scout cookie sales started back in 1917. In addition to raising money, cookie selling is also meant to make the girls more business savvy. The Girl Scouts say it's the largest girl led entrepreneurial program in the world. And now, some of that entrepreneurship is happening online. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Wendy Lou, who oversees the cookie program as the chief reven
California’s one-stop shop for data brokers to delete consumers' data
The 39.4 million people who live in California now have a new tool where they can request that data brokers delete their personal information. That may include their online search histories, social security numbers and where they work, among other identifying data.The tool is called the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP). It was mandated by a 2023 state law called the “Delete Act.
Bytes: Week in Review — Prediction markets reel amid Iran conflict, defense contractors to drop Anthropic, and Meta's AI deal with News Corp
Meta and News Corp reached a licensing deal this week. Plus, defense contractors untangle Claude from their workflows.But first, the online prediction marketplace Kalshi lets users bet on the outcome of many things that can happen in the future. One bet that saw a lot of action was whether Ali Khamenei would be ousted as the supreme leader in Iran. Khamenei was killed over the weekend dur
Iran’s cyberwar on American banks
As the war in the Middle East intensifies, one risk facing American banks is the possibility of cyber attacks by hackers linked to Iran. There is some historical precedent for this: from late 2011 to mid-2013, nearly 50 financial institutions in the U.S. were attacked repeatedly by a group of hackers aligned with the Iranian government. The attacks disabled bank websites and prevented cu
Brands are racing to show up in AI search
You've probably heard of search engine optimization, or SEO. That's what you need to do to get your shoe brand or your coffee shop or your public radio show picked up and pushed out by a search engine. Now, with more people using AI to search for things, these brands have to work on what's being called AEO, or "answer engine optimization." When someone asks Chat GPT "where do I get good c
Digital archiving and the global memory shortage
As tech companies rush to build data centers to power their AI models, they're eating up power, money, and memory. Specifically, memory chips. The research firm IDC says demand from data centers has driven up prices for these chips and that we are dealing with an unprecedented memory chip shortage. That has knock-on effects for other devices that need these chips, including smartphones, P
How government uses "surveillance as a service" to collect data
We create digital breadcrumbs all the time — when we buy something online, when we post on social media, and even when we look up directions on the internet. This is data generally collected by private companies — but how and when should the government be able to access it?There have been lawsuits filed recently against the Department of Homeland Security over its collection and use of co
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