This Week in Tech (Audio)

Leo Laporte, Harry McCracken, Christina Warren, and Lou Maresca discuss the evolving relationship between the tech industry and the incoming Trump administration, the future of TikTok in the U.S., advances in AI and its impact on everything from weather forecasting to web browsing, and much more.

• Elon Musk and other tech billionaires are playing a major role in shaping President-elect Trump's transition team. The panel debated what this could mean for issues like antitrust regulation of Big Tech.
• Trump has named entrepreneur and investor David Sacks as the White House AI and Crypto Czar. Sacks is an Elon Musk ally who has been critical of OpenAI.
• The Hak Tuah cryptocurrency project suffered a 90% price crash shortly after launch amid controversy, in what may have been a "rug pull" scam.
• Trump's pick to lead NASA, private astronaut Jared Isaacman, is expected to push the agency to partner more with SpaceX and the commercial space industry. But his close ties to Elon Musk could face political hurdles.
• TikTok's future remains murky as U.S courts uphold a potential ban. The crew discusses the free speech implications and the role of geopolitics. EU also probes TikTok over Russian election interference.
• Entrepreneur Frank McCourt's Project Liberty consortium is reportedly advancing a bid to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations, positioning it as a "people's bid."
• The U.S. House is set to approve an additional $3 billion to fund the removal of Chinese telecom equipment like Huawei and ZTE from domestic networks.
• Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is departing after a challenging 3-year stint. The chip giant's future strategy is up in the air as it faces intensifying competition, but the chip company did outline breakthroughs at a conference in advanced transistors, packaging, and interconnects that could help it regain a manufacturing edge.
• OpenAI is running a "12 Days of OpenAI" promotion highlighting new AI models and services. The TWiT panel debated whether it's mainly a technical showcase or a monetization push.
• Google unveiled a weather forecasting AI model that it says outperforms the leading U.S. and European forecast systems, especially for predicting extreme events.
• ElevenLabs launched a beta product that allows users to create and edit entire AI-generated podcast episodes, sparking discussions about the impact on human podcast creators.
• With the rise of AI, could we see a new generation of AI-infused web browsers that better understand our behavior? A long blog post by tech guru Om Malik explored the possibilities.
• In the wake of China's "Salt Typhoon" hacks of telecom networks, the FCC is proposing new cybersecurity rules - but with a twist that would allow law enforcement backdoor access.
• In the latest twist in the CSAM scanning saga, Apple is being sued for abandoning the controversial child abuse image detection feature, after previously being pilloried for trying to implement it.
• A sleeker, more accurate definition of a "second" based on atomic clocks using Strontium instead of Cesium atoms could be coming by 2030, enabling new scientific breakthroughs.
• Just in time for Christmas, a pair of the iconic ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz sold at auction for a whopping $28 million, a new record for movie memorabilia.

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Harry McCracken, Christina Warren, and Louis Maresca

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