Total Leo (Audio)

Apple launches the next generation of its AirTags. Is Apple developing its own take on an AI wearable pin? Apple is holding an event in LA for creators: could this coincide with an announcement of the next MacBook Pro? And Apple snags a Best Picture nomination for 'F1: The Movie'.

Apple launches AirTag 2 with improved range, louder speaker, more.

Incremental iOS 26.2.1, iPadOS 26.2.1, watchOS 26.2.1 updates support the new AirTag.

Apple developing AI wearable pin.

Apple hosting LA event for creators on January 27-29 that could coincide with MacBook Pro announcement.

Apple reportedly aiming to upgrade the MacBook Pro twice this year.

Tim Cook slammed for attending 'Melania' screening on night of Alex Pretti killing.

Apple TV earns Best Picture nomination for 'F1: The Movie' in 2026 Oscars.

I let ChatGPT analyze a decade of my Apple Watch data. Then I called my doctor.

Ongoing RAM supply and cost crisis isn't an issue for Apple's iPhone — right now.

Picks of the Week

Dave's Pick: Anker Prime Foldable Wireless Charging Station (Feb 2026)

Andy's Pick: Mermaid

Jason's Pick: ChapterPod

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell

Guest: Dave Hamilton

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Microsoft quietly hands over BitLocker keys to the government, TikTok's new privacy terms spark a user panic, and Europe's secret tech backups reveal anxious prep for digital fallout. Plus, how gambling platforms are changing the future of news and sports.

You can bet on how much snow will fall in New York City this weekend

Europe Prepares for a Nightmare Scenario: The U.S. Blocking Access to Tech

China, US sign off on TikTok US spinoff

TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection -- here's what it means

Elon Musk's Grok A.I. Chatbot Made Millions of Sexualized Images, New Estimates Show

Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw - Forbes

House of Lords votes to ban social media for Brits under 16

Overrun with AI slop, cURL scraps bug bounties to ensure "intact mental health"

Route leak incident on January 22, 2026

149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database

Millions of people imperiled through sign-in links sent by SMS

Anthropic revises Claude's 'Constitution,' and hints at chatbot consciousness

The new Siri chatbot may run on Google servers, not Apple's

A Wikipedia Group Made a Guide to Detect AI Writing. Now a Plug-In Uses It to 'Humanize' Chatbots

GitHub - anthropics/original_performance_takehome: Anthropic's original performance take-home, now open for you to try!

Telly's "free" ad-based TVs make notable revenue—when they're actually delivered - Ars Technica

Toilet Maker Toto's Shares Get Unlikely Boost From AI Rush - Slashdot

Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Alex Stamos, Doc Rock, and Patrick Beja

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Think you know the story of AI's rise and fall? This episode upends conventional wisdom with guest historian Thomas Haigh, who reveals why the infamous "AI winter" might just be a myth and why the field's biggest failures fueled today's breakthroughs.

Two Thinking Machines Lab Cofounders Are Leaving to Rejoin OpenAI

NVDA, GOOGL, META: AI Spending Forecast to Hit $2.53 Trillion This Year

Nvidia, Eli Lilly just say yes to making drugs together, using Vera Rubin GPUs

Claude Cowork Exfiltrates Files

We put Claude Code in Rollercoaster Tycoon

How Generative AI is destroying society - by Gary Marcus

Anthropic rewrites Claude's guiding principles—and entertains the idea that its AI might have 'some kind of consciousness or moral status'

Claude's new constitution

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Thomas Haigh

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This week, the hosts go deep on out-of-band updates, unwanted "innovations," and the uneasy cost of tech's latest gold rush. Plus, securing a Microsoft account is not as hard as some think, and neither are passkeys once you get past the jargon. And for developers, AI Dev Gallery offers a fascinating glimpse at what you can do for free with AI used against a CPU, GPU, or NPU.

Windows 11

Microsoft issues an emergency fix for a borked Windows Update. Right. A fix for a fix.

Hell freezes over, if only slightly: Microsoft quietly made some positive changes to forced OneDrive Folder Backup. Donʼt worry, itʼs still forced (and appears to be opt-in, but isnʼt). But you can back out more elegantly. So itʼs opt-out, not opt-in, but a step forward. Plus, a new behavior

Windows 11 on Arm PCs can now download games from the Xbox app (previously only through the Insider program)

Over 85 percent of Xbox games on PC work in WOA now

Prism emulator now supports AVX and AVX2 and Epic Anti-Cheat, and there is a new Windows Performance Fit feature offering guidance on which titles should play well.

Beta: New 25H2 build with account dialog modernization, Click to Do and desktop background improvements. Not for Dev, suggesting itʼs about to move to 26H1

Notepad and Paint get more features yet again. Notably, these updates are for Dev and Canary only, suggesting these might be 26Hx features (then again, versions don't matter, right?)

AI

Just say no: To AI, to Copilot, and to Satya Nadella

Our national nightmare is over: You can now (easily) hide Copilot in Microsoft Edge

ChatGPT Go is now available worldwide, ads are on the way because of course

Wikipedia partners with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, more on AI

Xbox & gaming

January Xbox Update brings Game Sync Indicator, more

Solid second half of January for Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft will likely introduce a free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier because of course

Tips & picks

Tip of the week: Secure your Microsoft account

App pick of the week: AI Dev Gallery

RunAs Radio this week: Ideation to Implementation with Amber Vandenburg

Liquor pick of the week: Estancia Raicilla

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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Soaring RAM prices are about to hit your security gear where it hurts, and the fallout could change what's protecting your network. Find out who's about to pay and why the AI gold rush is reshaping more than just your server specs.

RAM pricing to affect enterprise firewall equipment.

Anthropic provides sizeable support to Python Foundation.

The FTC clamps down on GM's secret sale of driving data.

"ANCHOR" replaces "CIPAC" for industry-government sharing.

Germany planning to legislate total access to global data.

Grubhub becomes the latest ShinyHunters extortion victim.

Let's Encrypt's 6-Day certs are available to everyone.

Iran planning to permanently take itself off the Internet.

HD Tune before and after a SpinRite Level 3 refresh.

Some great listener feedback, and

More trouble from GhostPoster malicious browser extensions

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1061-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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