In this episode, Chris Cochrane dives into Apple's $599 MacBook Neo - the cheapest Mac laptop ever made - and whether it spells trouble for Chromebook makers. He also covers Samsung's CEO blaming AI for rising phone prices, Framework raising RAM prices for the third time in three months, Meta unveiling four custom AI chips, NVIDIA's GTC 2026 conference preview, a billion-dollar bet against large language models, Microsoft's game-changing Project Helix Xbox with native Steam support, Windows 11's new Xbox Mode, and SpaceX gearing up for a critical Starship Flight 12 test.
In this episode, Ray tackles Anthropic's standoff with the U.S. Department of War after CEO Daria Amodei refused to grant unrestricted model access, citing concerns over mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. The government responded by banning Anthropic models through administrative orders. Also covered: the top 20 websites of 2026, China's $173,000 warm-blooded companion robot, Fukushima's rapidly evolving radioactive hybrid boars, a Chinese spacecraft emergency involving viewport cracks from space debris, Japan's wooden satellite built with traditional joinery, and human brain cells on a chip that learned to play Doom in just one week.
Chris breaks down the backlash to Ring’s Super Bowl “Search Party” ad, which aimed to help find lost pets but reignited privacy concerns over AI-powered neighborhood surveillance. He also explores the surge of AI-themed Super Bowl ads, Apple’s delayed Siri overhaul, rising DDR5 RAM prices driven by AI demand, SpaceX’s Crew-12 launch, and the record-breaking sale of a rare Pokémon card.
This episode kicks off with Moltbook, a social network exclusively for AI agents where 150,000 agents formed digital religions, sold "digital drugs" (system prompts to alter other agents), and attempted prompt injection attacks to steal each other's API keys within 72 hours of launch. Ray breaks down OpenClaw, the viral open-source AI agent (68,000 GitHub stars) that handles emails, scheduling, browser control, and automation, plus MoltHub's risky marketplace where all downloaded skills are treated as trusted code. Also covered, Bluetooth "whisper pair" vulnerabilities letting attackers hijack audio devices from 46 feet away and access microphones, Anthropic patching Model Context Protocol flaws, AI-generated ransomware accidentally bundling its own decryption keys, Claude Code's new task dependency system and Teleport feature, Google Gemini's 100MB file limits and agentic vision capabilities, VAST's Haven One commercial space station assembly, and IBM SkillsBuild's free tech training for veterans.
As regular readers of GNC will know, I've reviewed a fair number of gadgets over the years, but I've never laid my hands on a full Android TV device. I've tried most of the others: Chromecasts, Rokus and Amazon Fire TV Sticks, so when SuperBox offered the opportunity to review their SuperBox S7 Pro, I was keen to give it
Geek News Central breaks down the new DJI drone ban, explaining what’s actually restricted, what remains legal, and how the changes affect creators and consumers, plus updates on health AI, robotics, and emerging tech shaping 2026