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Show Notes
Apple’s AI Siri Relaunch Slips, Will Roll Out in Stages
Apple’s anticipated AI-powered Siri redesign, meant to be a more capable assistant, has been delayed due to internal testing problems, including sluggishness and failure to process queries. Instead of a single launch, Apple will now roll out the new features incrementally through updates like iOS 26.4 (possibly next month), iOS 26.5 (in May), and iOS 27 later in the year. The company previously confirmed that Google’s Gemini models will help power the new Siri, which is expected to eventually function like an AI chatbot.
Russia Blocks WhatsApp, Pushes State-Controlled Alternative
Russia has completely blocked WhatsApp, the country’s most popular messaging app owned by Meta Platforms, after it failed to comply with local laws. The Kremlin is promoting its own surveillance-prone “national messenger” MAX as an alternative. This move, which isolates over 100 million users from secure communication and forces them to use VPNs to access the service, is part of a broader six-month effort by Russian authorities to establish a sovereign communication infrastructure that mandates foreign tech companies submit to local regulations or be shut down.
Memory Price Surge Triggers PC Buying Rush
Soaring memory prices are driving corporate buyers to accelerate PC purchases, boosting revenue for PC makers like Lenovo. This imbalance, worsened by the “Curse of AI,” is forecast to constrain PC and smartphone unit volume later in 2026. Despite lower shipments, overall PC market revenue is still expected to grow due to higher pricing and a shift to premium AI PCs. Resellers like CDW anticipate stronger early-year hardware growth as buyers pull purchases forward to avoid steeper costs. Analysts predict rising costs passed to consumers could cause a 10–15% decline in PC shipments as the market adjusts to new, higher price points.
Anthropic Expands Claude’s Free Tier, Takes Aim at ChatGPT Ads
Anthropic is significantly upgrading the free tier of its Claude chatbot, directly challenging OpenAI’s plan to introduce ads to free ChatGPT. Free Claude users now receive previously paid features, such as file creation/editing (using Sonnet 4.5) for documents like Excel and PDFs, third-party integrations (Connectors), and custom task teaching (Skills). These improvements also include better search and longer conversations, with Anthropic emphasizing that Claude will remain entirely ad-free, a commitment recently highlighted in a Super Bowl ad mocking OpenAI’s new ad model and GPT-4o.
Anthropic Backs Pro-AI Regulation Candidates Ahead of 2026 Elections
Anthropic is committing $20 million to the 2026 political elections through the Public First Action PAC, which supports pro-AI regulation candidates such as Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Pete Ricketts. The PAC, targeting $75 million, is smaller than the rival Leading the Future PAC ($125 million). Anthropic justifies the spending as necessary for policy safeguards, though critics like David Sacks view it as a “regulatory capture strategy.” This follows the U.S. president’s executive order establishing a national AI regulatory framework.
Google Recovers “Deleted” Nest Video, Raising Privacy Questions
Police recovered “deleted” video of a masked suspect from Nancy Guthrie’s non-paying Nest camera nine days after her abduction, despite Google’s policy of only saving three hours of event history for non-subscribers. This successful, voluntary recovery by Google in aid of the investigation suggests that Nest event data persists and is recoverable from Google’s backend servers long after it is inaccessible to the user, raising privacy concerns about the company’s stated data deletion policy.
Musk Reorganizes xAI After SpaceX Merger
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a reorganization at the company’s xAI artificial intelligence venture, including some personnel departures, to “improve speed of execution,” while noting they are “hiring aggressively.” This overhaul follows the recent exits of co-founders Jimmy Ba and Tony Wu, adding to previous departures. The changes come after SpaceX acquired xAI last week in an all-stock transaction valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. The company is preparing for an anticipated IPO this year, amidst regulatory probes into xAI’s Grok AI chatbot over its role in the creation of deepfake porn.
ByteDance’s New AI Video Model Goes Viral in China
ByteDance has released a new video-generating AI model that has garnered attention, including from Elon Musk, and gone viral in China for its ability to create cinematic storylines from simple prompts, earning comparisons to DeepSeek. This development signals that video and picture generation models are becoming the next major advancement in AI, following the widespread adoption of text-centric models like ChatGPT and DeepSeek’s R1.
NVIDIA Brings GeForce Now to Amazon Fire TV
NVIDIA has launched a native GeForce Now app for select Amazon Fire TV devices, including the second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max, and the original Fire TV Stick 4K Max. This eliminates the need for sideloading the Android app. While streaming quality on Fire TV is capped at 1080p resolution at 60 fps with SDR and stereo audio it provides a convenient cloud gaming option for users who own compatible Fire TV hardware and a controller.