June 19, 2025

It’s pretty easy to get DeepSeek to talk dirty

AI companions like Replika are designed to engage in intimate exchanges, but people use general-purpose chatbots for sex talk too, despite their stricter content moderation policies. Now new research shows that not all chatbots are equally willing to talk dirty: DeepSeek is the easiest to convince. But other AI chatbots can be enticed too, if…

Instacart launches Fizz, a new app for ordering drinks and snacks for parties

May 6, 2025
Instacart has launched a new drinks and snack delivery app called Fizz, the company announced on Tuesday. The 21+ app is built for friends and family and is designed to make it easier to stock up for a party or get-together. The host of a party can invite guests into their Fizz cart to allow […]

Meet Posha, a countertop robot that cooks your meals for you

May 6, 2025
In 2017, Raghav Gupta set out to solve a personal problem: he wanted easy access to the home-cooked meals he grew up eating without having to spend time cooking or spend money on takeout or hiring a private chef. He turned to robotics, which led him to found the startup Posha. Posha, a former TechCrunch […]

Spotify now shows how many times people listened to podcast episodes

May 6, 2025
YouTube continues to dominate the podcasting space, but Spotify is actively working to close the gap. The latest development: a new feature that lets users see how many times an audio-only or video podcast episode has been actively listened to or watched. The streaming giant revealed its new podcast metric called “plays” on Tuesday, making […]

The Download: a longevity influencer’s new religion, and humanoid robots’ shortcomings

May 6, 2025
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Bryan Johnson wants to start a new religion in which “the body is God” Bryan Johnson is on a mission to not die. The 47-year-old multimillionaire has already applied his slogan “Don’t Die”…

US DoJ wants Google to sell two of its ad products

May 6, 2025
The U.S. Department of Justice is proposing that Google sell two of its advertising products to restore competition in the ad tech space, according to a new filing. The proposal comes after a judge found Google guilty of “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the digital ad space last month. The DOJ’s filing notes […]

Why the humanoid workforce is running late

May 6, 2025
On Thursday I watched Daniela Rus, one of the world’s top experts on AI-powered robots, address a packed room at a Boston robotics expo. Rus spent a portion of her talk busting the notion that giant fleets of humanoids are already making themselves useful in manufacturing and warehouses around the world.  That might come as…

Blinq lands $25M to further its mission to make business cards passé

May 6, 2025
It’s 2025, but business cards are still in vogue — just visit any conference or industry expo and you’ll end up with a pile that’s likely to be discarded sooner than later. But as smartphones have become our repositories of information and contacts, people are understandably keen to try out digital alternatives to business cards. […]