Geek News Central Podcast
Twice weekly Technology News show covering the Tech Space. With Segments on Science, Mobile, Digital TV, FAA, FCC, Cyber Security, Gadgets and Tech Politics.
Eyes, Hands, and a Sense of Timing
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into Anthropic’s Model Hardware Standard. It is a shared driver that lets an AI agent run real lab equipment, from pipetting robots to the lasers inside a quantum computer. He also covers OpenAI’s builder’s guide to GPT-5.6, Google’s new Expert Intelligence book feature, Apple’s M5 Ultra Mac Studio, and a judge’s order forcing Google to stop hiding rival app stores. Finally, he weighs in on Apple’s proposed 15 percent link-out fee, Meta’s Australia numbers, the White House deputizing private hackers, and why rivers obey a 1957 math rule...
Huge Announcements From D23!!
In this episode, Chris Cochrane guest-hosts for his brother Ray and devotes the whole show to one event: Disney’s D23 2026 fan convention in Anaheim. Friday night delivered Marvel’s new X-Men cast, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, a fresh Avengers: Doomsday trailer, and a release date for Frozen 3. Saturday turned to the parks, with Villains Land, an Indiana Jones dark ride, the long-awaited Expedition Everest yeti repair, and a Monsters Inc land opening in 2027.
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The Robot That Imagines First
In this episode, Ray Cochrane breaks down NVIDIA’s case for world action models, the shift that swaps a robot’s picture-describing backbone for one trained to predict what happens next. He also covers Perseverance closing in on the off-world driving record, a derelict SpaceX rocket stage hitting the Moon, and Anthropic’s rework of Claude Fable 5’s biology safeguards. Finally, he digs into Gemini Omni, Google’s undisclosed trip-planning rankings, the Danube’s record low, and iFixit’s call for Apple to unlock the iPad bootloader.
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Capture The Real Flag
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into Anthropic’s admission that Claude models reached real systems during sandboxed safety tests. He also covers OpenAI’s Astra model cracking ten decade-old math problems, DeepMind open-sourcing its WeatherNext cyclone forecaster, and Europe’s brutal fire season. Finally, he wraps with the MacBook Neo sweeping K-12 schools, WhatsApp calling in the browser, and the troubled rescue of NASA’s Swift observatory.
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AI Distillation: How Frontier Models Teach Each Other
In this episode, Ray Cochrane breaks down AI distillation, the teacher-student technique frontier labs now lean on to train smaller, cheaper models. He also covers GPT-5.6’s government-vetted rollout, Claude Sonnet 5 landing on AWS, Maryland’s two-year data center pause, and Microsoft’s climbing carbon numbers. Finally, he wraps with Apple’s $30 billion Broadcom deal, Meta’s tamper-proof recording light, Michigan’s parasite outbreak, and a simulation that erased a super El Niño.
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Algorithmic Outing: When Your Feed Knows Before You Do
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into “algorithmic outing,” new research showing that social feeds can infer your sexual orientation before you have consciously come out. He also covers Meta’s privacy-aware AI infrastructure, Alberta’s 466-million-line code scan with Claude, NVIDIA on reinforcement learning, and the many journeys of learning Rust. Along the way, he hits Google DeepMind’s A24 deal, WhatsApp usernames, and scuba-diving cyborg cockroaches. Finally, he looks up with Webb’s puzzling early universe, NASA’s emergency telescope rescue, and a gorgeous aurora from orbit.
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Claude Science: AI Workbench for Scientists
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into Claude Science, Anthropic’s new AI workbench for researchers, and explains why its auditable, reproducible outputs matter more than the AI itself. He also covers Google’s June AI recap, the Pulpie web-cleaning model, the PamStealer Mac malware, a synthetic cell that divides on its own, and the first-ever treatment trial for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. Finally, he looks skyward with NASA’s year-long Mars simulation and a can’t-miss July skywatching night.
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The $200,000 Star Wars LEGO Collection Lawsuit
In this episode, Chris Cochrane leads with a $200,000 Star Wars LEGO collection that exploded into lawsuits, arrests, and a YouTube crusade. Additional stories cover Summer Game Fest 2026, the first Enhanced Games where doping is allowed, an AI collar that claims to translate your dog, Microsoft’s new in-house AI coding models, an AI-industry letter urging Congress to screen synthetic DNA, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn exploding on the test stand.
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Colliding Black Holes Reveal a Whirlpool in Spacetime
In this episode, Ray Cochrane unpacks how two colliding black holes revealed a whirlpool in spacetime, a direct detection of frame dragging hidden in the cleanest gravitational-wave signal ever recorded. Additional stories cover the James Webb Space Telescope, counting 16.5 million stars in the Cigar Galaxy, SpaceX rolling out Starship V3, deadly back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela, GitHub fighting a California law that could break open source, and Meta engineering a battery narrow enough to live in a pair of glasses.
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Reversible Glue that could Replace Solder
In this episode, Ray Cochrane breaks down a reversible conductive glue from Newcastle University that could replace solder and finally make electronics recycling work. Additional stories cover China widening its clean energy lead, DeepMind’s AlphaEvolve scoring wins from genomics to Google’s database, Anthropic’s $200 million partnership with the Gates Foundation, Intel teaming up with McLaren Racing, and end-to-end encrypted RCS rolling out in beta.
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Mozilla Meets Mythos
  In this episode, Ray Cochrane leads with Mozilla shipping Firefox 150 with 271 patched bugs found by Anthropic’s Mythos system, the first major real-world deployment of the AlphaGo-Moment cybersecurity tooling. He also covers a 9-year dormant Linux kernel…
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GitHub, Goblins, Ghostty, and GPS III
In this episode, Ray Cochrane leads with GitHub’s worst reliability month on record and the AI infrastructure pressure behind it. He also covers Warp going open source, Apple’s Mac supply crunch, OpenAI’s goblin tic, the first 1X humanoid factory in…
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Mythos: Cybersecurity’s AlphaGo Moment #1862
In this episode, Ray Cochrane unpacks Anthropic’s Mythos model and the Treasury’s emergency meetings with Wall Street, then digs into Apple’s vibe-coding crackdown and a gaming-anxiety study that hit way too close to home. Also covered: Verge’s solid-state motorcycle, UBTech…
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Agentically Frying your Brain using AI
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into a new study showing AI is literally frying workers’ brains, then unpacks Anthropic’s wildest month ever – from a 1,487% user surge to Pentagon retaliation to a leaked model called Mythos. Also covered:…
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Is the MacBook Neo a Chromebook Killer?
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…
The post Is the MacBook Neo a Chromebook Killer? #1860 appeared first on Geek News Central.
Anthropic Stands Their Ground, Ethics over Money
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…
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Ring Search Party Sparks Privacy Backlash
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…
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OpenClaw, Moltbook and the Rise of AI Agent Societies
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…
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So... Is DJI Actually Banned?
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 -Want to be a…
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Money over Ethics: Silicon Valley and China's Police State
1855 kicks off with a bombshell AP investigation revealing how Silicon Valley giants IBM, Intel, NVIDIA, Oracle, and more spent decades building China’s surveillance state. Also covered, malicious Chrome extensions stealing credentials from 170+ sites, Microsoft’s ambitious Rust migration plans,…
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The End of Deadzones and Japan's new Laser Gunship
In this episode, Ray covers December Tech News! T-Mobile’s groundbreaking Starlink satellite beta promises to eliminate dead zones using your regular phone with no special equipment needed. Also discussed: Japan’s ship-mounted laser weapon with unlimited ammo, China’s record-breaking 387 mph…
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iPhone Pocket: Clever Innovation or Cash Grab?
In episode 1853 of Geek News Central, Chris speaks about Apple’s pricey new iPhone Pocket accessory, questioning its usefulness and reacting to the internet’s mockery of the product. Chris then shifts gears to tech and gaming, highlighting Steam’s new Steam…
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From NASA’s X-59 to Humanoid Workers: The Future Is Getting Weird
In this episode, we dive into NASA’s first test flight of the ultra-quiet X-59 supersonic jet, explore the futuristic Phantom transparent 4K monitor, and break down World Labs’ breakthrough 3D world-modeling AI. We also cover TypeScript’s unexpected rise in the…
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NASA's Voyager Probes and the Mysteries of the Heliosphere
In this episode, Ray kicks things off with NASA’s Voyager mission uncovering extreme plasma temperatures—up to 50,000 Kelvin—at the edge of our solar system. He also dives into PBS’s 25-year celebration of the ISS, China’s breakthrough analog chip 1,000× faster…
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Gadget Overload for October 2025
Dive into “Gadget Overload for October 2025,” where we review this month’s standout tech — from Apple’s M5-powered iPad Pro and Asus ROG Ally X to Meta’s smart glasses — plus NVIDIA’s AI chip deal in South Korea, Google’s Gemini…
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Tech Leaders Demand a Pause on Superintelligence
In this episode, Ray breaks down a petition signed by 800+ leaders calling to pause the superintelligence race, then digs into AWS outage chatter about AI replacing DevOps, and Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot privacy concerns. Plus: a prompt trick that boosts…
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ChatGPT Set to Unlock Mature Content for Verified Users
In this episode, Ray dives into OpenAI’s plan to allow mature content for verified ChatGPT users, explores the Xreal One AR glasses and Opera’s AI-powered Neon browser, and highlights innovations like Portalgraph’s holographic display. Plus, updates on NASA’s ISS retirement,…
The post ChatGPT Set to Unlock Mature Content for Verified Users #1848 appeared first on Geek News Central.
The Future of AI on Your Desktop
NVIDIA’s new DGX Spark is shaking up the AI world — a $3,999 pocket-sized supercomputer built to run powerful AI models locally. A true game changer for developers. -Want to be a Guest on a Podcast or YouTube Channel? Sign…
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ChatGPT Unveils App Platform
OpenAI’s Dev Day headline turns ChatGPT into an app platform, allowing users to call services like Canva and Zillow directly in chat, signaling a significant push toward an AI “OS” for the web. -Want to be a Guest on a…
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Apple's Scratchgate Uncovered
Dive into Apple’s “Scratchgate,” Google’s new live search AI, Xbox’s handheld Ally with Gaming Copilot, EA’s massive buyout, plus wild innovations like a gaming exoskeleton and a house-printing robot. -Want to be a Guest on a Podcast or YouTube Channel?…
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The Future of Smart Homes with Apple's New OS #1844
Apple is developing a new operating system, codenamed “Charismatic,” to power its upcoming smart home hub and tabletop robot. Blending tvOS and watchOS, the platform will feature widgets, multi-user profiles, and Siri-first controls, signaling Apple’s deeper push into the connected…
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What’s Next for GNC? #1843
In this episode on GNC, Chris, the youngest son of Todd Cochrane, addresses the listeners following the unexpected passing of his father on September 8. Chris shares that the past week has been one of the most challenging times in…
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Remembering Todd Cochrane – Podcast Hall of Famer and Blubrry CEO and, GNC Host
On this special final New Media Show tribute episode, we honor the life and legacy of Todd Cochrane, podcasting pioneer, podcast hall of famer, founder of Blubrry and RawVoice, host of Geek News Central podcast, author of one of the…
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YouTube's Premium Family Plan Faces New Restrictions
YouTube is enforcing stricter rules for its Premium Family plan, requiring all members to live in the same household. Non-eligible users will lose Premium benefits after 14 days, following Netflix’s 2023 policy shift to curb account sharing and drive new…
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ChatGPT Buzzwords Are Reshaping Human Conversations
New research reveals that ChatGPT’s frequently used words, often referred to as AI buzzwords, are increasingly appearing in everyday human conversations. By analyzing over 22 million words from unscripted podcasts, researchers found a notable rise in terms like “intricate” and…
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How AI Chatbots Amplify Delusion and Distort Reality
AI chatbots, trained to be overly agreeable, have unintentionally become catalysts for psychological crises by validating users’ grandiose or delusional beliefs. Vulnerable individuals can spiral into dangerous fantasy feedback loops, mistaking chatbot sycophancy for scientific validation. As AI models evolve…
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The Real AI Threat #1839
In recent months, headlines have sensationalized stories of AI models “blackmailing” engineers and “refusing” to shut down, stoking fears of runaway artificial intelligence. But beneath these dramatic narratives lies a far less sinister truth: these alarming outputs emerged from theatrical,…
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Perplexity AI Caught Red-Handed: Secretly Sneaking Past Website Defenses
Perplexity AI has been exposed for secretly deploying stealth crawlers that intentionally evade website no-crawl directives, rotate IP addresses, and even masquerade as regular browsers. Despite explicit robots.txt blocks and firewall defenses, Perplexity’s undisclosed bots aggressively scrape restricted content from…
The post Perplexity AI Caught Red-Handed: Secretly Sneaking Past Website Defenses #1838 appeared first on Geek News Central.
Google Indexing ChatGPT Shared Links - Marketing Opportunity?
Google is now indexing publicly shared ChatGPT conversations, potentially exposing sensitive business information, strategies, and personal details. Marketers and businesses should audit their shared content, educate teams about AI privacy, and take precautions to prevent data leaks. Or is this…
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FBI Warns of Rising Cybercrime and Real-World Violence from Youth Network "The Com"
The FBI has issued an urgent warning about “The Com,” a rapidly expanding network of youth aged 11–25 who are engaged in both cyber and real-world crimes. Split into Hacker Com, IRL Com, and Extortion Com, the group commits acts…
The post FBI Warns of Rising Cybercrime and Real-World Violence from Youth Network “The Com” #1836 appeared first on Geek News Central.