This Week in Tech 1075: The Commonwealth Club
16 March 2026

This Week in Tech 1075: The Commonwealth Club

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From "gainfully employed robots" to AI that accidentally ruins lives, this week's conversation unpacks the real-world fallout of futuristic promises. Leo, JPT, Iain, and Richard tackle energy sources, social media effects, tech layoffs, and the algorithms quietly taking charge.


    Meta is planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount
    Meta Said to Push Back Launch of Avocado Model
    Social media addiction trial: the plaintiff, Meta, and YouTube make closing arguments; jurors begin deliberations Friday on liability for harm to children
    Trump administration will reportedly get $10 billion for brokering the TikTok deal
    Bluesky CEO Jay Graber will step aside
    Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam
    X says it suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 over spam and manipulation
    Fake AI Content About the Iran War Is All Over X
    Musk admits xAI 'not built right' — weeks after Tesla invested $2 billion
    Nvidia Is Planning to Launch an Open-Source AI Agent Platform
    Amazon Wins Court Order To Block Perplexity's AI Shopping Bots
    Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases
    DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery
    U.S. State Bans on Lab-Grown Meats Challenged in Court
    Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them
    EcoFlow brings its plug-in solar power plant to US homes (related to the plug-in solar story)
    TerraPower gets permit to build reactor
    Ex-Uber CEO Kalanick Debuts Plan for 'Gainfully Employed Robots'
    Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud
    Justice Department and Live Nation Reach Settlement Terms in Antitrust Case
    Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power
    Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff
    How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world
    'Flying Cars' Will Take Off in American Skies This Summer
    YouTube surpasses Disney, Paramount, WBD in 2025 ad revenue
    Ig Nobel Prize flees US for Switzerland after 35 years over safety concerns
    Swiss e-voting can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them
    Tony Hoare, Turing Award-Winning Computer Scientist Behind QuickSort, Dies At 92

Host: Leo Laporte


Guests: Iain Thomson, Richard Campbell, and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy


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