400 million 

📺 Hotel TVs that don’t suck: Next time you book a stay, ask if they have LG TVs. They’re the first to support Google Cast and Apple AirPlay in hotels. No logins — just scan a QR code to play your shows and music. The connection cuts when you check out. LG didn’t say which hotels got the update, but here are rooms where AirPlay works.

Teenagers have no faith in Big Tech: This is reassuring. In a new study of 1,000 American teens, 64% don’t trust Google, Meta, Apple or TikTok to care about their mental health, and 62% think Big Tech’s profits matter more than their safety. AI isn’t helping, since they know it’s feeding them fake images, inaccurate info and chatbots pretending to be real people.

📚 Spot the bot: Books written by actual humans are getting a special certification. The Authors Guild came up with a way for writers to prove their work isn’t AI-generated. Bonus: You’ll be able to search a public database so you know before you buy.

In security, we trust: DeepSeek’s cybersecurity team left a database wide open, exposing chat histories, API keys, backend details — you name it. And don’t forget their servers are based in China, meaning the communist government is peeking in. Here are my tips to use it safely, if you must.

💰 Silicon Valley’s unicorns fly: The venture capitalists are upset. Communist China’s DeepSeek AI is 30 times cheaper to run than its American counterparts. In an interview, DeepSeek’s founder said he didn’t mean to start a price war; AI should simply be affordable for everyone. Oh, and he thinks AGI (that’s “artificial general intelligence,” when AI becomes smarter than humans and makes its own decisions) is two years away. Sleep well.

​​🍜 Is this pho real? Some idiot tried to steal an $18,000 robotic server from a San Jose Thai restaurant. The guy walked in, asked to use the restroom, then dragged the bot to his car when he thought no one was looking. Employees stopped him, but it almost would’ve been funnier if they didn’t … The robot’s software only works inside the restaurant, so it would’ve been useless.

Out-of-this-world upgrade: Apple’s iOS 18.3 update lets certain T-Mobile customers send texts from anywhere. It’s part of SpaceX and T-Mobile’s direct-to-cell satellite service. If you signed up for the beta in December and got lucky, you should see a toggle in your cellular data settings to enable it. It’s text-only for now, but voice and data connectivity are coming in the future.

Apple-lutely amazing: Most orchards still do things the old-fashioned way, but that’s changing fast. Startups are testing robotic pollinators in places where bees can’t get the job done, saving fertilizer by pinpointing trees that need it the most and using 12-foot robotic arms for harvesting. This is great, because what’s worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm.

There’s an app for that: The next time you need shampoo, you might not have to wait around for someone to unlock the case. CVS is updating its app to let you unlock antitheft shelves on your own after connecting to the store’s Wi-Fi. It’s being tested in NYC locations, with plans to expand to more stores, mostly on the West Coast.

Mystery (not) explained: Two months later, the White House says all those drones spotted over New Jersey weren’t foreign enemies or aliens. They were authorized by the FAA for research and “various other reasons.” Uh, what kind of research? No details. And the “various other reasons?” Insert conspiracy theories here.