$97.4 billion

🤝 I want to be your secret helper and mentor: I’ve been around tech forever. My business has thrived for over 20 years without debt or investors. If you have an issue, problem or question about your life or business, I’d love to help you. Ask me here on my site. I read every single note.

💡 Watt a good idea: Apple is working on a new robot that could one day replace your HomePod, Amazon Echo or smart speaker. It looks and moves exactly like the Pixar lamp. Apple wants to make robots interact more naturally with us. Ask “How’s the weather?” and it’ll literally turn its head toward the window before answering. Here’s the video.

🩸 Follow the money: People with kidney failure rely on dialysis machines to remove toxins from their blood, but the tech is outdated and a hassle to move around. That’s why researchers are developing smaller options, like the AKTIV. They’re struggling to secure funding, which is no surprise, given the dialysis market is worth $26 billion a year. They don’t want change.

Pranksters, unite: TouchTunes is the app equivalent of putting a quarter into a jukebox. Over 65,000 bars and restaurants use them, and you don’t have to be there in person to add a song to the queue (paywall link). That made it easy for the troll who played “Rocky Top” (the University of Tennessee’s unofficial fight song) in an Ohio State University bar … from 500 miles away.

🎨 No paint, no gain: Christie’s is planning its first-ever auction dedicated to AI art, and let’s just say people are not having it. The biggest gripe? Most generative AI tools were trained on IRL artists’ work without consent. A letter demanding Christie’s cancel the show has gathered thousands of signatures.

🛰️ T-Mobile Starlink free offer: Let me explain the Super Bowl commercial. When your cellphone gets out of range of a cell tower, your phone will connect to the T-Mobile Starlink network. Messages are sent and received just as they are today on a traditional network, including group texts and reactions. It works on most smartphones from the last four years. Anyone, no matter the carrier, can join the public beta. Sign up here so you get to use it free until July. I did.

A new scam making the rounds: Oh, happy day, a present in the mail! Not so fast. Scammers are mailing free gift packages with a QR code inside. Scan it and the malware that launches lets them take over your phone in seconds. The worst part? The package looks totally legit, complete with your name, address and a familiar retailer, like Amazon. If you get one, don’t scan any codes inside.

🚨 A chatbot without limits: It’s simple to trick Chinese AI DeepSeek into giving out dangerous information. Researchers found using a tactic called “jailbreaking” — bypassing the AI’s built-in restrictions — you can get instructions on making a Molotov cocktail, evading law enforcement and even creating malware (paywall link). And we thought TikTok was dangerous.

Corporate playground: I want to see this thing IRL. There’s a $2.5 billion office called The Round being built in London to lure the youngest of Gen Z workers. It’ll have nap pods, space for breathwork classes, a gym and all sorts of other luxuries (paywall link). It probably comes with participation trophies, too.

💸 Budget iPhone? Rumor has it Apple will drop the iPhone SE 4 next week for around $429. It’s packing a 6.1-inch OLED screen, a 48 MP camera, an A18 chip and 8GB of RAM, and it can even run Apple Intelligence. Pretty tempting, but I’d still wait for reviews to see how well it actually performs. For all the bells and whistles, consider spending a little more on a renewed iPhone 15 Pro instead.

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