Interview: The AI Doc's director was "scared shitless" by AI, so he made a movie about it

Can a meme stock buy a real company? This week, Gamestop proposed a $56 billion takeover of eBay, despite seemingly not being able to afford such a deal. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Daniel Cooper discuss what the heck is going on (and why this deal most likely won't happen). Also, Dan chats about his review of the reMarkable Paper Pure, the company's latest stab at a relatively affordable e-paper tablet.Gamestop submits an unsolicited $56 billion offer to buy eBay. How serious are they? – 1:33Dan Cooper’s reMarkable Paper Pure review: beautiful, but missing a few crucial features – 21:15 Fitbit’s Air band takes aim at Whoop for no-screen fitness tracker dominance – 39:49 Apple ordered to pay $250M to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 users over smarter Siri misfire – 40:33  Anthropic makes a deal with SpaceX’s mega-polluting Memphis data center to increase Claude rate limit – 44:05 Pornhub unblocks UK users who verify ID with Apple – 46:51Starfox 64 remake coming to the Switch 2 – 50:42 Working on – 52:28 Pop culture picks – 53:06

We're still waiting for Valve's Steam Machine to arrive, but until then, the company has finally given us a full look at its new Steam Controller. At $100, it sure is steep, but it looks like a solid way to enjoy games on Steam. In this episode, Engadget's Jessica Conditt joins to chat about her experience with the Steam Controller, and where Valve could be going next with the Steam Machine. And we'll also take some time to chat about the games we're currently playing.

The Apple rumors were true, once again. This week, the company announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down from his CEO role on September 1. Replacing him will be John Ternus, who currently serves as Apple's SVP of hardware engineering. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Nathan Ingraham discuss Cook's legacy as Apple's CEO, and pontificate about how Ternus may change things. We're going from Apple being led by a logistics guru, to Apple being driven by a product and engineering wizard. Surely, that will have some impact on future products.   Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO after 15 years, John Ternus will take his place on September 1 – 1:22 Palantir woke up last Saturday morning and posted a comic book villain manifesto on X – 26:01 DHS wants to make facial recognition smart glasses for ICE – 31:53 A lot of people panic bought PCs to avoid RAMageddon – 36:25 Meta faces a new lawsuit over running ads for outright scams – Employees at Meta will have they keystrokes and mouse moves recorded for AI training – 40:10 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price goes down, but it won’t include Call of Duty – 44:55 Around Engadget: a great (expensive) Dyson vac with a silly name – 49:15 Working on – 51:58 Pop culture picks – 52:55

So a shoe company turned into an AI company…. That’s it, that’s the joke. In this episode, Devindra chats with Engadget’s Daniel Cooper about Allbirds’ sudden transformation and what it says about the AI economy. Also, they chat about the Artemis II moon mission, Meta being warned about the dangers of facial recognition (again) and how teens think social media is really shaping them.   Near-dead shoe company Allbirds is doing AI now – 1:47 Artemis II safely returns to Earth, did you know they had DLSRs and iPhones up there? – 15:57 Meta warned by dozens of civil rights organizations that facial recognition in its smart glasses will enable predators – 28:41 Social media isn’t bad for teens, say teens – 36:00 NAACP sues xAI over data center pollution – 44:30 Around Engadget –  50:28  

For a 50-year-old company, Apple remains pretty hip and nimble. This week, Devindra and Senior Reporter Igor Bonifacic dive into Apple's big birthday, the state of the company today and what the next 50 years could bring. Also, we celebrate the successful launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, which will bring us back to the Moon (but just for a close look).   Apple at 50: Why it’s still all about personal computing – 1:16 Artemis II is safely on its way to the moon, but they’re having problems with Outlook – 37:48 SpaceX files for the largest IPO ever, what’s driving their hopes for a 1.75 Trillion valuation? – 40:52 Another Starlink satellite broke up in orbit, the second in 6 months – 47:21 Anthropic accidentally leaked source code for Claude Code – 52:17 FCC issues ban on all foreign-made WiFi routers – 57:18 Around Engadget – 1:02:09 Working On – 1:07:18 Pop culture picks – 1:08:20 

If you're feeling anxious about AI and what it means for the future of humanity, you should watch The AI Doc: Or, How I Became an Apocaloptimist. As I noted in my review, the film aims to deliver some clarity amid all the AI hype with a plethora of interviews from AI CEOs, boosters, and critics. Now that it's in theaters, we sat down with the film's Oscar-winning director, Daniel Roher (Navalny), to dive deeper into his complicated feelings around AI.    

It turns out people don't actually love having Copilot shoved into their faces. This week, Devindra and PCWorld Senior Editor Mark Hachman discuss Microsoft's surprising plan to "fix" Windows 11 by refocusing on customization and core features, instead of bringing Copilot AI into tons of apps. Is there any enthusiasm left for Windows? Or will most people be better off considering macOS or Linux?   Microsoft hits the reset button on Windows 11, de-emphasizing Copilot AI – 1:03 OpenAI pulls the plug on its Sora video generation app after just 5 months – 25:23 Meta’s terrible week in court, part 1: $375 million ruling in New Mexico child engagement case – 33:58 Meta’s terrible week in court, part 2: Meta and Google lose landmark social media addiction suit – 38:49 OpenAI puts erotic chat on hold indefinitely – 43:49 Update your iPhones: iOS exploit ‘Darksword’ released on GitHub – 46:39 Epic games lays off 1,000 workers after Fortnite engagement dips – 47:48 Honda and Sony kill off their Afeela EV collaboration – 49:26 Listener Mail: Which Mac Mini to get for a budding pro photographer – 55:15 Pop culture picks – 57:52

NVIDIA started an online firestorm this week when it announced DLSS 5 at its GTC conference. The company claims it's meant to deliver "photorealistic" lighting and materials in games by using neural processing. But it differs considerably from previous versions of DLSS, which were focused on using machine learning to upscale lower resolutions and generate additional frames. To help us break this down, Anshel Sag, VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy joins us to discuss his experience with NVIDIA's DLSS 5 demos. Also, we dive into what's next for Xbox with Project Helix.   NVIDIA announced DLSS 5, the disgust was immediate (with Anshel Sag from Moor Insights & Strategy) – 0:51 Arizona attorney general sues Kalshi for operating an illegal gambling business – 36:22 Polymarket users threaten the life of a reporter at The Times of Israel over accurate reporting – 36:59 Apple announces AirPods Max 2 with improved noise cancellation – 44:33 Elon Musk’s xAI faces class action suit over facilitating CSAM – 47:38 Samsung stops selling Galaxy Z TriFold after 3 months because components got too expensive – 51:22 Around Engadget: Apple Studio XDR review, Dell XPS 16 review – 53:49.346 Listener Mail: Stick with iPhone on Linux? And are there any good Android tablets? – 55:41 Pop culture picks – 58:46

Somehow, Apple made a $600 laptop that's actually a joy to use. In this episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat about what makes the MacBook Neo so great. And they also dive into the new M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air and M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros. Also, Roberto Baldwin, SAE International's Sustainability Editor, joins us to chat about the state of EVs today as gas prices explode. MacBook Neo review: Apple puts $600 Windows PCs to shame – 1:47 iPad Air M4 remains Apple’s best overall tablet – 18:05 Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE employee illegally took social security info on 500 million Americans to their new job – 33:37 Valve clarifies their outlook on the Steam Machine, it’ll launch in 2026, still no word on price – 36:08 Grammerly hit with a class action lawsuit for using reporters’ names in an editing ‘expert’ tool – 40:29 A new study claims every major AI chatbot will help users plan a hate attack or political assassination – 44:03 What to look for in a used EV with SAE International sustainability editor Roberto Baldwin – 48:31 Around Engadget – 1:21:04

It's been a wild week for Apple. After announcing a slew of new hardware, the company capped things off with its cheapest laptop ever: the $599 MacBook Neo. It's low on specs, but high on character and value. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into the MacBook Neo, as well as the refreshed MacBook Air M5, MacBook Pro M5 Pro/Max and iPad Air M4.  Also, Devindra chats with Spencer Ackerman, author of The Forever Wars and recent Iron Man comics, about the ongoing battle between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. It turns out the DOD still used Claude for attacks on Iran, after banning Anthropic'/s AI last week. And really, what do these AI companies expect to happen when they jump at military contracts? Apple announces a the MacBook Neo priced at $599 and it’s shockingly great – 0:53 MacBook Air got the M5, MacBook Pro got the M5 Pro and M5 Max, and who needs the new iPad Air now? – 22:31 Anthropic vs. DoD with Spencer Ackerman, author of The Forever Wars – 30:34 Gemini encouraged a man to end his own life to be with his ‘AI wife’ – 58:53 Polymarket nixes bets on nuclear detonation after public outcry – 1:01:55 No Yōtei on PC: Sony closes down first party titles outside of PS5 – 1:03:56 Wildlight Studios’ Highguard shuts down after 46 days live – 1:08:23 Working on: Dell’s XPS 14 will be great when the keyboard fix coms through – 1:15:09 Pop culture picks – 1:15:58