Jan. 17 & 18, 2026 Show Notes
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon PT
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm on C-FAX
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
Your crew this weekend:
Kyle Wilson
Colwood-based IT Specialist, Wikipedia Administrator, and a Business Insider contributor
X & BlueSky: @KWilsonMG
2) Ignore Instagram password reset email messages — unless you requested a password reset
It's not entirely clear what the full truth of the matter is, but a wave of Instagram password reset emails (like the one screenshotted below) is hitting users, which may or may not be related to data tied to roughly 17.5 million accounts for sale online.
The emails exploit growing confusion about a newly surfaced dataset linked to Instagram user info. Though the data lacks passwords, its circulation allows attackers to impersonate legitimate security messages and prompt users to act quickly.
Around the same time, many users received legitimate-looking Instagram password reset emails they didn't request. Researchers have linked this spike to automated abuse rather than confirmed account takeovers.
Instagram insists there was no breach of its internal systems — but this is a refrain we've heard before that hasn't been true. The company attributes the emails to a bug or workflow misuse that allowed third parties to trigger reset requests at scale.
Meta, the owner of Instagram says issue has been fixed. However, recycled data and phishing campaigns can persist for months.
So…it's worth repeating: if you gfet an Instagram password reset email, DO NOT click on the link, unless you are in the process of resetting your password!
3) Watch out for scam "Apple Security Alert" pop-ups that appear on iPhones when using otherwise legitimate apps like Radio Garden
The pop-ups (as shown in the screenshot shared by "Tech Talk" listener Cair), look real and appear to be overlaid on your iPhone Home Screen.
The pop-up includes the actual Apple Settings icon and a countdown timer to give a sense of urgency, and tells you that 8 viruses have been detected on your iPhone, and to try to scare you, it warns that further damage will result if you don't follow the instructions.
The instructions in the pop-up are to install a virus removal app for free and run it.
If you tap anywhere on the pop-up, it takes you to the real Apple App Store and to a specific free app.
In this case, it offers the free Trust-Access app as shown in the next screenshot…
What's the scam? Trust-Access, and a rotating list of similar other apps, are useless free apps, but they come with a free three-day trial which then charges you $19.95 USD a month unless you cancel it! The scammers are gambling that if you do cancel it, it'll be after they got their first $20 out of you.
They avoid getting caught because they delete the app from the app store almost weekly (before anyone can post a review that it's a scam), and replace it with one with a different name and icon. And because apps like these are not harmful to your device, it's hard for Apple or Google to detect that they're being used for subscription scamming.
NEVER install apps on the basis of a pop-up screen like this one!
You can make the pop-up message go away by clicking on the small "x" in the upper-right corner of the screen (I've drawn a red arrow to it on the first screenshot).
And if you do install a subscription app and don't realize that till after your free trial is over, contact Apple or Google and they'll almost always refund your first subscription fee. Here's how…
Here's how for Apple device users…
…and here's how for Android device users…
5) Elon Musk says his Grok chatbot has now been banned from undressing images of people — but only in places where that's illegal
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok won’t be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal, according to a statement posted on X.
The rule applies to all users, including paid subscribers, who have access to more features.
The announcement follows a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, including bans and warnings by some governments.
Here in Canada, our Privacy Commissioner is expanding his investigation into Grok allowing people to use the AI chatbot to turn clothed pictures of real people, including children, into naked photos.
Malaysia, Indonesia and now also the Philippines have blocked access to Grok, while the UK and European Union are investigating potential violations of online safety laws. France and India have also issued warnings, demanding stricter controls, while Brazil has called for an investigation into Grok’s misuse.
CBC
Canada's privacy commissioner expands probe into X after backlash over Grok's sexual deepfakes | CBC News
Canada's privacy commissioner is expanding his investigation into Elon Musk's X Corp. following multiple reports that its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok is being used to create and share explicit images of people without their consent.
Meanwhile, the mother of Elon Musk’s son is now suing xAI over AI-deepfake images of her…
Tech Deals this weekend
Refurbished Lenovo T480 Windows 11 ThinkPad laptop: $345 on Monday
Gary and Chris at Tesseract Computers have obtained a few more refurbished Lenovo business-grade T480 ThinkPad 14" laptops. They've installed new 240GB SSD's in them. but you can get a larger-capacity SSD if you want. These ThinkPads run on Intel Core i5 8th-gen processors with 8GB of RAM, and they have Windows 11 Pro and come with a one-year warranty.
Get one while they last for just $345 when re-opens on Monday, now in their new larger location, still on Broughton near Douglas, in downtown Victoria.
Bell is offering a Canada/USA/Mexico plan with 175GB/month of 5G data for just $40/month — but only for new customers
If your plans for 2026 include lots of calls and/or trips to the USA and Mexico, you can get a great deal by switching to Bell, but you have to go to a Bell store and ask.
The deal is a $40/month plan that includes unlimited Canada/USA/Mexico calling, plus 175GB/month of 5G data which you can use in all three countries.
On Bell's website, that plans costs $85/month, but people going to Bell stores are getting it for $40/month…no word how long this offer will last.
Freedom Mobile has responded by offering a 70GB/month Canada/USA/Mexico plan for $35/month this weekend — but you have to ask for it
Quebec-based Freedom Mobile has responded to Bell's offer by shaving $4/month off it's 70GB/month Canada/USA/Mexico plan so this weekend, it's just $35/month, and it's available to everyone, not just new customers.
It's not on the website, so you have to ask for it, either in person or by contacting Freedom online.
While you do get way more data with Bell's flash sale offer, if you switch to Freedom, you'll be able to stay connected when you go beyond the range of a Freedom tower, because you'll seamlessly roam at no charge onto Rogers, or Telus or Bell. And for most people, 70GB/month is way more data than you'll ever need.
If you watch four movies a week on your phone, every week, you'd still only use about 50GB of data in a month! Streaming movies on your phone in HD uses about 1GB of data per hour. (Streaming in 4K HDR uses about 3GB/hour.) Streaming music on Apple Music or Spotify uses 40-720MB/hour, depending on the streaming quality you select.
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5150 business printer/scanner/copier: $600 (save $140) at Staples
If you run a business that prints and scans a lot of pages each day, Epson's new ET-5150 Eco-Tank Pro printer is on sale for $600 — a $140 saving — this weekend at Staples stores and online.
The ET-5150 has an ADF (auto document feeder) for fast scanning of letter and legal documents, and a 250-page paper tray, and prints or copies 10 pages per minute in colour, 17 pages per minutes in black and white. It uses bottles of ink and comes with literally two years of ink in the box; colour printing costs less than two cents per page — way less than laser and inkjet cartridge printers.
StaplesCanada
Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5150 Wireless All-in-One Supertank Printer
The EcoTank Pro ET-5150 all-in-one supertank printer offers fast Cartridge-Free Printing, ideal for high-volume environments. Save up to 80 percent with low-cost replacement ink bottles vs. standard-capacity colour laser toner cartridges - that’s about 2 cents per colour ISO page versus 14 cents with cartridges. Engineered for high productivity in a small footprint, the ET-5150 delivers professional-quality prints face down for greater privacy. Epson DURABrite ET pigment ink ensures vibrant prin
Energizer 10,000 mAh pocket power bank: $20 (save $15) at London Drugs
Designed for convenient travel charging, this Energizer power bank features one USB-A port and two USB-C ports so you can fast-charge smartphones, tablets, and other portable electronics.
An LED battery life indicator makes it easy to check power levels, while PowerSafe Management defends against overcharging, over discharging, overcurrent, and short circuits.
It's usually $35, but is on sale this weekend for $20 at London Drugs stores and online.
Tech News Of The Week
Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!
Tip: if an item in these Show Notes has the icon on the right in the upper-right corner, you can click/tap on it to make the additional info open in a new tab.
10) Apple is going to pay Google to use its Gemini AI tech to power the next generation of Siri & Apple Intelligence due out this spring
Apple and Google have signed a long-term deal that'll see Google's Gemini AI technology used to power the next generation of Apple Intelligence, including a super-charged new version of Siri.
The key detail in this announcement is that Apple will using Google's Gemini foundation model to train its own Apple Foundation Model, which will be stored on Apple Private Compute servers, so Google will not be able to get any info from Apple device users.
These privacy protection measures won't be cheap — Apple is reportedly going to pay Google around one billion US dollars a year for ongoing access to the Gemini LLM.
While that may sound like a lot, that'll be deducted from the $20 billion USD a year which Google is said to be paying Apple for being the default search engine on all iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers!
The beefed-up new versions of Apple Intelligence and Siri powered by Gemini are expected to be released as part of OS 26.4 updates in March.
In the meantime, OS 26.3 updates are expected later this month; they'll focus on performance and security improvements, but there should be one potentially significant new feature coming — an iPhone/Android Wireless Transfer Tool. It'll let you put an iPhone next to an Android phone and quickly and easily move (most) content and (most) settings from one device to the other.
11) If you have a Samsung or Pixel phone made in the last five years, you can use it to share Wi-Fi internet access with others nearby
Most recently-made smartphones include the ability to use them as a cellular hotspot, to share cell data with up to five devices in the same room. But what if you're travelling and don't want to use cell data, and instead want to stick to Wi-Fi?
More and more hotels are limiting Wi-Fi connections to only one or two devices per suite, unless you want to pay extra to connect additional devices.
However, if you have a Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phone made in the last five years (this also works on some older higher-end models), you can turn-on Wi-Fi tethering, and share your hotel Wi-Fi connection via Bluetooth with up to five other devices nearby!
Samsung and Pixel Wi-Fi Tethering can be used to share internet access with any Wi-Fi-capable device, including Android and Apple phones and tablets, and Windows, Apple, and Chromebook computers.
iPhones and most other Android phones cannot yet be used to share Wi-Fi internet service — only Samsung and Pixel phones.
12) Formal complaints about telecommunications service here in Canada rose 17% last year, with Rogers getting the most
The Canadian Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS) says the record number of complaints which it accepted last year — 23,647 — isn't necessarily because the carriers are performing worse, but mostly because the CCTS has invested a lot of effort to make us aware that we can, and should, file complaints.
Among the big three provider groups (Rogers, Bell, and Telus), the Rogers group (which includes what's left of Shaw) accounted for the largest share of complaints among all national groups — 38% — with 6,485 accepted complaints., a 15% increase, a bit less than the national average.
These complaint categories saw a significant growth for Rogers/Shaw this past year:
- Regular price increase of monthly price plan: 76% increase.
- Changes to the contract: 69% increase.
- Breach of contract (including starting to charge extra for set-top TV boxes): 116% increase.
Telus received 4,904 complaints in 2025, with the CCTS reporting a 78% increase in complaint volumes from 2024. This represents a higher rise than the 17% increase across all service providers, and marks the 5th consecutive year that Telus has seen an increase in CCTS complaint volumes. Telus accounts for 21% of all complaints, up from 14% in 2024.
The CCTS accepted a total of 3,966 complaints for Bell in 2025, a 16% increase from 2024. Bell accounted for 17% of all complaints, a slight decrease year-over-year.
13) Apple Creator Studio is a new $18/month bundled subscription offer which includes Apple's most powerful creative apps
Apple has unveiled Apple Creator Studio, a collection of powerful creative apps designed to put studio-grade power into the hands of everyone using a Mac, iPad, or iPhone. (The option to purchase the softwares outright remains.)
Apple Creator Studio will be available on the Apple Canada App Store beginning Wednesday, Jan. 28, for $17.99 per month or $179 per year, with a one-month free trial, and includes access to Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro on Mac and iPad; Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac; and intelligent features and premium content for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and later Freeform for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
College and university students and educators can subscribe for $3.99 per month or $39 per year.
AppleInsider
AppleInsider.com
Apple Creator Studio is taking on Adobe's dominant Creative Cloud by offering a selection of apps to create content, paid monthly. There are massive differences between the two subscription services, and some nuance to picking a package. Here's how they compare, and what you can do to fill the gaps.
MacRumors
Some Apple Apps Will No Longer Receive Every New Feature Without a Subscription
If you are not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle introduced today, you will officially start to miss out on some new features. Apple said some "exciting new intelligent features and premium content" in Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform will only be accessible with a Creator Studio subscription. In the U.S., a subscription costs $12.99 per month, or $129 per year, while college students can pay a lower $2.99 per month or $29 per year.
14) You can now reserve a hotel room on the Moon — for $250,000
A company called GRU Space has announced plans to build a series of increasingly sophisticated habitats on the Moon, culminating in a hotel inspired by the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco.
The company is now inviting those interested in a berth to plunk down a deposit between $250,000 and $1 million USD, qualifying them for a spot on one of its early lunar surface missions in as little as six years from now.
The 'GRU' in the company’s name, by the way, stands for Galactic Resource Utilization. The long-term vision is to derive resources from the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and beyond to fuel human expansion into space.
GRU Space hopes to fly its initial “mission” in 2029 as a 10kg payload on a commercial lunar lander, demonstrating an inflatable structure capability and converting lunar regolith into Moon bricks using geopolymers. With its second mission, the company plans to launch a larger inflatable structure into a “lunar pit” to test a scaled-up version of its resource development capabilities.
The first hotel, an inflatable structure, would be launched in 2032 and would be capable of supporting up to four guests at a time. The next iteration beyond this would be the fancier structure, built from Moon bricks, in the style of the Palace of the Fine Arts.
15) Now that Samsung, Google, Motorola, and others have folding phones, when will Apple's iPhone Fold be released?
The iPhone Fold is a long-awaited device that has frequently been the subject of rumours and speculation. With rival smartphone producers now going to market with their own versions, there are increased rumours that Apple will do the same, this fall.
Apple has been very keen to perfect the display, to avoid the creasing problem typically suffered by foldable devices. As screens flex over time, they can crease and eventually crack, which Apple wants to avoid. Apple initially tried to develop its own crease-free design, but this past summer, word leaked-out that it had started working with Samsung on the screen, and may end up using a screen similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8, which Samsung says will be available this fall.
The iPhone Fold won't just differ from the existing iPhone format by having a large foldable display — it's is also expected to have a second screen. The external display is intended to keep the iPhone Fold usable like a typical iPhone when folded-up. At an expected 7.8" when open, it'll be smaller than the current iPhone 17 display.
Between the new technology and the rapidly rising prices for RAM and SSD's, the iPhone Fold is expected, like other folding phones, to be very pricey—likely close to $3000 CAD.
16) Samsung has released a solid new budget smartphone here in Canada— the Galaxy A17 5G — which will cost just $270
Samsung has added another device to its budget-friendly A series smartphone lineup, the A17 5G. According to Samsung, the device is designed for “users who want a reliable and accessible device without sacrificing self-expression”.
Despite its $270 budget price, the A17 will support a range of Google’s AI features, including the widely adopted Circle to Search and Gemini.
Ithas a 6.7" FHD+ Super AMOLED display, a 50MP main camera, a 5MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro lens. There's also Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) to make photos and videos smoother.
17) Apple led 2025 global smartphone sales, with 20% of the market, a 10% increase over 2024
The smartphone industry had a good year in 2025 with moderate growth, lead by Apple, which recorded a 10% increase in worldwide iPhone sales, giving it 20% of the global market.
According to preliminary estimates released by Counterpoint, global smartphone shipments grew 2% year-over-year compared to 2024. This is not quite as big as the year-over-year increase of 4% between 2023 and 2024, but it's still growth.
Second place in the list went to Samsung, which enjoyed a 5% year-on-year shipment increase, but saw its 18% share from 2024 grow to 19%. China-based firms are solidly in third, fourth, and fifth place: Xiaomi is in third with a 13% share, while Oppo and Vivo have 8% each.
counterpointresearch.com
Global Smartphone Shipments Grew 2% YoY in 2025; Apple Emerged as Market Leader
Global smartphone shipments grew 2% YoY in 2025, driven by increasing premium demand and improving momentum in key emerging markets.Apple led the global smartphone market with 20% share and 10% YoY growth, the highest among the top five brands.Samsung grew 5% YoY with 19% market share, driven by steady growth in its Galaxy A series and continued traction of Galaxy S and Z series in the premium segment.2026 outlook remains conservative due to sharp rise in memory shortages and prices.Seoul, Beiji
19) Microsoft vows to cover full power costs for energy-hungry AI data centres in USA
As demand for generative AI services has increased over the past year, Big Tech companies have been racing to open massive new data centres for serving chatbots and image generators.
However, communities across the USA have grown concerned that these data centres are driving up residential electricity rates through heavy power consumption and by straining water supplies due to server cooling needs.
Several new data-centres in Silicon Valley have been fully built and outfitted, but are sitting idle while companies come up with a feasible and acceptable way of powering them.
Microsoft has responded with a five-point plan called “Community-First AI Infrastructure”: covering full electricity costs to prevent rate increases for residents, minimizing water use while replenishing more than the company withdraws, creating local jobs, paying full property taxes, and investing in AI training programs for data centre communities.
20) Telus and Bell are increasing some wireless plan prices by $6-7/month, and some internet and TV plans by $5/month
Telus is increasing wireless and internet prices for some customers starting in February.
Telus says the $6/month wireless increase will impact some legacy month-to-month plans on the next bill starting in February. In March, some month-to-month customers with internet and Optik TV plans will see a $5 increase as well.
The company says customers can avoid price-hikes by switching to plans that come with a five-year price lock, but those plans start at $75/month.
Bell, meanwhile, is raising wireless prices for some customers, with increases of $6 per month set to take effect next month.
Bell has not publicly detailed how many customers are affected by the February 2026 price increase, but similar notices have begun appearing on customer bills and messages ahead of the change.
iPhone in Canada | Canada’s source for Apple, telecom, tech news, and deals
Bell Joins Telus With Targeted Wireless Price Hikes Next Month | iPhone in Canada
Bell is raising wireless prices for some customers, with increases of $6 per month set to take effect in February 2026. An iPhone in Canada reader told us they were notified of the increase and warned Bell they would leave unless a better deal was offered. “Threatened to leave as Bell is raising rates $6
21) Rogers is investing $50 million in a five-year program to get young people to spend less time using their phones.
Canadian youth spend an average of 5.2 hours per day on their phones, well above the two-hour limit suggested by experts.
As a result, Rogers is investing $50 million into a five-year national program aimed at helping youth moderate the amount of time they spend on their phones.
Rogers says the program, dubbed “Screen Break,” will be broken into four pillars. The first, parental tools, will include options in the MyRogers and Rogers Xfinity apps to set limits on mobile data and overall device use, respectively. Further, Rogers has launched a new Screen Break website (linked below) to provide resources to parents about how to monitor and moderate their kids’ screen time.
The second pillar, centred around youth programming, will involve a national in-school program in which kids are engaged through conversations with professional athletes, as well as “Unplug and Play” events featuring athletes at active living clinics. Rogers says it will also provide grants to up to four youth organizations to encourage active living, the first being the YMCA.
The third pillar is focused on research and partnerships, with Rogers commissioning an annual study to look at youth screen time. The carrier will also work with Toronto Metropolitan University’s Dais, a public policy and leadership thinktank, to develop healthy digital habits in schools.
Finally, Rogers says it'll work with athletes on education and advocacy through social media and advertising. To do this, the company has partnered with the Toronto Blue Jays’ George Springer, Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid, Toronto Maple Leafs’ John Tavares, Montreal Victoire’s Marie-Philip Poulin and Vancouver Goldeneyes’ Sarah Nurse.
23a) Carry-on luggage sizes have now been standardized for most of the world, but 60% of popular carry-on's will be a bit too big
The good news is that airlines here in North America and Europe (and also more and more other countries) have finally standardized carry-on luggage size limits, so if your carry-on fits on one airline, it'll fit on all of them.
The bad news is that the new standardized size — (22" x 16" x 9" or 56cm x 40cm x 23cm is a slight bit smaller than about 60% of carry-on's in use today.
If your carry-on is even a bit too big (and the new limits include handles and wheels), airlines are now requiring you to pay to have it checked.
In addition to the new standardized size limit, the carry-on weight limit has also been standardized: 22 pounds which = 10kg.
If your carry-on is heavier than 10kg/22lbs, you'll be required to either remove some items, or pay to have it checked.
More and more airlines are installing carry-on bag scales, including some which are putting them at boarding gates, where it's really embarassing as well as costly if you have to step aside to have your carry-on checked — unless you can hurriedly remove some heavy items and put them in your jacket!
The new standardized carry-on size and weight limits are not the only change for travellers in 2026…
23b) Rules governing pocket power-banks and portable electronics carried onboard planes (in carry-on's or personal items) have also been standardized
- The new rules require that all portable electronics must have enough power to be turned-on if requested by security screening staff. If your laptop or tablet doesn't have enough power to be turned-on, you can be required to leave and charge it up and return for re-screening, or to leave it behind.
- There's a new 20-device limit on portable electronics being carried aboard per person.
- According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), power banks with a capacity of up to 100 watt-hours (Wh) are allowed in carry-on baggage. Most power banks of 20,000 mAh or less will be within this limit. (Read on for the formula to use to be sure.) Spare batteries are strictly prohibited in checked luggage for safety reasons. These guidelines align with the regulations set by the FAA and TSA for domestic flights, ensuring consistency in safety measures.
- If your power bank exceeds 100 Wh but is within the 101-160 Wh range, you can carry up to two spare batteries in your carry-on, though airline approval may be required.
- Batteries larger than 160 Wh are not permitted in either carry-on or checked baggage and must be transported as cargo in compliance with IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations.
To check if your battery pack complies with regulations, you need to convert mAh to Wh using a simple formula: Watt-hours (Wh) = (Voltage (V) × mAh) / 1000
For example, most power banks use lithium-ion batteries with a typical voltage of 3.7V. If you have a power bank with a capacity of 10,000 mAh, the calculation would be: Watt-hours = (10,000 mAh × 3.7 V) / 1000 = 37 Wh. So, yes, you can bring a 10,000 mAh power bank on a plane, as it falls below the 100 Wh limit.
Similarly, if you have a 20,000 mAh protable charger, it would be approximately 74 Wh. This is also within the allowed range for carry-on luggage.
As for laptops, the airlines strongly encourage you to put them in your carry-on, not in checked luggage, both for anti-theft and fire safety reasons. That said, they are still allowed in checked luggage, but extra rechargeable batteries are expressly prohibited in checked luggage…
25) We've also started compiling a list of our favourite phone apps
The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.
26) Deny, deny, admit: UK police used Copilot AI “hallucination” when banning football fans
After repeatedly denying for weeks that his force used AI tools, the Chief of the West Midlands police has finally admitted that a hugely controversial decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from the UK did involve hallucinated information from Microsoft Copilot.
27) Amazon is going to open a big-box store near Chicago, and it'll be bigger than most Costco's or Walmart Supercentres
Amazon thinks it may have found a way to cut into the sales of big-box stores like Walmart Supercentres and Costco's — by opening retail stores that are much bigger than most of ther stores.
Amazon is preparing to build its first big-box store in a suburb of Chicago, and the plans call for it to be 229,000 sq. ft. By comparison, most Walmart Supercentres are about 180,000 sq. ft. (although there is one that's 260,000 sq. ft. in Albany, NY), and most Costco's are about 145,000 sq. ft. (although the largest is 235,000 sq. ft. in Salt Lake City).
The first Amazon big-box store will offer a range of products, such as groceries, household essentials and general merchandise, as well as online order pickups.
Amazon has previously launched bookstores, shopping mall kiosks, apparel stores, convenience marts and its own supermarket chain, but has since scrapped many of those concept stores, or slowed the rollout of new locations.
28) ChatGPT users in the USA are about to start seeing ads
OpenAI has announced it'll begin testing ads inside the ChatGPT app for some US users in a bid to expand its customer base and diversify revenue.
The move represents a reversal for CEO Sam Altman, who in 2024 described advertising in ChatGPT as a “last resort” and expressed concerns that ads could erode user trust, although he did not completely rule out the possibility at the time.
The banner ads will appear in the coming weeks for logged-in users of the free version of ChatGPT as well as the new $8 per month ChatGPT Go plan, which is now available worldwide.
Users paying for the more expensive Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers will not see ads.
According to OpenAI’s blog post, the company plans to test ads “at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service.”
Ads will be labeled and separated from the answer, as shown in the screenshot provided by OpenAI…
OpenAI’s advertising experiment reflects the enormous financial pressures facing the company, which does not expect to be profitable until 2030. OpenAI expects to burn through roughly $9 billion this year while generating $13 billion in revenue. Only about 5% of ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly users pay for subscriptions, so it’s not enough to cover all of OpenAI’s operating costs.
29) Wikipedia, the free online Encyclopedia, turned 25 this past Thursday
Timed to coincide with their 25th anniversary, Amazon, Meta, Perplexity, Google, and Microsoft are among a batch of major artificial intelligence companies that have agreed to pay Wikimedia (the non-profit hosting Wikipedia) for access to its content as opposed to web-scraping it.
30) Kathryn's dinosaur news item of the week: a new species of bird-like Troodontid dinosaur has been unearthed in Mexico
Paleontologists have identified a new bird-like dinosaur with a thick, domed skull — and evidence suggests it may have used head-butting to fight members of its own species.
The dinosaur, Xenovenator (strange hunter) , lived about 73 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous
What sets this species apart is its reinforced skull. Fossils from northern Mexico show dense, domed bones similar to those seen in head-butting dinosaurs, even though they’re only distantly related.
Researchers say the features likely evolved for intraspecific combat, possibly linked to competition or mating.
If confirmed, it’s the first known case of a bird-related dinosaur evolving a skull adapted for physical combat. The research appears in the journal Diversity.
Sci.News: Breaking Science News
Thick-Skulled Troodontid Dinosaur Unearthed in Mexico | Sci.News
A team of paleontologists from Mexico and the United States has identified a new species of bird-like dinosaur with an unusually thick and domed skull, suggesting it may have used head-butting during combat with members of its own species.
31) If you're thinking of switching to Freedom TV, there's now an online channel guide that'll show you what you'll get
Freedom Mobile customers can now subscribe to Freedom TV for as little as $29/month, but the way they make it so affordable is by streaming your channels via the Freedom TV app, instead of supplying an expensive set-top box.
If your TV is not new enough to get the Freedom TV app (check your TV's app store). you can access the app via a Roku streaming stick, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire stick.
To help you decide if Freedom is right for you, you can scan the list of channels available in your city, in the link below. Note: make sure you're on the correct province (on the right in the black bar at the top of the web-page, and then choose your city in the upper-left).
…and finally, our "Sign Of The Week"…
And so it goes…