Since its file-sharing operation was shut down in 2001, Napster has been bought and reimagined several times. Harry McCracken, global technology editor at Fast Company, says the disruptor brand still has appeal but the “learned nostalgia” that surrounds it may be overvalued.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is investing in the development of advanced technology, a pivotal arena of competition with the United States. The nation has made notable gains, most famously the DeepSeek chatbot.
Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal, joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino for “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”
“Virtual power plants” enlist users in producing electricity and balancing supply and demand. But there’s no tech fix for getting people to sign up, as Rice University’s Daniel Cohan explains.
Last Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission held its first roundtable discussion on whether cryptocurrency should be regulated as a financial asset. Axios’ Brady Dale explains why that’s such a complicated question to answer.
Neuroscience researcher Ziv Ben-Zion says even though the bots don’t have emotions, they can simulate a person’s responses because they’re trained on human data. They may play a role in psychotherapy, and meditation seems to help them chill out.
A supermajority at BlueOval SK, a $6 billion joint venture between Ford and South Korea’s SK On, has asked the National Labor Relations Board for a vote on joining the UAW. The union hopes the region is fertile ground for organizing.
Changing geopolitics have students thinking about national security and helping the little guys, says writer and alum Jasmine Sun. Some just need a job.
Lesley Carhart, a director of incident response at cybersecurity firm Dragos, explains that criminals are using ransomware to threaten victims, including companies, with embarrassment. To some extent, it’s a response to better data protection.
