The U.S. Department of Education announced that 160,000 more Americans have received student loan forgiveness.

Amazon is adding generative AI to its Alexa voice assistant, which will come with a monthly subscription fee.

TikTok will notify employees of layoffs on Thursday, affecting about 1,000 workers in operations, marketing, and content.

• The layoffs are part of a reorganization effort to help TikTok become profitable amid regulatory pressures.

Apple's iOS 17.5 update is causing previously deleted photos, including NSFW material, to reappear on users' devices.

Alaska Airlines is testing a new AI travel planner tool to transform airfare searches.

• The tool acts as a personalized AI travel agent, helping users find flights based on specific travel desires like culinary journeys or hiking trips.

Google's AI-infused search is causing anxiety among businesses reliant on web search results, with news publishers warning of "catastrophic" effects.

TikTok is taking a stand against the recent U.S. ban by pursuing legal action. The social media giant has lodged a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., urging a federal appeals court to intervene in the law mandating its China-based parent company, ByteDance.

Apple has introduced a new chip that could rival industry leaders.

• The tech giant unveiled the M4 chip during its "Let Loose" event, branding it as "outrageously powerful" and asserting that it will revolutionize AI-related tasks within iPadOS.

Job satisfaction has reached its peak in nearly four decades, soaring to 62.7%, according to recent data from the Conference Board.

The artificial intelligence boom and renewed business spending are paying off for Amazon, which saw its first-quarter sales hit a record.

• The recent payrolls report indicates a slowing jobs picture, and many workers have attested to a more difficult labor market, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some key points:

Uneven Job Growth

• Jobs are concentrated in certain sectors, while hiring in areas like tech, finance, law, and accounting has been flat or slightly down.

Questionable Hiring Practices

• Some companies are using strategies that make the job search even tougher for applicants:
• Posting fake job listings to amass resumes or create an impression of growth
• Drawn-out interview processes or "ghosting" by hiring managers

Impact on Workers

Google parent Alphabet paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 for Google to be the default search engine in the Safari web browser.

In the latest episode, the hosts tackle key issues at the intersection of technology and society:

• President Biden signed a bill into law that gives TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance 9 to 12 months to find a buyer for the app or face a U.S. ban. TikTok has vowed to legally challenge the measure
• The FTC has issued a final rule banning noncompete agreements nationwide, with the goal of promoting competition, protecting workers' freedom to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation
• A Maryland high school athletic director named Dazhon Darien has been accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal in a racist and antisemitic audio recording

Tune in as Trey and J. Smith dive deep into these important tech topics that are shaping our world. Like, comment, and subscribe to the channel for more engaging discussions

In the latest episode, the hosts tackle key issues at the intersection of technology and society:

• The Senate voted 60-34 to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allowing warrantless surveillance of non-Americans outside the U.S.
• The geography of tech hubs is shifting, with Austin gaining the most tech workers from 2019-2023 as a percentage of company headcounts, and New York City being the top destination for tech workers who relocated during that period.
• Google is restructuring its finance teams as part of a broader shift towards investing in artificial intelligence (AI), involving relocations and layoffs.

Tune in and let's chop it up on these important tech topics that are shaping our world.

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1. Cyber Bounty: The U.S. offers $10M to nab ALPHV/BlackCat hackers, accused of targeting healthcare services and orchestrating a $22M scam. Change Healthcare fights back, but patient data remains at risk.
2. Palm Pay: Amazon One's palm recognition app transforms checkout, used over 8M times for secure transactions. Beyond retail, it's revolutionizing enterprise identity verification.
3. Eclipse Tech: As millions gear up for the solar eclipse, states deploy AI to manage traffic surges. Network providers brace for increased cell usage, ensuring connectivity amidst the awe-inspiring event.