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Tech Gets Real

David Meyer: Technology Journalist

Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. In TGR, I provide short, jargon-free guides to help you navigate the new AI era.

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  • 24 episodes
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  • English

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  • Friday · 13 min

    Canada’s Carney pitches win-win tech pact to Europe

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday proposed a wide-ranging “alliance for the future” between his country and the European Union. It was all about self-preservation in the face of Trump’s America – and a lot of it was about tech sovereignty, particularly regarding AI and its infrastructure. (Sorry for mangling “Bruegel”…) Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control at a time of rapid technological change. I'm Berlin-based tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.eurosky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeyer2/ REFERENCES: Full video of Carney’s speech https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/video/formal-sitting-with-mark-carney-canadian-prime-minister-address-by-mark-carney-canadian-prime-minister_I294232 Official transcript (slightly different) of the speech https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2026/09/17/prime-minister-carney-delivers-address-european-parliament My ISMG article on Carney’s address https://www.govinfosecurity.com/canadian-pm-floats-tech-sovereignty-alliance-europe-a-32856 Europe 2031 estimates of EU compute capacity https://europe2031.ai/compute-forecast/ Bruegel analysis of Europe’s comparative disadvantage in compute capacity https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/how-can-europe-address-its-pressing-ai-compute-infrastructure-shortfall Report on Canadian data center capacity https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/politics/2026/07/08/canada-data-centre-capacity-could-soar-to-20-gw-in-planned-projects-government-document/

  • S1 · E46
    September 10 · 9 min

    Mythos mystery: Why won’t Trump allow foreign evaluations?

    Anthropic has not given UK and European AI officials access to Mythos 5.1, its latest powerful model, seemingly because the Trump administration won’t allow it. There’s no easy explanation for this – especially as OpenAI is being allowed to grant similar access to its latest model, Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control at a time of rapid technological change. I'm Berlin-based tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.eurosky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeyer2/ REFERENCES: Financial Times on UK AI Security Institute being shut out https://www.ft.com/content/560e1c8b-f163-4fd6-b604-e905550ac870 My ISMG article on Anthropic’s Mythos access promise https://www.databreachtoday.com/europe-edges-closer-to-claude-mythos-access-a-31827 FedScoop on CAISI being underfunded https://fedscoop.com/caisi-would-benefit-from-more-resources-ostp-director-tells-lawmakers/ Protect Democracy on Trump voluntary AI framework lawsuit https://protectdemocracy.org/work/uncovering-the-trump-administrations-secret-rules-for-ai-model-release/ Anthropic announcement of Mythos 5.1 and Fable 5.1 https://www.anthropic.com/claude-fable-and-mythos-5-1 Jacob Coxon’s X posts on AI risks https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843 Anthropic post on Mythos security https://www.anthropic.com/research/alignment-assessment-cybersecurity-incidents

  • S1 · E45
    September 4 · 12 min

    EU mass surveillance: New data retention opinion has big implications

    Europe’s attitude towards data retention – seeing it as mass surveillance anytime people’s information is indiscriminately collected and stored – may be changing, judging from a new opinion from the chief adviser to the EU’s highest court, the Court of Justice. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control at a time of rapid technological change. I'm Berlin-based tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.eurosky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeyer2/ REFERENCES: Digital Rights Ireland ruling https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/affair?sort=AFF_NUM-DESC&searchTerm=%2522C%252D293%252F12%2522&publishedId=C-293%2F12 Tele2 Sverige / Watson ruling https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62015CJ0203 La Quadrature du Net I ruling https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/affair?lang=en&sort=AFF_NUM-DESC&searchTerm=%2522c%252D511%252F18%2522&publishedId=c-511%2F18 Irish Garda-Dwyer ruling https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62020CJ0140 German SpaceNet ruling https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62019CJ0793 La Quad II ruling https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62021CJ0470 Szpunar’s opinion in the present case (Académie Fiscale) https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/tabs/jurisprudence?sort=DOC_DATE-DESC&searchTerm=%2522C%252D661%252F24%2522&publishedId=C-661%2F24

  • S1 · E44
    August 27 · 9 min

    Who decides when your smart devices die?

    We’re used to manufacturers leaving smart devices buggy or completely abandoning them for various reasons. But AI is now proving useful for reverse-engineering firmware – which clearly presents big cybersecurity risks as well as opportunities for taking real ownership of one’s own possessions – and new European laws also promise to force manufacturers to take longevity more seriously. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control at a time of rapid technological change. I'm Berlin-based tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.eurosky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeyer2/ REFERENCES: The Guardian on European heatwave deaths https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/25/at-least-35000-excess-deaths-europe-back-to-back-heatwaves Chaz Schlarp’s blogpost on reverse-engineering peripherals https://schlarp.com/posts/everything-i-own-owned/ Tech Radar on Spotify Car Thing’s revival https://www.techradar.com/audio/four-years-after-its-untimely-demise-spotify-car-thing-is-back-for-free-and-with-absolutely-no-help-from-the-streaming-giant-itself Mira on GitHub https://github.com/mira-thing/mira-releases/releases#release-v1.1.0 European Commission on Right to Repair Directive https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/right-repair-new-consumer-rights-easy-and-attractive-repairs-2026-07-31_en Cyber Resilience Act https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/cyber-resilience-act My ISMG article on Cyber Resilience Act guidance https://www.bankinfosecurity.net/iot-sector-given-final-eu-cyber-resilience-act-guidance-a-32349

  • S1 · E43
    July 29 · 10 min

    Can the AI industry slow down?

    In the wake of OpenAI’s accidental hack of Hugging Face, over 1,000 luminaries from the AI industry have called for an international agreement on slowing down the pace of AI development – signatories include Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. That kind of deal is unlikely. But without it, unconstrained capitalism won’t allow any company to slow down unilaterally. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control at a time of rapid technological change. I'm Berlin-based tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.eurosky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeyer2/ REFERENCES: Hugging Face post-mortem on OpenAI incident https://huggingface.co/blog/agent-intrusion-technical-timeline Announcement of AI Kill Switch Act bill https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can Pacing the Frontier petition https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/ Wikipedia article on previous call for an AI development pause https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pause_Giant_AI_Experiments:_An_Open_Letter Reuters on suspicious activity of OpenAI agents https://www.reuters.com/business/its-ai-agent-spent-days-hacking-company-sources-say-openai-did-not-notice-week-2026-07-24/

  • S1 · E42
    July 21 · 16 min

    The US and China's open-source AI showdown is coming

    China’s AI companies have become a huge threat to their US rivals with their more open models, with the likes of Kimi K3, GLM-5.2 and Qwen 3.8 now almost rivalling Anthropic and OpenAI’s best efforts. The Trump administration will soon need to make a decision about how or whether to try to control those Chinese models and the open-source AI movement in general – and China will need to consider whether the many benefits of open AI are worth the risks. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Reuters on US-China AI talks https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-china-hold-ai-talks-september-sources-say-2026-07-21/ Hugging Face on its hacking incident https://huggingface.co/blog/security-incident-july-2026 The Diplomat on the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization https://thediplomat.com/2026/07/chinas-new-ai-club-the-world-artificial-intelligence-cooperation-organization/ Xi Jinping’s open AI speech http://english.scio.gov.cn/topnews/2026-07/18/content_118605932.html Financial Times on China considering open AI controls https://www.ft.com/content/6049a031-9e9b-464c-97bb-414da04d5a6a?syn-25a6b1a6=1 Thinking Machines Lab on its Tinker release https://thinkingmachines.ai/news/introducing-inkling/ Ben Thompson’s Stratechery post on the US’s choices https://stratechery.com/2026/whos-afraid-of-chinese-models/ David Sacks vs Dean Ball https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2078826291638522127

  • S1 · E41
    July 14 · 13 min

    Europe doesn’t need an “internet passport” for age verification

    It looks like there will be EU-wide age restrictions for social media and other online services that might have content or designs that are unsuitable for kids. Some claim the European Commission is about to roll out an “internet passport” to enforce this, but that’s a misreading of the situation. Thanks to a major report that just landed, we are getting more details of what we really should expect from Europe’s online child safety crackdown. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. To contact me, please email david@techgetsreal.com or connect on: Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/superglaze.eurosky.social Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@superglaze Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeyerwrites LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeyer2/ REFERENCES: Ursula von der Leyen speech on age verification legislation https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_26_1590 Child safety online report https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/d833504d-5ec3-4fac-945f-38e7d0bd5326_en?filename=Special-panel-report.pdf “Summary” of the report https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/4c5d55f1-9072-4bb9-a263-094461525ca6_en?filename=Child-Safety-Online-summary.pdf Interface page on national age verification plans https://www.interface-eu.org/publications/social-media-age-gating-eu Le Monde on European Commission chastising France https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2026/07/06/eu-tells-france-to-amend-social-media-ban-law_6755209_7.html Euronews on viral “internet passport” claims https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/13/no-the-eu-is-not-about-to-censor-access-to-the-internet Guardian on Australia exploring VPN restrictions https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/11/most-popular-porn-sites-now-have-age-checks-for-australians-but-online-watchdog-to-assess-vpn-loopholes

  • S1 · E40
    July 8 · 11 min

    Why Ireland is a big problem for Europe's tech rules

    European lawmakers are worried that Ireland will favour US Big Tech as it takes a major role in legal negotiations over the second half of 2026. The country, which largely relies on Big Tech for its tax revenues, has assumed the Presidency of the EU Council and will steer the Council’s work on bills like the Tech Sovereignty Package, the revisions to the Cybersecurity Act, and the Digital Omnibus, which could see the watering-down of the General Data Protection Regulation. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Schwab and Echeverria’s letter to Commissioner McGrath https://enforce.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Letter-to-Commissioner-McGrath-signed-by-MEP-Arias-Echeverria.pdf Wikipedia article on Apple-EU tax dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple%E2%80%93EU_tax_dispute Irish Times on DPC not collecting fines https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/01/12/data-protection-commission-owed-more-than-4-billion-in-fines/ Irish Times on Apple, Microsoft and Eli Lilly’s outsized tax role https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/2026/02/19/three-multinational-companies-paid-close-to-50-of-states-corporate-tax-in-2024/ EU Observer on Niamh Sweeney’s selection as Irish DPC https://euobserver.com/4580/outrage-as-ireland-picks-ex-meta-lobbyist-as-new-data-protection-chief/ Politico on delayed DSA enforcement for X https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-exhales-brussels-fines-elon-musk-x/ Irish Council for Civil Liberties demanding Irish recusal https://www.iccl.ie/press-release/ireland-recuse-eu-presidency-digital-files-enforce/

  • S1 · E39
    June 30 · 12 min

    The US Supreme Court may have doomed Big Tech in Europe

    The US Supreme Court’s Slaughter ruling on Monday, which overturned longstanding precedent called Humphrey’s Executor, is seriously bad news for American companies who handle Europeans’ personal data. That’s because the ruling destroyed the independence of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is an essential part of a deal that enables transatlantic data flows. And now Max Schrems, who blew up that deal’s predecessors, is going in for the kill. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: US Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Slaughter https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-332_qn12.pdf My 2023 Fortune article on the EU-US Data Protection Framework https://fortune.com/europe/2023/07/10/us-eu-trans-atlantic-data-privacy-framework-meta-schrems-cjeu/ Noyb’s statement on the Slaughter ruling’s implications https://noyb.eu/en/us-supreme-court-just-blew-eu-us-data-transfers Noyb’s letter to the European Commission https://noyb.eu/sites/default/files/2026-06/Letter_noyb_EU-US_data_transfers.pdf My most recent ISMG article on EU tech sovereignty https://www.databreachtoday.com/france-germany-boost-digital-sovereignty-push-a-32031

  • S1 · E38
    June 25 · 11 min

    Why Anthropic is right to fear Chinese AI distillation

    US AI leader Anthropic has accused China’s Alibaba of “illicitly” copying the knowledge from its Claude model in a process called distillation. Here’s what that means – and why companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have so much to fear from the practice . Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Wikipedia article on Prohibition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States Wall Street Journal on Anthropic’s Alibaba accusation https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-claims-alibaba-ran-brazen-campaign-to-access-its-claude-ai-model-69d7a392 Alibaba’s Qwen terms of service https://qwen.ai/termsservice Wired’s transcript of Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit appearance https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-distill-openai-models-partly-xai/ DeepSeek’s distillation announcement in early 2025 https://github.com/deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1 Nathan Lambert on Z.ai’s GLM-5.2 https://www.interconnects.ai/p/glm-52-is-the-step-change-for-open

  • S1 · E37
    June 18 · 39 min

    Inside the UK's under-16 social media ban - Heather Burns interview

    In this extended episode of Tech Gets Real, veteran digital policy expert Heather Burns joins the show to chat about the UK’s plans to ban social media for under-16s, and to force Apple and Google to conduct surveillance on the photos people take on their phones. It’s a fascinating conversation about how safety tech vendors may have defeated digital rights advocates in the battle for the attention of British politicians. Heather Burns’s book, Understanding Privacy https://www.amazon.com/-/en/Heather-Burns-ebook/dp/B0C9JSW7S7 Heather’s website https://heatherburns.tech/ Heather’s profile on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/heatherburnstech.bsky.social Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: BBC on Makerfield by-election https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yzgpe2ld3o UK government announcement on client side scanning https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plans-to-stop-children-taking-sharing-or-viewing-nude-images UK government announcement on social media age limit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-media-to-be-banned-for-under-16s-in-landmark-government-move-to-givekids-their-childhood-back Deutsche Welle on Elon Musk suing German broadcaster ZDF https://www.dw.com/en/elon-musk-sues-zdf-hunt-for-migrants-belfast/a-77571443 My ISMG article on the client-side scanning news https://www.govinfosecurity.com/uk-vows-device-level-controls-for-smartphone-underage-nudes-a-31933 Politico on Italy’s Meloni rejecting social media age ban https://www.politico.eu/article/meloni-says-social-media-ban-for-kids-is-no-panacea/ Edrith blog post on age ban arguments https://www.edrith.co.uk/p/social-media-ban-responses-to-10 Southport public inquiry website https://www.southport.public-inquiry.uk/

  • S1 · E36
    June 15 · 10 min

    Why Trump’s Anthropic AI export ban is a gift to Europe

    The Trump administration has placed export controls on Anthropic’s industry-leading Mythos and Fable models, prompting the company to disable access to both for everyone in the world. Europe’s reaction show how dangerous this is for the US – having been shown the danger of relying on US tech, countries such as France and the UK are now more likely to fund their own alternatives. Welcome to tech sovereignty. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Anthropic’s statement about Mythos and Fable https://www.anthropic.com/news/fable-mythos-access Business Insider on the tech world’s reaction https://www.businessinsider.com/reaction-to-trump-controls-on-anthropic-fable-and-mythos-2026-6 Reuters on Amazon sparking Mythos drama https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-voiced-concerns-about-anthropic-ai-models-before-us-governments-crackdown-2026-06-13/ Financial Times on NSA using Mythos for cyber attacks https://www.ft.com/content/d02d91b3-2636-454e-9442-dc7e69f51815 Jordan Bardella’s X post about Mythos https://x.com/J_Bardella/status/2065714468609282417 Kanishka Narayan’s video about Mythos https://x.com/KanishkaNarayan/status/2066157359638962632 Al Carns’s X post about Mythos https://x.com/AlistairCarns/status/2065754367739805770

  • S1 · E35
    June 9 · 9 min

    Why Apple won't bring Siri AI to Europe

    Apple is blaming a competition law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for its refusal to roll out the new Siri AI virtual assistant in Europe. Here’s what that’s all about – and this is no clear-cut argument. You have no idea how many times my recorded “Siri” triggered my iPhone during editing. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering tech policy for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Apple’s statement on delaying Siri AI in the EU https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/06/due-to-dma-siri-ai-delayed-in-eu-for-ios-27-and-ipados-27/ TechCrunch on Apple releasing Apple Intelligence in the EU https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/28/apple-intelligence-is-coming-to-the-eu-in-april-2025/ European Commission consultation on Google Search DMA remedies https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/dma100209-consultation-proposed-measures-google-search-data-sharing_en Security researcher Lukasz Olejnik on Google Search and the DMA https://techletters.substack.com/p/the-european-commission-is-turning

  • S1 · E34
    June 4 · 9 min

    US Cloud Act collides with EU tech sovereignty push

    Europe’s push for technological sovereignty just stepped up, with the European Commission proposing a new law that would probably shut US Big Tech firms out of the lucrative public sector cloud market, thanks to US surveillance law. Cloud Act, meet the Cloud and AI Development Act. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change, presented from a European perspective. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: European Commission press release on Tech Sovereignty Package https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1187 Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/proposal-cloud-and-ai-development-act-cada My ISMG article on the Tech Sovereignty Package recently being delayed https://www.govinfosecurity.com/europe-again-delays-digital-sovereignty-push-a-31760 The EFF on the US Cloud Act https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/02/cloud-act-dangerous-expansion-police-snooping-cross-border-data CCIA Europe on Cloud and AI Development Act https://ccianet.org/news/2026/06/discriminatory-eu-cloud-and-ai-development-act-risks-severe-market-fragmentation/

  • S1 · E33
    May 29 · 10 min

    Temu's €200M safety fine is a bit geopolitical

    Europe has fined Temu for selling illegally dangerous stuff on its platform. This is a reminder that the Digital Services Act isn’t all about online speech, nor is it all about punishing US companies. But that doesn’t mean this €200 million DSA fine isn’t geopolitical – after all, the EU has big problems with China too these days. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: European Commission statement on Temu fine https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1178 Tech Policy Press on the Trump administration’s X fine reaction https://www.techpolicy.press/trump-administration-locks-arms-with-musks-x-against-eu-tech-enforcement/ Industrial Accelerator Act legislative timetable https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-a-new-plan-for-europe-s-sustainable-prosperity-and-competitiveness/file-industrial-decarbonisation-accelerator-act

  • S1 · E32
    May 21 · 12 min

    Google's AI search revamp looks cool, but...

    Google is overhauling its search experience to expand the role of AI – and make it even less likely that you will look at the list of web links that used to define Google Search. This will further erode investment in the web, and create new opportunities for propagandists. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Google’s blog post on its search overhaul https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/ Guardian on Eric Schmidt getting booed https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/18/eric-schmidt-ai-university-commencement-speech-booed

  • S1 · E31
    May 13 · 26 min

    We've always wanted tech to bring us together

    Harvard Kennedy School fellow Krystian Łukasik joins Tech Gets Real to discuss his new project, the Techno-Optimism Archive. It’s a valuable reminder of how new technologies have been hyped since the nineteenth century – and a lot of these claims will sound very familiar to those tracking the hype around AI. Here’s the site: https://technooptimism.org/ Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Musk on work being optional https://fortune.com/2026/01/19/when-does-elon-musk-say-work-will-be-optional-and-money-will-be-irrelevant-ai-robotics/ Pessimists Archive https://pessimistsarchive.org/

  • S1 · E30
    May 7 · 9 min

    Hacker-friendly AI is changing everything

    The latest AI models, which have serious cybersecurity capabilities, are having a rapid impact on policy in the US, where the Trump administration has suddenly realised it’s not a great idea to maintain its hands-off policy to AI development. But in Europe, which lacks early access to models like Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5, the situation presents a threat to which the European Commission has no useful answer. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: UK AI Security Institute on GPT-5.5 https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-evaluation-of-openais-gpt-5-5-cyber-capabilities My ISMG article on the MEPs’ letter to the Commission https://www.govinfosecurity.com/european-meps-push-for-stronger-post-mythos-cybersecurity-a-31599 Wednesday’s European Parliament IMCO committee debate https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstreaming/committee-on-internal-market-and-consumer-protection-ordinary-meeting_20260506-1430-COMMITTEE-IMCO CNN on OpenAI wanting to expand GPT-5.5 access https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/29/tech/openai-cybersecurity New York Times on Trump administration’s change of heart https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/technology/trump-ai-models.html US Center for AI Standards and Innovation announces early access deal with Google, Microsoft and xAI https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/05/caisi-signs-agreements-regarding-frontier-ai-national-security-testing

  • S1 · E29
    April 30 · 11 min

    Age verification comes to Europe, like it or not

    The European Commission is forcing age verification on the EU internet to protect kids from the ills of social media, without creating a new law – and without admitting that it’s forcing social platforms to adopt the technology. My article on this for Information Security Media Group: https://www.govinfosecurity.com/europe-gliding-toward-mandatory-online-age-verification-a-31547 Including a detail I forgot to mention here – that the Commission is doing all this before hearing the findings of an expert panel who were tasked with advising it on exactly this subject! Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: EC statement on Meta DSA breaches https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_920 Henna Virkkunen’s statement on age verification https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_26_921 BBC on Roblox and age estimation accuracy https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj94y9r0p10o Virkkunen’s press conference https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/video/I-288345 Politico report stating eight countries aren’t keen on the app https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-tells-eu-countries-to-use-its-age-check-app/ Molly Rose Foundation research on Australia’s social media restrictions https://mollyrosefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/MRF_Australia-Social-Media-Ban-Research_Briefing-April-26.pdf

  • S1 · E28
    April 24 · 9 min

    xAI is a problem for SpaceX's IPO

    This week’s TGR is a grab-bag of the latest interesting AI news, starting with SpaceX warning potential IPO investors about the risk posed by xAI and its Grok chatbot. Also included: Grok plays along with user delusions, Meta tracks its workers, the US accuses China of “industrial scale” AI intellectual property theft, and Mythos’s exclusive access program isn’t so exclusive after all. Tech Gets Real is a show about staying in control in a time of rapid technological change. I'm veteran tech journalist David Meyer, and I've been covering topics like online privacy and freedom for two decades. If you like this, please hit like and subscribe, and share it with others who might find it useful. REFERENCES: Reuters on SpaceX warning investors about xAI risk https://www.reuters.com/world/spacex-warns-that-inquiries-into-sexually-abusive-ai-imagery-may-hurt-market-2026-04-23/ Guardian on the paper about AI and delusions https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/24/musk-grok-x-ai-researchers-delusional-advice-inputs The paper itself https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.13860 TechCrunch on Meta tracking employee mouse movements and keystrokes https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/meta-will-record-employees-keystrokes-and-use-it-to-train-its-ai-models/ Financial Times on White House’s China AI accusation https://www.ft.com/content/abde4e1e-c69a-4cc4-ad96-d88308314298 Bloomberg on outsiders accessing Anthropic’s Mythos https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-21/anthropic-s-mythos-model-is-being-accessed-by-unauthorized-users TechCrunch on Sam Altman throwing shade on Mythos https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/sam-altman-throws-shade-at-anthropics-cyber-model-mythos-fear-based-marketing/

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