Anthropic is Introducing Text Watermarking… But How? - DTNS 5329
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Anthropic has announced the global rollout of text watermarking and C2PA signed metadata for its AI models, a move mandated by the EU AI Act but implemented worldwide to cover cloud APIs, third-party hosts, and various deployment environments. The technology is designed to be imperceptible to users; it survives copy-paste actions and minor editing without altering the meaning or quality of the text. While Anthropic plans to provide tools for detecting these watermarks in the future, the specific mechanism remains somewhat mysterious, with speculation ranging from subtle changes in word frequency patterns to the insertion of invisible characters that persist through standard clipboard operations.
The implementation raises questions about user experience and potential migration trends within the AI landscape. Critics worry that any alteration to generated text could interfere with grammar tools or creative workflows, though Anthropic aims to minimize this impact. The hosts discuss whether such measures will drive a small but significant percentage of users toward open-weight models that are not subject to these regulations, effectively creating a split in the market between compliant frontier models and unrestricted alternatives. This dynamic highlights the tension between regulatory compliance for safety and traceability versus user preference for unmodified output.
Beyond Anthropic's announcement, the episode covers several other major tech developments, including Lenovo filing patents for "Project Swan," which could introduce laptops with horizontally expandable displays to offer more workspace in compact form factors. Apple is also preparing a split launch strategy for its iPhone 18 series, separating premium models from budget-friendly variants like the Air and SE lines into different release windows, while continuing to refine an all-glass design despite production challenges. Additionally, OpenAI has introduced "Daybreak," a security program offering specialized AI tiers for vulnerability finding and defensive coding, aiming to address recent concerns about agent safety following incidents on platforms like Hugging Face.
The show concludes with various industry updates and perspectives on the evolving role of smart glasses in public spaces. Meta's smart glasses have been banned from UK courts due to privacy concerns regarding recording capabilities, a sentiment echoed by other venues restricting such devices despite their potential utility for accessibility features like autofocus. Other headlines include Google testing search-less homepages, Bumble allowing men to send first messages based on user preference data, and Anthropic making progress on the Riemann hypothesis with an unreleased model. The segment emphasizes that while technology advances rapidly in security and hardware innovation, societal adaptation regarding privacy policies and device usage will take time to normalize.
Read the full video transcript
This is the daily tech news for Tuesday,
August 11th, [music] 2026. We tell you
what you need to know, give you the
important context, and help each other
understand.
>> Yeah, here's something I want to
understand. Today, Anthropic announced
that it's rolling out text watermarking.
>> Uh huh.
>> How do you how do you watermark a text
without changing it? And they're also
doing C2PA. Um
>> that's a real good question. EU made him
do it, but all of us get to benefit.
>> Mhm. We're going to talk all about it
coming up here. I'm Jason Howell.
>> I'm Tom Merritt.
>> Let's start with what you need to know
with the big story.
>> So yes, Tom, as you alluded to uh
Anthropic shared in a help document uh
that its models will carry embedded text
watermarks also C2PA signed file
metadata. this is all in compliance with
the EU AI act. But that might make you
think okay so they're going to get it
the rest of the country the rest of the
world will not. Uh but that is not true.
Apparently the watermarking going to be
applied globally for all users. So this
is one of those cases where that
actually happens. Uh the watermarking
covers the cloud API cloud cloud code
cloud co-work tag third-party host. So,
if you get your cloud through something
like AWS or Google Cloud, um it's going
to survive through there as well, I
guess, because it's it's text. Yeah, I I
don't know how this is going to work,
but Anthropic says that the text mark
survives copy paste actions
uh and some editing without changing the
meaning or changing the quality of the
text that it's attached to. It's man,
it's so puzzling. Well, Anthropic also
says it'll support its users in
detecting Claude's own watermarks with
details on how that's done coming
sometime in the future. So, we don't
even know quite yet how you would even
detect for this, but Anthropic's
[snorts]
going to have a tool for you. Anthropic
says the watermarking will come to new
models, of course, but also they're
working on integrating it into earlier
models that were released prior to this
August 2nd um deadline that was required
by the AI act. So yeah, text
watermarking I I mean I'm sure text
watermarking is a thing before this,
right?
>> It is a thing. Um, in fact, Apple mo
more famously than most used it to
watermark some of its internal documents
which is how they were able to track a
leak
>> because they could find the text
watermark. Uh, as I understand it and
and I you know I I haven't spent my
entire life studying it, but [laughter]
as I understand it, text watermarking
takes a few different forms. It usually
has something to do with word frequency
or patterns. Uh so in in the English
language, we have so many synonyms. I
imagine it might be a little easier, but
you can use synonyms or use certain
phrases and then you can you can keep
the meaning the same while changing the
words to make sure that later you can do
a text analysis and go ah that was made
by Claude that because that's Claude's
way of using those words in that that
manner. uh similar to how you can
actually identify the writer of
something based on their word choice and
their word usage, right? Watermarking is
kind of like that.
>> Um
>> I guess that doesn't change the meaning,
but it actually as someone who wants to
use these tools for like just grammar,
you know, and word, I don't want it
changing things to watermark them. So
like yes, just make things bold, but
don't change any of my words. Uh, and if
it's trying to watermark, then it might
have to change words. So, I I I guess
I'm not trying to be like, and therefore
I'll never use Claude, but I'm like, I
need to know a little more about how
their kind of text watermarking works,
>> right? And and when is it applied? Is it
like, here's my paragraph. Uh, make sure
that I didn't miss any commas. And it
inserts a comma. It's like, all right,
text watermark in there. We had
something to do with this.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I I'm guessing it doesn't
work like that. There are some other
text watermarking that use invisible
characters. Um, you know, that's what I
was wondering. That's when they say like
it'll survive most cut and paste. I'm
like, "Oh, okay. So, maybe they're just
maybe they're just putting, you know,
unreadable characters in there and then
when you copy paste them, they that
persists." I wouldn't mind that as much
because it's not messing with my copy
then. Um, but yeah, I I'm I'm very
curious how the text watermarking works.
I know that text watermarking works. I
just like which one are you using? It
makes a difference to me
>> as you're describing it. What comes to
mind for me is I feel like AI already
has a watermark. It's all of the things
that we like.
>> It used to be the M dash, right? Yeah.
>> Yeah. It used to be the M dash, which
you know, of course, people who love the
Mdash and have used it forever would
push back on that, but um speaking of
that, you are right to push back on
that, Tom. You know, like
[clears throat] things like that feel
like, you know, the the AI output
>> watermark
[laughter]
and up themselves. Um, but yeah, I'll be
really curious to see like what the
impact of something like this has on
usage patterns. We're we are kind of in
this moment where it's like we got your
frontier models that everybody's used to
using in a short short super short
period of time in the cloud, super
powerful. We use them for everything and
then now we have this growing and we'll
talk about it, you know, certainly
throughout this show. Um, this kind of
the percolating open model uh, you know,
localized model thing that's happening.
Does this do do these watermark efforts
end up pushing more people inevitably
towards those more open platforms where
that doesn't exist? Because some people
are going to be very resistant towards
watermarking even if it's a good like
good idea in practice or in theory to
have them. You know,
>> the the answer is always a little bit,
right? The question is always how much.
It will not push everyone in the world
off of Claude,
>> right? I say that uh with with full
confidence. Uh it will push some people
off of Claude to use an openw weight
model that isn't subject to the EU AI
act. Uh I say that with full confidence.
The the the amount I imagine it's going
to be a small percentage, but we talking
like a 0.01 or 1% like that that could
make a difference as well. And I'm
curious how Open AI and Gemini and uh
whatever Meta is going to call their
model today. Uh I I'm I'm curious how
they are going to comply with this as
well.
>> Almost certainly we're going to see more
of this. But yeah, I I am very curious
to see, you know, what that watermarking
actually is. Is it the invisible text?
Is it, you know, some sort of phrasing
or or patterning? I hadn't even
considered the patterning thing, but all
of that all of that makes an imprint in
one way or another on what is being read
on the other side. So I Yeah,
>> there's always there's always the
criticisms of like, yeah, and you can
rip it off, right? You can you can
remove the water marking, which is true
of files and and images as well. Uh, and
it's like, yeah, okay, now we're getting
to whether the EU AI act is actually
effective or not. Uh, and and usually
these things are usually attacked as
like they won't work all the time and
then they are defended as they're not
supposed to work all the time. They're
just a speed bump. uh you know and and
so yeah I I don't know that these things
are impossible
to remove
but they they do help to trace things.
It's just they're not perfect and and
they never will be. I don't think
>> Yeah. Yeah. I'd agree
>> that I'm less confident. Maybe someday
they will be perfect but I don't think
they will.
>> Maybe. Maybe.
>> You know who is perfect though, Jason?
>> I do.
>> Danny Verer.
>> Oh, I was going to say you, Tom, but
>> Oh, no. No. You're right. You're right,
Danny.
>> I'm close to perfect. And the thing
that's getting me close to perfect is
Howard Yish.
>> Yeah, that's true. Um, but don't don't
don't leave out John Atwood cuz
>> No, we wouldn't
perfect
>> without John Atwood or Pat.
>> Or Pat. No, you were like 99% of the way
there. Pat took you to 100.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Danny, Howard, John,
Pat, and every single person who
supports us in all the various ways you
can, including patreon.com/dtns.
>> All right, so much more we need to know
today without watermark. Let's uh get to
the briefs. Yes, Windows latest
reporting uh on a Lenovo patent filed
back in August 2024 granted in March
2026 that points to a think book cenamed
project swan.
>> It's a think book that will float
elegantly on [laughter] on a lake. Uh
no, actually uh it it actually expands
its display sideways like swan wings
maybe.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah, sure. You press a button and then
the you open your laptop, press a button
and then the screen expands. Uh that
extra display would be housed on both
sides of the lid with motorized rails
extending them outward on demand. Uh has
Thinkbook label. So it puts this laptop
in the business and productivity lineup.
Uh cuz Lenovo already has a version of
this that for gaming. Uh in fact, they
already sell the Thinkbook Plus Gen 6
rollable. That one extends vertically.
So that's that's a little different. Uh
and it adds around 50% more screen area
when it's unrolled. Um so you can do a
rollable screen in the market. Lenovo
also showed a horizontal display like
we're talking about at CES 2026. Uh
calling it a proof of concept at the
time. The Legion Pro rollable had a
16-in OLED expanded sideways to 21.5 in
and then with a little boost could go
all the way to 24 in. Then there's the
Thinkbook Flip. That is a concept that
used a single OLED panel that bent over
the top of the lid. Uh there's the
Legion Go Fold that they demonstrated, a
7.7 in P OLED panel that unfolded to
11.6 in. Anyway, getting back to this
one, Windows Latest talked about Project
Swan. We don't have a panel size. We
don't have hardware details. There's no
price or anything at this point. Windows
Latest just thinks that not only is this
patent going to turn into a product, but
that product is close to an official
announcement. Yeah. And when I think of
um when I think of certain certain
reasons that I use computers, you know,
in the like production space, I think of
like timelines, like video timelines,
and you know, like the vertical
extension great for I think coders. Like
I'm not a coder, but that's that's
always the example that I that I feel
like I see. But that doesn't really
apply to me as much. I've always been
like h why would I ever need a vertical
horizontal though, man? Like I would
love that because like I've had the the
like 17in, you know, MacBook Pro. It's
just a massive behemoth in my bag, you
know? I would love a smaller uh more
compact laptop by comparison that could
extend out um on a horizontal sense
because, you know, like timeline editing
and that sort of like horizontal uh
workspace in certain applications is
just incredibly useful to have. I love
this. Yeah, I I when I am on the road
and using my laptop, which is a 16inch
screen, uh I am still thinking gosh,
there are some things that are easier
with my big wide Dell monitor at home.
And so it would be nice to have the
option where like yes, I can use the
laptop in a confined space like a train
or an airplane and and not have to deal
with a big wide screen like the 17 in,
right? Um, but then when I want it, like
I'm sitting at a desk in a hotel room, I
could then press the button and open it
up into that wider screen. I think that
would be good. The question is like
Lenovo seems to be the one that's really
pioneering this uh and really pushing
it. And they're still only got one of
these models out. Maybe this is the year
we start to see more. I assume we're
going to see more at CES 2027. Uh, but
it's taking a while for this to come
from phones where we we've kind of
recently said like, yeah, okay,
foldable, that's that's a legit product
category for phones these days. Uh, and
and it hasn't quite made it to the
desktop space or the laptop space.
>> Yeah. And durability is also a thing,
you know, that's a that's an area where
>> that was a thing with the phones, too,
right? You had to prove that it wasn't
going to just break on you.
>> Yeah. You take it to the wrong place and
you get a windstorm with a sandy area
and suddenly those gears that [laughter]
It really is swan.
>> Yes.
>> It goes flying.
>> It's good. Yeah. All All you can get out
of it anymore is just chuck it in the
water and watch it float.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Uh anyways, I don't know. But I do think
the concept is really cool. Um so I love
the idea of that.
>> Yeah. And I'm I'm glad Lenovo is pushing
the barriers on this.
>> Indeed. Yep.
>> Or boundaries. Boundaries. I think I
meant boundaries, not barriers.
>> Yeah. Yeah. It worked for me. It worked
for me. Apple's iOS 27 uh beta 5 release
yesterday included hidden code that
referenced six upcoming iPhone models
buried inside a battery driver and
battery intelligence system files. I'm
sure you would never imagine what those
models were. iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18
Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18, I
know, uh iPhone Ultra, the foldable, and
and uh the iPhone 18e. So, okay. See,
those those names, it's not like they're
new names and we hadn't heard them or
expected them. But the leak uh does
signal uh separately from this a split
launch approach, which basically means
that the premium models would be landing
this fall as you know, at the time that
we normally expect to see them, while
the cheaper ones, including the iPhone
18 and the 18e would be pushed until
early 2027. That's a little interesting.
Um, Bloomberg's Mark German also
reported that Apple will release a glass
ccentric iPhone to mark the 20th
anniversary of the iPhone, even in light
of production challenges that have made
it apparently difficult to execute.
Jeffre had a report that Apple had
backed away from an all glass version.
Um the road map at least according to
Gurin is still unch unchanged though we
did acknowledge that a version with even
more glass had to be abandoned because
it couldn't or wouldn't work at scale.
So
>> yeah go read the 9to5 Mac story uh
analyzing the German and Jeff
disagreement and showing that it's not a
disagreement. This is a uh this is a
clash in headlines. Uh Jeffre is saying
there was an a actually all glass
version that Apple has abandoned. And
Gurman's like yes there was an all glass
version that Apple abandoned because
they couldn't make it work at scale. Uh
but they are still going to do a mostly
he's only mostly glass uh version next
year. So the this this is how this stuff
works and this is if you're not paying
attention you get confused by seeing all
these conflicting headlines when they're
not really conflicting. Uh so I I think
I really appreciate it. 9 to5 Mac kind
of breaking it down that way. The other
stuff is like like you said it's like oh
my god we're shocked uh Apple's going to
announce iPhones in September.
>> No way.
>> As they have since I was a baby.
>> Yes.
>> What about the split release? What do
you think about that?
>> The split release is something Gurin's
been reporting on for for a while now.
So I'm not shocked to see that continued
to be reported on. But that is at least
a significant change, right, of like,
oh, we're going to move the iPhone 18
off into the cheap area. uh the SE and
now the E and the Air have traditionally
been in the spring. So, it's not
shocking that those would stay there. Uh
but moving the base model iPhone there
is an interesting move if that's what
happens. Uh I think that will be
interesting to see. So, yeah, it's just
it it's funny. We've got a Pixel
announcement coming tomorrow afternoon.
So, we we won't talk about it on the
show until Thursday. Uh, and in advance
of that announcement and because it's
August, I feel like all the news just
[laughter] is like holding back like
like like and so we end up getting these
like Apple's going to release iPhones
like
>> no way.
>> Fancy.
>> Yeah.
>> But the glass thing I think is
interesting. I think it it would be
interesting to see that.
>> Now, if they could do an all glass
foldable, that would be even more
interesting.
>> Now you're getting ahead of yourself.
How do you do a glass hinge that doesn't
make people
cringe?
>> I don't know.
>> I didn't mean for that. I just couldn't.
Yeah. [laughter]
>> Uh let's talk about OpenAI. Uh you may
not realize OpenAI has its own security
preview program called Daybreak. This is
basically OpenAI's version of Anthropics
Project Glasswing. Uh Daybreak has been
split into two tiers. Now Daybreak Blue
is for defensive work. So, finding
vulnerabilities, reviewing code, uh, and
the folks in the Daybreak Blue program,
uh, get access to GPT 5.6 SUL, uh, so
we've actually mentioned that that was
released to this limited group, uh, in
the past, but has not been released
generally. Daybreak Red is for actually
like finding new vulnerabilities. This
is not defensive work. This is kind of
proactive work. Uh, it's for exploit
validation. It's it's for it's for
finding problems. And there is a new
model coming to the Daybreak Red folks
called GPT 5.6 cyber which is built on
5.6 solve but tuned for those kind of
security tasks and
will not refuse to do security tasks. Uh
there was there was a report that even
GPT 5.6 saw for Daybreak folks refused
to do security tasks like 98% of the
time. GPT 5.6 six cyber will not it does
your security test 95% of the time uh so
hence the reason that it is limited to
the daybreak folks and there are more
daybreak folks now uh so uh along if
you're in Daybreak you get to do blue or
red you just pick it but Accenture IBM
crowdstrike cisco sofos and cloudflare
are all now in the daybreak program and
can use the models to protect their
services and customers you can actually
use daybreak too if you are a customer
of one of the companies in Daybreak. You
just go to them and say, "I would like
to submit this project for you to use in
Daybreak and then they do it for you."
Uh, OpenAI says, "Safeguards on Daybreak
Red, so on the cyber version, include
identity verification, clearly defined
testing, scopes, logging, monitoring,
and human oversight. Uh, so they're not
just letting it run wild as we have seen
other agents do in the past.
>> Why not? Come on. There's nothing to be
worried about. What could possibly go
wrong here? How much of this stuff is um
like the and then this is total like
guessing but you know we've got the
hugging face we've got these what you
were literally just talking about agents
kind of breaking out of sandbox blah
blah blah this has been such a story
over the last couple of weeks with open
AI like how much how much of these these
news items are tied to that in a way of
of you know for open AI to say hey look
we're responding we're doing the right
thing or are these things just already
in the works and the timing is,
you know what I mean? It just just
happens to be lined up because these
things do take a while to get there. But
I saw some criticism of like, oh,
they're just announcing this right now
because of the whole hugging face thing
and they want to, you know, change
change people's minds on their
responsibility, the company, but I'm
sure they've been working on this for a
long time.
>> Yeah. I'm sure the person you saw say
that knows way more than anyone.
>> Oh, yeah. Totally. [laughter]
>> Uh,
>> but but I think it's representative, you
know,
>> it's not like we live in a world where
everyone can have an opinion on anything
without any backing of it.
>> Yeah. Totally. Yeah, I I think it's
both. I think you don't have a model
like cyber that you just whip up since
Friday, right? Yeah, totally. This is
something long in the works.
>> And I agree.
>> Yeah, you can massage release and
announce dates for sure, but you also
have clientele. You have these people in
Project Daybreak and you've probably
been briefing them uh confidentially
about these capabilities coming and you
want to deliver on that. So, it's it's
not like you can just do whatever you
want. Uh
Yeah, you could have announced it maybe
Tuesday versus Thursday or whatever, but
there's a limit to the window in which
you would announce it. So, no, I don't
think they only are announcing this
because they want to get ahead of the
news. However, a lot of the way they
announced it probably does have to do
with that. Like for instance, announcing
these safeguards and saying, "Look, it's
really capable. It won't refuse to do as
many things because we know that was a
problem Hugging Face had, right? So,
let's let's make sure we know that like,
hey, this one will work better, but also
[laughter]
uh we have safeguards and there's
identity verification and human
oversight, so if it does start to go
rogue, we'll see it. Uh I I think
they're they're definitely tuning their
message to react to the situation that's
out there.
>> Yep. And they they all have this uh this
kind of cyber um arm. Well, maybe not
all of them, but it's certainly becoming
um very very quickly this this like
cyber part of the business, the model
that is so hyper like capable of of
detecting and and doing all this work. I
guess what I'm saying, I'm having a
horrible time saying it, is I'm I'm
impressed by how quickly the industry
moves to these different directions. And
it really feels like in the last couple
of months suddenly this has become a
very big part of their focus and their
business on on all the frontier models.
You know
>> I think security vulnerability finding
obviously anthropic started the drum
beat with fable uh and mythos right uh
and I think that is something that
people are very excited and concerned
about like I'm excited to use a tool to
tighten up the security in my network. I
am scared that a bad guy [laughter] is
going to use the same tool to attack my
network. Right. So there's there's a lot
of focus on that and I think that that
it's natural for the industry to move
that way. But you're right. It just like
everything else in this space. Uh things
things are moving at a really really
quick pace.
>> Yeah, indeed.
>> Uh we have an AI LLM channel in the DTNS
Discord uh that has been hopping lately.
In fact, uh, [laughter] over the past
day or so, it's taken a turn into is the
world worse now than it's ever been kind
of conversation. And of course, as you
might guess, if you know me at all, I'm
the guy going like, it was pretty bad in
the past. Like, yes, there are bad
things, but maybe it's actually not as
bad as it has been in the past. Uh, and
of course, I'm a Gen Xer, so I'm talking
about like, hey, when I was a teen, I
thought we'd all die in a nuclear war
before I got to be an adult. So, you
know, some things have improved. Anyway,
I say that to encourage you to join our
Discord. Uh there's a lot of really good
conversations happening there and you
can join it by linking a Patreon account
at patreon.com/dtns.
All right, we have a bunch of quick
headlines that are good to know and will
guaranteed make you look smarter.
>> I don't know if we can guarantee Well, I
make you look smarter.
>> I will personally guarantee that you
will look smarter. Will you be smarter?
[laughter]
Okay. All right. I'm with you.
>> Uh, Google is testing a version of its
homepage for some signed out users.
There's a very few. It's actually kind
of hard to replicate, but if you sign
out, you might run into a test version
of the Google page that has no search
button. Instead, you get four buttons.
Create images, ask about files,
brainstorm, and the classic I am feeling
lucky.
>> Interesting.
Yeah,
>> that's so fascinating to me.
>> And they're testing it, so they're
trying to see what effect it has. But
yeah, it's fascinating.
>> Yeah, Bumble changed the rule that
differentiated it at its launch years
ago. Now, anyone can send the first
message if the app matches you to
someone. This is a dating app, of
course. Uh, since its launch in 2014,
only women could send the first message.
Bumble says 66% of women surveyed said
they prefer men to send the first
message.
>> It's not even Bumble anymore then.
>> Yeah. What is it? It's like
>> I don't know. I haven't dated since like
Clinton was president. So,
>> [laughter]
>> um, His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals
Service, which runs civil and family
courts in the UK, has banned meta smart
glasses from court buildings across
England and Wales. kind of interesting
because you can bring a phone into the
court. You just if you as long as you're
not using it for recording because
recording is not allowed. Uh but you
can't even bring the glasses in cuz
they're like we we it's too hard to tell
if you started recording or not which
it's got the light but whatever.
>> Yeah. The phone's in your in your
pocket. The glasses with the camera is
just always on your face. It's it's hard
to ignore.
>> Even if the phone's not in your pocket,
[snorts]
>> it's it's certainly easy to see if
you're trying to do video. And it's
probably easy to like walk around and
look at the screen. So,
>> it's easier to pretend that nothing's
happening with a phone when it's a phone
versus glasses,
>> right? [snorts]
>> Yeah. Uh, Anthropic says an unreleased
model made significant progress towards
a solution to the Ryman hypothesis,
improving a mathematical lower bound on
the proportion of zeros in the critical
line for the Ryman Zeta function from
41.6%
to 67.2%.
Anthropic uh released a paper actually
showing its work. If none of that made
sense, an unreleased claude just made
progress on that unsolvable problem from
the 2017 movie Gifted. So, THERE YOU GO.
MADE PROGRESS.
>> OH, OKAY. That's kind of a big deal.
Also, especially because LLMs are not
naturally that good at math.
>> Yeah. But there's more and more of these
stories happening where it's like, oh,
how do mathematicians
>> I guess I can't say that anymore. They
they're proving me wrong.
>> No. Yeah.
>> Uh just like my friend in high school.
Uh Samsung says the US FDA has cleared a
hearing aid feature for the Galaxy Buds.
Uh that means that the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro
and the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro will get
hearing aid features in some markets
later this year.
>> Love it. Love it. The US 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled that section 230
of the Communications Decency Act is
quote a defense against liability, not
blanket immunity from being sued. End
quote. Thousands of lawsuits against
Meta, Tik Tok, Snap, and YouTube
alleging youth addiction may now proceed
as a result.
>> Yeah. And this doesn't mean they
couldn't use uh Safe Harbor as a
defense. They just have to use it as a
defense in the actual lawsuit, not not
as a way to stop the lawsuit from
happening.
>> Uh, back in September or back in
September, [laughter]
I'm a time traveler, apparently. Back in
September 2026,
for those of you watching, probably in
the future, Spotify will roll out AI
persona badges for artists who disclose
that their public identity is generated.
And Spotify said if they discover that
your public identity is generated, they
might give you the AI persona badge as
well. Uh this goes along with the
verified badge for a human artist that
can prove they're human and badges that
identify generated music whether the
artist is human or not.
A system called Signal Trace from a
company called Leonardo is being
marketed as a way to collect signals
from Bluetooth and other transmissions
uh to create an anonymous way to
identify movement. Now, paired with
things like license plate readers, it
could uncover the identity of the person
who's using the devices.
>> This is similar to using Bluetooth to
track you around a mall to serve
advertising. And it's the same concern
about like, yes, your Bluetooth
identifier is anonymous. It doesn't
carry your ID, but they could pair it
with your credit card transaction at
Zara, and then suddenly true
>> they know who you are. Uh, finally, the
$99 MagSafe slide out keyboard
attachment for your phone called Clicks
Power Keyboard, the one we saw at CES,
has now shipped 75% of pre-orders.
>> Oh, right on. It's real.
>> I love I love a CES product that shipped
story.
>> Yes. And uh and Clicks products are are
pretty cool. I really wish them well.
>> Uh we end every episode of DTNS with
some shared perspectives. Today, Brian H
has a thought about smart glasses
getting banned from certain areas. What
we were just talking about a few minutes
ago.
>> Yeah. So, we're talking about the
courts. Uh, and we've talked about
conferences like Comic-Con saying
they're not going to allow them anymore.
Uh, we had an email uh up from someone
saying for the first time they were
asked by a security guard at a sensitive
area, do you have any smart glasses on?
Uh, in other words, they they weren't
allowed to bring in recording devices,
so technically they were already banned.
But like actually acknowledging that you
might have them on and we're going to
try to make sure you don't have them on
has become a thing. Uh so in response to
all of this, Brian H wrote, "I am super
interested in autofocusing glasses, EXI
eyewear, for example. Not having to get
new lenses every year would be amazing.
Policing these will be harder as the new
tech comes out and makes you wonder how
long it will take for regular glasses to
go the way of the corded phone." Uh,
this is interesting because there's
different takes on this, but they all
use a sensor.
>> They all have to have some kind of
camera sensor to see what's coming in
and then adjust the focus for you.
>> So, how do you prove that? Like, no,
this sensor is just adjusting my focus,
not taking pictures of all the
confidential information in your
>> Yeah. random random uh guard at the
front entrance of the you know the
concert hall is not going to immediately
understand care about the difference
between those two things or whatever
>> or the military research room like the
concert hall guy may or may not care
that much, right? Depends on how much
he's getting paid and what mood he's in.
The guy at the at the military
installation isn't going to let you in.
>> Like that's just not going to happen.
>> That's so interesting. But yet as a
glasses wearer, I mean I wear contacts
most of the time, but as a glasses
wearer that would be really useful.
>> I and I think these are they have a very
good chance of becoming a regular
product that all of us would love. Like
can you imagine if you can go to the eye
doctor and the eye doctor's like, "Oh,
let me just upload a new prescription to
your glasses." And then
>> the autofocus or or some of these are
good enough that they could inform the
eye doctor like, "Yeah, it seems like
your prescription is changing a little
bit." And then your eye doctor visits
become more about eye health and less
about assessing what your actual
prescription should be. Uh I I think
there's a lot of positive things that
could come from these.
>> Fascinating.
>> And obviously, as we talked about in the
past, this is going to become a thing
like phones where for a while people are
like, "Well, you can't have a camera on
a phone." Well, I'm not going to get a
phone with a camera on it because I
won't be able to do this or do that. Or
people saying like, "You can't bring
your camera into the theater because you
might use it to record." uh we're going
to get to a place where we normalize
these kinds of glasses and there will be
policies around them and it will be, you
know, they they'll watch to make sure
that you're not using them to record,
but it's going to take it's going to
take a few years to get there.
>> I think so. Yeah, I do.
>> Uh well, thank you for this. And if uh
any of you have thoughts on any kind of
story we have, especially if you got
some inside information, not like
insider secrets, but I mean like your
expertise is like, well, I understand
why that is. Uh please share it with us.
feedback at daily techchnewshow.com.
>> Yes indeed. Thanks to Brian H for
contributing to today's show. Thanks to
you for being along for Daily Tech News
Show. You can keep this show in business
by becoming a patron and it's real easy.
patreon.com/dtns.
We'll see you tomorrow.
[music]
>> The DTNS family of podcasts
helping each other understand. Diamond
Club hopes you have enjoyed this broker.
[laughter]