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π‘ Get your daily fix of innovation, gadgets, AI, cybersecurity, and the tech shaping tomorrow. Technology Daily keeps you in the loop with smart, snappy updatesβperfect for busy founders, engineers, and curious minds alike.
Welcome to Technology Daily, your source for the latest tech news. I'm your host, and let's dive into today's stories.
First up, a Super Bowl ad that didn't quite land as intended. Ring's commercial showcasing its Search Party feature ended up sparking privacy concerns instead of warm fuzzy feelings. The feature uses AI to turn individual Ring cameras into a surveillance network that can track lost pets - and potentially much more. Users were quick to point out the slippery slope implications. If you're a Ring owner concerned about this, you can disable Search Party by opening the Ring app, tapping the menu, going to Control Center, selecting Search Party, and toggling off both Search for Lost Pets and Natural Hazards. The company says it's found 99 lost dogs in 90 days, but that's only about 0.005 percent of the ten million pets that go missing annually in America. The bigger question remains: what else could this surveillance network be used for?
Moving to artificial intelligence, OpenAI has started testing advertisements in ChatGPT for users on free and Go plans in the US. These sponsored products and services will appear at the bottom of chats, labeled and separate from ChatGPT's responses. The company says ads won't appear during conversations about regulated or sensitive topics like health, mental wellbeing, or politics. Users under 18 won't see ads either. OpenAI emphasizes it won't share or sell users' conversations or data to advertisers, and that ads won't influence ChatGPT's responses. A source close to the company told CNBC that OpenAI expects ads to account for less than half of its revenue long-term. This comes on the heels of competitor Anthropic running Super Bowl ads poking fun at OpenAI for introducing advertising, asserting that while ads are coming to AI, they won't appear in Claude.
In streaming news, YouTube TV is launching curated subscription packages this week, after announcing the program in December. These genre-specific packages let users opt for a tailored version of the service and save money. There are more than ten plans available, all cheaper than the standard $83 per month. The Sports Plan costs $65 monthly and includes channels like FS1, NBC Sports Network and all ESPN networks. For $72 per month, you can add news channels like CNN and CSPAN to the sports package. The Entertainment Plan runs $55 monthly with networks like Bravo, Comedy Central, FX and Food Network. A beefier version at $70 per month adds family channels like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon plus news channels. All plans still include unlimited DVR, multiview, and the ability to add up to six members on one account. Premium add-ons like HBO Max, 4K Plus and NFL Sunday Ticket remain available. Some plans are rolling out later this week, but YouTube says it could take several weeks for every plan to become available. New customers receive a discount for the first three months.
Uber Eats has announced a new AI-powered feature called Cart Assistant for grocery shopping in its app. The feature works a couple ways. You can use text prompts to ask it to build a grocery list, or upload a picture of your shopping list and have it populate your cart with your favorite items based on order history. You can be as generic as 'milk, eggs, cereal' and the bot will make a list with your preferred brands. A screenshot of ingredients needed for a recipe will also work. Uber says its AI assistant factors in availability before selecting items and displays prices and any available promotions. You can delete or swap items you don't want, add forgotten items later, and familiar items will be prioritized if you've purchased something before. Uber advises the feature is in beta right now, so it might not perform perfectly. In the coming months, Cart Assistant will add more features, including full recipe inspiration. Cart Assistant is the latest in what Uber calls the gradual AI-ification of Uber Eats. Last summer, Uber added AI-enhanced food images, AI menu descriptions and AI summaries of restaurant reviews.
On the hardware front, ASUS has given the Zenbook Duo a total redesign for 2026. The dual-screen laptop now features a hideaway hinge that reduces the gap between the two screens and allows the entire system to lay flat on a table. The new model weighs about the same at 3.6 pounds while reducing overall size by five percent. Both OLED panels have a 144Hz refresh rate with 2,880 x 1,800 resolution while covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 spectrum. The bezels have been reduced by 70 percent to just 8.28mm. The laptop can be configured with Intel Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9 processors. In testing, the Zenbook Duo managed 18 hours and 33 minutes in single-screen mode on battery, and 14 hours and 23 minutes with both displays on. The system also features new pogo pins for more secure keyboard charging. Starting at $2,100, the 2026 Zenbook Duo combines a compact design with strong performance, plenty of ports and surprisingly good battery life. It's expected to be available for pre-order in late February, with general availability in March.
Ferrari has unveiled the Luce - that's Italian for 'light' - the actual name for the EV formerly known as Elettrica. What makes this particularly interesting is that the interior was designed by LoveFrom, the design firm founded by Sir Jony Ive after leaving Apple in 2019. OpenAI acquired the design firm for $6.5 billion, and while the company has had numerous projects, the Luce could be its biggest yet. The interior is filled with playful touches and plenty of glass, with a tilting screen that clearly shows iPhone design influence. It's no Apple Car, but it represents a significant consumer tech crossover.
In transportation developments, Waymo vehicles are now fully driverless in Nashville, Tennessee. The company has completed testing in the city and its vehicles can now operate as fully autonomous rides, though it hasn't yet announced when it will start accepting bookings for rides. Waymo conducts extensive testing in every new city before deploying its robotaxi service, starting with safety drivers mapping the area and then updating software with information learned from those tests. Currently, Waymo vehicles are already open to the public in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Phoenix, as well as in Atlanta and Austin through a partnership with Uber. Nashville joins a growing list of new locations where Waymo is conducting or planning to conduct driverless trials, including Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando and even London, UK.
Toyota has unveiled the 2027 Highlander, the first fully electric version of the vehicle and the automaker's fourth EV in the US. It's also the company's first EV assembled in the country and the first electric model with three rows of seats. While the 2027 Highlander resembles its predecessors, its lines look sharper with broader fenders and flush door handles similar to Tesla's, designed for aerodynamics. The new Highlander will be available in Limited and XLE grades with either front-wheel or all-wheel drive configuration. The Limited edition all-wheel drive with a 95.8 kWh battery offers an estimated range of 320 miles on a single charge. All versions can seat seven, with heated front seats standard and optional ventilated and heated second row seats. Toyota will start selling the 2027 Highlander in late 2026, with pricing to be announced closer to release date.
And finally, if you're looking to help the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, there's a compelling option through Itch.io. The No ICE in Minnesota bundle includes nearly 1,300 video games and tabletop games for just $10, with a goal of raising $100,000. Standout titles include the excellent puzzler Baba Is You, which won the Game Designers Award at the Tokyo Games Show in 2020, and the life simulation game Calico, which involves running a cat cafe on a magical island. Other titles include the bee-collecting sim Apico, the musical sci-fi adventure Periphery Synthetic, and the space-based roguelike Hyperspace Dogfights. The bundle aims to provide free representation to low-income immigrants and refugees, support for those who have witnessed violent attacks, and advocacy for public policies that respect the universal human rights of immigrants.
That's it for today's Technology Daily. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you tomorrow with more tech news.