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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 and insights. I'm your host, and today we're diving into some fascinating stories from the world of technology, from automotive safety to AI chatbots and everything in between.
Let's start with some interesting automotive news. China is taking a bold stance on electric vehicle safety by banning Tesla-style concealed door handles. You know those sleek, flush-mounted handles that retract to sit perfectly aligned with the car door? While they look futuristic and improve aerodynamics, they've raised serious safety concerns about people getting trapped inside their vehicles. The ban will take effect on January 1st next year and will require all vehicles sold in China to have mechanical release door handles on both the inside and outside. This design has been popularized by Tesla and adopted by other electric vehicle makers, but according to reports, more than 60 percent of the top 100 hybrid and electric vehicles in China currently use this type of handle. It's a reminder that sometimes, traditional designs exist for good reasons.
Moving to health technology, the co-founders of Fitbit, James Park and Eric Friedman, are back with a new venture called Luffu, two years after leaving Google. This new platform is described as an intelligent family care system that collects and logs health and medical information from connected devices, platforms like Apple Health and Fitbit, and details shared by family members through voice prompts, text, or photos. The AI works in the background to automatically extract and organize important details, but it can also play a more active role. Users can ask the system questions and get personalized answers for individual family members, like how a change in diet could affect their health. It's an interesting evolution in how we might manage family health data going forward.
Now, here's a story that sounds like science fiction. A new social platform for AI agents called Moltbook went viral this weekend for its strange array of ostensibly AI-generated posts. The platform is meant for conversations between agents from OpenClaw, and bots apparently chatted about everything from AI consciousness to how to set up their own language. Andrej Karpathy, who was on the founding team at OpenAI, called the bots' self-organizing behavior genuinely the most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing he's seen. But here's the twist: ordinary social networks face a constant onslaught of chatbots pretending to be human, but Moltbook may face the opposite problem, getting clogged up by humans pretending to post as bots. It's a fascinating glimpse into a potential future where the lines between human and AI interactions become increasingly blurred.
In corporate news, Disney has picked a successor for longtime CEO Bob Iger. The entertainment giant announced that its theme parks head, Josh D'Amaro, will take over as CEO on March 18th, 2026. Rumors about Iger's replacement have been swirling for more than a year now. After a 15-year-long tenure as Disney's CEO, Iger returned from retirement to helm the company from 2022 to 2026, replacing former CEO Bob Chapek. D'Amaro has spent 28 years at Disney and emerged as the chosen successor among other potential candidates. It will be interesting to see how his background in theme parks shapes Disney's future direction.
Gaming news now. Activision is trying to crack down on third-party hardware cheating devices in Call of Duty again. Both Call of Duty Warzone and Call of Duty Black Ops 7 have been plagued by players using devices like XIM, Cronus Zen, and ReaSnow S1 to enable unfair advantages that exploit aim assist. Now Activision is introducing new detections to ban these devices. The company's Richochet team says these devices are not permitted in Call of Duty and are cheating tools, even if they masquerade as accessibility devices. Activision originally cracked down on these devices nearly three years ago, but clearly the problem persists.
Shifting to AI developments, OpenAI is reportedly redirecting resources from long-term research toward improving ChatGPT. Senior staff are departing as the firm prioritizes development of its flagship chatbot. This strategic shift highlights the tension in AI companies between pursuing cutting-edge research and developing commercially viable products.
On the gaming front, Fortnite is about to get a lot more gaming crossovers. Epic shared details about its official program for developers that will give people who purchase their game on the Epic Games Store a related cosmetic they can use within Fortnite. Eventually, the goal is to scale the program to over 100 partnerships per year. Epic Games Store GM Steve Allison says there will be about 40 this year and 60-plus so far set for 2027. The program starts with Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem. This could be a game-changer for how gaming franchises cross-promote.
In a delightful bit of nostalgia, Nintendo is bringing back the Virtual Boy as an add-on for the Switch 2. This 100-dollar accessory adds a little bit of that Nintendo quirkiness to the otherwise no-nonsense Switch 2. The original Virtual Boy, released way back in 1995, was discontinued after only a year due to weak sales, but it's getting a second chance as a modern accessory. It uses the Switch 2's screen as its main display and processor, eliminating the need for cords and individual game carts. While the games themselves feel dated by modern standards, it's a fascinating time capsule of where people thought VR was headed 30 years ago.
Speaking of Nintendo, there's exciting news for tennis fans. Mario Tennis Fever preview reports suggest it could be the best entry to the franchise yet. The game introduces Fever Rackets, with 30 different options each featuring unique special abilities. The big innovation is that Fever Shots have built-in counterplay, making the gameplay feel more balanced than previous titles. With a deep roster of 38 characters, Wonder Court Matches that change the rules on the fly, and support for both online and local wireless connectivity, this game is shaping up to be a grand slam when it releases on February 12.
In space news, NASA has moved the Artemis 2 launch to March after a hydrogen leak during testing. During the wet dress rehearsal in the early hours of February 3rd, the Space Launch System suffered from a liquid hydrogen leak that engineers spent hours troubleshooting. With approximately five minutes left in the countdown, the ground launch sequencer automatically stopped due to a spike in the spacecraft's liquid hydrogen leak rate. NASA admits it has other issues to fix based on what happened during the rehearsal, including ensuring cold weather doesn't affect the mission's equipment. They'll need to conduct another test to confirm problems were resolved before announcing the mission's launch window.
Google Home users have something to celebrate. The platform has finally added support for buttons. The release notes for a February 2nd update state that several new starter conditions for automations are now available, including switch or button pressed. Smart buttons are physical, programmable switches that you can press to trigger automations or control devices in your smart home, such as turning lights on or off, opening and closing shades, running a Good Night scene, or starting a robot vacuum. It's a feature that's been long-requested, and it's great to see Google finally implementing it.
And finally, some concerning news from the social media world. YouTube has started to block third-party mobile browsers from using a background playback loophole. Background playback is supposed to be limited to YouTube Premium subscribers through the official iOS or Android app, but many people have been using browsers like Brave, Vivaldi, and Edge to get background playback without a subscription. Google says, quote, Background playback is a feature intended to be exclusive for YouTube Premium members. While some non-Premium users may have previously been able to access this through mobile web browsers in certain scenarios, we have implemented changes to ensure this feature remains a Premium benefit.
That's all for today's episode of Technology Daily. From automotive safety regulations in China to AI social networks, corporate leadership changes to gaming innovations, and space exploration setbacks to long-awaited software updates, the world of technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Join us tomorrow for more stories from the ever-changing world of tech. Until then, stay curious, stay informed, and stay safe.