Microsoft's Patch Tuesday blunder triggers emergency fixes, surprise layoffs ripple through Amazon, and the crew debates whether rapid AI advances spell the end of traditional apps. Also, password managers do a lot more than manage passwords, so there's one thing everyone needs to get right.

Windows 11

• Dev splits from Beta, tests what will surely be 26H1 - After last week's show, Microsoft did issue that same Beta build in the Dev channel for some reason
• Dev and Beta get same fixes in different builds, but no new features
• 24H2 and 25H2 Release Preview update(s) are a peek at the next Patch Tuesday, lots of changes
• January Patch Tuesday update was so terrible it required two emergency fixes, the second of which went out late Sunday

Earnings/industry

• Intel falls flat in Q4, full year 2025 despite U.S. "investment"
• Amazon lays off 16,000 employees
• Microsoft, Apple, earnings this week, Alphabet, Amazon are next week

AI

• Microsoft announces Maia 200 AI datacenter processor
• Like Baldric in Black Adder, Apple has a cunning plan for an AI Siri
• With AI costs soaring, cheaper new AI plans appear somehow
• OpenAI was last week with big expansion of ChatGPT Go
• Google does the same this week with AI Plus plan
• OpenAI, Anthropic (this week), others are adding "apps" to their chatbots
• Microsoft is exposing app features as AI Actions in Windows 11
• Paul opined that this semantic/programmatic capability was the end of apps
• But we can now essentially vibe-code our own custom apps - this is vaguely reminiscent of the home computer/DIY era, but without the technical knowledge requirements
• The age of native apps is over, at least on desktop. Will mobile fall next?

Dev

• Microsoft introduces the Windows App Development (winapp) CLI. For some reason

Xbox and gaming

• Microsoft refreshes the Xbox Cloud Gaming web experience — bigger changes coming?
• Fable is coming to Xbox, PC, PS5 in late 2026

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Choose a single password manager, make your life easier
• App pick of the week: Proton Pass
• RunAs Radio this week: Business Process Automation in 2026 with Ian Cooper
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Tullibardine 18
  

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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Can AI stay open, ethical, and for the people? Mozilla's president joins the show to reveal their game plan—and $650 million war chest—for taking on Big Tech's monoculture with a "Rebel Alliance" approach to AI.

• State of Mozilla 2025/26
• Codeless: From idea to software - Anil Dash
• Clawdbot is the new AI techies are buzzing about — and it's renewing interest in the Mac Mini
• Qwen3-TTS Demo - a Hugging Face Space by Qwen
• I Let AI Analyze My Davos Reporting Trip. Here's What It Missed
• Dario Amodei — The Adolescence of Technology
• Proof of Corn
• Trump admin reportedly plans to use AI to write federal regulations
• Wikipedia volunteers spent years cataloging AI tells. Now there's a plugin to avoid them.
• China Lagging in AI Is a 'Fairy Tale,' Mistral CEO Says
• How Playing Pokémon Became the Ultimate Test of AI's Intelligence
• Sir Demis Hassabis becomes the latest to say that ChatGPT is a dead-end and that we must turn our focus to world models
• Claude's new constitution
• "Infinite Jest" Has Turned Thirty. Have We Forgotten How to Read It?
• Sony's TV business is being taken over by TCL

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

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Can AI really write malware better than hackers ever could? This episode exposes the first real-world case of advanced, fully AI-generated malware and why it signals a seismic shift in cybersecurity risk.

• CISA's uncertain future remains quite worrisome.
• Worrisome is Ireland's new "lawful" interception law.
• The EU's Digital Rights organization pushes back.
• Microsoft acknowledges it turns over user encryption keys.
• Alex Neihaus on AI enterprise usage dangers.
• Gavin confesses he put a database on the Internet.
• Worries about a massive podcast rewinding backlog.
• What does the emergence of AI-generated malware portend?

Show Note - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1062-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

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Apple launches the next generation of its AirTags. Is Apple developing its own take on an AI wearable pin? Apple is holding an event in LA for creators: could this coincide with an announcement of the next MacBook Pro? And Apple snags a Best Picture nomination for 'F1: The Movie'.

• Apple launches AirTag 2 with improved range, louder speaker, more.
• Incremental iOS 26.2.1, iPadOS 26.2.1, watchOS 26.2.1 updates support the new AirTag.
• Apple developing AI wearable pin.
• Apple hosting LA event for creators on January 27-29 that could coincide with MacBook Pro announcement.
• Apple reportedly aiming to upgrade the MacBook Pro twice this year.
• Tim Cook slammed for attending 'Melania' screening on night of Alex Pretti killing.
• Apple TV earns Best Picture nomination for 'F1: The Movie' in 2026 Oscars.
• I let ChatGPT analyze a decade of my Apple Watch data. Then I called my doctor.
• Ongoing RAM supply and cost crisis isn't an issue for Apple's iPhone — right now.

Picks of the Week

• Dave's Pick: Anker Prime Foldable Wireless Charging Station (Feb 2026)
• Andy's Pick: Mermaid
• Jason's Pick: ChapterPod

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, and Jason Snell

Guest: Dave Hamilton

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Microsoft quietly hands over BitLocker keys to the government, TikTok's new privacy terms spark a user panic, and Europe's secret tech backups reveal anxious prep for digital fallout. Plus, how gambling platforms are changing the future of news and sports.

• You can bet on how much snow will fall in New York City this weekend
• Europe Prepares for a Nightmare Scenario: The U.S. Blocking Access to Tech
• China, US sign off on TikTok US spinoff
• TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection -- here's what it means
• Elon Musk's Grok A.I. Chatbot Made Millions of Sexualized Images, New Estimates Show
• Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw - Forbes
• House of Lords votes to ban social media for Brits under 16
• Overrun with AI slop, cURL scraps bug bounties to ensure "intact mental health"
• Route leak incident on January 22, 2026
• 149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database
• Millions of people imperiled through sign-in links sent by SMS
• Anthropic revises Claude's 'Constitution,' and hints at chatbot consciousness
• The new Siri chatbot may run on Google servers, not Apple's
• A Wikipedia Group Made a Guide to Detect AI Writing. Now a Plug-In Uses It to 'Humanize' Chatbots
• GitHub - anthropics/original_performance_takehome: Anthropic's original performance take-home, now open for you to try!
• Telly's "free" ad-based TVs make notable revenue—when they're actually delivered - Ars Technica
• Toilet Maker Toto's Shares Get Unlikely Boost From AI Rush - Slashdot
• Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Alex Stamos, Doc Rock, and Patrick Beja

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Think you know the story of AI's rise and fall? This episode upends conventional wisdom with guest historian Thomas Haigh, who reveals why the infamous "AI winter" might just be a myth and why the field's biggest failures fueled today's breakthroughs.

• Two Thinking Machines Lab Cofounders Are Leaving to Rejoin OpenAI
• NVDA, GOOGL, META: AI Spending Forecast to Hit $2.53 Trillion This Year
• Nvidia, Eli Lilly just say yes to making drugs together, using Vera Rubin GPUs
• Claude Cowork Exfiltrates Files
• We put Claude Code in Rollercoaster Tycoon
• How Generative AI is destroying society - by Gary Marcus
• Anthropic rewrites Claude's guiding principles—and entertains the idea that its AI might have 'some kind of consciousness or moral status'
• Claude's new constitution

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Thomas Haigh

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This week, the hosts go deep on out-of-band updates, unwanted "innovations," and the uneasy cost of tech's latest gold rush. Plus, securing a Microsoft account is not as hard as some think, and neither are passkeys once you get past the jargon. And for developers, AI Dev Gallery offers a fascinating glimpse at what you can do for free with AI used against a CPU, GPU, or NPU.

Windows 11

• Microsoft issues an emergency fix for a borked Windows Update. Right. A fix for a fix.
• Hell freezes over, if only slightly: Microsoft quietly made some positive changes to forced OneDrive Folder Backup. Donʼt worry, itʼs still forced (and appears to be opt-in, but isnʼt). But you can back out more elegantly. So itʼs opt-out, not opt-in, but a step forward. Plus, a new behavior
• Windows 11 on Arm PCs can now download games from the Xbox app (previously only through the Insider program)
• Over 85 percent of Xbox games on PC work in WOA now
• Prism emulator now supports AVX and AVX2 and Epic Anti-Cheat, and there is a new Windows Performance Fit feature offering guidance on which titles should play well.
• Beta: New 25H2 build with account dialog modernization, Click to Do and desktop background improvements. Not for Dev, suggesting itʼs about to move to 26H1
• Notepad and Paint get more features yet again. Notably, these updates are for Dev and Canary only, suggesting these might be 26Hx features (then again, versions don't matter, right?)

AI

• Just say no: To AI, to Copilot, and to Satya Nadella
• Our national nightmare is over: You can now (easily) hide Copilot in Microsoft Edge
• ChatGPT Go is now available worldwide, ads are on the way because of course
• Wikipedia partners with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, more on AI

Xbox & gaming

• January Xbox Update brings Game Sync Indicator, more
• Solid second half of January for Xbox Game Pass
• Microsoft will likely introduce a free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier because of course

Tips & picks

• Tip of the week: Secure your Microsoft account
• App pick of the week: AI Dev Gallery
• RunAs Radio this week: Ideation to Implementation with Amber Vandenburg
• Liquor pick of the week: Estancia Raicilla

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

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The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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Soaring RAM prices are about to hit your security gear where it hurts, and the fallout could change what's protecting your network. Find out who's about to pay and why the AI gold rush is reshaping more than just your server specs.

• RAM pricing to affect enterprise firewall equipment.
• Anthropic provides sizeable support to Python Foundation.
• The FTC clamps down on GM's secret sale of driving data.
• "ANCHOR" replaces "CIPAC" for industry-government sharing.
• Germany planning to legislate total access to global data.
• Grubhub becomes the latest ShinyHunters extortion victim.
• Let's Encrypt's 6-Day certs are available to everyone.
• Iran planning to permanently take itself off the Internet.
• HD Tune before and after a SpinRite Level 3 refresh.
• Some great listener feedback, and
• More trouble from GhostPoster malicious browser extensions

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1061-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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