News

Latest technology news and breakthroughs in technology, science, and industry. Download the NPR Technology podcast and Technology RSS feed.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has superb combat and charismatic companions but if you're hoping for a return to the series' origins, you'll be disappointed.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has superb combat and charismatic companions but if you're hoping for a return to the series' origins, you'll be disappointed. (Image credit: Andy Bickerton/BioWare)

Counterfeit products, especially medicines and safety gear, can be dangerous. Here's how to spot them on e-commerce platforms like Amazon.

Counterfeit products, especially medicines and safety gear, can be dangerous. Here's how to spot them on e-commerce platforms like Amazon. (Image credit: Kirill Greshnov)

Federal intelligence officials and the FBI say Russia is behind the video, which has spread widely on social media, including Elon Musk’s X.

Federal intelligence officials and the FBI say Russia is behind the video, which has spread widely on social media, including Elon Musk’s X. (Image credit: Hannah Beier)

It's been nearly two years since Elon Musk bought Twitter and turned it into X. He has turned the platform into a megaphone for himself and, increasingly, for former President Donald Trump.

It's been nearly two years since Elon Musk bought Twitter and turned it into X. He has turned the platform into a megaphone for himself and, increasingly, for former President Donald Trump. (Image credit: Ryan Collerd)

The success of Silent Hill 2, and the announcement of several other projects, begs the question: How serious is Konami about revitalizing its most beloved franchises?

The success of Silent Hill 2, and the announcement of several other projects, begs the question: How serious is Konami about revitalizing its most beloved franchises? (Image credit: David McNew)

A video making lurid and false claims about the Democratic vice presidential candidate was spread by pro-Trump accounts. Intelligence officials say Russia was behind the video.

A video making lurid and false claims about the Democratic vice presidential candidate was spread by pro-Trump accounts. Intelligence officials say Russia was behind the video. (Image credit: Natalia Kolesnikova)

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with philosopher James Brusseau of Pace University about the ethics of creating and using artificial intelligence chat bots using a person's voice.

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with philosopher James Brusseau of Pace University about the ethics of creating and using artificial intelligence chat bots using a person's voice.

The scan uses a football-sized device called The Orb to collect people’s biometric data. The idea is to create a way to identify all humans. The company has dealt with bans in several countries.

The scan uses a football-sized device called The Orb to collect people’s biometric data. The idea is to create a way to identify all humans. The company has dealt with bans in several countries.

The digital library's website was defaced earlier this month with a message boasting its theft of Internet Archive users' sensitive records. The nonprofit said it's working to bolster security.

The digital library's website was defaced earlier this month with a message boasting its theft of Internet Archive users' sensitive records. The nonprofit said it's working to bolster security. (Image credit: Roy Rochlin)

Over the past two decades, there's been a sort of tectonic economic shift happening under our feet. More and more companies have switched from selling goods one by one to selling services, available as a subscription. These days everything from razor blades to meal kits to car washes have become subscriptions. But all that convenience has also come with a dark side – some companies have designed their offerings to be as easy as possible to sign up for and also as difficult as possible to cancel. Many consumers are now paying for way more subscriptions than they even know about.

On today's show, we discover how we all fell into this subscription trap – who is winning and who is losing in this brave new subscription based world – and what both the government and the free market are doing to try and fix it.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Over the past two decades, there's been a sort of tectonic economic shift happening under our feet. More and more companies have switched from selling goods one by one to selling services, available as a subscription. These days everything from razor blades to meal kits to car washes have become subscriptions. But all that convenience has also come with a dark side – some companies have designed their offerings to be as easy as possible to sign up for and also as difficult as possible to cancel. Many consumers are now paying for way more subscriptions than they even know about. On today's show, we discover how we all fell into this subscription trap – who is winning and who is losing in this brave new subscription based world – and what both the government and the free market are doing to try and fix it. This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Valentina Rodriguez Sanchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer. Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

The billionaire made splashy purchases of The Washington Post and a mansion in Washington. But his status as a power player in the nation’s capital was never realized.

Alphabet’s driverless car unit now has vehicles operating in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Donald Trump, Elon Musk and CNN have cited election predictions from Polymarket, a betting site where crypto enthusiasts have wagered more than $100 million on who will win the presidency.

The former chief of Gravity Payments rose to prominence with the introduction of his company’s $70,000 minimum salary and a splashy social media presence.

Eight years after Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, foreign influence with American voters has grown more sophisticated. That could have outsize consequences in the 2024 race.

Studies have shown that noncitizen voting is essentially nonexistent in federal elections in the United States.

The writing utensils figured prominently in conspiracy theories in previous elections. But they’re often fine to use on paper ballots.

The robust feminist blogosphere of 2016 is all but gone. Some of the creators are missing its perspective.

A group that experts call Salt Typhoon is believed to be behind a sophisticated breach of major telecommunication companies that has taken aim at American leaders.

She came up with a method of automation so that workers would not have to make the bags by hand. Then she fought for credit for her work.

The 2024 election has a new main character.

Proponents believe that having real money on the line, and a large crowd of investors, encourages a more accurate election forecast than polling data can provide.

A Boston man had a strange encounter at a subway station. A month later, he discovered he was the star of the students’ viral video.

The United States and Nigeria often collaborate. But the arrest of an American worker strained their diplomatic relations.

A national security memorandum detailed how agencies should streamline operations with artificial intelligence safely.

Intel was for decades Silicon Valley’s dominant chip company. But missed opportunities and poor execution left it on the sidelines in tech’s latest gold rush.

The company said profits climbed 17 percent in the third quarter. It expects car sales to rise up to 30 percent next year when it plans to begin selling new models.

Chinese influence operations have focused less on this year’s presidential race and more on down-ballot races.

One voter’s mistake has been transformed into a voter fraud conspiracy theory, catapulted into the national spotlight by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Suchir Balaji helped gather and organize the enormous amounts of internet data used to train the startup’s ChatGPT chatbot.

Tigran Gambaryan, who was in custody for eight months, has been released so he can receive medical care.

A torrent of falsehoods, from home and abroad, have undermined what was once a shared faith in the honesty of America’s democracy.

The mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy says he became obsessed with a chatbot on Character.AI before his death.

If you’re not sure how to describe what you want with keywords, use your camera or photo library to get those search results.

Aaron Chatterji was chief economist at the Commerce Department under President Biden and served on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The literary establishment welcomes Feeld, a very sex-positive dating app, at a party on the Upper East Side.

During JD Vance’s brief career as a venture capitalist, few startups attracted his support more than AppHarvest, a now bankrupt plan to build greenhouses across Appalachia.