TNW 414: Viral TikTok AI Pen Flunks The Test - Hyped AI Smart Pen Flops
Tech News Weekly (Audio)
Leo Laporte
4.0 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2025
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dan Moren of Six Colors joins Mikah Sargent this week! Apple Wallet's mobile driver's license feature is expanding to more users. An AI-powered teddy bear was caught giving explicit and graphic instructions to children. Google unveiled Gemini 3. And can AI-powered smart pens give you an edge in your academics?
- Dan covers the expansion of Apple Wallet's mobile driver's license feature as the state of Illinois is the latest to support this feature.
- Mikah shares how an AI-powered teddy bear, FoloToy, was discovered to be teaching kids unsafe behaviors and discussing adult topics.
- Sabrina Ortiz of ZDNET joins the show to talk about Google's latest iteration of AI model, Gemini 3.
- And Elissa Welle of The Verge stops by to share her experience using an AI pen, and how the pen was less than helpful.
Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Dan Moren
Guests: Sabrina Ortiz and Elissa Welle
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Coming up on Tech News Weekly, Dan Morin of Six Colors is here. |
| 0:03.6 | We start off by talking about Apple's new digital ID by way of the US passport. |
| 0:08.8 | We also talk about, well, a bear that teaches kids where to find knives and how to light matches. |
| 0:16.7 | Yes, AI toys can be a hazard. |
| 0:19.0 | Afterward, Sabrina Ortiz of ZDNet StopSby |
| 0:21.6 | to give us the latest on Google's Gemini 3, |
| 0:24.3 | and Alyssa Wellie from The Verge |
| 0:27.7 | tells us all about how that viral AI pen |
| 0:31.2 | that's supposed to help you cheat, |
| 0:33.1 | doesn't really help you cheat. |
| 0:34.5 | Stay tuned for this episode of Tech News Weekly. |
| 0:39.7 | Podcasts you love. Podcasts you cheat. Stay tuned for this episode of Tech News Weekly. Podcasts you love. From people you trust. This is Twitter. |
| 0:47.6 | This is Tech News Weekly, episode 414, with Dan Moran and me, Micah Sargent, recorded Thursday, November 20th, 2025. |
| 0:58.1 | Viral TikTok AI Pen flunks the test. |
| 1:02.7 | Hello and welcome to Tech News Weekly, the show wherever week we talk to and about the people |
| 1:07.2 | making and breaking that tech news. |
| 1:09.4 | I am your host, Micah Sargent, and Jennifer Patterson-T is out this week. We wish her well on her vacation, but I am excited to be joined by my dear friend and East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. It's Dan Morin. How you doing, Dan? I'm doing well, Mike. I got my sledgehammer. I'm ready to break some news. Let's break. |
| 1:30.3 | Let's do it. |
| 1:31.3 | So, as people probably know by now, this is the part of the show where we share our stories of the |
| 1:38.3 | week. These are stories we find interesting or I hope you find interesting. And in some cases are stories that also pertain |
| 1:49.4 | to us. And so without further ado, Dan, tell us about your story of the week so we can chat |
| 1:55.4 | about it. |
... |
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