TNW 433: A $399 AI Deer That Texts You - Crazy Lore Behind an AI Companion
Tech News Weekly (Audio)
Leo Laporte
4.0 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 77 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge joins Mikah Sargent this week on Tech News Weekly! How AI is helping elders stay independent & provide companionship. How Apple and Google's app stores are pushing users toward deepfake nude apps, per an organization's report. And inside the crazy backstory behind an AI plush companion.
- Jennifer talks about Samsung's newest updates to its SmartThings Family Care service and how technology and AI are increasingly being used to help take care of elderly people & provide companionship.
- Mikah talks about a report from the Tech Transparency Project that found both Apple & Google's app stores that host & direct users to apps that generate non-consensual nude images of women.
- And Victoria Song of The Verge joins the show to share her review of a $399 AI companion and her very unique experience with the device overall.
Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Guest: Victoria Song
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Coming up on Tech News Weekly, Jennifer Patterson, Tui of The Virges here. |
| 0:04.0 | I do spend some time talking about both the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, |
| 0:10.0 | seeming to steer users towards apps that nudify people. |
| 0:16.0 | Then we also talk, Jen and I, about aging in place and the tech that helps elders, companionship, and so much more. |
| 0:25.6 | Victoria Song of the Verge also stops by to tell us about her experience with an AI deer plushy that knew a music artist's dad was a CIA operative. Very weird story. All of that coming up on Tech News Weekly. |
| 0:44.0 | Podcasts you love. From people you trust. This is Twitter. |
| 0:51.9 | This is Tech News Weekly, episode 433 with Jennifer Jennifer Patterson-Tooey and me, Micah Sargent, recorded Thursday, April 16th, 2026, a $399 AI dear that texts you. |
| 1:07.4 | Hello and welcome to Tech News Weekly, the show where every week we talk to and about the people making and breaking the tech news. |
| 1:14.2 | I am your host, Micah, Sergeant, and I am joined this week by the wonderful, wonderful Jennifer Patterson-Dooey. |
| 1:23.6 | Hello, Jen. |
| 1:24.9 | Two wonderfuls, thank you. |
| 1:26.2 | Two wonderfuls. |
| 1:30.3 | Hello, hello, always happy to be here. I was just saying I've been on vacation for the last couple weeks, so just diving back into the tech world with Tech News Weekly. |
| 1:37.3 | Yay! |
| 1:38.3 | And we're happy to have you back. |
| 1:40.3 | It is always a joy to get to chat with you. And we always have a great time. So for people |
| 1:46.0 | who may be checking out the show for the first time, the way that we kick off the show is by talking |
| 1:50.8 | about our stories of the week. These are the stories that we find interesting that we want to |
| 1:55.0 | share with all of you. And so, without further adieu, we're actually kind of, it's an amalgamation, right? |
| 2:03.2 | Our first half hour of the show is going to be all about aging and tech. And not aging tech, |
| 2:12.6 | but aging and tech. That's a whole other story. Yeah, We'll have to save that recycling story for another time. |
| 2:20.3 | But yes, let's talk about what is, what's going on in the world, Jen? |
... |
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