NPR Topics: Technology

Shy on the dance floor? Virtual reality 'partners' aim to help you find your groove

Chloe Veltman — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0400

VR dance lesson apps like Dance Guru and Trip the Light offer a judgment-free way to learn partner dancing.

(Image credit: Chloe Veltman)

Waymo called the cops on teen riders, raising privacy concerns

Scott Neuman — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0400

Two 15-year-olds were allegedly drinking alcohol and shooting toy guns from a driverless taxi when the company disabled it and alerted police.

(Image credit: Heather Diehl)

Class action suit against AI makers over deepfake child sexual abuse material expands

Huo Jingnan — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:49:33 -0400

New plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Elon Musk's SpaceXAI and Stability AI say the companies' AI tools were used to make sexually explicit images of them as children.

(Image credit: Pablo Vera)

Campaign staffers keep trying to bet on races despite push to curb insider trading

Luke Garrett — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0400

Kalshi says it has blocked "dozens" of trades from campaign insiders, but experts say the company's approach leaves lots of potential loopholes. NPR has found at least one trade that slipped through.

(Image credit: Allison Robbert)

How South Korea's silicon belt is changing its society

Anthony Kuhn — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 04:59:23 -0400

The global race for AI chips is minting a new elite in South Korea -- and raising questions about who gets left behind.

Why AI companies are hiring philosophers to help develop their models

Linah Mohammad — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:59:13 -0400

A growing number of AI labs have been hiring from a surprising pool of candidates: philosophers. NPR's Scott Detrow talks with Benjamin Sutherland, who recently wrote about this for The Economist.

Supreme Court lets Texas restrict minors' access to app stores for the time being

Nina Totenberg — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:15:17 -0400

Texas' App Store Accountability Act requires minors to have their parents' permission to download most apps. The Supreme Court says the law can go into effect as lawsuits continue in lower courts.

(Image credit: Paul Ellis)

A hot summer trend in the sharing economy? Rental swimming pools

Stephan Bisaha — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0400

The Airbnb-style company Swimply said there have been about 275,000 private pool reservations so far this year.

(Image credit: Stephan Bisaha)

Meta considered buying Kalshi before developing its own prediction market app

Bobby Allyn — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:33:04 -0400

Mark Zuckerberg met with Kalshi's CEO last year about a potential deal, but talks did not move forward. Now Meta is making its own prediction market app.

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP and Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Red, white and glowing blue: Trump's push for new reactors reaches the finish line

Geoff Brumfiel — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:00:00 -0400

A program initiated by the Trump administration has allowed small companies to rush their testing of several new nuclear reactor designs. Some worry that safety is being compromised.

(Image credit: Valar Atomics)