This week, Meta turned its back on virtual reality and Apple gave in to Google in its quest for an AI update for Siri.
To catch up on these and the other seven biggest tech news of the week, scroll down to see our recaps of the biggest things that happened.
7. DJI fans in the US finally got some good news
It hasn’t been a good time for drone fans in the US, as the FCC recently banned the sale of new foreign-made drones and a separate proposal from the US Department of Commerce targets all imports of Chinese drones (including existing models that have already been released).
Well, luckily, a U-turn on the latter has taken that particular restriction out of the equation for now. That means stocks of previously approved drones like the DJI Mavic 3 Pro and Antigravity A1 can still be legally imported into the US.
Still, with the FCC effectively banning the sale of foreign-made drones that it hasn’t approved (in other words, all new models), the future still looks bleak for drone fans in the United States.
6. Sophie Turner served Lara Croft
We get our first look at Sophie Turner as filming begins on Amazon’s Tomb Raider TV show, and the recreation of the character’s iconic video game appearance is perfect, highlighting to gaming fans just how seriously Amazon is taking this adaptation.
Obviously, this is just a photo of Turner in her costume, but it’s undeniably Lara Croft, and if the same care and attention has been given to the rest of the cast (which includes Jason Isaacs, Sigourney Weaver, and Martin Bobb-Semple, among others), as well as the show’s story, we could be in for a real treat.
No release date has been given yet, but we can’t rule out a launch in mid-to-late 2026.
5. Spotify made people angry
Over the past few weeks, Spotify Premium subscribers have found AI-generated music recommendations in their Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists, prompting the music platform to introduce stamps to identify AI-generated music in a monster Reddit thread.
According to users who have experienced this, the problem with AI music on Spotify is only getting worse; The problem lies not in AI music itself, but in the deception on the part of Spotify, which is what is getting under people’s skin. This has led many paying users to think that it is part of a larger secret business plan and that Spotify is doing this deliberately to avoid paying artists more.
In other news, Spotify also increased subscription prices for US members, affecting all levels. This is the third price increase since 2023, which many people attribute to maintaining Spotify Lossless.
This week, Meta appeared to give up on VR as it cut back on Reality Labs’ work, including closing several VR game studios and ending updates for the excellent VR fitness platform, Supernatural.
The news is a tragedy for fans of the Meta Quest system, as it suggests that Meta’s future support for its headset will be at least a little lackluster, with Hamish Hector arguing that as things stand, it’s only interested in Steam Frame.
It’s no secret that Reality Labs has been losing funds for some time, but this major turnaround from Meta might lead some to question whether the company can be trusted not to change course again if its new AI glasses approach starts to go awry.
3. Gemini got an upgrade
Google just launched “Personal Intelligence” for Gemini, and it could be the most significant leap for AI assistants yet. This update allows Gemini to securely access your personal Google ecosystem (Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube) to provide deep, individualized context for your queries.
The capabilities are truly impressive: Imagine Gemini diagnosing a car problem by reviewing your Gmail purchase history for the model, scanning your photos for service records, and pulling DIY solutions from YouTube. It’s the “real” AI assistant we’ve been waiting for. Interestingly, given the recently announced Apple-Google AI partnership, this seems like a preview of how next-gen Siri could work in iOS 27.
2. Siri got a Gemini update
Apple got a big slice of humble pie this week as it conceded Ai supremacy to Google by announcing that the next-generation version of Siri will be powered by Gemini.
Many questions remain, but in a joint statement Apple and Google revealed “These [Gemini] The models will help drive future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.” Apple first revealed its plans to release an updated Siri with AI during WWDC 2024, but almost two years later we’re still waiting for the update. The company has since promised a spring 2026 launch, and with Google Gemini it could finally make it a reality.
1. Verizon had a major outage
Well, we officially had the first major outage of 2026, and it was a massive, nearly 8-hour outage that cut Verizon cellular service for customers across the United States on January 14, 2026. You can see our full report in the live blog linked below, but it was a serious event that lasted hours and saw people at Verizon swapping 5G and network bars for SOS without access to voice, text, and data across much of the country.
Down Detector reports spiked around 12:30 pm ET, and Verizon confirmed the issue at 1 pm, but many people didn’t see any signs of recovery until around 8 pm ET that night. The operator did not have the best communication during the event, with only a few statements that occurred hours apart. The day after the outage, Verizon confirmed that each account would receive a one-time $20 credit, which, simply put, many customers weren’t happy about. The operator also confirmed to TechRadar that it was a software issue related to a cyber incident.
