Welcome to the Geek News Central podcast. I'm
your host, Chris Cochran, filling in for my
brother Ray tonight.
I have a great episode lined up for
you. You know, leading off, we're gonna be
talking about the DJI drone brand and how
it's now officially in effect.
And, you know, if you're a drone pilot,
you need to know what this actually means
for you. But guess what? Spoiler alert, guys.
Your current drone is still legal to fly.
Also on the show, OpenAI just launched chat
GBT Health and wants to be your personal
health hub.
China showcase a microwave weapon that fries drone
swarms.
We've got the first ever pill that treats
sleep apnea.
SpaceX is prepping Starship for another shot, and
the Stalkerware founder just learned that catch a
cheater apps can land you in federal court.
Plus,
robot soccer in China and a $2,000
exoskeleton
that does hiking for you. Before we get
into it today, I just wanna wish you
all a happy New Year.
You know? New year, new Us. You know
what I'm saying? We all got new year's
resolutions. Maybe I'll name off a few of
mine. You know? I've been cooking a lot
this past year. I've been learning a lot
of new recipes, so I kinda gave myself
a really good goal of learning 20 new
recipes
to learn by the end of the year.
I don't know. I fall in love with
cooking. It's so much fun and,
the trial and error of it. It's frustrating
at times, but the end result, you just
feel so proud of yourself.
I do wanna read more books this year.
K? So if you guys got any books
rec book recommendations,
comment down below and let me know what
you guys got. K?
On the creative aspect for some of my,
you know, New Year's resolutions,
I do wanna post more to YouTube.
Last year, there was a good amount of
time that or there's a fair amount of
time where I was uploading pretty consistently to
YouTube,
vlogs and creative projects, and I was having
a lot of fun with it. It's because
it was one of those things where it's
like I wasn't really focused on the money
making aspect of photography and videography.
I just had fun. You know, it's just
me and my camera. I go out and
do a bunch of things to my buddies
or hang with my girlfriend. You know, it
was always a good time.
And find like a mental, I guess, a
mental one. I have a bunch more New
Year's resolutions,
but we have to get into the show.
So I'm gonna keep it short.
A mental one would probably be
to really dial in on my priorities
in a sense.
The best way to explain is I like
to do a lot of hustles. Right?
There was a good amount of time I
was selling vintage clothes,
and, you know, I tried a bunch of
new jobs for, you know, a quick buck.
But in reality,
I just have to focus
on, you know, what's working and what's consistent
because
the more
task I take on,
the more I have less time for each
of them. Right? And I get distracted, and
it just becomes a waste of time.
You know,
you know what I'm trying to say.
In terms of New Year's
on the island, k, if you guys know,
in Hawaii, we do,
in my opinion, we do
we do New Year's best here. Alright? We
go crazy with the fireworks. I mean, if
you guys look it up on YouTube, I'm
sure there's videos all the time. Go look
in the past years, 2021, 2022,
maybe 2023, 2024.
Right?
We go crazy with it to the point
where, like, our streets are filled with smoke
for, like, the next day or two.
The thing is,
right, this past year, they've been pretty, like,
they've been pretty strict
with the firework,
you know,
regulation.
And
pretty much what the state did about it
was that they were actually,
you know, flying drones around neighborhoods. They had
cops driving through neighborhoods, handing out tickets, and
all that stuff because a lot of people,
were doing it illegally, unfortunately.
You know, there is a legal way to
do it, I believe. And I believe you
do you can get a permit.
But, you know, I I believe
a lot of people just are so used
to tradition and how we used to do
it that, you know, sometimes it doesn't make
sense, and it's completely understandable.
But, yeah, I know this year was a
little bit more strict, so there wasn't as
much fireworks as the past years.
But my opinion in my opinion, you know,
the island still went off.
For me, at least, I was a homebody.
Me and the dogs were good.
They weren't freaking out or anything like that.
And we just had a chill night.
So, yeah. That was New Year's for us.
And, I hope you guys all had a
good New Year.
But
in terms of that,
on top of having New Year's and new
resolutions,
we're gonna have new news.
K? So let's let's dive into it. Alright?
So
this story,
it's been brewing since June 2024, when the
house included the countering CCP drones act and
the national defense author authorization act. K?
Now the concern centers on national security,
and lawmakers worried that DJI drones, which is
made by a Chinese company and controls about
70% of the global market, could pose a
data security risk.
Now in December 2024, the congress gave DGI
one year to pass a security review or
face a ban.
That deadline hit on 12/23/2025,
and no agency completed the review. So, you
know, here we are. Right?
The FCC has officially banned the import and
sale of all new drone models from DGI
and other foreign manufacturers
by adding them to a covered list of
entities
deemed unacceptable
national security risk.
But here's the important part. Okay?
This is only for forward looking.
Right? So all existing DJI drones remain completely
legal to own, fly, and buy from existing
inventory and even sell. There's no recall,
no remote disable, no grounding of your fleet.
But, however,
any new DJI drones planned for 2026 and
beyond
won't be coming to The US market, and
this also affects other major drone brands since,
you know, they're also most likely manufactured overseas.
Now DJI did fire back calling the concerns
not grounded in evidence and accusing the move
of being protectionism.
But, you know, what does this mean for
you guys? You know, if you currently own
a DJI,
you know, or DJI drone at least, you
know, breathe breathe easy, guys. You know, nothing
changes for you right now. You can fly
it, sell it, keep using it, do whatever
you want with it. Right?
The pinch
will come down the road. So there's no
access to new DJI technology, and eventually parts
and accessories may get harder to find.
You know, for professional drone operators and content
creators, this could mean getting locked out of
innovation happening elsewhere in the world. And, you
know, if you are thinking of switching brands,
most alternatives are also affected since they're foreign
made too. You know?
And I can see how this is a
big struggle for a lot of photographers and
videographers in the space.
Thankfully, a lot of, you know, majority of
the creators out there use DJI drones. So
and they've been using the same DJI drone
for, like, the past five years. So, you
know, I feel like there's not a big
stress for it right now, and I'm sure
companies
are gonna start making dupes for parts.
But when that problem does arise, you know,
I guess we're gonna have to wait and
see. But for me personally, I don't I
don't fly drones that much. So I'm not
affected by it like crazy.
I always wish I was gonna get a
drone, but, you know, it's not a necessity.
But I can see how for all the
drone numbers out there, it is gonna be
a struggle.
Now
before we get into all of our wonderful
topics today, I just want to, you know,
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Now back to the show, guys. Now this
next topic is super, super interesting. I don't
know if my dad ever talked to you
guys about this on the show, but, you
know, he did have a CPAP machine. Right?
He did have, sleep apnea.
So
this next one, it would have been really,
you know, intriguing for him.
But as you guys know, sleep apnea affects
tens of millions of Americans. And until now,
the gold standard treatment has been, you know,
the CPAP machines.
Those machines, you know, you strap that mask
on at night and that forces air into
your airway. You know, they work, but the
compliance is terrible. And a lot of people
just can't or won't tolerate sleeping with the
mask on.
And for a while now, the medical community
has been searching for alternatives for years.
Now the FDA approved Eli Lilly's
I might botch this pronunciation.
Tirzepatide,
the brand name is Zepbound.
It's the first ever medication for moderate to
severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity.
Now this is the same drug that's already
approved for weight loss. It works by activating
gut hormones that reduce appetite.
And the idea is that by losing weight,
you reduce the excess tissue around your neck
and airway that causes the obstruction during sleep.
You know, the clinical trials were impressive. Participants
experienced 25 to 29 fear breathing events per
hour compared to placebo, and about fifty percent
achieved complete remission or only mild sleep apnea.
On average, people lost 45 to 50 pounds
over fifty two weeks versus 46 pounds on
placebo.
You know, this is a game changer for
the millions who can't tolerate the CPAP.
As one sleep researcher put it, sleep apnea
is now entering an era where medications,
not just devices, can play a role in
treatment.
But but, you know, there is a catch,
guys. So this works through weight loss. So
it's specifically for obese patients.
And it comes with warnings about pancreatitis,
gallbladder problems, and other side effects.
And there's also another drug
called eighty one zero nine in trials that
works, you know, completely differently.
It targets the actual neuromuscular dysfunction
with FDA submission expected in early twenty twenty
six.
On that same topic on, medical,
we're gonna talk about medical AI.
Now OpenAI revealed some wild stats,
with their recent announcement
talking about how over 230,000,000
people globally
ask ChatGPT health and wellness questions every single
week.
More than five percent of all ChatGPT conversations
are health related.
People are already using AI for medical advice,
whether it's officially supported or not. So, you
know, OpenAI decided to build something, you know,
with a purpose made for that.
ChatGPT Health did launch on 01/07/2026,
as a dedicated health section within ChatGPT with
extra privacy protections and the ability to connect
your actual medical records and wellness apps.
You can link Apple Health, MyFitnessPal,
Weight Watchers, Peloton, Instacart, and patient portals to
get personalized responses based on your real health
data.
The conversations are siloed away from regular chat
GBT. They won't leak into your other chats
and won't be used to train AI models.
OpenAI
worked with over 260
physicians across 60 countries
who reviewed model outputs more than 600,000
times.
But they're very clear that this is not
for diagnosis or treatment and doesn't replace seeing
a doctor.
You know, what does this mean for you
guys, right? You know, obviously the convenience, it's
obvious.
Imagine asking AI about a weird lab result
and it actually knows your history.
But I think this raises a big question.
You know, do you guys want OpenAI to
be the hub for your personal health data?
You know, they promise encryption and isolation, but
you're still trusting a private company with extremely
sensitive information. You know?
Now the feature is rolling out now for
free, plus and pro users outside of Europe.
You know, it's worth watching how this develops,
especially as more health, you know, apps integrate.
You know? But like I said, we've talked
about this before, guys. AI is getting crazy.
AI is getting crazy.
And
along with that apnea pill, you know, cvapnea
pill, I think my dad would have been
super interested in that one. You know? Those
were some cool health, health topics to talk
about today.
You know?
But speaking of AI
and automation, China wants robots doing a lot
more, you know, than answering health questions. K?
Now
China identified robotics
as a strategic priority back in 2015 and
has been pouring resources into it ever since.
Right? Now the country now has over 150
humanoid robot companies, and Beijing sees this as
a key front in its tech competition with
The US.
You know, adding China's aging population and shrinking
workforce, you can see why they're betting, you
know, big on automation.
Now 2025
was a year robot sports went mainstream in
China.
You know, humanoid robots danced at the Spring
Festival Gala, ran in half marathons, and Beijing
hosted the first world's
humanoid
robot games. You know, they competed in soccer,
boxing,
martial arts, and running events, and hundreds of
companies from 16 different, countries participated
with most being Chinese.
You know,
this one startup,
Booster Robotics, it was founded in 2023,
is now training robots to play soccer using
AI. So they're dribbling, passing, shooting, blocking.
But here's the kicker. Right?
They're offering humanoid robots starting at just 29,900
yuan. Am I saying that right? So it's
about $4,200
American. Right?
Their goal is to get humanoid robots into
regular households.
Now what does this mean for you guys?
Right? Because that last sentence is crazy.
Get humanoid robots into regular households.
The path from robot soccer to robot household
helpers is shorter than you guys might think.
K? These sporting events are essentially stress tests
for agility, balance, and real world movement. Exactly
what you need for practical applications.
A 4,200
humanoid robot isn't cheap, but it's a fraction
of what these things cost just a few
years ago. And if China gets this right,
we could see domestic robots become as common
as smartphones within the next decade.
I think this is very, very one of
those things where, it depends where we are
as a world in ten years, if you
ask me. You know, if they're already banning
DJI drones,
you know, made out of that was made
outside The US,
due to privacy,
purposes, you know, you could kinda say the
same thing about these robots being in your
home.
So it is a possibility.
Or it is a possibility that,
you know, they start developing them in developing
them in America. So who knows what's gonna
happen? Who knows what's gonna happen?
But, you know, while China's building robots,
they're also building weapons to take out swarms
of them.
So China's
has made, a microwave weapon
that can fry drone swarms at three kilometers.
K? So drone swarms have become, you know,
a serious military concern. You know, they're cheap.
They're hard to counter, which are additional weapons,
and they can overwhelm defenses through sheer numbers.
We've seen this play out dramatically in Ukraine
and other conflicts.
And
now militaries worldwide are racing to develop effective
counter drone systems
and directed energy weapons like lasers and microwaves,
you know, they're the leading candidates.
So China state defense contractor Norinco
unveiled details about the hurricane three thousand.
It's a truck mounted high power microwave weapon
system that can destroy drone swarms within three
kilometers.
That's longer
that's a longer range than The US equivalent,
the Leonidas system, And that tops out around
two kilometers.
K?
Now the hurricane three thousand uses radar to
detect targets,
then electro optical sensors for precise tracking,
and then blast high power microwaves that could
fry drone electronics at the speed of light.
This isn't just point defense anymore with the
three kilometer range, you know. It provides actual
area denial.
The systems can also be networked with laser,
missile, and artillery systems for layered defense.
Now this is the counter drone arms race
in action, guys.
Drones have democratized
aerial warfare,
and now the countermeasures are evolving too. The
US has Leonidas.
China has hurricane three thousand.
And the fact that China's claiming a longer
range, you know, it's quite notable.
The real world performance versus last specs can
differ.
You know? And what's clear is that the
future battlefield will look very different from traditional
warfare.
And these direct to energy systems, you know,
they're gonna be the central of it. The
central of it all.
But backstage side, back on our side, guys,
dad would love this topic. But SpaceX,
they're getting another shot at Starship.
Okay? They're getting ready for another shot.
So
Starship
is the world's most powerful and tallest rocket
at 400 feet when fully stacked. Okay?
It's central to NASA's Artemis program to return
humans to the moon and SpaceX's
long term Mars ambitions.
But the program has faced delays and NASA
as NASA's acting chief recently expressed concerns that
SpaceX is behind
and has pushed their timelines out.
SpaceX has completed stacking a new version three
Super Heavy booster for flight 12.
It's expected in 2026,
and this comes after the original flight 12
booster was damaged during testing November,
forcing them to build a replacement.
The version three booster is a significant upgrade
with more powerful Raptor three engines, a lighter
structure,
and integrated hot staging technology.
The bigger challenge isn't just launching. Okay? It's
orbital refueling.
Before any lunar or Mars missions happen,
SpaceX must demonstrate that Starship can be refueled
in orbit. And that demonstration has been repeatedly
postponed.
NASA's even looking at Blue Origin's lunar lander
as a potential alternative for Artemis three.
Now Starship remains the most ambitious rocket program
in history. Okay?
And flight 12
will be a crucial, crucial, crucial, crucial test.
The thing is, though, guys,
the clock is ticking.
Right? And NASA needs results.
And delays, you know, they just push back
human lunar return further.
The orbiter we're feeling demonstration is honestly you
know, like, it's, like, the real milestone to
watch in 2026.
And
if SpaceX nails it, Starship's future is bright.
And if they keep slipping, you know, expect
to hear more about Blue Origin alternatives.
Now
for something a little bit more down to
earth, you know, literally
strapping robot legs to yourself.
K? You heard that right.
We're gonna talk about how you can literally
strap robot legs to yourself.
K? It's we're gonna be talking about the
hypershell
exoskeleton.
Now this is a wearable exoskeleton
that has been around in the military and
industrial context for a while,
and consumer versions are finally hitting the market.
Hyper Shell is positioning itself as the first
outdoor exoskeleton
built for regular people during regular activities like
hiking, running, and cycling. This is no joke,
guys. I I'd literally seen
a video online on TikTok of a guy
running a marathon with these things. K?
To give you more information about this,
Hyper Shell makes AI powered wearable exoskeletons
that strap to your legs and hips to
provide power assistance.
Their latest model, the X Ultra, delivers 1,000
watts to peak power,
weighs just 1.8 kilograms, and can go 30
kilometers on a single battery charge.
It uses an AI motion engine that adapts
your movement patterns, and the price is around
$2,000
They also have more affordable models, the X
Pro at $1,100
and the X Go at $900.
The company claims that the exoskeleton
offset 66 pounds of weight and dramatically reduces
leg fatigue.
And reviewers have been generally positive. K? Especially
for people recovering from injuries dealing with, like,
joint pain or aging hikers who want to
stay on the trails.
This is like real sci fi gear you
can actually buy, you know, for those hardcore
hikers out there carrying heavy backpacks or, you
know, people with mobility challenges or anyone with,
like, knee or hip issues. This could genuinely
extend what you can do outdoors.
And that said, you know, dollars 2,000
is steep for most people, and our viewers
know
it can get awkward on technical terrain with
lots of scrambling.
There's even a fitness mode that flips the
motors to provide resistance instead of assistance,
turning it into a wearable workout machine.
That's crazy.
You can work out with it and you
could also, you know,
move with it. I think I think this
is I think this is really cool. When
I when I saw this online, it really
caught my eye because it made me think
about a lot of the people that I
do know
that struggle with, you know, knee issues or
joint issues and,
how much it has affected their life. And
this right here,
it it it can help them big time
if you ask me. Right? I know $2,000
does seem like a lot,
but I think there's a lot of people
out there that are willing to spend that
money
to help with their daily mobility
instead of, you know, having to deal with
the pain and the hardships of,
you know, all, like, sir like, going through
surgery and and, you know, joint pain. So
I really like this. It's really cool to
me.
And it's a really cool piece of tech
that,
you know, I've been waiting to see for
a while now at least.
And,
you know yeah.
But finance tonight, you know, I just wanted
to talk about a cautionary tale about, you
know, spyware
and jealousy.
K?
It's about this app called Stalkerware.
You know, it's a spy app designed to
secretly monitor someone else's phone, and it has
been a gray market product for years. So
these apps are marketed with the wink and
nudge as employee monitoring or parent controlled tools.
But, you know,
everyone knows the real use case. Alright? Spying
or romantic partners. You know? Law has law
enforcement has struggled to prosecute operator operators because,
you know, they claim, you know, the apps
are for legitimate use.
And Brian Fleming, he's the founder of PC
Tattletail.
He just pled guilty for federal charges for
building and marketing
software specifically to spy on adults without their
consent.
This is their first successful prosecution of a
stalkerware
operator since 2014,
and Homeland Security has began investigating
PC's Tattletale and over a 100 other stalkerware
sites back in 2021.
The evidence was damning. You know, Fleming sent
marketing
materials to an undercover investigator in 2021 saying,
you know, there are a lot more women
wanting to catch your man than the other
way around,
along with banners advertising number one catch a
cheater spy app.
His company collapsed in 2024 when hackers exposed
a date of 01/1938
oh, sorry.
Bigger number than I thought. 138,751
customers.
You know? It it it oh my gosh.
That's crazy. For for some reason, I thought
I was reading 138
customers, but it's a they exposed the data
of a 138,751
customers' accounts,
plus all their victims' informations all the victims'
information. So, you know, text messages, locations, and
everything. That's crazy.
That's crazy.
You know, this prosecution sends a message. Okay?
You know, marketing spy software for partner surveillance
is illegal.
And the feds, you know, they will come
for you. The twelve year gap between prosecution
shows how tricky these cases are to make.
You know? And,
you know,
this explicit marketing made this
one
a slam dunk. K? For anyone considering using
these apps,
it's a felony. Okay?
Even if your partner is cheating, you don't
get to break the federal wiretapping laws to
prove it. And And if you're worried about
this stuff on your own device, you know,
check your installed apps and battery usage for
anything suspicious because, bro, that's crazy.
That's crazy.
If you use this, I'm sorry. Like, I'm
sorry for anyone out there listening.
Even if, you know, I'm sorry if you
have a genuine reason to use this, but
still it's weird. It's weird.
I even see, like, new apps coming out
of this on TikTok.
Unlike making fake ads of people catching their
partner cheating on them through Tinder and everything
like that. It's wild.
And
crazy, crazy, crazin'.
I wanna try something a little different. We're
gonna give you guys some maybe discussion questions.
So talking about the DGI ban, you know,
should this is a good question for y'all.
K? So should hobbyist drone users be exempt
from bans driven by national security concerns about
commercial and government applications?
K?
For Chatt GPT Health, would you guys connect
your medical records to an AI chatbot?
And what would it take to make you
guys feel comfortable with that?
Finally, you know, with exoskeletons,
at what price point would wearable exoskeletons
start making sense for regular consumers?
And what use cases beyond hiking seem promising?
Think about it, guys. If you guys wanna
rewind, relisten to my question. I know I
do talk fast. Okay? So I apologize.
Alright? I do apologize.
Just gonna wrap it up, though. That is
going to do it for today's episode.
Thank you guys so much for hanging out
with me tonight. I know Ray will be
back in the, host here soon, but it's
always a pleasure to fill in for him.
And remember, if you guys wanna join the
inner circle, go to geeknewscentral.com/insider
to become a GNC insider.
Check out a modern podcast app at podcastapps.com.
And remember, everything we do lives at geeknewscentral.com.
As always, it was a pleasure sharing the
news with you guys tonight. I'm Chris Cochran,
and we will see you guys next time.