Weekly Download #106: AI assistants, robot workers, and one very dumb lawsuit

Hey , it’s Sunday, November 30.

We have a lot packed in this week’s newsletter, so we have to keep this intro short. Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect:

• 🎁 Giveaway

• 📝 How To

• ⏩ Fast Five

• 💻 The Big One

• 📚 Tech Terms Worth Knowing

• 💾 Extra Bytes

• 🖥️ Gear of the Week

• 🧰 Tools

Alright, and we’re off!

Partner Message

Water That Actually Works for Your Health

Waterdrop G5P500A Alkaline RO System — Now 23% Off

Most filters stop at removing the bad stuff. The Waterdrop G5P500A goes a step further.

This 8-stage system doesn't just purify—it rebuilds your water from the ground up. After the 0.0001μm RO membrane strips out PFOA, PFOS, chlorine, lead, and fluoride, the Alkaline Mineralization stage adds back essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. The result? Balanced pH, better taste, and water that's actually good for you.

Here's what makes it worth the upgrade: a 2:1 pure-to-drain ratio produces 400% more clean water than conventional systems, the 500GPD capacity fills a 6-ounce cup in 8 seconds, and the tankless design frees up 70% of your under-sink space.

NSF/ANSI 58 & 372 certified for TDS reduction and lead-free materials—because your family deserves water that works harder for their health.

Black Friday pricing: $199.49 (regularly $259.99)

Get yours here— Deal ends December 1st.

🤑 GIVEAWAY

If you haven't entered already, there’s still plenty of time to enter our BLUETTI giveaway. And if you have already entered, you can gain more entries by completing additional actions on the checklist. Click the link below for more details. The giveaway is running now through December 20. Good luck!

Partner Message

From Hype to Production: Voice AI in 2025

Voice AI has crossed into production. Deepgram’s 2025 State of Voice AI Report with Opus Research quantifies how 400 senior leaders - many at $100M+ enterprises - are budgeting, shipping, and measuring results.

Adoption is near-universal (97%), budgets are rising (84%), yet only 21% are very satisfied with legacy agents. And that gap is the opportunity: using human-like agents that handle real tasks, reduce wait times, and lift CSAT.

Get benchmarks to compare your roadmap, the first use cases breaking through (customer service, order capture, task automation), and the capabilities that separate leaders from laggards - latency, accuracy, tooling, and integration. Use the findings to prioritize quick wins now and build a scalable plan for 2026.

Get the Full Report

📝 How-To

How to Make Apple Wallet Finally Shut Up in iOS 26

iOS 26 finally lets you kill those spammy Wallet promos. Here’s the fastest way to do it so you only get the alerts that actually matter.

Kill Wallet promo notifications

1. Open the Wallet app on your iPhone.​

2. Tap the three-dot "More" button in the top-right corner.​

3. Tap Notifications in the menu that appears.​

4. Find Offers & Promotions and toggle it off to stop ad-style notifications.​

If you want to go further, you can also tweak or mute other Wallet alerts here, like orders, preauthorized payments, and new feature notifications.

📩 Newsletters Worth Reading

The Rundown AI
Get the latest AI news, understand why it matters, and learn how to apply it in your work. Join 1,000,000+ readers from companies like Apple, OpenAI, NASA. [LINK]

Launch Llama
Where founders discover the 5 best new tools every Thursday — trusted by builders at Google, Stripe, and Notion. [LINK]

Nomad for Less
Become a budget-savvy globetrotter with our insider insights 🌎✨ Join thousands of subscribers and start exploring for less! [LINK]

 📚 Tech Terms Worth Knowing

Smishing
(noun)

Definition: Smishing is a type of phishing scam that uses text messages (SMS or other messaging apps) to trick people into clicking malicious links, downloading malware, or giving away sensitive information like passwords or bank details.

Usage: Employees received security training after several staff members were targeted by a smishing attack pretending to be from the company’s bank [LINK].

PARTNER MESSAGE

RV Comfort That Doesn't Quit

FOGATTI Black Friday Sale: Hot Water & Heating Systems — Up to 20% Off

You know what makes or breaks an RV trip? Hot water when you need it and heat that actually works.

FOGATTI specializes in RV heating and water solutions built for life on the road—altitude changes, weather exposure, propane efficiency, and constant movement. These aren't adaptations of home systems; they're purpose-built for mobile living.

Three systems, one goal: reliable comfort wherever you park:

The FOGATTI 8L RV Tankless Water Heater activates at 0.5 GPM, offering hot water even for handwashing. It features dual-stage combustion for 22% propane savings and ±1°F temperature precision. Black Friday price: $439.99 (regularly $549.99).[Amazon]

The FOGATTI 10L RV Tankless Water Heater (InstaShower Ultra) supports multiple taps with 66,000 BTU and 3.9 GPM. HydroShield Tech offers rain and wind protection, and the Pre-Mix System prevents cold starts. Black Friday price: $639.99 (regularly $799.99).| FOGATTI | Amazon

The FOGATTI 35,000 BTU RV Furnace offers four power levels and three modes, including a 42 dB Sleep Mode. Black Friday price: $639.99 (regularly $799.99). | FOGATTI | Amazon

Deals run through December 1st—don't wait.

📰 The Big One

Elon Musk claims the future of work will be optional because robots will be handling the workload

Elon Musk says Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot could become the highest‑volume product in history, with future factories of Optimus units building more Optimus units, von Neumann–probe style.

In his latest comments, he claims this kind of AI‑driven abundance could make traditional jobs optional and even weaken the role of money in the economy.​​

Key points

• Musk frames Optimus as a general‑purpose worker for “boring, repetitive, or dangerous” tasks, deployed at massive scale across factories and services.​

• Long term, he floats a world where humans choose passion projects while robots handle most economic production.​​

• Tesla’s roadmap leans on self‑replication to hit wild volume targets, starting with factory deployment and eventually aiming at millions to potentially billions of units per year.​​

Quick takeaway

If Tesla can pull this off, Optimus is not just a product launch; it is a bet that humanoid robots become the new “labor layer” of the global economy while human work turns into a lifestyle choice. In short: lots of polish, a dash of AI, and a few long-awaited upgrades. [LINK]

⚡ Fast Five

1.) Retailers deploy AI shopping assistants for holiday season
Retailers are bringing AI shopping assistants to the masses, whether you like it or not [LINK]

2.) ChatGPT’s ‘toxic positivity’ blamed for suicides in shocking lawsuits
Families are suing OpenAI, saying ChatGPT’s affirming, manipulative replies worsened users’ mental health and contributed to suicides. [LINK]

3.) Twitter’s latest feature spills the beans on your account details
Turns out, a bunch of pro-conservative accounts are based out of Russia [LINK]

4.) Spotify’s next U.S. price bump is coming in 2026—brace yourselves
Another price increase following the July 2024 increase, with individual plans projected to jump by $1 per month [LINK].

5.) OpenAI’s new gadget is so sexy you’ll want to lick it—literally:
OpenAI and former Apple designer, Jony Ive, are working on a product so sexy that you’ll want to lick it. Whatever, I guess. [LINK]

PARTNER MESSAGE

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Peak streaming time continues after Black Friday on Roku, with the weekend after Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to Christmas seeing record hours of viewing. Roku Ads Manager makes it simple to launch last-minute campaigns targeting viewers who are ready to shop during the holidays. Use first-party audience insights, segment by demographics, and advertise next to the premium ad-supported content your customers are streaming this holiday season.

Read the guide to get your CTV campaign live in time for the holiday rush.

Learn more

💾 Extra Bytes

US Patent Office says AI can help invent, but can’t take credit [LINK]

Are we about to pop the humanoid robot bubble? [LINK]

Apple’s first foldable might hurt your wallet [LINK]

Regular ChatGPT users dodged a bullet in latest AI security breach [LINK]

Google denies Gmail AI training claims [LINK]

YouTube’s custom feed could finally fix your algorithm [LINK]

ChatGPT now lets you use text and voice mode in the same screen [LINK]

📱 Gear of the Week

Dell Tower Plus

Here’s something you don’t see every day. A perfect review score….on a PC.

Windows Central recently gave this privilege to the Dell Tower Plus, a desktop PC that honestly flew under my radar.

What’s cool:

• Works for almost everyone: can be specced as a cheap productivity box or a legit gaming/creator rig, and handles work, school, and play without feeling like overkill.​

• Genuinely quiet: stays surprisingly hushed even after long gaming or render sessions, with only occasional fan ramp-ups under heavy loads

• Premium but justifiable: priced on the higher side, but multiple outlets frame it as one of the best “do-it-all” desktops you can buy right now

The bottom line: 

If you’re a PC user and looking to splurge on a new setup, this is the one. It’s not every day that you see tech publications score this near perfectly across the board. That says something [LINK]

⚙️ Tools

_FEATURED
MindStudio, my favorite AI agent platform, just launched a free plan. It's a simple way to build AI agents and an excellent intro for our Weekly Download readers.

What this means:

• 👉 You can now have 2 custom agents running at any given time

• 👉 Get access to over 100 pre-built agents that you can use instantly to save time

• 👉 1,000 agent runs per month

Exciting, right? Start free through my link here [LINK]

VoiceToNotes.ai: Powerful AI tool that instantly converts your voice into clear, accurate text [LINK].

Links 2.0: Save, organize and find your links faster than ever. [LINK]

Shop with Copilot: Copilot-powered shopping experience with Microsoft Edge [LINK]

BeFreed: Learn anything with your own personal audio agent. [LINK]

Thanks for reading!

Bonus: Today is the last day to take advantage of Samsung’s annual “Discover Samsung Summer Sale.” See top Discover Deals here. 

Alright! Thanks for getting all the way to the end. Until next week…….

-Kevin

📌 Partner Disclaimer: We may earn a commission if you purchase something through our links or sign up for any services. This is one way we support The Weekly Download