Technology

Republicans attack ‘woke’ Netflix — and ignore YouTube

Published

1 day ago

February 5, 2026

Republicans attack ‘woke’ Netflix — and ignore YouTube

When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos entered the Senate office building on Tuesday, he got thrown a curveball. What started as a standard antitrust hearing relating to the Warner Bros. merger quickly devolved into a performative Republican attack about the spread of “woke” ideology on the streaming service. At the same time, arguably a much more influential platform was completely ignored: YouTube.

After grilling Sarandos about residual payments, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) launched into a completely different line of questioning: “Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology?” Hawley asked, making an unsubstantiated claim that “almost half” of the platform’s children’s content contains so-called “transgender ideology.” The statement harkened to a pressure campaign launched by Elon Musk months ago in which he called on X users to unsubscribe from Netflix for having a “transgender woke agenda,” citing its few shows with trans characters — shows that were canceled years ago.

“Our business intent is to entertain the world,” Sarandos replied. “It is not to have a political agenda.” Still, other Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO), piled on, bringing up a post Netflix made following the murder of George Floyd, and the French film Cuties, which sparked a right-wing firestorm years ago. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) even asked Sarandos what he thought about Billie Eilish’s “no one is illegal on stolen land” comment at the Grammys. It seemed like they were grasping at straws to support their narrative that Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. could somehow poison the well of content for viewers.

“My concern is that you don’t share my values or those of many other American parents, and you want the United States government to allow you to become one of the largest — if not the largest — streaming monopolist in the world,” Hawley said. “I think we ought to be concerned about what content you’re promoting.”

While it’s true that Netflix will control a substantial portion of the streaming market when — and or if — it acquires Warner Bros. and its streaming service HBO Max, it’s hard to criticize Netflix without bringing up YouTube.

“YouTube is not just cat videos anymore. YouTube is TV.”

For years now, Netflix has been trying to topple YouTube as the most-watched streaming service. Data from Nielsen says Netflix made up 9 percent of total TV and streaming viewing in the US in December 2025, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s services made up 1.4 percent. Combining the two doesn’t even stack up to YouTube, which held a 12.7 percent share of viewership during that time. “YouTube is not just cat videos anymore,” Sarandos told the subcommittee. “YouTube is TV.”

Unlike Netflix, YouTube is free and has an ever-growing library of user-created content that doesn’t require it to spend billions of dollars in production costs and licensing fees. YouTube doesn’t have to worry about maintaining subscribers, as anyone with access to a web browser or phone can open up and watch YouTube. The setup brings YouTube a constant stream of viewers that it can rope in with a slew of content it can recommend to watch next.

But not all creators on YouTube are striving for quality. As my colleague Mia Sato wrote, YouTube is home to creators who try to feed an algorithm that boosts inflammatory content and attempts to hook viewers, in addition to an array of videos that may be less than ideal for kids.

Like it or not, YouTube is the dominant streamer, with an endless supply of potentially offensive agendas for just about anyone. But for some reason, it’s not the target of this culture war. If these lawmakers actually cared about what their kids are watching, maybe they’d start looking more closely at how YouTube prioritizes content. Or, if they don’t like the shows and movies on Netflix, they could just do what Sarandos suggested during the hearing: unsubscribe.

Related Topics:Google Netflix policy Politics streaming Tech YouTube

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Technology

We found 20 Verge-approved gifts on sale ahead of Valentine’s Day

Published

59 minutes ago

February 6, 2026

Press Room

We found 20 Verge-approved gifts on sale ahead of Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is coming up fast, and if you haven’t started shopping yet, there are a lot of great gifts on sale that should still arrive in time if you order soon. Several Verge-approved gadgets are seeing some of their best discounts since the holidays, with options we think will appeal to a wide range of interests, from thoughtful picks like digital photo frames to e-readers, smart speakers, smartwatches, massagers, and even practical stuff like vacuums. While some are bigger-ticket items, quite a few cost under $100, so there’s something here for a range of budgets, too.

Below, we’ve rounded up the best Valentine’s Day gift deals you can shop right now across a range of categories and prices, whether you’re buying for a partner, a friend, or yourself.

Technology

Fox News AI Newsletter: ‘The American people are being lied to about AI’

Published

1 hour ago

February 6, 2026

Press Room

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:

– Palantir’s Shyam Sankar: Americans are ‘being lied to’ about AI job displacement fears
– OPINION: Elon Musk says you can skip retirement savings in the age of AI. Not so fast
– Chevron CEO details strategy to shield consumers from soaring AI power costs

LIES EXPOSED: “The American people are being lied to about AI,” Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar warns in the opening line of his new Fox News op-ed. And one of the biggest lies, he said, is that artificial intelligence is coming for Americans’ jobs.

Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of Palantir Technologies Inc., speaks during the Hill & Valley forum at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Getty Images)

RISKY RETIREMENT: Billionaire Elon Musk recently told people not to worry about “squirreling” money away for retirement because advances in artificial intelligence would supposedly make savings irrelevant in the next 10 to 20 years.

OFF-THE-GRID: Chevron CEO Mike Wirth detailed the company’s strategy to harness U.S. natural resources to meet soaring artificial intelligence power demand — without passing the cost along to consumers.

The COL4 AI-ready data center is located on a seven-acre campus at the convergence point of long-haul fiber and regional carrier fiber networks on July 24, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (Eli Hiller/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

POWER CRISIS NOW: Artificial Intelligence and data centers have been blamed for rising electricity costs across the U.S. In December 2025, American consumers paid 42% more to power their homes than ten years ago.

LATEST POLLING: As the emphasis on implementing artificial intelligence across society grows, voters think the use of AI technology is happening too fast — and they have little confidence the federal government can regulate it properly.

PRIVACY NIGHTMARE: A popular mobile app called Chat & Ask AI has more than 50 million users across the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Now, an independent security researcher says the app exposed hundreds of millions of private chatbot conversations online.

CAP-EX SURGE: Alphabet executives struck a confident tone on Wednesday’s post-earnings call, signaling that Google’s heavy investments in artificial intelligence are now translating into real revenue growth across the business.

Google Headquarters is seen in Mountain View, California, on May 15, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

MERIT OVER FEAR: Shyam Sankar, the chief technology officer and executive vice president of Palantir Technologies, told Fox News Digital that artificial intelligence will be a “massively meritocratic force” within the workplace and offered advice to corporate leaders on how to best position their companies and employees for success.

FAKE LOVE HEIST: A woman named Abigail believed she was in a romantic relationship with a famous actor. The messages felt real. The voice sounded right. The video looked authentic. And the love felt personal. By the time her family realized what was happening, more than $81,000 was gone — and so was the paid-off home she planned to retire in.

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Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements, and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future with Fox News here.

This article was written by Fox News staff.

Technology

Google is expanding AirDrop support to more Android devices ‘very soon’

Published

13 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Press Room

Google is expanding AirDrop support to more Android devices ‘very soon’

After introducing AirDrop support to Pixel 10 devices last year, Google is now set to expand it to phones made by other Android partners. Eric Kay, vice president of engineering for Android, confirmed in a press briefing attended by Android Authority that “a lot more” Android devices will be able to use Quick Share to initiate AirDrop sessions with Apple devices this year.

“We spent a lot of time and energy to make sure that we could build something that was compatible not only with iPhone but iPads and MacBooks,” Kay said. “Now that we’ve proven it out, we’re working with our partners to expand it into the rest of the ecosystem, and you should see some exciting announcements coming very soon.”

Currently, Google’s Pixel 10 phones are the only Android devices that can use Quick Share — Android’s own wireless peer-to-peer transfer feature, previously known as Nearby Share — to communicate directly with Apple’s AirDrop. Google hasn’t outlined any specific Android partners or devices for the update yet, but both Nothing and chipmaker Qualcomm teased in November that support was coming.

Kay also discussed Google’s efforts to improve the process for iOS users who switch to Android, helping to prevent incomplete data transfers, lost messages, and other issues. Apple has been working on a “user-friendly” way of transferring data from iPhones to other devices since early 2024, and Google and Apple’s collaborative efforts were seen being tested in Android Canary 2512 for Pixel devices in December.

“We’re also going to be working to make it easy for people who do decide to switch to transfer their data and make sure they’ve got everything they had from their old phone,” Kay said during the same briefing. “So there’s a lot more going on with that.”