Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2026

Summary

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WSJ Tech News Briefing — "Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2026"

Date: January 2, 2026
Host: Bel Lin
Guests: Nicole Nguyen (WSJ Personal Tech Columnist), Christopher Mims (WSJ Tech Columnist, Bold Names Podcast co-host)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the major technological shifts projected to profoundly impact daily life by 2026. The conversation highlights advancements and disruptions in AI, healthcare, neurotechnology, cybersecurity, digital identity, and satellite internet access, providing expert-driven predictions and insight into imminent changes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. AI & Mental Health (01:46)

• Mental Health Reckoning for AI Companies:
  Nicole Nguyen notes that AI chatbots can be dangerous for vulnerable users, sometimes validating delusions or encouraging paranoia.
  • Quote:

    “For people struggling with mental health issues, chatting with AI can be dangerous. It can validate troubling ideas and paranoia…”
    — Nicole Nguyen [01:46]

• Regulation in California:
  New legislation requires AI to halt conversations if self-harm is detected and forces AIs to send periodic reminder breaks to users under 18, aiming to mitigate risks observed in prolonged chatbot interactions.
• Federal vs. State Policy:
  Uncertainty surrounds the impact of a new executive order on federal AI regulation, potentially conflicting with state-level laws.
  • Quote:

    “All of the state legislation is threatened, however, by President Trump's executive order that aims to set a federal policy on AI development…”
    — Nicole Nguyen [02:32]

2. AI in Healthcare & the Rise of DIY Medicine (02:48)

• Healthcare Cost Surge:
  Rising costs (over 9% increase projected) accelerate a shift toward consumer-driven healthcare solutions.
• Technological Solutions:
  • Virtual-first care options like Amazon’s One Medical and online subscriptions.
  • Clinical wearables (e.g., Withings) for at-home vitals monitoring.
  • OTC access to devices such as glucose monitors and hearing aids.
• AI Self-Diagnosis Cautions:
  While more consumers turn to AI for health advice, Nicole warns this “DIY” route can make patients worse off if misused.
  • Quote:

    “It’s possible, though not recommended, to get a ChatGPT diagnosis and then head out and seek your own prescription online.”
    — Nicole Nguyen [03:51]

3. Neurotechnology & Human-Computer Interfaces (04:17)

• Wearable Neurotech:
  Christopher Mims discusses new wearables (like Meta’s neural wristbands) and medical neurotech from emerging companies (e.g., Cognition’s electrode skullcaps) aimed at diagnostic applications.
  • Quote:

    “They combine a headset and a skull cap full of electrodes that reads your brain… to help you diagnose early more than 400 different brain disorders.”
    — Christopher Mims [04:38]

• Non-Invasive Interfaces:
  The trend is toward non-invasive tech that “attaches to our bodies, reads our nerve impulses or even our brains and allow us to diagnose ourselves or control a computer that way.”

4. Cybersecurity & Digital Identity (07:00)

• AI-Empowered Attacks:
  AI lowers barriers for creating high-quality phishing attacks and even enables capturing two-factor codes.
• Just-in-Time Malware:
  Google detected malware adapting in real time to evade defenses—a game-changer that could render classic antivirus tools obsolete.
  • Quote:

    “This is pretty terrifying because it means that our traditional cyber defense system is rendered completely incompetent.”
    — Nicole Nguyen [08:02]

• Digital IDs for Proof of Humanness:
  New digital IDs stored in mobile wallets (using biometrics and video verification) are rolling out in the US, mirroring mandates already in place in the EU.
  • Quote:

    “Google and Apple are hoping that this digital ID will work like Apple Pay in the future… You can tap to prove your identity or your age in person or online.”
    — Nicole Nguyen [08:44]

• Age Verification and Parental Controls:
  Digital IDs will assist in age verification, helping parents restrict platforms for minors (e.g., TikTok).
  • Quote:

    “Yes. I can't guarantee that your kids won't figure out a way to get back into TikTok, but this will be one way to prevent them…”
    — Nicole Nguyen [10:06]

5. Satellite Internet & New ‘Space Wars’ (10:29)

• Market Competition:
  The Starlink monopoly ends as Amazon (Project LEO), France’s OneWeb, China, and others enter low-earth orbit internet.
• Consumer Choice Expands:
  2026 marks the year when consumers start getting choices for satellite internet providers, similar to mobile carriers.
  • Quote:

    “So 2026 is going to be the year where we start to have some choice around this [space internet].”
    — Christopher Mims [11:37]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI and healthcare DIY:

  “Unfortunately, to the chagrin of many professionals, many people lean on AI chatbots to help solve their medical mysteries.”—Nicole Nguyen [03:42]

• On Just-in-Time Malware:

  “It learns on the fly, it can obfuscate its own code to evade detection by antivirus software…”—Nicole Nguyen [08:22]

• On space internet and competition:

  “If you name a country, it feels like they are all trying to build their own dedicated networks like this.”—Christopher Mims [11:25]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 01:46 — AI & mental health regulation
• 02:48 — AI and the consumer revolution in healthcare
• 04:17 — Emergence of neurotech interfaces
• 07:00 — Cybersecurity: Phishing and AI-driven attacks
• 08:39 — Digital IDs and proof of humanness
• 10:29 — Satellite internet and industry competition
• 11:57 — Tech each expert is most excited about for 2026

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Looking Forward: What Excites the Experts (11:57)

• Nicole Nguyen:
  Long-awaited “Smarter Siri” with improved local device and LLM processing, finally bringing promised intelligence to Apple’s voice assistant.

  • Quote:

    “The technology that's going to impact the most people next year that I'm most looking forward to testing is the long awaited Smarter Siri.”—Nicole Nguyen [12:01]

• Christopher Mims:
  Already experiencing improved AI dictation via a third-party app (Flow with OpenAI transcription), he’s eager for these improvements to become native and mainstream.

  • Quote:

    “When I open that app and start dictating into it is crazy. It's like 99% accurate to what I'm saying… If Siri can just do that… that would be a game changer for a lot of people.”—Christopher Mims [12:53]

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Tone & Takeaways

The episode balances expert enthusiasm for technological innovation with healthy skepticism and caution, especially where AI and privacy are concerned. Both columnists highlight how 2026 will be a transformative year—one in which tech’s conveniences are matched by challenges that demand vigilant and nuanced adoption.

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Transcript

[A]

Starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing, to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into sign up for your $1 per month [e-mail] specialoffer. Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Friday, January 2nd. Happy New Year. I'm Bel Lin for the Wall Street Journal. Today we're wrapping up our deep dive exploring how the biggest shifts in technology will play out in 2026. From AI to space and neurotechnology, there's no shortage of change happening in every realm of tech. Much of it will have a direct impact on us, as our tech team predicts big shifts will happen in healthcare, the world of cybersecurity, and even how we access the Internet. So how should we make sense of all these rapid shifts and how will they change our daily lives? We have WSJ personal tech columnist Nicole Nguyen and WSJ tech columnist and co host of the Bold Names podcast, Christopher Mimms here with us. To break it all down foreign. It's a Wall Street Journal tradition to look ahead at the coming year and predict what's ahead in tech. So let's start with you, Nicole. What do you think will take place in the realm of AI and health?

[B]

Well, first, there's definitely going to be a mental health reckoning for a lot of the most popular AI makers. We saw from a variety of tragic cases and also lawsuits that for people struggling with mental health issues, chatting with AI can be dangerous. It can validate troubling ideas and paranoia, encourage delusions in some cases. And so state laws are finally pushing AI developers to do something about this starting New Year's Day. For example, a new California regulation mandates that AI has to stop the conversation when it detects self harm. And it also compels AI to send break reminders every three hours to use under 18 because research has shown that the longer the conversation goes, the guardrails tend to weaken over time. All of the state legislation is threatened, however, by President Trump's executive order that aims to set a federal policy on AI development, AI regulation and so we don't really know where the legislative chips will fall.

[A]

And what are Your thoughts on AI and healthcare?

[B]

Healthcare costs are surging. Next year, US businesses face the biggest increase in at least 15 years, over 9% by some estimates. And so a lot of experts think that this increase in costs are going to supercharge this shift towards DIY medicine. And what I mean by that is a consumer led approach using digital native providers. So for example, Amazon's one Medical that offers pay per session virtual care or a prime discounted annual subscription. People can buy wearables for clinically validated assessments with hypertension and sleep apnea. There are also at home tools from companies like Withings to capture real time vitals for remote consultations. And you can now skip the checkup and get continuous glucose monitors, hearing aids and other kinds of devices over the counter without a prescription. And unfortunately, to the chagrin of many professionals, many people lean on AI chatbots to help solve their medical mysteries. It's possible, though not recommended, to get a ChatGPT diagnosis and then head out and seek your own prescription online. And a lot of people will aim to save money this way, but they could end up being worse off if they follow that path.

[A]

Let's stick with people for a moment. Christopher, what is happening in the realm.

[C]

Of neurotechnology in terms of human computer or human AI interfaces? Lots of interesting things are coming. They're all like wearables. So Meta released a wristband that just by moving your hand, it reads the neural input impulses in your nerves going into your hand and it allows you to control an interface inside of a VR headset or smart glasses. But there are more coming that are sort of more medical in their application. There's a company called Cognition. They combine a headset and a skull cap full of electrodes that reads your brain. And they claim that they're going to be able to help you diagnose early more than 400 different brain disorders and potential neurological disorders. So I think that we're going to see a lot of progress in what they call non invasive neurotech. So things that attach to our bodies, read our nerve impulses or even our brains and allow us to diagnose ourselves or control a computer that way.

[A]

That kind of sounds like the gestures that Apple tried to make a thing with the Vision Pro, but that didn't really catch on in the way that anyone thought that it might.

[B]

Not yet, I don't think.

[A]

What changes in tech are you excited for in 2026? If you're a listener on Spotify, be sure to let us know in the comments coming up. With all the change happening in our digital world, we need new ways to prove our identities and keep ourselves safe online plus, will 2026 be the start of space wars? That's after the break.

[B]

Foreign. Hi, this is Gunjan Banerjee.

[C]

And this is Telus Demos. We're reporters at the Wall Street Journal and The hosts of WSJ's take on the Week.

[A]

Take on the Week is a weekly show that gives listeners a leg up.

[B]

In the world of markets and investing.

[C]

From the Fed's moves to market bubbles, we dive into the biggest deals, key players, and business news ahead.

[B]

If you're looking for more news and tools that can help you navigate the markets, consider becoming a subscriber to the Wall street journal.

[C]

Visit subscribe.WSJ.com Take on the Week to subscribe now.

[A]

We're back with WSJ columnists Nicole Nguyen and Christopher Mims to continue our conversation about where technology is heading this year. With the rise of AI enabled deepfakes and AI enabled phishing attacks, our personal cybersecurity is more important than ever. So Nicole, what do you think will happen in the world of cyber attacks?

[B]

Bel, are you sensing a theme? AI is taking over technology and all of our predictions have to deal with AI. Yeah, in the world of cybersecurity, a lot of scary stuff is happening, but good stuff too. This past year saw a 400% rise in successfully phished personal info. And a lot of this has to do with the fact that AI no longer requires a high technical acumen to conduct a cyber attack. You can use AI to spin up a convincing website that looks exactly like the Gmail login page or a perfectly worded email that looks like it's coming from your IT person asking for your credentials. And now also, AI can help attackers capture two factor codes too. But the scarier stuff that's on the horizon is software that is built on top of LLMs. And there is a new type of malware called Just in Time Malware, the first instance of which Google recently detected in the wild. And it learns on the fly it can obfuscate its own code to evade detection by antivirus software that it sees in the system and create new malicious capabilities as it meets. And this is pretty terrifying because it means that our traditional cyber defense system is rendered completely incompetent. The Google researcher said that the threat is still nascent, but they do expect this kind of sophisticated malware will become a standard issue for hackers.

[A]

And Nicole, what about verification so that we can prove who we say we are on the Internet?

[B]

There is a new proof of humanness that's emerging and it comes in the form of a digital id, which is a kind of verified identification that's stored on your phone. And For Android and iOS devices, you can scan in your digital US passport and you do a kind of video verification and using biometrics and other things to make sure that you're you. And Google and Apple are hoping that this digital ID will work like Apple Pay in the future. You can tap to prove your identity or your age in person or online. You'll be able to recover your accounts using this digital id. Verify profiles on platforms like Uber or maybe dating apps and that sort of thing. The EU is actually way ahead of us on this. They are mandating digital national IDs by the end of this year and regulated industries like banking and education will have to accept these digital IDs.

[C]

So is this going to be part of the age verification stuff that is proliferating throughout the world and in various states in the us?

[B]

I think that's a big reason why Google and Apple have worked on bringing digital IDs to their mobile wallets. There are increased calls for age verification everywhere from governments. And with more AI regulation and more App Store regulation coming, this is a way to preempt that.

[C]

So this will be a new way I can lock my kids out of TikTok?

[B]

Yes. I can't guarantee that your kids won't figure out a way to get back into TikTok, but this will be one way to prevent them from getting into TikTok. They're clever, those kids.

[A]

Now let's zoom out a little bit more and go all the way to space. Christopher, what's your take on where satellite technology is heading?

[C]

So 2026 is the beginning of like the space wars, basically. And what I mean by that is if you wanted to get Internet from space, for most people in a lot of the world, your only option was starLink. But in 2026, Amazon is going to start offering, they call it Project leo, which I guess is a play on the acronym for low Earth orbit, which is where these satellites are. They already have 150 satellites up there and JetBlue is an early adopter. So if you're getting high speed Internet on a JetBlue plane, it could possibly be, you know, thanks to this Jeff Bezos company. And it just means that there's going to be more competition. So the same way that you have a choice of cell phone carriers, you will have a choice of Internet from space carriers. There are a bunch of other players. There's a French company, they're launching a Low Earth orbit network called OneWeb and are about to raise a billion more dollars to launch more of those satellites. If you name a country, it feels like they are all trying to build their own dedicated networks like this. Obviously China is doing this. So 2026 is going to be the year where we start to have some choice around this.

[A]

All right, Nicole and Christopher, I'm going to throw one more question at the two of you before we let you go. What are you guys most excited about in technology in 2026 that is so.

[C]

Tough because technology is so scary these days?

[B]

I know I was about to say the same thing, but I think I have an answer. The technology that's going to impact the most people next year that I'm most looking forward to testing is the long awaited Smarter Siri. There has been a lot of reporting on how Apple is trying to square the circle and fix this problem. It promised this intelligent all seeing Siri that uses a lot of local on device processing, also some LLM processing, privacy, et cetera, et cetera. And it never delivered, it never shipped that product. But it is coming next year allegedly and I can't wait to try it.

[C]

I'm also excited about that and I'll say that one reason is I'm already living a little tiny bit in a version of that future. I got so frustrated with how bad existing Siri is at transcribing my notes, my texts that I downloaded an app called Flow which uses the same AI transcription engine as OpenAI because they open source that model and when I open that app and start dictating into is crazy. It's like 99% accurate to what I'm saying. It even knows when to capitalize proper nouns. It turns my lists of thoughts into bullet pointed lists. And Siri can just do that, can just get good at actually transcribing my words. That would be a game changer for a lot of people. We're all going to be speaking our.

[A]

Texts more those were WSJ columnists Christopher Mims and Nicole Nguyen. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. Today's show was produced by Julie Chang. Jessica Fenton and Michael Lavelle wrote our theme music. Our supervising producers are Katie Ferguson and Melanie Roy. Jessica Fenton is our technical manager. Our development producer is Aisha El Musleam. Chris Sinsley is the deputy editor and Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news. Audio logging off. I'm Bell Lin. We'll be back later this morning with TNB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.