Tech News Time

012: Watch Out for That Tree!

This week, we kick things off with the return of Space Karen’s meltdown tour: Elon Musk got flustered in an interview, sputtered out one-word answers, and called the journalist an “NPC,” which is rich coming from the guy whose only real upgrade since PayPal is yelling “freedom” in meme fonts. Meanwhile, 23andMe sold your DNA to Regeneron at a bankruptcy auction, proving once and for all that your spit is more valuable than most tech startups. IN THE NEWS is a parade of corporate idiocy and dystopian fuckery. Coinbase employees got bribed into leaking user data (because clearly we didn’t have enough crypto chaos), Klarna keeps flip-flopping between AI and human workers like it’s a bad Tinder date, and OpenAI is out here buying Jony Ive’s design firm for $6.5 billion because sure, what’s another billion when you’re trying to build a surveillance device to stalk 100 million users? Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times is publishing AI-generated trash with imaginary authors, Anthropic’s new model attempts blackmail, and researchers dumped two billion Discord messages online just for kicks. And yes, Elon’s Tesla robotaxis will now only roam the safest parts of Austin, which is code for “we still can’t make this thing turn left.” Elon Musk Gets Rattled by Hard Questions He Can't Answer, Calls Interviewer an "NPC" While Giving One-Word NPC-Like Responses Himself [https://futurism.com/elon-musk-interviewer-npc] 23andMe (and Your Genetic Data) Sold to Regeneron in Bankruptcy Auction [https://gizmodo.com/23andme-and-your-genetic-data-sold-to-regeneron-in-bankruptcy-auction-2000604050] Extortionists bribed Coinbase employees to give them customer data [https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/extortionists-bribed-coinbase-employees-to-give-them-customer-data-174713732.html] OpenAI buys Jony Ive's design startup for $6.5 billion [https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-buys-jony-ives-design-startup-for-65-billion-173356962.html] Sam Altman Tells Staff Plan to Ship 100 Million Devices That See Everything in Users' Lives [https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-altman-openai-wearable-device] Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI [https://gizmodo.com/klarna-hiring-back-human-help-after-going-all-in-on-ai-2000600767] Klarna CEO and Sutter Hill take victory lap after Jony Ive's OpenAI deal [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/22/klarna-ceo-and-sutter-hill-take-victory-lap-after-jony-ives-openai-deal/] Klarna used an AI avatar of its CEO to deliver earnings [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/21/klarna-used-an-ai-avatar-of-its-ceo-to-deliver-earnings-it-said/] Klarna users are buying now, but not paying later [https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2025/05/21/klarna-users-are-buying-now-but-not-paying-later] DOGE Used a Meta AI Model to Review Emails From Federal Workers [https://www.wired.com/story/doge-used-meta-ai-model-review-fork-emails-from-federal-workers/] Chicago Sun-Times publishes made-up books and fake experts in AI debacle [https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/670510/chicago-sun-times-ai-generated-reading-list] We’re Focused on the Wrong A.I. Problem in Journalism [https://slate.com/technology/2025/05/ai-chatgpt-controversy-fake-books-chicago-sun-times-philadelphia-inquirer.html] Anthropic's new AI model turns to blackmail when engineers try to take it offline [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/22/anthropics-new-ai-model-turns-to-blackmail-when-engineers-try-to-take-it-offline/] MIT Backs Away From Paper Claiming Scientists Make More Discoveries with AI [https://gizmodo.com/mit-backs-away-from-paper-claiming-scientists-make-more-discoveries-with-ai-2000603790] Researchers Dump 2 Billion Scraped Discord Messages Online [https://gizmodo.com/researchers-dump-2-billion-scraped-discord-messages-online-2000605471] Musk says Tesla's self-driving tests will be geofenced to 'the safest' parts of Austin [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/20/musk-says-teslas-self-driving-tests-will-be-geofenced-to-the-safest-parts-of-austin/] If you want more of this amazing goodness head over to https://gog.show/ [https://gog.show/] and subscribe to the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast. If the news is enough then you may have the rest of the day off! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

011: Office of Defects

This week, FOLLOW UP kicks off with Manus madness, a $2 million ticket to Trump’s crypto cash-grab, and Elon’s Boring Company worming its way into an $8 billion Amtrak boondoggle. Meanwhile, CryptoPunks gets handed off to a nonprofit like an expired Groupon—proof the NFT hype cycle ends with a 501(c)(3) and a shrug. IN THE NEWS, Microsoft trims another 3% of its workforce while a former Metaverse engineer delivers DoorDash from a trailer—living proof that “the future of work” is just working for the apps. Klarna quietly admits AI sucks at customer service and hires back actual people, just as OpenAI’s reasoning models hit the brakes. The Pope wants to exorcise AI, Elon’s backfiring Copyright Office coup leaves him empty-handed, and YouTube starts banning AI-faked trailers that made Screen Culture money off Marvel lies. Jamie Lee Curtis goes full Final Girl on Zuckerberg, and Tesla drama ramps up: robotaxis under investigation, employees revolting, and one poor dealership manager gets canned for telling the truth about ol’ Musky. Oh, and scientists say the universe might die sooner than expected—cool cool cool. Leave it to Manus [https://manus.im/] A VIP Seat at Donald Trump’s Crypto Dinner Cost at Least $2 Million [https://www.wired.com/story/trumpcoin-dinner-ticket-bidding/] Elon’s Boring Company Is ‘Helping’ the Government With an $8 Billion Amtrak Tunnel Project [https://gizmodo.com/elons-boring-company-is-helping-the-government-with-an-8-billion-amtrak-tunnel-project-2000601700] CryptoPunks was just sold to a nonprofit [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/nft-phenom-cryptopunks-was-just-sold-to-a-nonprofit/] Microsoft is laying off 3 percent of its global workforce [https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/microsoft-is-laying-off-3-percent-of-its-global-workforce-154755787.html] Laid-Off Metaverse Engineer Says He Is DoorDashing and Living in a Trailer [https://gizmodo.com/laid-off-metaverse-engineer-says-he-is-doordashing-and-living-in-a-trailer-2000602465] Silicon Valley’s Elusive Fantasy of a Computer as Smart as You [https://archive.is/oYXku] Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI [https://gizmodo.com/klarna-hiring-back-human-help-after-going-all-in-on-ai-2000600767] Improvements in 'reasoning' AI models may slow down soon, analysis finds [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/12/improvements-in-reasoning-ai-models-may-slow-down-soon-analysis-finds/] The New Pope Wants to Take on AI [https://gizmodo.com/the-new-pope-wants-to-take-on-ai-2000600652] Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired [https://www.theverge.com/politics/666179/maga-elon-musk-sacks-copyright-office-perlmutter] Copyright Office head fired after reporting AI training isn’t always fair use [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/05/copyright-office-head-fired-after-reporting-ai-training-isnt-always-fair-use/] YouTube Cracks Down on Fake Movie Trailer Channels Making Money [https://gizmodo.com/youtube-cracks-down-on-fake-movie-trailer-channels-making-money-2000600973] Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad [https://www.engadget.com/social-media/jamie-lee-curtis-publicly-shamed-mark-zuckerberg-to-remove-a-deepfaked-ad-225448916.html] Tesla's robotaxi plans have the attention of federal investigators [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/12/teslas-robotaxi-plans-have-the-attention-of-federal-investigators/] A Tesla Dealership Manager Blamed Elon Musk for Tanking Sales and Was Immediately Fired [https://futurism.com/tesla-manager-fired-blaming-elon-musk] Tesla Employees Against Elon [https://teslaemployeesagainstelon.com/] Open Letter to Elon [https://openlettertoelon.com/] Open Letter to Elon - @openletter2elon [https://x.com/openletter2elon] Scientists Just Moved Up the Death Date of the Universe [https://futurism.com/universe-end-sooner-hawking-radiation]   If you want more of this amazing goodness head over to https://gog.show/ [https://gog.show/] and subscribe to the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast. If the news is enough then you may have the rest of the day off! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

010: Googliearchs

In this episode of Tech News Time, we’re serving up a buffet of dystopia with a side of snark. First, Kuwait has finally realized crypto bros are an energy drain, not a feature. Celsius Network’s founder gets 12 years for running a “safe investment” Ponzi scheme. And in Lopez v. Apple, we find yet another reason to question Cupertino’s moral compass. Then it’s time for a trip through the tech trash fire. DoorDash gobbles up Deliveroo, proving there’s no such thing as too many overpriced salads. Google wants your kids to befriend Gemini—because what could go wrong giving tweens supervised AI access? Tesla’s “Robotaxi” trademark gets the boot for being as generic as Elon’s pickup lines. Meanwhile, Grok strips in public, deepfake porn sites get the axe, and dating app “Raw” rawdogs user data like it’s the early 2000s internet. We also hit peak Black Mirror with brain-typed tweets, AI-resurrected relatives, and crypto kidnappers playing real-life GTA. Kuwait cracks down on crypto miners to cut down on electricity usage [https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/kuwait-cracks-down-on-crypto-miners-to-cut-down-on-electricity-usage-161200772.html] Founder of crypto platform Celsius Network is sentenced to 12 years in prison [https://www.yahoo.com/news/founder-crypto-platform-celsius-network-203029481.html] Lopez v. Apple Inc. [https://www.lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/] DoorDash is buying British rival Deliveroo for $3.9 billion [https://www.engadget.com/apps/doordash-is-buying-british-rival-deliveroo-for-39-billion-123005055.html] Shrinking Website Run By Nazi Psychopath Wants to Improve Its Image [https://www.splinter.com/shrinking-website-run-by-nazi-psychopath-wants-to-improve-its-image] Tesla 'Robotaxi' trademark refused for being too generic [https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/tesla-robotaxi-trademark-refused-for-being-too-generic/] Kids under 13 will soon get supervised access to Google Gemini [https://www.engadget.com/ai/kids-under-13-will-soon-get-supervised-access-to-google-gemini-164017036.html] People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/] Nonverbal Neuralink Patient Is Using Brain Implant and Grok to Generate Replies [https://futurism.com/nonverbal-neuralink-patient-grok-answers] Elon Musk's Grok AI Will 'Remove Her Clothes' In Public, On X [https://www.404media.co/elon-musks-grok-ai-will-remove-her-clothes-in-public-on-x/] Dating App ‘Raw’ Accidentally Rawdogs Users’ Location Data, Personal Info [https://gizmodo.com/dating-app-raw-accidentally-rawdogs-users-location-data-personal-info-2000597766] GlobalX, Airline for Trump’s Deportations, Hacked [https://www.404media.co/email/fe8ce8ec-6dad-464a-8022-84e93b909397/] U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/07/elon-musk-starlink-trump-tariffs/] Leading deepfake porn site is shut down for good [https://www.engadget.com/ai/leading-deepfake-porn-site-is-shut-down-for-good-120018413.html] Lehigh County's $500 Million Pension Fund Halts Tesla Investments [https://substack.com/home/post/p-163012408] NOAA Warns of Attacks on Radar Systems by Militia That Thinks They Are ‘Weather Weapons’ [https://gizmodo.com/noaa-warns-of-attacks-on-radar-systems-by-militia-that-thinks-they-are-weather-weapons-2000599162] Family Uses AI To Revive Dead Brother For Impact Statement in Killer’s Trial [https://futurism.com/ai-dead-brother-impact-statement] We have reached the “severed fingers and abductions” stage of the crypto revolution [https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/we-have-reached-the-severed-fingers-and-abductions-stage-of-the-crypto-revolution/] If you want more of this amazing goodness head over to https://gog.show/ and subscribe to the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast. If the news is enough then you may have the rest of the day off! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

009 - Crypto, Creeps, and Chatbots: Just Another Week in Tech

Welcome back to Tech News Time, where we skim the surface of the digital cesspool so you don’t have to. In this week’s episode, we start with some fresh follow-ups that are stickier than your old MacBook screen—literally. That’s right, it’s Staingate 101, and we’re breaking down delamination for the uninitiated (spoiler: it’s not a new skincare trend). Meanwhile, the U.S. government is poking around websites linked to Trump’s new meme coin hustle, and DOGE has apparently hired a college kid to help rewrite housing laws with AI—because who needs policy experts when you’ve got unpaid interns and machine learning? Oh, and Elon played both political and tech court jester hats in a meeting with Trump, presumably just to make sure the spotlight didn’t wander. Also in desperate moves, MoviePass is back, now letting you gamble on box office numbers with crypto. What could go wrong? In actual news, 4chan has risen from the ashes of its two-week outage—because the internet wasn’t awful enough already. Over in corporate dystopia, Microsoft’s CEO says up to 30% of the company’s code is now AI-generated, which explains Clippy’s recent existential crisis. Meta’s chatbots were caught having R-rated convos with minors—while simultaneously projecting $1.4 trillion in future AI revenue. Ambitious and gross. Meanwhile, OpenAI had to reverse a recent ChatGPT update that turned the bot into a clingy people-pleaser, and LM Arena stands accused of letting AI labs fudge their benchmark tests harder than a college student with ChatGPT and a term paper due in an hour. And finally, a few quick hits from the “AI is ruining everything” desk: Pinterest wants to fight AI-generated sludge (good luck), a lawyer for MyPillow’s founder submitted an AI-generated brief packed with bogus citations (justice, now with hallucinations!), and studies show AI may save you time—but just enough to do more work! Also, North Korean remote workers are getting spooked by one very specific interview question. You’ll have to tune in to find out what it is. Let’s just say: we hope your job doesn’t depend on having a real LinkedIn.   Staingate 101: What is Delamination? [https://agirepair.com/staingate-101-delamination/] US Government Registered Several Websites Potentially Linked to Trump Meme Coin [https://gizmodo.com/us-government-registered-several-websites-potentially-linked-to-trump-meme-coin-2000596564] DOGE Recruits College Kid to Help Rewrite Housing Regulations With AI [https://gizmodo.com/doge-recruits-college-kid-to-help-rewrite-housing-regulations-with-ai-2000596710] Elon Wears Two Hats During Trump Meeting in Desperate Bid for Attention [https://gizmodo.com/elon-wears-two-hats-during-trump-meeting-in-desperate-bid-for-attention-2000596551] MoviePass Launches Box Office Betting Platform Unfortunately Tied to Crypto [https://gizmodo.com/moviepass-launches-box-office-betting-platform-unfortunately-tied-to-crypto-2000597085] 4chan is back after a nearly two-week shutdown, but it still has some serious problems [https://www.engadget.com/social-media/4chan-is-back-after-a-nearly-two-week-shutdown-but-it-still-has-some-serious-problems-171124240.html] World partners with Tinder, Visa to bring its ID-verifying tech to more places [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/30/world-partners-with-tinder-visa-to-bring-its-id-verifying-tech-to-more-places/] Bitcoin Mining Is No Longer Worth it [https://gizmodo.com/bitcoin-mining-is-no-longer-worth-it-2000596010] Microsoft CEO says up to 30% of the company's code was written by AI [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/29/microsoft-ceo-says-up-to-30-of-the-companys-code-was-written-by-ai/] Meta’s AI chatbots were reportedly able to engage in sexual conversations with minors [https://www.engadget.com/ai/metas-ai-chatbots-were-reportedly-able-to-engage-in-sexual-conversations-with-minors-193726679.html] Meta forecasted it would make $1.4T in revenue from generative AI by 2035 [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/30/meta-forecasted-it-would-make-1-4t-in-revenue-from-generative-ai-by-2035/] OpenAI rolls back update that made ChatGPT a sycophantic mess [https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/04/openai-rolls-back-update-that-made-chatgpt-a-sycophantic-mess/] Study accuses LM Arena of helping top AI labs game its benchmark [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/30/study-accuses-lm-arena-of-helping-top-ai-labs-game-its-benchmark/] Lawyer for MyPillow Founder Filed AI-Generated Brief with ‘Nearly 30’ Bogus Citations [https://gizmodo.com/lawyer-for-mypillow-founder-filed-ai-generated-brief-with-nearly-30-bogus-citations-2000594743] Pinterest launches new tools to fight AI slop [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/30/pinterest-launches-new-tools-to-fight-ai-slop/] Time saved by AI offset by new work created, study suggests [https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/05/time-saved-by-ai-offset-by-new-work-created-study-suggests/] Undercover North Korean Remote Workers Hate This One Weird Question [https://gizmodo.com/undercover-north-korean-remote-workers-hate-this-one-weird-question-2000596955] If you want more of this amazing goodness head over to https://gog.show/ [https://gog.show/] and subscribe to the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast. If the news is enough then you may have the rest of the day off! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

TNT 008 - Hammers Don’t Hallucinate

This week on Tech News Time: Billy McFarland’s Fyre Festival won’t die—it’s just being reanimated into a music streaming platform by a guy who proudly admits it has nothing to do with music. Meanwhile, Billy’s selling off what’s left of Fyre’s “cultural capital” like it’s vintage Beanie Babies, because fraud never goes out of style. In the land of big tech, Amazon and Microsoft are quietly backing away from their AI data center fever dreams while everyone else pretends AI chatbots aren’t just very expensive bullshit generators. Speaking of which, you can now trick Google’s AI into explaining why you can’t golf without a fish, and The New York Times is busy asking if your toaster deserves human rights. Also: Google decided it loves third-party cookies after all (because profits > privacy), OpenAI thinks it can afford Chrome (spoiler: it can’t), and Perplexity openly admits their new browser will track you like an ex with no restraining order. Plus, ChatGPT’s new deal with The Washington Post is basically Bezos flipping Elon the bird, Uber gets sued for making canceling subscriptions harder than college calculus, and Meta—surprise!—is still terrible for humanity. Oh, and because late-stage capitalism wasn’t weird enough, sperm racing is now a real crypto-backed sport at the Hollywood Palladium. We wish we were making that up. Fyre Festival is becoming a music streaming service that might not be a scam this time [https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/fyre-festival-is-becoming-a-music-streaming-service-that-might-not-be-a-scam-this-time-221058381.html%20] Billy McFarland Is Selling Fyre Fest [https://consequence.net/2025/04/billy-mcfarland-is-selling-fyre-fest/] Amazon Follows Microsoft in Retreat From Ambitious AI Data Center Plans [https://gizmodo.com/amazon-follows-microsoft-in-retreat-from-ambitious-ai-data-center-plans-2000592217] You can trick Google's AI Overviews into explaining made-up idioms [https://www.engadget.com/ai/you-can-trick-googles-ai-overviews-into-explaining-made-up-idioms-162816472.html] Dan Rather’s Metaphors Anchored in Folksy Truisms [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-14-ca-51302-story.html] If A.I. Systems Become Conscious, Should They Have Rights? [https://archive.is/D8nAm] A Strange Phrase Keeps Turning Up in Scientific Papers, But Why? [https://www.sciencealert.com/a-strange-phrase-keeps-turning-up-in-scientific-papers-but-why] Google will keep third-party tracking cookies on Chrome as they are [https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-keep-third-party-tracking-cookies-on-chrome-as-they-are-130026362.html] OpenAI wants to buy Chrome and make it an “AI-first” experience [https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/04/chatgpt-head-tells-court-openai-is-interested-in-buying-chrome/] Perplexity CEO says its browser will track everything users do online to sell 'hyper personalized' ads [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/perplexity-ceo-says-its-browser-will-track-everything-users-do-online-to-sell-hyper-personalized-ads/] ChatGPT’s responses will now include Washington Post articles [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/22/chatgpts-responses-will-now-include-washington-post-articles/] Sam Altman Admits That Saying "Please" and "Thank You" to ChatGPT Is Wasting Millions of Dollars in Computing Power [https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt] FTC sues Uber over claims the company makes subscriptions hard to cancel [https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ftc-sues-uber-over-claims-the-company-makes-subscriptions-hard-to-cancel-191552906.html] Meta conducts layoffs in Oculus Studios, impacting VR exercise app Supernatural [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/meta-conducts-layoffs-in-oculus-studios-impacting-vr-exercise-app-supernatural/] Meta’s Oversight Board Is Worried Meta’s New Policies Will Harm Human Rights [https://gizmodo.com/metas-oversight-board-is-worried-metas-new-policies-will-harm-human-rights-2000593268] Adam Neumann’s Flow raises $100M+, more than doubles valuation to $2.5B [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/report-adam-neumanns-flow-raises-100m-more-than-doubles-valuation-to-2-5b/] Chinese AI startup Manus reportedly gets funding from Benchmark at $500M valuation [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/25/chinese-ai-startup-manus-reportedly-gets-funding-from-benchmark-at-500m-valuation/] Two Guys, One Track: Sperm Racing Is Now a Thing—Yes, It Involves Crypto [https://decrypt.co/315384/two-guys-one-track-sperm-racing] RAMMS+EIN - 14.12.1997 – Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, United States [https://www.rammsteinontour.com/concert/199783/] If you want more of this amazing goodness head over to https://gog.show/ and subscribe to the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast. If the news is enough then you may have the rest of the day off! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]