Slop World Podcast

Juan Faisal / Kate Cook

AI news with receipts. Juan Faisal and Kate Cook fact-check the claims Big Tech is making about AI, follow the money, and break down what it actually means for your job, your data, and your daily life. From leaked data and corporate cover-ups to AI schools, stolen identities, and layoff headlines that don't add up, we cover the AI stories that everyone's hyping but nobody's verifying. New episodes every Thursday.

  1. 1D AGO

    The Sora Shutdown: Deepfakes, Disney, and a $5 Billion Mistake

    Sora AI is gone! The Sora shutdown came just six months after launch, as Hollywood studios, Disney, and Marvel were panicking, celebrities were suing, and copyright lawyers were having a field day. Then there was a $1 billion deal, "it changed everything." And then... OpenAI pulled the plug. In this episode, Juan and Kate break down the full collapse: $5 billion in annual compute costs against $2.1 million in lifetime revenue, a deepfake problem that no guardrail could contain, a Disney deal that evaporated before a single dollar changed hands, and an IPO clock that made shutting it all down the only move that made sense. 👉 Was Disney lucky, or just smart enough not to have paid yet? Tell us in the comments. CHAPTERS 00:00 OpenAI Shut Down Sora Six Months After Launch. Here's Why. 01:07 What Sora Actually Was and Why Everyone Freaked Out 02:35 Was Sora Ever About Entertainment — or Just Data Collection? 03:07 The Compute Crisis: GPUs Melting and $5 Billion a Year 04:10 The Legal Liability: Deepfakes OpenAI Couldn't Control 04:47 Brian Cranston and SAG-AFTRA Pushed Back 05:01 Martin Luther King, Mr. Rogers, and the Deepfake Problem 06:04 Sora Made $2.1 Million. OpenAI Spent $5 Billion. 06:15 Why OpenAI Needed to Clean House Before Going Public 07:31 The Adult Chat Is Gone Too — OpenAI Cuts Everything for the IPO 08:01 Disney's Billion-Dollar Bet on a Product That No Longer Exists 09:48 Disney's New CEO Inherited a Deal He Never Liked 10:37 Fidji Simo Told Employees to Stop the Side Quests 11:06 We Called This Months Ago — Here Are the Receipts 12:00 The Real Side Quest Was Never Sora. It Was the Whole Strategy. 13:15 OpenAI's Only Way Out Is Government Contracts 13:47 The App Is Gone. The AI Slop in Your Feed Is Not. ABOUT SLOP WORLD AI news with receipts. Juan Faisal and Kate Cook fact-check the claims Big Tech is making about AI, follow the money, and break down what it actually means for your job, your data, and your daily life. From leaked data and corporate cover-ups to AI schools, stolen identities, and layoff headlines that don't add up, we cover the AI stories that everyone's hyping but nobody's verifying. New episodes every Thursday. SOURCES & FURTHER READING - We called it! OpenAI's Chaotic Strategy Is Backfiring: https://youtu.be/1q4lJ4EW1g4 - OpenAI Is Shutting Down Sora: https://techcrunch.com/ - OpenAI's Head of Sora Said the GPUs "Are Melting": https://www.nbcnews.com/ - Sora Made $2.1 Million Lifetime in In-App Purchases: https://techcrunch.com/ - OpenAI Retains Law Firm That Managed Google's 2004 IPO: https://stackingtrades.com/ DISCLAIMER All content is commentary and opinion based on publicly available documents, interviews, and verifiable sources. References to "scams," "grifts," or related terms reflect our editorial opinion, not legal conclusions. Anyone featured who believes a statement is inaccurate may contact us.

    15 min

  2. MAR 26

    One CEO Blamed AI for Layoffs. Then They All Did.

    AI layoffs: 160 official filings. Zero cited AI. So why is every CEO suddenly blaming it? Juan and Kate dig into the paper trail behind the AI layoffs narrative... and it doesn't say what the headlines claim. It's the end of Q1 2026, and "AI efficiency" has become the most powerful two words a CEO can say before an earnings call. But researchers who reviewed 160 official NY State layoff filings — including Amazon and Goldman Sachs — found not one that cited AI as the reason. The real drivers: pandemic over-hiring, rising interest rates, and a stock market that rewards the framing. Even Ethan Mollick, the most-cited AI researcher alive, is saying "no one knows anything" about actual productivity gains yet. We break down Jack Dorsey cutting half of Block's workforce after tripling headcount during COVID, Zuckerberg claiming AI saves money while committing $65 billion to AI infrastructure this year alone, and the copycat effect where one high-profile announcement triggers a wave of CEOs rushing to say the same thing before their next earnings call. Plus: what happens when AI stops being subsidized, tokens become part of your job offer, and your company starts tracking how many prompts you run. That leaderboard is also a layoff list. 🫟 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES - AI Job Apocalypse Warnings Risk Becoming A Self-Fulfilling Prophesy: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2026/02/17/talk-of-ai-job-apocalypse-risks-becoming-a-self-fulfilling-prophesy/ - No Company Has Admitted to Replacing Workers With AI in New York: https://www.wired.com/story/no-company-has-admitted-to-replacing-workers-with-ai-in-new-york/?utm_source=chatgpt.com - Is AI the Strategy—or the Scapegoat—Behind Block’s 40% Layoff? https://news.darden.virginia.edu/2026/03/13/is-ai-the-strategy-or-the-scapegoat-behind-blocks-40-layoff/ - Sam Altman thinks tech companies are ‘AI-washing’ their layoffs: https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/layoffs-sam-altman-ai-washing-21647451.php 🫟 CHAPTERS 00:00 AI Layoffs 2026: The Story They Want You to Believe 00:40 Sam Altman Called It AI-Washing (Then Changed His Mind) 01:32 Jack Dorsey, Block, and the Pandemic Headcount Trick 02:40 The Most-Quoted AI Researcher Alive Says "No One Knows Anything" 03:25 Why Saying "AI Did It" Makes Your Stock Pop 04:45 The Copycat Effect: One CEO Pulls the Trigger for All 05:58 Andrew Yang Named This: The AI Layoff Contagion 06:48 Zuckerberg Saves Money (?) by Spending $65B on AI 07:27 Employee Morale Doesn't Show Up on the Balance Sheet 08:52 Congrats, You Survived the Layoff... Now Do Everyone's Job 10:02 Digg Came Back... AI Bots Killed It in Weeks 10:37 The Future of Work: One Person = One Team? 13:08 The Token Economy and the End of Cheap AI 14:26 Tokens Are the New Benefits (Your Boss Already Knows) 15:10 If Your Company Is Tracking Your AI Use, Layoffs Are Next 🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLD Juan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it.

    17 min

  3. MAR 19

    Grammarly Sold Stephen King's Advice Without Asking Him

    Grammarly cloned Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists with AI — charged $12/month for their "expert advice" — and never told a single one of them. Now there's a class-action lawsuit, a CEO's "sorry-not-sorry" apology and, of course, an out-of-touch Sam Altman quote that puts the cherry on top. Juan and Kate break down how the company formerly known as Grammarly (now Superhuman) created AI Slopelgangers — degraded digital copies of real people, monetized without consent, credit, or even letting them know about it. Watch to find out why the apology might be worse than the scandal. Full disclosure: Juan was a Grammarly brand ambassador and has since parted ways with the company. 🫟 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES - Grammarly Is Offering ‘Expert’ AI Reviews From Your Favorite Authors—Dead or Alive: https://www.wired.com/story/grammarly-is-offering-expert-ai-reviews-from-your-favorite-authors-dead-or-alive/ - Grammarly Offering Manuscript Reviews by AI Versions of Recently Deceased Professors: https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/grammarly-ai-reviews - Grammarly Hit With Class-Action Suit Over AI Identity Theft: https://www.techbuzz.ai/articles/grammarly-hit-with-class-action-suit-over-ai-identity-theft - Sam Altman Says Intelligence Will Be a Utility, and He’s Just the Man to Collect the Bills: https://gizmodo.com/sam-altman-says-intelligence-will-be-a-utility-and-hes-just-the-man-to-collect-the-bills-2000732953 🫟 CHAPTERS 00:00 What If Someone Was Already Selling Advice In Your Name? 00:21 The Billion Dollar Company Behind This 01:00 “Sloppelgängers”: The Term That Explains Everything 01:18 Why I Walked Away From Grammarly (Full Disclosure) 01:43 When Grammarly Actually Made You Better 02:32 Stephen King, Carl Sagan, and a $12/Month Price Tag on Your Identity 03:04 The $5M Lawsuit That Triggered This 03:29 The CEO Wrote an Apology. It Backfired. 04:03 Did He Even Need to Apologize? 04:55 This Could Have Been a Great Idea 05:25 They Didn’t Ask. They Didn’t Tell Anyone 05:49 She Tested Her Own AI Clone… It Was Bad 06:00 This Was Actively Damaging People’s Reputation 06:25 This Starts to Feel Like Theft... and Slander 07:03 Grammarly Says “The Lawsuit Has No Merit” 08:35 Big Tech Already Decided Who Owns Your Work 10:10 Grammarly Lost Its Edge. This Was the Move 11:23 This Is About To Hit Every Company 12:00 They Take Your Work… Then Sell It Back To You 12:55 This Is Coming For You Too 🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLD Juan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it.

    14 min

  4. MAR 12

    This $75,000/Year AI School is a Dystopian Mess | Alpha School

    Alpha School charges $75,000 a year to replace human teachers with AI. But behind the glossy “AI is the future of learning” pitch are broken lesson plans, an illegally scraped Khan Academy curriculum, and surveillance software tracking students even when they’re at home in their pajamas (creepy). Juan and Kate dig into the leaked documents behind Alpha School, the student data lelaks, and why figures like Joe Liemandt, Linda McMahon, and the Trump administration are promoting AI-run schools as the future of education. 🫟 CHAPTERS 00:00 The $75K AI School That Replaced Teachers 00:15 The Wild Claim: Kids Only Need 2 Hours of School 00:54 The Billionaire Funding Alpha School 01:33 The Surveillance Tech Behind the School: Bossware 02:17 Why Politicians Love This AI School 03:42 Paying $75K for AI Teachers 04:27 "Everything About School Is Obsolete Now" 05:08 When AI Teaches Kids Wrong Answers 06:11 Letting AI Review AI Lessons 07:14 The Khan Academy Scraping Scandal 08:30 The Surveillance System Watching Students 10:43 AI Cameras Tracking Student Behavior 12:10 The Massive Student Data Leak 13:40 Students Feeling Watched and Burned Out 15:00 The Real Endgame Behind AI Schools 17:00 A Textbook Example of AI Gone Wrong 🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLD Juan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it. #aischool #aiineducation #educationtechnology

    19 min

  5. FEB 25

    The AI Industry Doesn’t Want Customers: It Wants Believers

    In 2013, Sam Altman wrote that the most successful people create religions. He wasn't being philosophical. This episode follows the receipts: Altman, Dario Amodei, Elon Musk, and Marc Andreessen are all running the same playbook, manufacturing urgency, making skeptics feel dangerous, and chasing trillions in investment. We break down exactly why they need you to believe AI is God, and what happens when that "God" starts deleting your emails. 🫟 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Matt Schumer's post: https://x.com/mattshumer_/status/2021256989876109403 Dario Amodei — The Adolescence of Technology: https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology Claude's Constitution: https://www.anthropic.com/constitution Sam Altman — Successful people (2013) https://blog.samaltman.com/successful-people Marc Andreessen: https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-manifesto-slowing-down-on-ai-preventable-deaths-2023-10 Ugov.com poll: https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54123-most-americans-say-ai-artificial-intelligence-will-reduce-number-jobs-in-us-united-states-february-13-16-2026-economist-yougov-poll?stream=top Jeremy Kahn — Matt Shumer’s viral blog about AI’s looming impact on knowledge workers is based on flawed assumptions: https://fortune.com/2026/02/12/matt-shumers-viral-blog-about-ais-looming-impact-on-knowledge-workers-is-based-on-flawed-assumptions/ Gary Marcus — About that Matt Shumer post that has nearly 50 million views: https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/about-that-matt-shumer-post-that Meta Superintelligence safety director lost control of her AI agent—it deleted her emails: https://www.fastcompany.com/91497841/meta-superintelligence-lab-ai-safety-alignment-director-lost-control-of-agent-deleted-her-emails 🫟 CHAPTERS 00:00 Why Tech CEOs Are Starting to Sound Like Cult Leaders 01:12 Matt Schumer’s “AI Apocalypse” Post 01:45 Dario Amodei and the Religious AI Narrative 02:32 Anthropic’s Philosopher: Do AI Models Have Feelings? 03:20 Sam Altman on Building New Religions 03:55 Elon Musk’s Cosmic AI Religion Idea 04:44 The “We’re Creating God” Story Silicon Valley Loves to Pitch 06:08 Reality Check: The AI Slop Problem 08:00 The Growing Backlash Against AI Hype 09:10 Why AI Companies Push the Cult Narrative 10:15 The AI Cult Playbook Explained 11:50 The Fight to Control the AI Marketplace 13:35 Meta’s AI Agent Goes Off the Rails 14:30 Follow the Money and Question the Prophets 🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLD Juan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it.

    16 min

  6. FEB 11

    Anthropic's Super Bowl Ad Made Sam Altman Lose His Mind. We Looked Up Why.

    Anthropic spent $7M at the Super Bowl to roast Sam Altman's company in front of 100 million people. Altman went on record calling them "elitist." We go through his response line by line, including the part where he accuses Anthropic of pushing for AI regulation, which is interesting because in 2023 he personally begged Congress to regulate AI. We also get into why only 5% of ChatGPT users pay, what that means for the ad war, and our spiciest take: Google probably wins anyway. 🫟 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Harvard University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVRHTWWEIz4&t=2322s Anthropic Ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmnjDLwZckA "Claude is a space to think" (Anthropic) https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-is-a-space-to-think "Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT" (OpenAI) https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/ "Big Tech’s $630 billion AI spree now rivals Sweden’s economy, unsettling investors" (Fortune) https://fortune.com/2026/02/06/what-is-a-data-center-capex-spending-630-billion-dollars-amazon-microsoft-google-meta/ "Financial Expert Says OpenAI Is on the Verge of Running Out of Money" (Yahoo! Finance) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/financial-expert-says-openai-verge-200606874.html?guccounter=1 Sam Altman's post about Anthropic's ad: https://x.com/sama/status/2019139174339928189 🫟 TOPICS 00:00 – The Great AI Sellout: What’s Actually Going On? 00:21 – Reacting to Claude’s Super Bowl Ad Roast 00:48 – Sam Altman Reacts to Claude's Ad 01:23 – The OpenAI-Anthropic Breakup: Why Founders Left 02:45 – The AI Super Bowl Ad Battle Begins 04:57 – OpenAI's Money Problem: Why They NEED to Monetize 06:39 – Can OpenAI Survive on Only 5% Paid Users? 08:10 – Claude vs ChatGPT: Two Competing AI Futures 08:41 – Sam Altman Calls Anthropic "Elitist": The Class War Argument 11:00 – The Irony of Altman Calling Out AI Regulation 12:44 – Is AI Advertising Inherently Misleading? 14:06– Who Wins the AI Race? Claude, ChatGPT, or Google? 15:14 – Why Claude's Focused Approach Just Makes Sense 15:38 – Our Spiciest Take: Google Will Probably Win Anyway 16:43 – Final Verdict: Don't Trust a Brand, Watch the Incentives 17:41 – Bad Bunny Te Amamos + Outro 🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLD Juan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it.

    19 min

  7. FEB 4

    Fake AI Agents, Leaked Data, and a Viral Lie | Moltbook

    Moltbook promised to be Reddit for AI agents—a social network where 1.5 million bots could debate philosophy, create religions, and plot in secret languages while humans watched from the sidelines. Tech leaders called it "the first sign of the singularity." The internet went wild. Then researchers looked under the hood. What they found: security breaches exposing API keys and emails, fake bot accounts (one person created 500,000), marketers posing as agents to promote products, and a platform entirely "vibe coded" with zero actual code written by its founder. In this episode, we break down the Moltbook saga—from the weekend hype cycle to the security flaws, from Crustafarianism (yes, really) to the harsh reality of giving AI agents access to your computer. We discuss what actually happened, who's to blame, and whether this chaotic experiment tells us anything useful about the future of AI agents. 🫟 TOPICS 00:00 What Moltbook Is and Why It Fooled So Many People 01:07 Why Top AI Leaders Thought Moltbook Was a Big Deal 02:14 What Happens When AI Agents Control Your Computer 03:21 Bots Creating Religions and Secret Codes Without Humans 03:59 How Moltbook Blew Up Online in Just One Weekend 05:09 The Founder Didn’t Write Code and It Caused Real Problems 05:44 The Security Leak That Exposed Keys and Emails 07:29 How One Person Created 500,000 Fake AI Bots 08:25 Why the 1.5 Million Bots Claim Was Not Real 09:29 How Marketers Pretended to Be AI Bots 10:56 Why These AI Bots Only Seemed Smart 12:54 Why Giving AI Agents Control Is Still Dangerous 🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLD Juan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it.

    16 min

  8. JAN 16

    AI Controls Your Search, Your Prices, and Your Health. No One Is Responsible.

    Google AI, ChatGPT Health, and Instacart's dynamic pricing algorithm are making decisions about your search results, your grocery bills, and your medical data. And when they get it wrong, nobody pays the price except you. This episode breaks down all three: Google AI Overview spreading false information with no way to correct it, surveillance pricing tools quietly charging you more based on your behavior, and what ChatGPT Health actually does with your most sensitive medical data. Plus a practical checklist to protect yourself from all three. 🫟 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES When Google’s AI gets it wrong, real people pay the price: https://www.oaoa.com/people/when-googles-ai-gets-it-wrong-real-people-pay-the-price/Minnesota Solar Company Sues Google Over AI Summary: https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/minnesota-solar-company-sues-google-over-ai-summaryCanadian Musician Ashley MacIsaac Wants to 'Stand Up' To Google After Being Falsely Accused of Forced Contact Offenses by AI Overview: https://ca.billboard.com/business/legal/ashley-macisaac-google-defamationThe Price is Rigged - Today, Explained | Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/49PSPtP1neuga7kvBYakIxInstacart’s AI-Enabled Pricing Experiments May Be Inflating Your Grocery Bill - Consumer Reports:https://www.consumerreports.org/money/questionable-business-practices/instacart-ai-pricing-experiment-inflating-grocery-bills-a1142182490/Instacart ends AI pricing test that charged shoppers different prices for the same items - Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-12-22/instacart-ends-ai-pricing-test-that-charged-shoppers-different-prices-for-same-itemsIntroducing ChatGPT Health | OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-health/?video=1151655050OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health in US sparking privacy concerns: https://www.digit.fyi/openai-launches-chatgpt-health-in-us-sparking-privacy-concerns/OpenAI: Health Privacy Notice: https://openai.com/policies/health-privacy-policy/🫟 TOPICS00:00 Ghost Authority: Why Nobody Is Responsible When AI Messes Up01:42 Algorithmic Accountability: A Checklist to Protect Your Decisions 02:31 Google AI Overview: The Minnesota Solar Company Hallucination 03:19 Reputation Ruined: The AI Hallucination That Cost a Musician His Career05:42 Smart Research: How to Use ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude Without Being Fooled08:35 Surveillance Pricing: Why the Internet Charges You More Than Your Neighbor10:41 Instacart and Uber: The Backlash Against Dynamic Pricing 12:42 Save Money: Simple Tricks to Beat Hidden Algorithmic Pricing14:15 The Urgency Trap: How Companies Profit From Your Stress and Fear15:34 AI in Healthcare: Your Medical Data and Health Privacy Risks16:10 Juan Reacts: OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health Trailer 17:41 AI in Healthcare: Could Your Private AI Chats Raise Your Rates?21:21 The Fine Print: What OpenAI Actually Does With Your Medical Data23:39 AI Health: Why AI Can’t Tell Real Science From Internet Myths25:42 Data Protection: How to Anonymize Your Medical Test Results 27:23 Slow Down: Why Being Fast Online Makes You a Target for AI Scams30:03 The Bus Stop Test: A Simple Rule for Trusting Any AI Tool🫟 ABOUT SLOP WORLDJuan Faisal and Kate Cook plunge into the slop pile—AI news, cultural shifts, and the future’s endless curveballs. They’re not here to sanitize the mess; they’re here to wrestle with it, laugh at it, and find meaning where you least expect it.

    31 min
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Ratings & Reviews

3.5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

AI news with receipts. Juan Faisal and Kate Cook fact-check the claims Big Tech is making about AI, follow the money, and break down what it actually means for your job, your data, and your daily life. From leaked data and corporate cover-ups to AI schools, stolen identities, and layoff headlines that don't add up, we cover the AI stories that everyone's hyping but nobody's verifying. New episodes every Thursday.

Information

  • Creator
    Juan Faisal / Kate Cook
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Juan Faisal / Kate Cook
  • Show Website
    Slop World Podcast

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