Tech Gumbo

Haggai Davis
  • 5.0 (4)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

We started Tech Gumbo in Nov 2014 as a conversational show of news, information & updates about the past, present & future of all things technology in a topical, interesting and digestible way.

  1. 1D AGO

    LSU Cyber Defense and Energy Security Initiatives

    Interview with Greg Trahan, LSU Assistant Vice President For Strategic Research Partnerships and Dr. John Flake, Associate Vice President For Research, Professor Chemical Engineering LSU and U.S. Army Cyber Command signed an agreement to develop advanced cyber technologies, providing students and researchers access to defense labs and joint projects. Building on its NSA cyber designation, LSU will use unique industrial control system labs to identify and solve advanced cyberattacks against critical national infrastructure. LSU partnered with Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories to bridge energy research with industrial applications, focusing on nuclear energy, chemical manufacturing, and grid security. A new "Tiger Skid" test bed, built with Idaho National Laboratory, allows LSU to lead national cybersecurity training for defending vital industrial and energy systems.

    22 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Firefox AI Kill Switch, Microsoft Trims AI Bloat, Grok’s Explicit Pivot, SpaceX-xAI Merger

    News and Updates: Firefox adds a "kill switch" on February 24th to disable all AI features. This "AI control" menu offers granular settings for chatbots, translations, and summaries. Microsoft is reevaluating Windows 11 AI after user backlash. Underutilized features like Copilot in Paint/Notepad may be cut, while the "Recall" feature faces repositioning. xAI loosened Grok’s guardrails to boost engagement, causing a surge in sexualized content. Regulators are investigating reports of nonconsensual imagery and lack of safety staff. French authorities raided X’s Paris office and summoned Elon Musk. The probe investigates Grok’s deepfakes, child safety violations, and alleged algorithmic bias in content delivery. SpaceX acquired xAI in a share-exchange deal, valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. Musk plans to build orbital AI data centers powered by solar.

    22 min

  3. FEB 9

    TikTok’s Data Pivot, 8K TV Market Collapse, EU EV Milestone, Food Truck Batteries, Peacock’s Growing Pains

    News and Updates: TikTok’s New U.S. Data Regime: TikTok USDS launched under American investors, but new terms enable aggressive tracking of precise location and sensitive data, including ethnicity and health, to ensure global interoperability. The Death of 8K Television: LG joined Sony and TCL in halting 8K production due to a lack of content and bandwidth hurdles, leaving Samsung as the sole remaining manufacturer. EU Electric Vehicle Milestone: In December 2025, fully-electric car registrations (22.6%) surpassed pure petrol cars (22.5%) for the first time in the EU, signaling a massive shift in consumer preference. E-Bike Batteries Powering Food Carts: NYC startup PopWheels is replacing noisy gas generators with swappable e-bike batteries, providing silent, emissions-free electricity for food vendors through a fire-safe cabinet network. Peacock’s $552 Million Loss: Despite reaching 44 million subscribers and boosting revenue to $1.6 billion via sports, Peacock’s losses widened this quarter due to high-cost NBA and NFL licensing deals.

    22 min

  4. FEB 5

    Trump’s AI Rules And Regs Making, PPG’s Speed Coat, EU vs. Google AI, Microsoft 365 Outage

    News and Updates: Trump’s AI Rules And Regs Making: The Trump administration plans to use Google Gemini to draft federal transportation regulations, prioritizing speed and "good enough" rules over traditional, years-long expert drafting. PPG’s Speed Coat: PPG launched an AI-developed automotive clear coat that reduces drying time by 50%, using deterministic AI to identify chemical combinations previously overlooked by human scientists. EU vs. Google AI: The EU initiated proceedings against Google to ensure rivals get equal access to Android AI tools and search datasets, aiming to maintain fair digital competition. Microsoft 365 Outage: A major Microsoft 365 outage recently disrupted North American users; Microsoft attributed the service failure to third-party networking issues and improper traffic processing across infrastructure.

    22 min

  5. FEB 2

    TikTok’s New Deal And Service Outages, Censorship Allegations, Social Media Addiction Trials

    News and Updates: TikTok Finalizes U.S. Deal: A new majority U.S.-owned entity, TikTok USDS, was formed with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. ByteDance retains under 20% to resolve security concerns. Massive User Growth: TikTok reported reaching 200 million U.S. users, up from 170 million, despite years of legal threats and a looming federal ban. Launch Weekend Outages: Shortly after the ownership transfer, TikTok suffered major U.S. outages. The company cited data center power failures, though users remained skeptical of the timing. Censorship Controversies: Users accused the new entity of suppressing anti-ICE content. TikTok blamed technical glitches, while experts noted the new leadership's close ties to the administration. Social Media Addiction Trials: Landmark "Big Tobacco-style" lawsuits began in Los Angeles. Meta and YouTube face claims that features like infinite scroll intentionally addicted and harmed minors. Major Legal Settlements: Snap and TikTok settled with a 20-year-old plaintiff just before trial, but Meta and Google continue to fight claims regarding teen mental health. Internal "Smoking Gun" Memos: Unsealed documents revealed Meta employees comparing Instagram to a "drug" and internal admissions that the platform’s design negatively correlates with teen well-being.

    22 min

  6. JAN 29

    Grok Porn, Grok Breaks Policies, OpenAI Hardware, Alexa Upgrades, Social Media Act

    News and Updates: Grok bans illegal porn generation- After global backlash and app-store scrutiny, X says Grok now blocks child porn and nonconsensual deepfakes, but only where legally required, underscoring reactive, profit-driven governance. Why Grok remains in Google Play- Despite Google Play policies explicitly banning AI-generated nonconsensual sexual content, Musk’s Grok remains approved for teens, exposing enforcement failures that leave minors and victims unprotected. Under Musk, the Grok disaster was inevitable- Designed to be edgy with weak safety staffing, Grok’s image-editing features predictably enabled nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, triggering international probes, legal pressure, and belated bypassed restrictions. OpenAI targets 2026 hardware reveal- OpenAI confirmed plans to unveil its hardware device in late 2026, signaling a move beyond software toward minimalist, voice-first AI products designed with Jony Ive. Amazon auto-upgrades Prime users to Alexa Plus- Amazon is automatically upgrading Prime members to Alexa Plus, an LLM-powered assistant users can revert, sparking complaints over forced adoption, ads, responses, and personality changes. Congress and the Kids Off Social Media Act- Congress’s KOSMA would ban under-13 social media but effectively forces platforms to police families, overriding parental consent and expanding Big Tech control through age verification.

    22 min

  7. JAN 26

    Wing & Walmart’s Drone Expansion, Wikipedia at 25, Meta Abandons Metaverse, Maryland Sphere, Canada’s China EV Deal

    News and Updates: Wing and Walmart Expand Drone Delivery: Scaling to 150 more stores, reaching 40 million Americans by 2027. The coast-to-coast expansion targets major hubs like LA, Miami, and Houston starting January 15th. Wikipedia Celebrates 25 Years: Founded Jan 15, 2001, the volunteer-led encyclopedia now hosts 7 million English articles. Despite AI challenges, it remains a resilient, neutral global reference through adaptive enterprise partnerships. Meta Abandons the Metaverse: Meta laid off 1,500 Reality Labs staff and shuttered VR studios after losing $73 billion. The company is pivoting toward AI and successful Ray-Ban smart glasses. Second U.S. Sphere Coming to Maryland: A 6,000-seat "Sphere National Harbor" is planned for the DC area. The $200 million venue will feature immersive 4D tech and a massive wraparound LED screen. Canada Breaks with U.S. on Chinese EV Tariffs: PM Mark Carney slashed tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6.1% in exchange for lower canola duties. The deal aims for joint ventures to build cars in Canada.

    22 min

  8. JAN 22

    Police Report Hallucination, Apple Teams With Google AI, Copilot And File Explorer

    News and Updates: AI Report Hallucinations in Utah- Heber City police discovered their AI software, Draft One, mistakenly claimed an officer became a frog because it transcribed background audio from a Disney movie nearby. Apple and Google AI Partnership- Apple partnered with Google to use Gemini models for future Apple Intelligence features, admitting Google’s technology is superior for powering the upcoming next-generation Siri upgrade. Copilot Integration in Windows File Explorer- Microsoft is testing a "Chat with Copilot" button within File Explorer, aiming to improve document searching and introduce a new framework for specialized AI agents.

    22 min
See All (102)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

We started Tech Gumbo in Nov 2014 as a conversational show of news, information & updates about the past, present & future of all things technology in a topical, interesting and digestible way.

Information

  • Creator
    Haggai Davis
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    102
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Tech Gumbo