Tech News Time

Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister
  • 5.0 (5)
  • TECH NEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

We dissect the tech news train wrecks of the week, calling out what went wrong and who’s to blame. Think of this podcast as if Kurt Cobain threw down with Tom from MySpace, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg in a back alley brawl. No mercy, no filter—if tech had a walk of shame, this would be it.

Episodes

  1. 05/23/2025

    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 f*****y. 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 23andMe (and Your Genetic Data) Sold to Regeneron in Bankruptcy Auction Extortionists bribed Coinbase employees to give them customer data OpenAI buys Jony Ive's design startup for $6.5 billion Sam Altman Tells Staff Plan to Ship 100 Million Devices That See Everything in Users' Lives Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI Klarna CEO and Sutter Hill take victory lap after Jony Ive's OpenAI deal Klarna used an AI avatar of its CEO to deliver earnings Klarna users are buying now, but not paying later DOGE Used a Meta AI Model to Review Emails From Federal Workers Chicago Sun-Times publishes made-up books and fake experts in AI debacle We’re Focused on the Wrong A.I. Problem in Journalism Anthropic's 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 Researchers Dump 2 Billion Scraped Discord Messages Online Musk says Tesla's 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/ and subscribe to the Grumpy Old Geeks podcast. If the news is enough then you may have the rest of the day off!

    38 min

  2. 05/16/2025

    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 A VIP Seat at Donald Trump’s Crypto Dinner Cost at Least $2 Million Elon’s Boring Company Is ‘Helping’ the Government With an $8 Billion Amtrak Tunnel Project CryptoPunks was just sold to a nonprofit Microsoft is laying off 3 percent of its global workforce Laid-Off Metaverse Engineer Says He Is DoorDashing and Living in a Trailer Silicon Valley’s Elusive Fantasy of a Computer as Smart as You Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI Improvements in 'reasoning' AI models may slow down soon, analysis finds The New Pope Wants to Take on AI Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired Copyright Office head fired after reporting AI training isn’t always fair use YouTube Cracks Down on Fake Movie Trailer Channels Making Money Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad Tesla's robotaxi plans have the attention of federal investigators A Tesla Dealership Manager Blamed Elon Musk for Tanking Sales and Was Immediately Fired Tesla Employees Against Elon Open Letter to Elon Open Letter to Elon - @openletter2elon Scientists Just Moved Up the Death Date of the Universe  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

    33 min

  3. 05/09/2025

    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 Founder of crypto platform Celsius Network is sentenced to 12 years in prison Lopez v. Apple Inc. DoorDash is buying British rival Deliveroo for $3.9 billion Shrinking Website Run By Nazi Psychopath Wants to Improve Its Image Tesla 'Robotaxi' trademark refused for being too generic Kids under 13 will soon get supervised access to Google Gemini People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies Nonverbal Neuralink Patient Is Using Brain Implant and Grok to Generate Replies Elon Musk's Grok AI Will 'Remove Her Clothes' In Public, On X Dating App ‘Raw’ Accidentally Rawdogs Users’ Location Data, Personal Info GlobalX, Airline for Trump’s Deportations, Hacked U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show Leading deepfake porn site is shut down for good Lehigh County's $500 Million Pension Fund Halts Tesla Investments NOAA Warns of Attacks on Radar Systems by Militia That Thinks They Are ‘Weather Weapons’ Family Uses AI To Revive Dead Brother For Impact Statement in Killer’s Trial 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

    35 min

  4. 05/02/2025

    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? US Government Registered Several Websites Potentially Linked to Trump Meme Coin DOGE Recruits College Kid to Help Rewrite Housing Regulations With AI Elon Wears Two Hats During Trump Meeting in Desperate Bid for Attention MoviePass Launches Box Office Betting Platform Unfortunately Tied to Crypto 4chan is back after a nearly two-week shutdown, but it still has some serious problems World partners with Tinder, Visa to bring its ID-verifying tech to more places Bitcoin Mining Is No Longer Worth it Microsoft CEO says up to 30% of the company's code was written by AI Meta’s AI chatbots were reportedly able to engage in sexual conversations with minors Meta forecasted it would make $1.4T in revenue from generative AI by 2035 OpenAI rolls back update that made ChatGPT a sycophantic mess 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 Pinterest launches new tools to fight AI slop Time saved by AI offset by new work created, study suggests Undercover North Korean Remote Workers Hate This One Weird Question 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

    40 min

  5. 04/25/2025

    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 b******t 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 timeBilly McFarland Is Selling Fyre FestAmazon Follows Microsoft in Retreat From Ambitious AI Data Center Plans You can trick Google's AI Overviews into explaining made-up idioms Dan Rather’s Metaphors Anchored in Folksy Truisms If A.I. Systems Become Conscious, Should They Have Rights? A Strange Phrase Keeps Turning Up in Scientific Papers, But Why? Google will keep third-party tracking cookies on Chrome as they are OpenAI wants to buy Chrome and make it an “AI-first” experience 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 Sam Altman Admits That Saying "Please" and "Thank You" to ChatGPT Is Wasting Millions of Dollars in Computing Power FTC sues Uber over claims the company makes subscriptions hard to cancel 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 Adam Neumann’s Flow raises $100M+, more than doubles valuation to $2.5B 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 RAMMS+EIN - 14.12.1997 – Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, United States 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

    36 min

  6. 04/18/2025

    TNT 007 - Let Them Eat Space

    This week, we blast off with a tale as old as grift: Fyre Fest 2 has been postponed—again—proving that you really can fail upward if you squint hard enough and wear enough white linen. Over at Automattic, employees discovered secret watermarks in their internal comms, because what workplace isn’t better with a sprinkle of corporate surveillance cosplay? Meanwhile, Katy Perry took a joyride to the upper atmosphere with Gayle King and Bezos’ better half, giving us the 2025 edition of the cringiest “Imagine”-style celebrity moment yet. Spoiler: no one needed this.In Elon World™, things are somehow even weirder. Seth Rogen dropped some truth bombs about Silicon Valley’s MAGA leanings, only to have them surgically removed from the Breakthrough Prize stream. Musk, for his part, is managing his growing empire of baby mamas like a Bond villain with a baby registry. Add in a cringe-filled offer to a YouTuber to become Space Karen’s next broodmare, and we’ve officially entered peak simulation. Meanwhile, whistleblowers are spilling DOGE secrets, OpenAI is building a social network (because we clearly don’t have enough doomscrolling options), and 4chan has finally been hacked into oblivion. Pour one out—for the internet’s dumpster fire.Also in the news: Google lost a big ad tech monopoly case (cue tiny violins), China is no longer buying the “autonomous” car hype after a fatal crash, and Trump’s FCC chair is threatening Comcast for not being enough like Fox News (as if that’s the journalistic gold standard). The Pentagon’s nerd squad resigned after butting heads with DOGE, Reality Labs burned $45 billion like it was going out of style, and AI customer service bots are now inventing policies out of thin air. Oh, and if your AI thinks your Python package has a delivery issue—you’re not crazy, it probably hallucinated it. Welcome to the future.Fyre Fest 2 Postponed: “New Date Will Be Announced”https://consequence.net/2025/04/fyre-fest-2-postponed-new-date-will-be-announced/Following Layoffs, Automattic Employees Discover Leak-Catching WatermarksUnfortunately for Katy Perry, That “Space Flight” Turned Out Exactly How We All Knew It Wouldhttps://slate.com/life/2025/04/katy-perry-space-gayle-king-lauren-sanchez-bezos.htmlWe Finally Have 2025’s “Imagine” Videohttps://slate.com/culture/2025/04/katy-perry-blue-origin-space-flight-gayle-king-lauren-sanchez.htmlLet them eat spaceSeth Rogen’s Criticism of Silicon Valley’s Support for Trump Was Cut From the “Full” Stream of Breakthrough PrizeThe Tactics Elon Musk Uses to Manage His ‘Legion’ of Babies—and Their MothersGlamorous influencer Tiffany Fong breaks silence on Elon Musk's 'offer to impregnate her' with shocking statementA whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor dataElectronics exempted from reciprocal tariffs will soon be subject to new semiconductor tariffs insteadGoogle loses ad tech monopoly caseChina cracks down on 'autonomous' car claims after fatal accidentTrump’s FCC chair threatens Comcast, demands changes to NBC news coverageOpenAI is building a social network4chan Likely Gone Forever After Hackers Take ControlCompany apologizes after AI support agent invents policy that causes user uproarPentagon tech unit resigns after clash with Musk's DOGEWhat Does a Corrupt Election Look Like?Tesla puts finishing touches on Hollywood charge-n-dinerInside the $45 billion cash burn at Reality LabsWe Have a Package for You! A Comprehensive Analysis of Package Hallucinations by Code Generating LLMsThe business of the AI labs by Max Bolingbroke  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

    40 min

  7. 04/11/2025

    TNT 006 - Confabulation and Frivolity

    This week, the boys kick things off with some serious déjà vu as Fyre Fest’s favorite grifter promises he’s totally throwing another festival — because nothing says “I’ve changed” like doubling down on the same scam. Meanwhile, the IRS decided to become ICE’s BFF by casually sharing migrant tax data, and their commissioner moonwalks out right after. Also: Microsoft’s long game of “let OpenAI set the money on fire while we build empires” is going exactly as planned.In the news, it’s Elon all day: Starlink might be doing the same government freebie hustle Microsoft perfected, DOGE is monitoring your comms for anti-Musk snark, and apparently has enough data on your family to build Black Mirror Season 8. Tesla’s financials are circling the drain so hard they won’t even take their own Cybertrucks back as trade-ins, but don’t worry — Elon’s ready to bail out Twitter/xAI with monopoly money. Over in the UK, the cops are one coffee away from full Minority Report, and MIT confirms what we already knew: AI doesn’t have morals, just vibes. Speaking of AI, someone sent an avatar to court. Yes, really.Fyre Fest Founder Insists Another Festival Is Coming I.R.S. Agrees to Share Migrants’ Tax Information With ICE IRS agrees to share tax data with immigration authorities Acting IRS commissioner resigning after agency reaches data-sharing deal with immigration authorities Microsoft’s AI masterplan: Let OpenAI burn cash, then build on their successes  Microsoft Hooked the Government on Its Products With Freebies. Could Elon Musk’s Starlink Be Doing the Same? Social Security Website Crashes Blamed on DOGE Software Update DOGE is reportedly using AI to monitor government comms for anti-Musk and anti-Trump chatter Here's All of the Data That Elon Musk's DOGE May Have on You and Your Family DOGE Is About to Get DOGE’d UK is going full Minority Report with ‘murder prediction’ research MIT study finds that AI doesn't, in fact, have values Elon Musk sets the stage for Tesla to bail out Twitter/xAI at an insane valuation Tesla Is So Cooked That It's Now Refusing to Accept Cybertrucks as Trade-Ins Justice Department Says It Will Pull Back on Prosecuting Crypto Fraud Citation Needed - Issue 81 – Crypto crime is legal by Molly White Reflexive AI use isn’t optional anymore Tech founder charged with fraud for 'AI' that was secretly overseas contract workers Pro Tip: Don’t Send Your AI Avatar to Testify for You in Court Trump’s TikTok Plan Upended by Chinese Objections Over Tariffs France to ban students from keeping smartphones in schools A Tiny Piece of Mouse Brain Has Finally Been Mapped in Mindblowing Detail 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

    32 min

  8. 04/04/2025

    TNT 005 - Cry Me A River (to Cool Off My AI)

    This week, the Geeks wade into a swamp of tech meltdowns, governmental facepalms, and the usual Elon-flavored absurdity. Kicking things off, protesters take their beef with Tesla to the streets while Proud Boys decide this is the hill to vroom and die on. Meanwhile, Elon’s privacy prayers have finally been answered—thanks to new FAA rules, he and Tay-Tay can jet around untracked like it’s 1999. Oh, and while Earth dodges a killer asteroid, the Moon might be signing up for an unplanned smackdown. Sorry, Luna.In the news, Signal’s reputation as the go-to encrypted app takes a nosedive thanks to Republican Senate drama and an Inspector General with receipts. The NSA warned us. Nobody listened. Now it’s “SignalGate” season. Elon continues his narcissist Voltron strategy by having xAI buy X (from Elon). Trump, meanwhile, is moonwalking into a $2.3B Truth Social payday, while his meme coin tanks post-tariff tantrum. OpenAI flexes with new AGI funding and 700M AI-generated images (probably 699M of them cursed), while the first therapy chatbot actually helps someone and a brain-voice interface starts sounding a lot like Skynet: The Prequel. Oh, and in shocking news: Trump’s war on “information silos” is code for “your personal data is about to be someone else’s business.”  Crowds Turn Out Across the U.S. for ‘Tesla Takedown’ Protests The Proud Boys and Militias Come to Tesla’s Defense Taylor Swift and Elon Can Finally Fly Private Without Being Tracked Thanks to New FAA Rule Earth Is Safe From Menacing Asteroid—but Our Moon Might Take the Hit Republican chair of Senate Armed Services Committee calls for investigation into Signal chat DoD Inspector General Says He’s Looking Into SignalGate Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world NSA warned of vulnerabilities in Signal app a month before Houthi strike chat Trump administration fires director of National Security Agency xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, just purchased X, Elon Musk's social media company Trump kicks off sale of $2.3bn Truth Social stake You’ll Never Guess What Happened to Trump’s Meme Coin After He Announced His Tariffs OpenAI: New funding to build towards AGI Oxygen Levels in Earth's Lakes Are Plummeting, Study Reveals ChatGPT users have generated over 700M images since last week, OpenAI says First Therapy Chatbot Trial Yields Mental Health Benefits US Senate committee opens review into Meta’s efforts to gain access to China Brain-to-voice neuroprosthesis restores naturalistic speech Generative AI Leadership & Strategy Specialization President Trump’s War on ‘Information Silos’ Is Bad News for Your Personal Data   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

    39 min

  9. 03/28/2025

    TNT 004 - An Insult to Life Itself

    The Dunning-Kruger Effect is alive, well, and running the show. Elon’s approval rating is cratering while experts warn he could blow a hole in federal spending; war plans are accidentally texted, and top U.S. officials’ passwords are found online; 23andMe files for bankruptcy; TikTok attempts a patriotic glow-up to stay alive in the U.S.; OpenAI admits trying to make chatbots honest, while research shows lonely users are emotionally clinging to ChatGPT; Amazon wants the Consumer Product Safety Commission erased; SEVERANCE, and more! Dunning-Kruger Effect DOGE’s Supposed Savings Are About to Cost the U.S. a Lot of Money Elon Musk's Approval Rating Is 'Falling Through the Floor,' Polls Show The Guy Who Predicted the 2008 Crash Issues Warning About Elon Musk Torpedoing Federal Spending The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as demand dries up How to delete your 23andMe data Rebuilding TikTok in America OpenAI Says Disciplining Chatbots for Lying Just Makes Them Worse OpenAI CEO Responds to ChatGPT Users Creating Studio Ghibli-Style AI Images David Findlay on Bluesky Early methods for studying affective use and emotional well-being in ChatGPT Joint studies from OpenAI and MIT found links between loneliness and ChatGPT use Amazon wants the Consumer Product Safety Commission deemed 'unconstitutional' US lifts sanctions on Tornado Cash Trump-backed crypto bank joins stablecoin wars with new dollar-pegged token The 560-pound Twitter logo has sold for $34,000 Tesla halts driving-assistance software trial in China, pending approval  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

    40 min

  10. 03/21/2025

    TNT 003 - NSFW AI, Dumb Cars & Dumber Laws

    In this week’s episode, we take a leisurely drive straight into the fake painted wall of tech insanity—Tesla-style. We kick things off with a jaw-dropper: people are using AI to generate influencers with Down syndrome… who then sell nudes. Yes, the apocalypse is here and it’s NSFW. Meanwhile, human intelligence is apparently in freefall—something that becomes painfully obvious when you watch a Cybertruck slam into a Wile E. Coyote-style fake tunnel wall. Spoiler: Elon’s Autopilot mistook it for a real road, proving once again that cameras might be cheaper than lidar, but dumber than a sack of bricks. Oh, and speaking of Elon, Tesla’s recalling 46,000 Cybertrucks due to faulty panels. Because of course they are. In the news, we dive into the surveillance state buffet, with ICE’s contractor keeping tabs on over 200 locations—no word yet if your grandma’s quilting circle made the list. CISA’s frantically dialing up the employees they illegally fired, like a bad ex who just realized they messed up. Rural broadband gets a gut punch as its director exits stage left, waving a middle finger at satellite internet. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s still trying to eat the world, pirated books be damned, and Elon fails (again) to pump the brakes on Sam Altman’s joyride. California’s A.B. 412 wants to give Big Tech a warm, snuggly monopoly on AI—and startups a swift kick in the nards. Over in EV land, China’s BYD flexes with lightning-fast charging tech while Tesla’s still trying to figure out how doors work. People Are Using AI to Create Influencers With Down Syndrome Who Sell Nudes Human Intelligence Sharply Declining Can You Fool A Self Driving Car? Tesla Autopilot drives into Wile E Coyote fake road wall in camera vs lidar test Tesla recalls more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over a faulty exterior panel The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring CISA scrambles to contact fired employees after court rules layoffs ‘unlawful’ Director of rural broadband program exits with a warning about shift to ‘worse’ satellite internet The court rejects Elon’s latest attempt to slow OpenAI down The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem California’s A.B. 412: A Bill That Could Crush Startups and Cement A Big Tech AI Monopoly OpenAI declares AI race “over” if training on copyrighted works isn’t fair use China's EV champ BYD reveals super-fast charging that leaves Tesla eating dust  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

    31 min

  11. 03/14/2025

    TNT 002 - Why, Combinator?

    It’s Pi Day, and while the world celebrates the most irrational number (besides crypto bros), we dive into a different kind of irrationality—the American oligarchy. Speaking of money, Deliveroo finally posted a profit, but their investors still had a hissy fit. Meanwhile, Americans lost a record-breaking $12.5 billion to scams last year, proving that AI, social media, and deepfake grandsons are really leveling up their grift game. The FCC is forming a Council for National Security, which sounds important until you realize it’s mostly about making sure China doesn’t win the AI arms race. And in the latest episode of “How Not to Run a Government,” the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired cybersecurity experts like they were spam emails—until a judge called BS and ordered their reinstatement.Y Combinator just turned 20, and what a legacy—turning gig work into corporate slavery, ruining housing with Airbnb, and ensuring OpenAI floods our lives with AI-generated junk. If that wasn’t enough tech doom, Pinterest wants to steal your content for its AI training, Twitter (sorry, X) went down due to sheer incompetence, and a developer got caught implanting a kill switch at his old job—because passive-aggressively slacking off wasn’t extreme enough.  It's Pi Day. Here's Why This Special Number Gets a Global Celebration.The Man Behind The American Oligarchy Deliveroo turns first annual profit as it plots bigger grocery push FTC says Americans lost $12.5B to scams last year — social media, AI, and crypto didn't help Consumer Reports finds popular voice cloning tools lack safeguards The FCC is creating a new Council for National Security within the agency DOGE axes CISA ‘red team’ staffers amid ongoing federal cuts Judge Calls DOGE Firings a ‘Sham,’ Orders Thousands of Workers to Be Reinstated ‘Immediately’ 20 Plagues Y Combinator Unleashed on the World Over the Last 20 Years ‘We Are Witnessing a New Brain Drain’ as Scientists Flee America for France Elon Musk claims bad actors in Ukraine are behind “massive“ X cyberattack The Real Reason Twitter Went Down Actually Sounds Pretty Embarrassing Developer convicted for “kill switch” code activated upon his termination Pinterest to Train AI Models on User Content U.S. Housing Agency Considers Launching Crypto Experiment Waymo was slapped with nearly 600 parking tickets last year in SF alone Are We Inside a Black Hole? Wonky Galaxy Movements Suggest It’s Possible, Physicist Says  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

    35 min

  12. 03/07/2025

    TNT 001 - Welcome to the Party, Pal!

    Techdirt has finally accepted the inevitable and gone full democracy blog—because let’s face it, politics and tech are now the same dumpster fire. Google rolled out AI Mode for Search, proving once again that the internet is just Clippy with better branding. Meanwhile, Billy McFarland insists Fyre Festival 2 is totally happening, despite Mexican officials pointing out that his coordinates literally lead to the ocean. Speaking of fraud, Tesla sales are in freefall thanks to Elon’s alt-right cosplay, and people are setting Teslas on fire in protest. And in rich-guy disconnect news, Google’s Sergey Brin thinks engineers should work 60-hour weeks to build the AI that will replace them. That’s some late-stage capitalism poetry right there.Elsewhere, Trump Media paid Don Jr. nearly a quarter of its revenue to show up twice, while indie musicians can’t afford to tour, proving once again that grifting is more profitable than making art. Technicolor shut down overnight, stranding 10,000 workers because Hollywood’s financial planning is apparently as stable as a Starship rocket launch. Oh yeah, SpaceX exploded another one.  Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not) Google announces ‘AI Mode’ as a new way to use Search, testing starts today Government Officials for Announced Fyre Festival 2 Location Say Event “Does Not Exist” ‘I’m selling the Nazi mobile’: Tesla owners offload cars after Musk’s fascist-style salutes Tesla Just Got Even More Bad News Tesla Just Got News About Its Sales in Germany, and It Shows That Elon Musk Has Seriously Messed Up Arsonists Set Fire to a Dozen Teslas, Charging Stations Amid "Anti-Capitalist Coordination to Target Tesla" Google’s Sergey Brin Says Engineers Should Work 60-Hour Weeks in Office to Build AI That Could Replace Them Ex-Amazon VP explains why rich a-holes with helicopters and personal assistants don't get why you hate your commute Trump Media Paid Donald Trump Jr. Nearly A Quarter Of Its Annual Revenue. He Attended Just Two Board Meetings Cinema Giant Technicolor's Abrupt Shutdown Affects 10,000 Workers Worldwide US employers cut more jobs last month than any February since 2009 No part of Amazon is 'unaffected' by AI, says its head of AGI ChatGPT doubled its weekly active users in under 6 months, thanks to new releases Hugging Face's chief science officer worries AI is becoming 'yes-men on servers' A well-funded Moscow-based global ‘news’ network has infected Western artificial intelligence tools worldwide with Russian propaganda OnlyFans Model Amouranth Held at Gunpoint for Her Crypto in Home Invasion Crypto Soars Then Plunges Following Trump’s Post About a Strategic Reserve Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile Trump creates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve one day ahead of White House crypto summit CFPB drops Zelle lawsuit in latest reversal under Trump administration Canadian Municpalities and the Canadian Supreme Court to stop using twitter. Ontario once again promises to nix $100 million Starlink deal over Trump tariffs OpenAI reportedly plans to charge up to $20,000 a month for specialized AI 'agents' Kevin Rose, Alexis Ohanian acquire Digg Does the World Even Want Digg in 2025? Scrolling Through Social Media Has a Unique Effect on Your Body SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion A second Intuitive Machines spacecraft just landed on the moon — and probably tipped over Touch down on the moon with private Blue Ghost lander in this amazing video  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

    38 min
  • 12 Episodes

5
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About

We dissect the tech news train wrecks of the week, calling out what went wrong and who’s to blame. Think of this podcast as if Kurt Cobain threw down with Tom from MySpace, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg in a back alley brawl. No mercy, no filter—if tech had a walk of shame, this would be it.

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  • Creator
    Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Tech News Time
  • Show Website
    Tech News Time