Grumpy Old Geeks
Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
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Sad Max Mode
This week’s episode started with the usual existential sigh before tumbling straight into the corporate bloodbath. Amazon chopped 14,000 jobs under the noble banner of “embracing AI,” which CEO Andy Jassy insists isn’t about money—despite swimming Scrooge McDuck–style in profit. GM’s cutting 1,700 workers, YouTube’s dangling “voluntary” buyouts, and economists can’t decide if AI is killing jobs or if the economy’s just trash. Microsoft’s winning either way, sitting pretty on OpenAI’s planned $1 trillion IPO, while Meta stock cratered because Zuckerberg’s still shoveling billions into the AI bonfire instead of quietly burying the metaverse. Meanwhile, Elon managed to cram a week’s worth of disasters into a single news cycle: Tesla’s being probed for its idiotic “Mad Max” mode, recalling thousands more Cybertrucks because they can’t figure out glue, launching Grokipedia (Wikipedia’s evil twin), and turning Truth Social into a crypto casino. Somewhere between the chaos, more people tuned into a fake NVIDIA livestream than the real one, and the only vaguely uplifting story was a grieving family using an AI chatbot to hack a $195K hospital bill down to $33K. In media misery, we soothed our nuclear anxiety with A House of Dynamite, tolerated Welcome to Derry, rolled our eyes at Stranger Things 5, and confirmed Slow Horses still rules. Music listeners, please stop streaming fascism—cancel Spotify. On the tech toy front, Grammarly’s having an identity crisis as “Superhuman,” Affinity caved to the subscription gods, and Apple’s prepping to inject ads into Maps because the world wasn’t already annoying enough. The chaos didn’t stop there: a rogue Goodreads librarian rewrote Trump’s book listings to protest censorship, Cursor 2.0 actually impressed us with a working currency converter, and Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It turned out to be the perfect title for the entire digital era. Sponsors: Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month. SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!! 1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1password MasterClass - Get an additional 15% off any annual membership at MASTERCLASS.com/GRUMPYOLDGEEKS CleanMyMac - clnmy.com/GrumpyOldGeeks - Use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off. Show notes at https://gog.show/720 FOLLOW UP What both sides of America’s polarized divide share: Deep anxieties about the meaning of life and existence itself 720° © 1986 Atari Games. IN THE NEWS Amazon cuts its workforce by 14,000 in further embrace of AI Is AI Leading to Layoffs or Does the Economy Just Suck? Amazon CEO Now Says AI Is Not Responsible for Recent Layoffs Amazon Accused of Trapping Drivers in AI Panopticon GM lays off 1,700 workers making EVs and batteries in Michigan, Tennessee Tesla Recalls Thousands More Cybertrucks, Is Bad at Gluing Things YouTube is offering employees buyouts as part of an AI-focused reorganization Everyone Is Laying People Off This Week. Researchers Say They’re Going to Regret It OpenAI completes restructure, solidifying Microsoft as a major shareholder OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation Meta Stock Plummets as Investors Horrified at How Much Zuckerberg Is Spending on Misfired AI Federal investigators are looking into Tesla's Mad Max mode, which reportedly defies speed limits Grokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and Human More people watched a fake NVIDIA livestream than the real thing Trump’s Media Company Set To Roll Out Polymarket-Like Prediction Market on Truth Social Surprising no one, researchers confirm that AI chatbots are incredibly sycophantic Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations MEDIA CANDY A House of Dynamite Welcome to Derry Stranger Things 5 | Official Trailer | Netflix Slow Horses Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify APPS & DOODADS Grammarly has rebranded to Superhuman Affinity’s image-editing apps go “freemium” in first major post-Canva update Apple is reportedly getting ready to introduce ads to its Maps app Rogue Goodreads Librarian Edits Site to Expose 'Censorship in Favor of Trump Fascism’ Introducing Cursor 2.0 and Composer Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow The Disenshittify Project Currency Converter See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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