724: Sam Altman’s Boutique

After surviving Thanksgiving and the subsequent biting cold, we jumped into the FOLLOW UP with news that Malaysia is joining the trend by taking steps to ban social media for children under 16, mirroring similar actions in Australia and Denmark—it seems the world is finally realizing the internet is a toxic wasteland for the kids. We also discussed Apple’s photo AI, which is apparently still in beta, if the results are anything to go by. The bulk of our discussion centered on the spectacular, flaming death of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is Officially Dead. We broke down a brief rundown of the damages this vanity project caused, from humanitarian disasters overseas to administrative chaos and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs domestically, proving the "savings" were pure illusion. Now, with the collapse, the 'Suddenly exposed' DOGE employees fear prosecution after Musk abandoned them, learning the hard way that billionaire guardianship has an expiration date.

The job market is just great, with both Apple laying off part of its sales team despite record revenue, and HP joining the List of Tech Companies Cutting Jobs and pointing to AI as the convenient scapegoat for laying off 10% of their workforce. Meanwhile, we found out the most popular social media platform among US adults isn't Instagram or TikTok—it’s YouTube—while Meta allegedly buried research showing its products are harming users, confirming what we’ve known all along: they’re evil, but they already got your grandma hooked. Adding to the misery, An Alarming Number of Teens Say They Turn To AI For Company, Study Finds, because why talk to a real, messy human when a bot can gaslight you more efficiently? Sam Altman's financial troubles are spilling over, with Sam Altman’s Business Buddies Are Getting Stung (sorry, SoftBank and Oracle), and analysts estimate OpenAI Is Just $200 Billion Away From Still Losing Money, HSBC Says, a comical hole they plan to fill by asking for more free money. Legally, OpenAI can’t use the Word ‘Cameo’ in Sora now, thanks to a trademark suit, and Warner Music is playing both sides by dropping its lawsuit against Suno in exchange for a licensing agreement. Finally, in some truly dark news, a Marc Andreessen-backed Super-PAC Pours Millions Into Fighting State AI Regulations, and X's new location feature reveals that New X Feature Reveals Many MAGA Patriots on X Are Not Even Based in the U.S.

After ranting about my misery dealing with the Open Dialogue bug in a beta build and declaring my return to "pedestrian releases," we got into APPS & DOODADS. Spotify is actually doing something cool with its new SongDNA feature, which shows you who sampled what (and they bought WhoSampled to do it). They’re also testing Spotify's New AI-powered audiobook Recaps to remind you where you left off—Amazon is doing the same with AI-powered series Recap Videos for Prime Video. Amazon is also rolling out Alexa Home Theater surround sound for Echo speakers, making those budget speakers slightly more useful. We ran through some great stocking stuffers in Jason’s Holiday Gift Guide, including Velcro cable ties and the Contigo travel mug, before moving on to MEDIA CANDY, which included Dan Carlin's Common Sense, Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk’s new podcast Once We Were Spacemen, and a discussion on why Stranger Things Lost the Plot. We then got deeply uncomfortable talking about a Toronto ASMR spa that offers doctor roleplay, and closed out by talking about the documentary Quiet Please… about the neurological disorder misophonia. The episode finished with the AT THE LIBRARY segment, covering the Milli Vanilli memoir You Know It’s True and the sci-fi short story collection The Time Travelers Passport.

Show notes at https://gog.show/724

Watch now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PoMa9FM5QEE?si=4r25yqv_0u8aXHF7

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FOLLOW UP

Malaysia takes steps to ban social media for children under 16

IN THE NEWS

DOGE Is Officially Dead

'Suddenly exposed' DOGE employees fear prosecution after Musk abandoned them: report

Apple lays off part of its sales team

HP Joins List of Tech Companies Cutting Jobs and Pointing to AI

Meta allegedly buried research showing its products are harming users

An Alarming Number of Teens Say They Turn To AI For Company, Study Finds

Sam Altman’s Business Buddies Are Getting Stung