737: Monetizable Content

In this week's show we start with FOLLOW UP: The world keeps trying to protect kids online — Indonesia just joined Australia, Spain, and Malaysia in banning social media for under-16s, while COPPA 2.0 sailed through the US Senate unanimously. Meanwhile, Roblox is using AI to clean up its chat, because apparently "Hurry TF up" is the hill they've chosen to die on — even as they're still dealing with the whole "pedophile problem" thing from January. On the AI copyright front, Gracenote is the latest company to sue OpenAI for helping itself to proprietary data, joining a growing queue of plaintiffs who apparently didn't get the memo that everything is training data now.

IN THE NEWS: Anthropic is suing the Pentagon after being labeled a "supply chain risk" — apparently because the CEO said AI shouldn't be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, which the Trump administration heard as fighting words. The delicious irony: the Pentagon is still running Claude in active operations while trying to phase it out. Speaking of active operations, investigators now think a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school may have been triggered by bad AI-generated intelligence from that same Claude-based system. So yes, the autocomplete that hallucinates your grocery list is also maybe accidentally bombing schools. Meta's Oversight Board is begging the company to get serious about AI-generated content after a fake war video from a Filipino fake news account racked up 700K views — while separately, Zuckerberg dropped cash on Moltbook, a "social network for AI agents" that turned out to be mostly humans larping as bots and had a security flaw that exposed everyone's API keys. The guy who built it basically vibe-coded the whole thing. Meta's own CTO said he didn't "find it particularly interesting." And yet. Oracle is hemorrhaging jobs and drowning in debt chasing AI dreams, its stock down 50% from peak — a timely reminder that "AI will replace workers" is currently manifesting as "companies set money on fire and lay people off to pay the electric bill." Researchers confirmed AI is homogenizing human thought and creativity — a thing some of us have been screaming since day one. A DOGE engineer allegedly walked out of the Social Security Administration with databases containing personal info on 500 million Americans on a thumb drive. The Ig Nobel Prize is relocating to Switzerland because it's no longer safe to invite international guests to America. Nintendo is suing the US government to get its tariff money back. SETI thinks it may have been accidentally filtering out alien signals due to space weather. And Pokémon Go players unknowingly spent a decade building a centimeter-accurate surveillance map of Earth's cities that's now guiding pizza delivery robots — which, honestly, tracks.

In APPS & DOODADS: The GOG clan in Clash Royale just hit eight years old — respect. OpenAudible is the cross-platform audiobook manager your Audible library deserves, especially if you've got over a thousand books sitting there judging you.

And finally in MEDIA CANDY: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is here, and pretty beige. Live Nation settled its DOJ antitrust case for $200 million, kept Ticketmaster, and avoided a breakup — meanwhile court documents revealed employees joking about "robbing fans blind" and gouging "stupid" customers, which explains basically every concert ticket you've bought in the last decade. YouTube is now officially the world's largest media company at $62 billion in revenue. Bluesky's CEO is stepping down, which is either a bad sign or just the natural order of "person who built the cool thing hands it to the person who scales the cool thing." Dead Set — Charlie Brooker's 2008 zombie-in-the-Big-Brother-house miniseries — is worth a watch if you haven't. And trailers dropped for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (March 24th), The Boys final season (April 8th), and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 1st — yes, really).

Sponsors:

DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.

CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKS

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

Show notes at https://gog.show/737

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DgSYnFF6twE

FOLLOW UP

Indonesia announces a social media ban for anyone under 16

Anthropic Sues Pentagon

Metadata company Gracenote is the latest to sue OpenAI for copyright infringement

Roblox introduces real-time AI-powered chat rephraser for inappropriate language

IN THE NEWS

COPPA 2.0 passes the Senate again, unanimously this time

AI Error Likely Led to Iran Girl's School Bombing

The Oversight Board says Meta needs new rules for AI-generated content

Mark Zuckerberg Decides Meta Needs More Slop, Buys the Social Network for AI Agents

Oracle Axing Huge Number of Jobs as AI Crisis Intensifies

You can (sort of) block Grok from editing your uploaded photos

Researchers Say AI Is Homogenizing Human Expression and Thought

Social Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databases

Nintendo is suing the US government over Trump's tariffs

SETI Thinks It Might Have Missed a Few Alien Calls. Here's Why

Ig Nobel Ceremony Relocates to Europe Amid Safety Concerns in Trump’s America

APPS & DOODADS

Clash Royale

OpenAudible

Bluesky's CEO is stepping down after nearly 5 years

How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world

Robot Escorted Away By Cops After Terrorizing Old Woman

MEDIA CANDY

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2

Live Nation settlement avoids breakup with Ticketmaster

Court documents reveal Live Nation employees joking about robbing, gouging "stupid" fans

YouTube Is the World’s Largest Media Company, MoffettNathanson Says

Paradise Season 2

DAREDEVIL: Born Again Season 2 Official Teaser Trailer 2 (2026)

The Boys Final Season Trailer

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Final Trailer

Dead Set

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.