749: Surge Bananas

This week on Grumpy Old Geeks, Brian and Jason once again survey the smoldering wreckage of the tech industry and discover that the people building the future are increasingly being sued by governments, publishers, customers, employees, and occasionally reality itself. California is coming after 23andMe over its catastrophic data breach, Florida is taking a swing at OpenAI, CNN has joined the ever-growing conga line of companies suing Perplexity, and Meta somehow decided the solution to improving AI is recording employees' every mouse click while generously allowing them a whole 30-minute privacy break. Meanwhile, Google's own engineers are sharing memes about how much Google's AI tools suck, Microsoft apparently wants users addicted to its new AI assistant - first taste's free! - and Anthropic is preparing to go public with a valuation that makes even the most irrational dot-com era investor look financially responsible.

The AI arms race continues producing exactly the kinds of outcomes you'd expect when venture capitalists start huffing their own press releases. Instagram's AI support bot reportedly helped hackers steal accounts because apparently "Are you sure you're the owner?" was considered an optional step. Suno raised another $400 million while fighting copyright lawsuits, Paramount+ seems to have let AI create the ugliest Star Trek thumbnail in Federation history, and Stan Lee has now been digitally resurrected because modern capitalism looked at death and said, "Nice try." Over in transportation, BYD is so confident in its self-driving technology that it's willing to pay for your accidents, while Tesla owners are discovering their old Full Self-Driving contracts may have quietly received software updates of the legal variety. Somewhere in a conference room, a lawyer just whispered, "Let's not put that in writing," ten years too late.

Elsewhere, governments worldwide continue their ongoing experiment of raising children by confiscating smartphones. Malaysia has implemented a social media ban for kids under 16, Poland wants phones and smartwatches locked away at school, and Kentucky schools just collected $27 million from social media companies accused of building products as addictive as cigarettes.

Dave Bittner drops by for a visit and we discuss Spotify listeners apparently preferring old music because new music keeps getting algorithmically focus-grouped into oblivion and a healthy dose of Star Wars, Downton Abbey, Derry Girls, Lego, books, gadgets, and AI-generated jazz. Add it all up and you've got another week where the only thing moving faster than technology is the legal department trying to keep up.

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Show notes at https://gog.show/749

Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/A1sv2BEzWBk

Show Notes

Vibe Coders are Script Kiddies

Destroy the Broligarchy

Colorado Governor Vetoes Surveillance Pricing Ban as Public Backlash Against the Tech Grows

California sues 23andMe over 2023 data breach that affected 7 million users

Florida sues OpenAI, Sam Altman, in first-of-its-kind lawsuit over violent incidents

Meta will reportedly let employees take 30-minute breaks from its tracking program

Instagram is alerting users who were targeted by hackers during AI chatbot attacks

Google Employees Internally Share Memes About How Its AI Sucks

Google ordered to put clearer links in AI search and let UK publishers opt out

Microsoft Wants to 'Make People Addicted' to its New AI Assistant, Internal Documents Reveal

Meta, other social networks will pay $27 million to settle Kentucky school district lawsuit

Malaysia's under-16 social media ban carries fines up to $2.5 million

Poland wants to ban phones and smartwatches in schools

CNN is the latest media company to sue Perplexity

Still facing copyright lawsuits, AI music generator Suno raises another $400M

BYD is assuming financial liability if you crash while using its self-driving tech

Anthropic is set to go public after filing paperwork with the SEC

Data Center Operators Are Trying to Fix Their Water Use Problems

Tesla Owners Say Their Old FSD Contracts Were Quietly Changed

Stan Lee's voice and likeness have been resurrected, thanks to AI

Paramount+ used AI to make the ugliest Star Trek thumbnail ever

2026 World Cup Wall Chart

I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything by Joanna Stern

Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2 by Matt Dinniman

Wisdom Takes Work: Learn. Apply. Repeat. by Ryan Holiday

Belkin Connect 4-Port USB-C Hub - USB C Hub Multiport Adapter Dongle with 4 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 Ports - High-Speed 10G Data Transfer for Laptop, MacBook, iPad, PC, and More - 100W PD - $32.24

Dave Bittner

The CyberWire

Hacking Humans

Caveat

Control Loop

Only Malware in the Building

The Mandalorian Season 1

Star Wars: Rebels

Wrapped up the Downton Abbey series rewatch

Buffy and Ted Lasso star Anthony Head dies at 72

Almost through the Derry Girls series.

Lego Mando and Grogu set (mild spoiler)

AI generated Jazz

The Biggest Hits on Spotify Right Now Are a Blast From the Past

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