Grumpy Old Geeks 749: Surge Bananas
Microsoft Plans To Hook Users On Scout AI
- Microsoft intends to build daily dependence on its Scout AI assistant, explicitly aiming to make users 'addicted' as part of growth strategy.
- Jason cites internal docs describing a three-phase rollout starting with heavy usage and retention to expand into an agent platform.
School Districts Win Settlements Over Social Harm
- U.S. school districts are suing social platforms for youth harms like addiction and mental health costs, winning multimillion-dollar settlements.
- Jason outlines Kentucky district settlements: Snap and TikTok $8M each, YouTube ~$2M, Meta $9M plus teacher training commitments.
Suno Gets Big Funding Amid Copyright Suits
- Suno raised $400M at a $5.4B valuation despite facing numerous copyright lawsuits.
- Brian and Jason call out the paradox of big funding flowing into companies with pending legal exposure over training data.
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
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
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
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)
The Biggest Hits on Spotify Right Now Are a Blast From the Past
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