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Grumpy Old GeeksAuthor: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister with Dave Bittner
We dissect the tech news train wrecks of the week, calling out what went wrong and whos to blame. Think of this podcast as if Kurt Cobain threw down with Tom from MySpace, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg in a back alley brawl. No mercy, no filterif tech had a walk of shame, this would be it. Language: en Genres: News, Society & Culture, Tech News Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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753: No-Talent AI Clowns
Episode 753
Thursday, 2 July, 2026
The AI revolution keeps delivering exactly the future nobody asked for. A low-skill hacker used Claude Code and Codex to compromise fourteen companies with prompts so vague they could've been written by your uncle trying to reset his AOL password. Ford, meanwhile, spent millions trying to automate engineering before sheepishly rehiring the graybeards who actually know how cars work. Brown University discovered what happens when half your class outsources economics homework to ChatGPT, Meta ran out of AI compute after borrowing Google's, Oracle is warning investors that the AI data-center bubble could implode for approximately every reason imaginable, and contractors hired to improve AI models are secretly using AI to generate the training data. Congratulations, everyone: we've successfully invented photocopying a photocopy until all that's left is gray mush.The collateral damage keeps piling up. Volkswagen is reportedly preparing to slash another 100,000 jobs, Hyundai workers are threatening to strike before Boston Dynamics' humanoid robots take theirs, California has launched an AI layoff tracker because somebody figured we'd better start counting, and the "almost homeless" subreddit is becoming one of the bleakest economic indicators on the internet. Tesla quietly settles another fatal Full Self-Driving lawsuit, Australia discovers teenagers can outsmart age verification by clicking "Yes, I'm 18," Amazon is getting sued Down Under for making ad-free Prime customers pay more to stay ad-free, and prediction markets continue insisting they're sophisticated financial instruments rather than gambling with better branding. Sure, and Beanie Babies were an asset class.Meanwhile, the AI infrastructure gold rush has become lucrative for everyone, including organized cargo thieves stealing millions in data-center equipment. NASA is attempting a robotic rescue mission worthy of a Saturday morning cartoon, astronomers are begging humanity to stop filling the night sky with satellites before we pave over the universe with orbital billboards, and Meta has discovered yet another way to charge people a subscription for hardware they already bought. In Media Candy, Sugar keeps delivering, Bodkin is worth your time, I Will Find You absolutely is not, and Kobo quietly lands one on Amazon by integrating StoryGraph while Kindle owners get AI book summaries they didn't ask for. Sometimes the future feels like science fiction. This week it feels like someone accidentally trained the simulation on late-stage capitalism and never bothered to check the output.Sponsors:StoryBlocks - For a limited time, they’re offering 15% off any annual plan at storyblocks.com/gogPrivate 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/1passwordShow notes at https://gog.show/753Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/B-r6M-Na60wSHOW NOTESNo-Skill Hacker Uses Claude/Codex to Hit 14 SitesA newbie hacker used "vague, low-skill prompts" in Claude and Codex to breach 14 companies, and the AI Agents did all the legworkFord rehires ‘gray beard’ engineers after AI falls shortVolkswagen reportedly plans to cut 100,000 jobsThe ‘Almost Homeless’ Subreddit Is a Stark Glimpse at Soaring Wealth InequalityTesla settles lawsuit over fatal pedestrian crash involving Full Self-DrivingKalshi sues Illinois over new tax on prediction market sports betsRick Rubin Stars in Polymarket CommercialBrown University Professor Horrified to Discover Largest AI Cheating Scandal in Ivy League HistoryAustralia Lawsuit Against Amazon Intensifies Company’s Legal Backlash Over AdvertisingAustralia's social media ban may not be that effective, study findsAustralia doubles the maximum penalty for its social media banHalf of social media child safety features don't work, report claimsAI Companies Are Learning an Ironic Lesson as the People They Pay to Improve Their Chatbots Are Just Feeding AI Slop Into ThemCalifornia launches tracker for AI-related job lossesKorean Workers Vote to Go On Strike, Fearing Robots Could Replace ThemGoogle limits Meta’s use of its Gemini AI modelsMeta, like SpaceX, looks to turn excess AI compute into cashOracle’s Data Center Warning Is a Worst-Case Scenario for the Whole AI BoomThieves Are Absolutely Loving All of These New Data Center ProjectsHeads Up: NASA to Launch 'Daring' Telescope Rescue Mission This WeekESO Study Finds That No More Than 100,000 Satellites Should Orbit EarthI Will Find YouSugar Season 2BodkinThe Odyssey | Official Countdown TrailerSILO - How did we lose this world?The Kindle app for iOS has features your aging Kindle doesn'tWatch out, Amazon: The Kobo eReader now has a Goodreads rivalMeta is adding ridiculous ‘rate limits’ and a soft paywall to its smart glassesTrackalot - One-tap Event Tracking on iOSSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
