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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, News Commentary, Tech News Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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720: Sad Max Mode
Episode 720
Friday, 31 October, 2025
This week’s episode started with the usual existential sigh before tumbling straight into the corporate bloodbath. Amazon chopped 14,000 jobs under the noble banner of “embracing AI,” which CEO Andy Jassy insists isn’t about money—despite swimming Scrooge McDuck–style in profit. GM’s cutting 1,700 workers, YouTube’s dangling “voluntary” buyouts, and economists can’t decide if AI is killing jobs or if the economy’s just trash. Microsoft’s winning either way, sitting pretty on OpenAI’s planned $1 trillion IPO, while Meta stock cratered because Zuckerberg’s still shoveling billions into the AI bonfire instead of quietly burying the metaverse. Meanwhile, Elon managed to cram a week’s worth of disasters into a single news cycle: Tesla’s being probed for its idiotic “Mad Max” mode, recalling thousands more Cybertrucks because they can’t figure out glue, launching Grokipedia (Wikipedia’s evil twin), and turning Truth Social into a crypto casino. Somewhere between the chaos, more people tuned into a fake NVIDIA livestream than the real one, and the only vaguely uplifting story was a grieving family using an AI chatbot to hack a $195K hospital bill down to $33K.In media misery, we soothed our nuclear anxiety with A House of Dynamite, tolerated Welcome to Derry, rolled our eyes at Stranger Things 5, and confirmed Slow Horses still rules. Music listeners, please stop streaming fascism—cancel Spotify. On the tech toy front, Grammarly’s having an identity crisis as “Superhuman,” Affinity caved to the subscription gods, and Apple’s prepping to inject ads into Maps because the world wasn’t already annoying enough. The chaos didn’t stop there: a rogue Goodreads librarian rewrote Trump’s book listings to protest censorship, Cursor 2.0 actually impressed us with a working currency converter, and Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It turned out to be the perfect title for the entire digital era.Sponsors: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/1passwordMasterClass - Get an additional 15% off any annual membership at MASTERCLASS.com/GRUMPYOLDGEEKSCleanMyMac - clnmy.com/GrumpyOldGeeks - Use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off.Show notes at https://gog.show/720FOLLOW UPWhat both sides of America’s polarized divide share: Deep anxieties about the meaning of life and existence itself720° © 1986 Atari Games.IN THE NEWSAmazon cuts its workforce by 14,000 in further embrace of AIIs AI Leading to Layoffs or Does the Economy Just Suck?Amazon CEO Now Says AI Is Not Responsible for Recent LayoffsAmazon Accused of Trapping Drivers in AI PanopticonGM lays off 1,700 workers making EVs and batteries in Michigan, TennesseeTesla Recalls Thousands More Cybertrucks, Is Bad at Gluing ThingsYouTube is offering employees buyouts as part of an AI-focused reorganizationEveryone Is Laying People Off This Week. Researchers Say They’re Going to Regret ItOpenAI completes restructure, solidifying Microsoft as a major shareholderOpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuationMeta Stock Plummets as Investors Horrified at How Much Zuckerberg Is Spending on Misfired AIFederal investigators are looking into Tesla's Mad Max mode, which reportedly defies speed limitsGrokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and HumanMore people watched a fake NVIDIA livestream than the real thingTrump’s Media Company Set To Roll Out Polymarket-Like Prediction Market on Truth SocialSurprising no one, researchers confirm that AI chatbots are incredibly sycophanticGrieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violationsMEDIA CANDYA House of DynamiteWelcome to DerryStranger Things 5 | Official Trailer | NetflixSlow HorsesDon’t Stream Fascism: Cancel SpotifyAPPS & DOODADSGrammarly has rebranded to SuperhumanAffinity’s image-editing apps go “freemium” in first major post-Canva updateApple is reportedly getting ready to introduce ads to its Maps appRogue Goodreads Librarian Edits Site to Expose 'Censorship in Favor of Trump Fascism’Introducing Cursor 2.0 and ComposerEnshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory DoctorowThe Disenshittify ProjectCurrency ConverterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
