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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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762: ‘Tis But a Misalignment
Episode 762
Thursday, 10 September, 2026
AI agents are apparently ready to take over the world—provided they can first stop exposing private photos, hijacking German coding forums, and generally behaving like unsupervised interns with root access. Meta launches Muse despite employees reporting security problems. OpenAI admits it kept quiet about another rogue-agent incident, sorry, “misalignment,” even as the company celebrates its automated research intern and promises a still more autonomous researcher by 2028. Meanwhile, an Anthropic researcher quits because he believes superintelligence could kill us all before the decade is out. Naturally, the industry’s response is essentially: “Yes, but what if we did it responsibly?”There is some genuinely encouraging news: AI-generated drugs are showing intriguing early results in aging research. That’s exactly the sort of AI application the Geeks can get behind—as long as we’re talking about actual science and not an LLM confidently hallucinating a cure for everything.The autonomous future isn’t looking much better. Tesla’s Cybercabs arrive in Austin and almost immediately attract federal scrutiny over their self-certification and conspicuous lack of steering wheels, pedals, mirrors, and apparently even conventional door handles. Bitcoin’s Liquid Network is relieved of roughly $320 million, after which the thieves return most of it and call the whole thing a “white hat” operation—because apparently robbing the bank and giving some of the money back now counts as a bug bounty.On the surveillance front, Massachusetts police are being forced to disclose where their license-plate readers are and what data they collect, while the backlash against Flock cameras continues. Meanwhile, the UK’s attempt to protect children from online sexual abuse risks creating exactly the kind of universal scanning and surveillance infrastructure we’ve spent years warning about. Good intentions, meet spectacularly bad implementation.And because we apparently haven’t suffered enough, Twitter is now Tweet.app. Star Trek turns sixty, and Paramount celebrates with cookware and a questionable episode. Silo gets a spinoff tease, Ted Lasso gives us a Christmas episode in September, and The Gentlemen returns with a season so good it makes reality TV feel like a traumatic brain injury. South Park becomes South America, Donnie Darko gets a 25th-anniversary 4K theatrical run, and several tech-industry documentaries promise varying degrees of psychological damage.Plus, Netflix keeps stuffing games into your subscription; LaCroix, sorry, Le Creuset, wants to put Star Trek in your kitchen; and the Geeks debate books, Libby, time travel, and whether surviving Dungeon Crawler Carl is worth the emotional investment.Welcome back to the future, where everything is automated, surveilled, self-driving, subscription-based and somehow still requires us to do all the damn work.Sponsors:CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKSPrivate 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/762Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/uP_Ookm5q0gShow NotesOpenAI responds after report exposed another incident in which its AI agents went rogueOpenAI says it reached its goal of creating an automated research internTwo more news organizations sue OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringementAnthropic researcher quits over fears AI ‘could kill us all by the end of the decade’Three hikers ignored Mount Shasta's rules, trusted Gemini, and nearly paid for itTesla's Cybercab is under federal investigation almost immediately after hitting the streetsA Plane Almost Crashing Into a Bunch of Cybercabs Is a Reminder That They’re ‘Piling Up’ UnusedHackers Drain $320 Million From Bitcoin’s Liquid Network, Keep $47 Million for Themselves in ‘White Hat’ OperationCourt Says Massachusetts Has to Say Where License Plate Readers Are, What They’re RecordingApple and Google Miss Deadline to Block Child Nudity on Their Phones in the UKStudy Suggests AI-Generated Drug Could Slow AgingNew Twitter rebrands to Tweet.app after court's double-edged rulingTo Boldly Dough! Le Creuset Sent Its New Star Trek Cooking Collection Into SpaceNetflix includes 80+ ad-free iPhone and iPad games, here’s every appWhite House Launches Arcade.Gov, a Minigame Site Where You Catch Immigrants, Build a Tetris Border Wall, and 'Fill Your Kids' Trump Accounts' With BitcoinWhite House ArcadeStar Trek: Strange New Worlds goes back to the dumb wellStar Trek Boldly Celebrates 60 Years: Everything You Need To Know for September 8Silo Season FinaleTed Lasso : S4 E6 Don’t Jump Around Much AnymoreReport: Apple TV working on spin-off to its hit series SiloThe Gentlemen Season 2‘South Park’ Changes Name to ‘South America’ as Creators Roast Apple and Google for Obeying Trump’s Lake America Name Change‘Donnie Darko’ Will Spread Dread Anew With a 4K 25th Anniversary RereleaseOrbital by Samantha HarveyA Gift of Time by Jerry MerrittTime Pebbles by Jerry MerrittThe Infinite Extent Bobiverse, Book 6 By: Dennis E. TaylorThe Nerd ReichThe Turd ReichDave BittnerThe CyberWireHacking HumansCaveatOnly Malware in the BuildingLG TVs Are Capable of Listening to More Than Your Screen, Report ClaimsAnother searchable database of Usenet.I guess I won’t be going to RenFest this year...I know where I’ll be February 19th...THE EMPIRE STRIPS BACK - A BURLESQUE PARODYSTAR WARS COMPARISON - Stereo VS Mono Sound MixSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
