744: Goblin Mode
About this episode
The episode discusses recent developments in social media regulation, AI legislation, and criticisms of the tech industry.
Episode 744 kicks off with new merch in the wild and the ongoing expansion of the “protect the children from the internet” playbook. Manitoba is floating a ban on social media and AI chatbots for kids with details still TBD, while the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee somehow managed unanimous approval on chatbot age-verification legislation. Utah, not to be outdone, passed SB 73 — a law that tries to pin age verification on VPN users and even bans sites from explaining what a VPN is, a move that will mostly degrade the internet without solving the problem it claims to address. Meanwhile, John Oliver finally unloaded on the AI industry, echoing long-standing criticisms: rushed products, acknowledged risks, and outsourced consequences. In the news, a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant was arrested for allegedly turning classified intel about the Maduro capture into a $400K Polymarket win, then attempting to cover it up in ways that suggest poor operational planning. Meta cut more than 1,100 Kenyan content moderators after reports surfaced that they were exposed to explicit footage from smart glasses users, raising serious questions about labor practices in AI pipelines. Google…
People in this episode
Hosts: Jason DeFillippo, Brian Schulmeister, Dave Bittner
Topics covered
- social media regulation
- AI legislation
- internet safety
- labor practices in AI
- military intelligence
- tech industry criticism
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Meta, Google, OpenAI, U.S. Army
Products: Polymarket, SB 73
Places: Manitoba, Utah
More episodes of Grumpy Old Geeks
- 743: Category Five Dystopia
- 742: Uncouth Yet Highly Litigious
- 741: Moon Joy
- 740: To the Moon!
- 739: The Thin Black Line
- 738: A Sprinkling of Random
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