Tech Talk Thursdays Episode #168 (05/14/2026)

Tech Talk Thursdays Episode #168 (05/14/2026)

From Tech Talk Thursdays by Desk Chair Analysts

May 15, 2026 · 3h 20m · Season 1 · Episode 168

About this episode

The episode discusses various controversies and developments in the tech industry, including AI data centers and corporate ethics.

Tech ICE Agents Have List of 20 Million People on Their iPhones Thanks to Palantir Twin brothers wipe 96 gov’t databases minutes after being fired - Ars Technica DOJ extracts $30m settlement from PayPal over minority-owned business program - Engadget Amazon employees are “tokenmaxxing” due to pressure to use AI tools Meta employees are protesting the company’s mouse tracking program - Engadget Tech companies lobbied away stricter rules on gas-powered data centers - Engadget A massive AI data center transforms rural Utah into a national flashpoint : Peoples Dispatch Americans really don’t want AI data centers close to their homes - Engadget University Claims Withholding Water From Nuclear Weapons Data Center Is ‘Unlawfully Discriminatory’ to Data Centers Energy supplier abandons Lake Tahoe residents to serve data centers - Ars Technica Microsoft’s massive Kenya AI data center would require switching off ‘half the country’ to meet power requirements, government says — $1 billion project stalls over capacity disagreements and lack of infrastructure Amidst Xbox boycotts and media pressure, Microsoft reportedly restructures Israeli office after internal investigation into ethical…

People in this episode

Host: Desk Chair Analysts

Topics covered

  • AI data centers
  • government regulations
  • tech company ethics
  • gaming industry
  • data privacy
  • business settlements

Keywords

  • AI
  • data centers
  • Palantir
  • Microsoft
  • gaming
  • PayPal
  • Amazon
  • Meta
  • ethics
  • regulations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Palantir, DOJ, PayPal, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, GameStop, eBay

Products: Switch 2

Books & works: Party Animals

Places: Lake Tahoe, Kenya, Utah

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