The AI hype train keeps shedding wheels this week. KPMG managed to publish a report about the transformative power of AI that was apparently riddled with hallucinations, fake citations, and imaginary products, proving once again that asking a stochastic parrot to do your homework is not a substitute for actual research. Meanwhile, Americans are using AI faster than ever while trusting it less than ever, OpenAI somehow turned $13 billion in revenue into losses that would make a dot-com CFO blush, and Silicon Valley CEOs have quietly stopped promising to replace all workers with...
The AI hype train keeps shedding wheels this week. KPMG managed to publish a report about the transformative power of AI that was apparently riddled with hallucinations, fake citations, and imaginary products, proving once again that asking a stochastic parrot to do your homework is not a substitute for actual research. Meanwhile, Americans are using AI faster than ever while trusting it less than ever, OpenAI somehow turned $13 billion in revenue into losses that would make a dot-com CFO blush, and Silicon Valley CEOs have quietly stopped promising to replace all workers with AI. Not because they've changed their minds, mind you, just because they discovered that telling employees they're obsolete is terrible for morale and stock prices. Add in protests dogging Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta employees revolting against soul-crushing AI evaluation work, and the message is clear: the future is here, and everyone involved seems miserable.
We then return to one of the founding principles of Grumpy Old Geeks: never build your house on somebody else's land. Anthropic learned that lesson the hard way when its AI models reportedly got caught in a geopolitical and regulatory tug-of-war involving Amazon, the U.S. government, and national security concerns. World leaders are now openly questioning whether American AI platforms can be trusted if access can be revoked overnight. The same platform-risk story pops up again as Meta launches AI-powered search across Facebook's oceans of questionable user-generated content. Remember kids: when you pitch your tent in someone else's backyard, don't act shocked when they turn on the sprinklers.
From the Injustice Files, the hits keep coming. The Atlantic revealed the staggering scale of copyrighted music used to train AI systems, Hollywood inches closer to becoming a monopoly-themed amusement park, and the DOJ is backing xAI in a pollution lawsuit while reports emerge that Grok-assisted systems played a role in military operations. Elon keeps collecting legal losses, SpaceX buys Cursor for an eye-watering $60 billion, and Trump is threatening French wine over tech taxes while simultaneously promoting crypto through a UFC event at the White House. We wrap with Britain banning social media for kids under 16, hackers stealing entire Roblox games, Fox buying Roku, the return of human narrators at Blinkist, a gloriously anti-social-media flip phone from Commodore, and a reminder that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is still one of the few things keeping the future worth looking forward to.
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Show notes at https://gog.show/751
Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/iRrbNdVw-pM
SHOW NOTES
A report on the benefits of AI was reportedly full of AI hallucinations
Just 16% of Americans Believe AI Will Positively Impact Society, Pew Poll Finds
Exclusive: OpenAI Losses Increased Nearly 8X in 2025, With Spending Hitting $34 Billion
The CEOs are No Longer (Publicly) Threatening to Replace Humans With AI
Sundar Pichai faces boos, walkout at Stanford graduation ceremony over Google's Israel, ICE ties
‘Tell Him He’s a Piece of Shit’: Meta’s New AI Unit Is a Total Mess
Anthropic becomes a cautionary sovereign-AI fable
Anthropic Says It’s Taking Claude Fable 5 Offline to Comply With US Government Order
Cyber experts warn Fable limits aid attackers and hurt defenders
Amazon Triggered Claude Fable 5 Shutdown: Investor, Cloud Host, Now Regulator
World leaders want American AI. They just don't want America to be able to turn it off.
Meta's new ‘AI Mode’ on Facebook pulls from public info across its platforms
Investigation by The Atlantic reveals many millions of songs used for AI music training
Justice Department Decision to Allow Paramount Deal Surprised Staff Investigators
Justice Department backs xAI in NAACP lawsuit over data center pollution
Pentagon used Elon Musk’s Grok AI to fire 2,000 missiles at Iran, official says
xAI's lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets has been thrown out
SpaceX to acquire Cursor for $60B in stock, days after blockbuster IPO
Trump threatens 100 percent tariff on France's wine industry over its tech tax
UFC to pay White House fighters in crypto issued by Trump company
UK will ban social media for children under 16
Hackers Are Hijacking Entire Roblox Games Now
Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion
Apple TV renews comedy horror Widow’s Bay for a second season
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Disclosure Day
Shrek 5 | Official Teaser Trailer
RIDICULOUS - 2026 Special - Trailer #1 - Louis C.K.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Season 4 Official Trailer
Commodore made a social media-banishing flip phone
Snap's Stock Plunges the Moment It Reveals Its Comically Gigantic AR Glasses
So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
Creator Capitalist by the Category Pirates
Trackalot
Blinkist pulls back on AI narrators
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