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The day's tech news, every day at 5pm. From Techmeme.com, Silicon Valley's most-read news source. 15 minutes and you're up to date.

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Episodes

Mon. 04/21 – Trump Helps Zuck Get A Reprieve In Europe

Meta and Apple were about to go to the woodshed in Europe, but it looks like Trump’s tariffs have run interference for them. Everyone wants in on stablecoins, example number 23. Beware of phishing emails from Google.com. And are OpenAI’s latest models good, bad, or just “jagged”? Sponsors: QualiaLife.com/ride  and code RIDE Links: EU Delayed Punishing Apple, Meta Just Before Trade Talks Started  (WSJ) Crypto Knocks on the Door of a Banking World That Shut It Out  (WSJ) Phishers ab...

Apr 21, 2025•17 min

Fri. 04/18 – The Google Antitrust Snowball

This episode covers Google's latest antitrust loss, this time regarding ad tech, and potential remedies. It also discusses Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order details, privacy concerns around ChatGPT's location detection, the rise of Chinese shopping apps in the US, and a potential sign of life on another planet. Additionally, the episode highlights the issue of AI bots infiltrating community colleges to bilk financial aid.

Apr 18, 2025•18 min

Thu. 04/17 – Mooooaaar Models!

OpenAI has a new reasoning model, and more lower cost models as well. Is OpenAI about to acquire a coding startup? Is Perplexity turning to Samsung for distribution and branding? A Neuralink rival gets FDA approval. And why is Jensen Huang on a code-red mission to China at the moment? Sponsors: 1Password.com/ride Links: OpenAI's new o3 and o4-mini models are all about 'thinking with images'  (Engadget) OpenAI debuts Codex CLI, an open source coding tool for terminals  (TechCrunch) Vibe...

Apr 17, 2025•17 min

Wed. 04/16 – Why Does OpenAI Want A Social Network?

Well, it looks like DOGE has finally come for cybersecurity. It sounds like the tariff stuff is already biting Nvidia to the tune of $5 billion. Why is OpenAI building a social network? The government would have settled the antitrust case with Meta to the tune of $30 billion. And why did Mark Zuckerberg consider spinning off Instagram voluntarily? Sponsors: SelectQuote.com/ride Links: Uncle Sam abruptly turns off funding for CVE program. Yes, that CVE program  (The Register) Nvidia says it ...

Apr 16, 2025•19 min

Tue. 04/15 – Why Is OpenAI Going Backwards (Name-Wise)?

OpenAI releases its latest next gen models but you wouldn’t know it by the nomenclature because the numbers are going backwards. What’s up with that? Apple is tying itself in a pretzel to train on user data but still stick to privacy. And a big rundown of the first day of the big Meta antitrust trial. Sponsors: MackWeldon.com  promocode BRIAN Links: OpenAI’s new GPT-4.1 AI models focus on coding  (TechCrunch) OpenAI launches another model before GPT 5 — here’s what this one can do &nbs...

Apr 15, 2025•19 min

Mon. 04/14 – Tariff Groundhog Day

You know that meme of Ebenezer Scrooge shouting out the window? “Hey boy, what tariff regime is it today?” Sam Altman again implies ChatGPT usage has exploded. If you’re coding with AI, a big new vulnerability you need to know about. And is Apple pivoting the Vision Pro to the type of product I thought they should have done all along? Sponsor: Freshbooks.com Links: Apple, Nvidia Score Relief From US Tariffs With Exemptions  (Bloomberg) Sony raises PlayStation 5 prices in Europe citing ‘chal...

Apr 14, 2025•17 min

Fri. 04/11 – Why COULDN’T Apple Make An iPhone In The US?

This episode discusses the EU's potential tax on big tech ad revenue, the unlikelihood of Apple manufacturing iPhones in the US, OpenAI's new ChatGPT memory feature and rushed safety testing, Mira Murati's AI startup funding, and longread suggestions covering AI trends, military applications, and Apple's struggles with Siri.

Apr 11, 2025•18 min

Thu. 04/10 – JK, JK, JK

This episode covers the reversal of Trump's tariffs and its impact on the stock market, Nintendo, and Apple. It also discusses the appointment of Paul Atkins as SEC chair and OpenAI's countersuit against Elon Musk. Additionally, Google's new AI agent protocol and the increasing electricity demand from AI-driven data centers are examined.

Apr 10, 2025•17 min

Wed. 04/09 – Instagram iPad App But For REAL This Time?

This episode covers Google's new Ironwood TPU and Workspace AI tools, tariff impacts on tech prices, Microsoft's data center pullback, and Amazon's warehouse expansion. It also discusses Instagram's potential iPad app and competition with TikTok, Google Maps' new features, and Samsung's Ballie robot. The episode concludes with a sports update, highlighting Arsenal's win.

Apr 09, 2025•18 min

Tue. 04/08 – It’s Already Starting…

This episode covers tech price increases due to tariffs, Meta's alleged AI benchmark manipulation, and Shopify's AI integration mandates. It also discusses the impact of Google's AI overviews on website traffic and the rise of AI-generated book sequels, raising questions about quality and author involvement.

Apr 08, 2025•17 min