1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,800 Sometimes tech news is good. Sometimes it's bad, but I can only share it with 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:10,880 you and that makes me glad. I love you, James. 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:16,320 China has decided to block the use of Intel and AMD chips from government PCs 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:20,000 and servers in a brilliant master class on how to use the Uno reverse card. 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,960 While we are just finding out about this, China's new computer guidelines 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:28,000 came into effect on December 26th of last year. Honestly, it was nice of them 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,240 to let American CPU manufacturers enjoy Christmas before breaking everyone's 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:36,160 hearts. The government has an approved list of only 18 processors and only one 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:39,880 of them uses the x86 architecture, a chip made by Chinese company with a 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:43,800 normal length name, Shanghai Zhaoxin Integrated Circuit Company Limited. 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:48,680 Every other chip on China's list of the coolest CPUs uses either ARM cores or 12 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:53,400 RISC-V architecture. In addition to hardware, they are sidelining Microsoft 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:57,640 Windows and any foreign-made database software. This makes sense since just 14 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:01,640 last year China unveiled its first homegrown open-source desktop operating 15 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:05,120 system. That was really just the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution with a 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:09,120 Windows-esque coat of paint. And can you really blame China for this move? I 17 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,840 mean, the US is doing the same thing to China. Looking at all the stuff that 18 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:16,800 they left in your house just hurts too much. Oh, you forgot your scarf. Um, can I see 19 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:20,800 you again? The EU is investigating Apple, Meta, and Google for 20 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:24,640 non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act. Noticeably absent from the list is 21 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:28,520 Microsoft. In fact, The Verge's Tom Warren claimed on Twitter that Microsoft 22 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:32,000 is the only big tech company that the EU isn't investigating for DMA 23 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:36,920 non-compliance. I mean, the European Commission even launched investigatory 24 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:40,840 steps for Amazon's ranking practices. I guess Microsoft hasn't done anything 25 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:46,160 wrong since the DMA took effect in May of last year. Except that they have. 26 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:51,920 They have. Everyone except for the EU knows that Microsoft has been challenging your mom for the award for 27 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:55,840 best guilt trips for the sometime now. In October, the company decided to 28 00:01:53,400 --> 00:02:00,600 expand on their deluge of banners and stopgaps when users dare to install 29 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:05,560 Chrome using the Edge browser by adding a poll to ask, "What did we do wrong?" 30 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:08,840 Like an overbearing ex. Two months after that, Edge users that set their default 31 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:12,800 search engine to Google found their browser would get blocked by a pop-up 32 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,400 asking them to switch to Bing. Just this month, Microsoft confirmed that they are 33 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:20,520 rolling out one-time pop-up ads in Windows 10 and 11 to convince Chrome 34 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:24,000 users to also use Bing as a search engine. Why not both, you know? Maybe 35 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:28,640 Microsoft doesn't do these things in Europe, giving the continent something else to make fun of North America for 36 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:33,880 when they drink their wine and olive oil. Fancy cheeses. Dipping things in 37 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,760 olive oil. OpenAI has apparently gone to Hollywood to take meetings with 38 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:40,520 directors and film studios, according to reports from Bloomberg. Apparently, COO 39 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:44,400 Brad Lightcap and some colleagues are giving demonstrations of their AI video 40 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:47,760 generator Sora in the hopes that filmmakers will integrate it into their 41 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:51,480 work. And indeed, they also just published a bunch of little shorts made 42 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:55,040 by filmmakers that are tea, but they're not real. 43 00:02:53,080 --> 00:03:00,640 But they are real. Best consumed with drugs. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman 44 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:04,640 used this as an excuse to attend parties during Oscar weekend like the total 45 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:08,880 chatty he is. While Sora isn't available to the public, OpenAI has reportedly 46 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:12,120 granted access to a few big-name actors and directors. Probably just Altman's 47 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,520 drinking buddies, no one else. This is not the first time Sora has affected the 48 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:21,080 industry. About a month ago, filmmaker Tyler Perry, best known by his drag name 49 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:24,320 Madea, announced he put an $800 million 50 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:26,720 expansion to his Atlanta studio on hold 51 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,560 because of AI like Sora. Apparently, he believes he may not need to do 52 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:34,600 on-location shooting anymore. If he wants to shoot a living room in the mountains, he can sit in an office and 53 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:38,680 do this with a computer. Perry actually used AI-powered de-aging techniques on 54 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:42,560 two of his films. And that brings up a good point. Actors and writers have gone 55 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:46,120 on strike over AI. But now the technology is affecting makeup artists, 56 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:50,040 contractors who build sets and studios, and even location scouts. All of these 57 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,960 jobs are in jeopardy because one guy saw a fake video of a woman walking in 58 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,440 Tokyo. I didn't know there were any women in Tokyo. He's like, "Wow, she's 59 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:59,560 pretty hot." Is that a city? She's convincingly hot. Now it's time for the 60 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:04,520 quick bits brought to you by Vessi. They claim their shoes are extremely waterproof, yet are able to keep your 61 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:08,000 feet cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Their Stormburst high-top shoes 62 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:12,280 combine the comfort of a sneaker with the grip and coverage of an outdoor 63 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:15,840 boot. I should know, I shoveled snow in them. The shoes have extra layering for 64 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,920 added warmth, as well as extra grip to prevent you from slipping and sliding in 65 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:22,680 unfavorable weather conditions all over the world. They are storm bursting with 66 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:25,800 features that make them great in the upcoming and unpredictable spring 67 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:30,800 weather. Check out the Vessi Stormburst and other styles at vessi.com/techlink 68 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:34,800 to get 15% off your first purchase at checkout. I wasn't always the quick bits 69 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,080 man. I used to tell longer news stories, like just a few months ago in this 70 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:42,240 episode. Oh, I remember that. NVIDIA's AI dominance is being challenged by 71 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:46,000 basically every other company. The United Acceleration Foundation formed 72 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:50,840 last year by Intel, Google, ARM, Qualcomm, Samsung, and others is gunning 73 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:55,240 for NVIDIA's CUDA. The group has been working on an open-source software suite 74 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:58,680 that they say will reach a mature state in the second half of this year. 75 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:02,320 However, there's no final release target yet, so I guess NVIDIA is free to count 76 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:06,040 their trillions until then. But we'll get you. The leather jacket is 77 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:10,280 to save your skin when you Scrooge McDuck into a pile of gold. These gold 78 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:14,200 coins are hard. Google has apparently begun testing AI-generated summaries of 79 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,080 search results on a small subset of queries by users who did not opt into 80 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,840 its Search Generative Experience in order to see how the general public will 81 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:24,600 respond to the new feature. These AI summaries come with a warning label 82 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:30,040 explaining that the feature is experimental, possibly because they seem 83 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,600 to have a bad habit of redirecting users 84 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:38,040 toward spam and scam websites ranging from low-quality to actively malicious. 85 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:41,320 Unlike regular Google. No Maybe the real experiment is to 86 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:45,520 find what percentage of users will gladly type their social security number 87 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:48,560 into a CAPTCHA. In worse Google news, the company was ordered by federal 88 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:53,280 investigators to hand over the personal information of YouTube users who watched 89 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:57,960 certain videos. Links to the videos in questions were sent by undercover agents 90 00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:01,840 to a suspected cryptocurrency laundered. So naturally, the feds wanted Google to 91 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:06,240 hand over names, addresses, telephone number, and user activity, and IP 92 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:09,960 addresses of anyone who watched those videos. Videos that have been watched 93 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:13,840 more than 30,000 times. While that sounds bad, it could have been a lot 94 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:18,000 worse. The FBI could have Rick rolled the suspect, and that's embarrassing in 95 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:22,120 2024. Even worse, you guys are now on a list. I'm sorry. Microsoft has big plans 96 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,040 to make life better for Windows 11 and Xbox gamers. At the Game Developers 97 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:29,800 Conference last week, the company unveiled DirectSR, a tool that makes it 98 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:36,320 a lot easier for devs to add support for multiple upscalers like NVIDIA's DLSS 99 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:39,040 and AMD's FSR and/or Intel's XeSS. I 100 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:42,760 mean, XS. XeSS. Cesspool. Microsoft also just filed a 101 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:47,440 patent for a technique that would improve ray tracing performance on AMD 102 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:51,520 GPUs, including the ones in Xbox consoles and desktop Radeon graphics 103 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:55,400 cards. See, NVIDIA, you don't have to choose between AI-powered world 104 00:06:52,960 --> 00:07:00,440 domination and throwing your gaming customers a bone. You can do both. Piles 105 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:05,520 of bones, like the future in Terminator 2. And EVGA is in hot water after an 106 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:10,360 unannounced pin layout change fried a customer's hard drives. A Redditor RMA'd 107 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:14,280 their power supply and was clearly told not to send back their modular cables. 108 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:18,720 When they hooked the new PSU to the original EVGA cables, it killed their 109 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:22,360 SATA hard drives. Turns out the pin layout of the power supply model had 110 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:26,640 been changed, making them incompatible with the cables from the old unit, but 111 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:30,040 no one at EVGA told the customer. Got you. Now EVGA is refusing to cover the 112 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:34,560 damage. That's not like you. Even better, this may not be a new issue. It 113 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:38,000 is like you. After Louis Rossmann posted a video on the subject, the YouTube 114 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:43,400 account for a PC building company commented that they reported that this 115 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:45,200 issue to EVGA two years ago. So that's 116 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:48,880 why EVGA broke up with NVIDIA. They wanted to cook different parts of their 117 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:52,080 customers' PCs. Friday is the spice of life. You're all 118 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:56,200 going to burn. And do you still come back to see what we cook up for you on 119 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,880 Wednesday? It's a block party. You like gumbo? Because there won't be gumbo. 120 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:04,000 It'll be more tech news. That's all. It's the only thing. What is a gumbo? 121 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,000 A toy.