1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,480 This holiday season, you're getting the greatest gift of all, a James hosted 2 00:00:03,919 --> 00:00:11,599 tech news. So, be grateful. And yes, James does refer to himself in the third 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:14,160 person. Good boy. Spotify has had its 4 00:00:11,599 --> 00:00:18,080 entire music library scraped by a pirate activist group and dumped on Anna's 5 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:23,600 archive, an open- source search engine for shadow libraries, books with black 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:25,600 pages. The scraped data is about 300 7 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:29,920 terabytes, including metadata, and of course, tens of millions of tracks, 8 00:00:27,439 --> 00:00:34,960 apparently making up 99.6% 6% of Spotify listens. Take a second to appreciate 9 00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:36,640 just how much music that no one cares 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,120 about is in these files. >> Now it's all AI. >> Just delete the file. You got it. 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:45,120 Apparently, this hack is a preservation project, but Spotify says it was done by 12 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,960 abusing public access and bypassing protection. Spotify insists no customer 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:53,920 personal info was compromised. Now, this is more about scraped audio and metadata 14 00:00:51,039 --> 00:00:57,280 than some full internal leak. But still, it's a lot of data. It's not a lot in 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:01,199 size, but it's a lot in file count. It's a lot in emotion >> for its part. Spotify isn't going to 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:04,720 take this lying down, promising to defend the rights of the artists on 17 00:01:03,039 --> 00:01:08,479 their platform. Sure. Yeah. When activists scrape someone's data, they 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:11,760 call the lawyers, but nobody bats an eye when data from YouTube, Twitter, or 19 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:14,880 Reddit gets scraped by AI. The AI doesn't know any better. It's still 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:18,000 learning. Maybe if those platforms own the license to my content, they would 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:22,400 fight for me. Valve has officially discontinued the original Steam Deck 22 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:26,159 LCD, quietly sunsetting one of the best bang for your buck handheld gaming 23 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:30,159 devices ever made. Launched in 2022 for $400 US, the LCD model was the most 24 00:01:28,799 --> 00:01:34,159 affordable way to play your Steam library on the go and even helped kick 25 00:01:32,079 --> 00:01:38,479 off the entire handheld PC boom that we're still basking in today. Once 26 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:43,520 existing stock is gone, she gone for good, leaving the Steam Deck OLED as the 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:46,720 new entry point at $550. Valve hasn't exactly said why they pulled the plug, 28 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:50,479 but the writing has been on the wall since the OLED model first launched. The 29 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:53,280 newer version has a better screen, improved internals, and likely 30 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,240 cannibalized sales of its little brother, the Murderer. the cane of 31 00:01:55,119 --> 00:01:59,439 handhelds. >> Still, it stings. With handheld prices 32 00:01:58,159 --> 00:02:02,880 climbing across the board, the Steam Deck LCD was one of the cheapest grade 33 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:07,680 options. In related Valve news, Steam itself is going fully 64-bit on Windows. 34 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,840 Support for 32-bit installs is entering its final countdown. Will stop receiving 35 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:16,160 updates in 2026. So, if you are still somehow running 32-bit Windows, don't 36 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:19,920 worry. Steam isn't mad. It's just moving on. China's tech giants have found a 37 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:24,160 hilarious workaround to get NVIDIA's banned AI chips. While NVIDIA Blackwell 38 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:28,400 B200 accelerators are barred from being sold in China, companies like Tencent 39 00:02:26,239 --> 00:02:31,520 are still getting access by renting them from overseas. According to the 40 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:35,360 Financial Times, Tencent is leasing large amounts of Blackwell compute 41 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:39,680 through a Japanese Neocloud operator called Data Section, which owns the 42 00:02:37,519 --> 00:02:43,200 hardware and runs data centers in Japan and Australia. They're kind of like the 43 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:46,879 Blockbuster video for AI. The chips never physically enter China, so the 44 00:02:44,879 --> 00:02:48,959 arrangement stays technically legal under current rules. 45 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:53,519 >> Block what? >> I guess more like Netflix. >> [laughter] 46 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:58,319 >> Tensson reportedly has access to thousands of B200 GPUs and even newer 47 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:02,159 B300 chips under contracts worth billions of dollars, allowing them to 48 00:03:00,239 --> 00:03:05,440 continue training advanced AI models. Analysts say this rental approach may 49 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:09,120 actually be more attractive than buying approved chips inside China since 50 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:13,040 overseas Blackwell hardware massively outperforms what's allowed domestically. 51 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,560 That's the whole reason to do it, right? Meanwhile, NVIDIA is still strengthening 52 00:03:14,879 --> 00:03:20,959 its position elsewhere. Recently receiving US antitrust clearance for a 53 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:23,920 major investment in Intel, quietly expanding its influence across the 54 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:27,920 industry, vertically integrating, consolidation, owning the world. 55 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:36,799 Speaking of hardware you can actually own, you should check out these sick deals from our sponsor, MSI and their 56 00:03:32,319 --> 00:03:38,560 Mag 272 QPD OLED X50. Christmas is 57 00:03:36,799 --> 00:03:42,879 coming, so why not spoil the gamer in your life? Or maybe it's you yourself 58 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:46,560 with a snazzy new display. This beast delivers stunning image quality and an 59 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:51,680 absurdly fast performance thanks to a 0.03 millisecond response time and a 60 00:03:48,959 --> 00:03:55,040 500Hz refresh rate. The kind of specs that give you a real edge over your 61 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,640 gaming buddies. And you hate your buddies. Every one of your victories 62 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:03,840 looks incredible on its third gen QD OLED panel with Vasa display HDR true 63 00:04:00,959 --> 00:04:09,200 black 500 and clear MR 21000 certification making the picture faking 64 00:04:06,239 --> 00:04:15,040 gorgeous. MSI also made sure it plays nice with the PS5 and Xbox Series 65 00:04:12,239 --> 00:04:18,079 series, so console and PC gamers are equally covered. It's packed with 66 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:22,720 everything you'd expect from a premium monitor. And if OLED burn-in worries 67 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:27,120 you, you fool, MSI's got your back with a three-year burn-in warranty. Do 68 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:33,120 yourself or some other lucky cuss a favor this holiday season and check out 69 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:35,440 the MSI Mag 272 QPQD X50 at the link 70 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:39,680 below. Trying to hide Christmas presents from 71 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:43,440 the quick bits is a nightmare. They just they just zip around until they find 72 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:48,240 them. Pain in the ass little ingrades. Mozzilla says Firefox will add a 73 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:51,440 dedicated AI kill switch after community push back. The company's new CEO has 74 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,040 been pitching Firefox as a modern browser with optional AI features to 75 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:58,800 keep up with competition. And so far, everything that's been added is optional 76 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:03,520 to use. The new change simply adds a single explicit toggle to disable all AI 77 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:07,440 features at once instead of making you hunt through settings. One big button to 78 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:11,199 make the annoying thing go away. I wish I could do this with Christmas and just 79 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:14,000 at the mall >> enough. 80 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:19,199 >> I WISH I COULD DO IT WITH ALL AI. >> OH, people YouTube accounts appear to be 81 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:22,400 showing strangely high CPU usage even when videos are paused or just when 82 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:28,240 you're on the homepage before you've watched anything. In a chunky post on 83 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:29,759 the LT subreddit, user Razazzle caught 84 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,360 the issue, surmising that YouTube Premium seems to have a web worker, a 85 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:38,240 way for a website to run JavaScript in the background called echowworker.js 86 00:05:35,759 --> 00:05:43,199 that sits in a busy weight loop using the CPU for no real reason. 87 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:48,080 >> Sounds like my my old job, huh? >> Luckily, our boy Ray Zazelle does offer 88 00:05:45,919 --> 00:05:53,120 a fix for Firefox users. So, if you're a member of the dog pack, go check out 89 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:55,919 that post. If you're a I don't know wrestling 90 00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:01,919 >> pack is Firefox users. >> Yeah, I guess >> it's not a dog. It's a fox. 91 00:05:59,039 --> 00:06:05,360 >> It's a K9. Who is this guy? >> It's not cat. 92 00:06:03,759 --> 00:06:10,240 >> If you're a Chrome user, I guess pick up some more CPU cores while you're downloading more RAM, homeboy, just 93 00:06:08,319 --> 00:06:13,919 you're on your own. Chinese chip designer More Threads has just rolled 94 00:06:11,759 --> 00:06:19,280 out a new set of GPUs, including its next generation Washon AI chip that it 95 00:06:17,039 --> 00:06:23,840 says can compete with NVIDIA's high-end products, helping fuel a stock price 96 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:28,400 jump, you love to see it, and investor excitement that's still going higher as 97 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,720 China pushes for tech independence. squash on 98 00:06:32,319 --> 00:06:38,080 >> 2026. Riley, >> what I wasn't >> despite all this, the company hasn't 99 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:42,240 given detailed benchmarks yet, and there's no third party benchmarks, 100 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:46,400 leaving some questions about how it really stacks up against NVIDIA. More 101 00:06:44,319 --> 00:06:50,400 power to you, more threads. I'm just looking for affordable GPU that can run 102 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:55,360 Crisis. You know, what is today's crisis? Let me know in the comments. 103 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:59,599 A big old power outage knocked out traffic lights in San Francisco, causing 104 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:02,960 Whimo's driverless taxis to get stuck. >> This is fine and normal. 105 00:07:01,039 --> 00:07:07,759 >> With the cars immobilized and adding to the blackout mess, Whimo paused its robo 106 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:10,960 taxi services for safety, but has since resumed operations as power came back 107 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:14,800 on. If this story didn't turn you off robo taxis and you live in London, good 108 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:19,120 news. Uber and Lyft are teaming up with China's BYU to bring Apollo Go robo 109 00:07:17,039 --> 00:07:23,120 taxis to London streets for testing in 2026, putting them on the starting grid 110 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:26,560 against Whimo, who's already testing cars in the old smoke. Just hope there's 111 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:30,639 no power outages, Londers, or you'll be back to ching the tube. 112 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:34,400 >> Wow. And Google has finally pulled the plug on the Sega Dreamcast Planet Web 113 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:38,400 3.0 browser. >> NO. >> Officially breaking web access on a 114 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:42,479 console released all the way back in 1999, the last good year on this planet. 115 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:47,599 The shutdown happened because Google services simply stopped responding to the ancient browser, quietly ending a 116 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:51,039 25-year run, which is honestly impressive because this might be one of 117 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:54,560 the longest running services Google didn't intentionally kill. How the heck 118 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:58,160 am I supposed to get my optimal seaman growth strategies now? Jeff, I need you 119 00:07:56,639 --> 00:08:01,120 to stay strong. I will get you out of that tank eventually. It's a Dreamcast 120 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:06,319 game, Riley. >> Okay. >> And you'll need to stay strong to make it through these next few days without 121 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:09,840 any tech news. But don't worry, we'll be back soon enough. Me and my seaman are 122 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:13,759 going to stay safe and cozy in my house over the break, though. If I hear anyone banging the roof, I'm not going to be 123 00:08:12,479 --> 00:08:17,805 checking out. You're not going to catch me in any of that Tim Allen Santa Claus 124 00:08:17,805 --> 00:08:22,879 [laughter] Got sheep.