1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 I can't get enough of that tech news. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,360 You can never get enough. 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:17,520 I'm sorry, that was too much. Microsoft is reportedly scaling back its internal sales growth targets for some of its newer 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:22,840 AI tools after slower than expected adoption by customers, according to internal sources 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:34,400 who spoke with the information. Several Azure sales teams missed aggressive quotas last fiscal year, prompting the company 6 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:40,600 to quietly relax growth expectations for certain AI products, as enterprise customers pushed 7 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:50,920 back on paying for agents whose returns they said were hard to measure. 8 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:56,280 However, after a few outlets picked up the story, Microsoft told Futurism that the initial 9 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:03,760 reports inaccurately combine growth and sales quotas, insisting that AI sales targets were 10 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:09,920 never lowered, even as internal adjustments suggest expectations are being reset behind 11 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:17,440 the scenes. So maybe tons of people love paying for Copilot, and for everyone who doesn't, great news. 12 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:23,240 The newest update for LGTV's Bakes Copilot directly into the home screen. 13 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,640 And while it can be hidden, there's no option to uninstall. 14 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,440 Because nothing complements your movie-watching experience, like another button you'll never 15 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,200 click on. It's no wonder people are building custom tools that get rid of all the AI features 16 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,800 in Windows 11. This isn't an endorsement, by the way. We don't know if this tool is malware. 17 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:46,560 It's just an example. People want AI removal tools because the world is turning to slop. 18 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,040 Which is the 2025 Merriam-Webster word of the year. 19 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:59,600 Maybe this is God's way of answering our prayers. Dear God, please bring back Clippy and smite this Mico-Ai-Miko-Ai-Baby-Blob thing. 20 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,720 I wish to see its face no more. 21 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:09,560 You got it. The RAM apocalypse continues, as several companies have announced a new round of price increases, 22 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:16,280 including Framework, which is increasing the price of its laptop DDR5 kits by 50% and Dell, 23 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:21,760 which will be raising the prices of their enterprise PC products from 10% to 30%, depending. 24 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:27,560 Framework says they solemnly do pledge to stay transparent, only raising prices to cover 25 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,160 real cost increases and lowering them again if costs fall. 26 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,760 But I don't know. They are a for-profit company. I'm not going to hold my breath for that. 27 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:41,160 Linus is invested in them. I am only invested in having a good time. 28 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,960 Meanwhile, Dell and Lenovo are reportedly considering limiting their mid-range laptops 29 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:54,280 to just 8GB of DDR5 RAM. I thought we were living in a 16 to 32GB era, but maybe this will force software developers 30 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:59,880 to make less memory-hungry products? Or maybe you're just going to get a worse laptop for your money. 31 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:07,840 Probably that one. But wait, there's more! According to YouTuber MorsLawIsDead, Samsung is winding down production of cheaper SATA 32 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:14,320 SSDs next year to focus on pricier memory and storage for AI data centers, which as 33 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,400 these kind of moves often do, could mean fewer options on the market and even higher prices 34 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,440 for regular consumers. Don't be sad, okay? 35 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,360 Think about how happy Samsung's shareholders are going to be. 36 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,080 Imagine hearing the laughter of children, but they're grown up and spending most of 37 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,960 their time on their ketamine yacht when they should be spending time with our sponsor. 38 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,120 They're great! I'm referring to the quick bits, of course. 39 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:45,320 iRobot, the maker of the Roomba robot vacuum, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and agreed 40 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:50,320 to be bought out by its main Chinese manufacturer, Pisia Robotics. 41 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:57,480 That's gotta be what it is. Or, in their own robotic words, iRobot announces strategic transaction to drive long-term growth 42 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,640 plan. Much clearer. Why didn't we say that first? 43 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:06,800 The deal comes after years of mounting debt, stiff competition, and a failed Amazon acquisition, 44 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:12,320 and will take iRobot private under Pisia through a court-supervised restructuring expected 45 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:17,840 to finish by early 2026. I don't think I'm saying Pisia right, but here we are. 46 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:21,920 But at least app support and product services will continue as usual. 47 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:28,920 So don't worry, not much is changing for all you Roombaddies, Roomballers. 48 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,600 We looked into it, and the Roomba doesn't appear to have a fan club with a cute name 49 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,560 for me to reference in a joke here, which seems like a real missed opportunity. What are you guys doing? 50 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:45,080 Google's doing their favorite thing in shutting down features. This time, they're axing the dark web data leak reports feature for Google One subscribers, 51 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:52,880 which will have all of its data deleted by February. Apparently, feedback showed that this feature didn't really help users act on leaks, so 52 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,680 Google's just going back to saying, oh, you want security? 53 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,560 Just turn on two-factor authentication. Why haven't you turned on two-factor authentication yet? 54 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:06,640 What's wrong with you? Google has also locked the standard continued conversation feature, which allows you to 55 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,080 keep talking to your smart device without saying, hey, Google, every three seconds, 56 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:14,120 sorry. Behind a 10 bucks a month Google Home premium subscription. 57 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:18,400 This weekend, I couldn't even get Gemini to play a Spotify song, something Google Assistant 58 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,320 handled fine. Can't even play Spotify? This is hell. 59 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:29,440 This is the bad place. An Intel Panther Lake chip was spotted running in a 1x player handheld thanks to Elite Furmark 60 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:38,840 Run. The chip was a Core Ultra 5 338H with an integrated Intel ARC B370 GPU, and it scored 2,383 points, 61 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:45,520 roughly GeForce GTX 1060 level, although Furmark is less of a gaming benchmark and more of 62 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,920 a stress test, so let's not write Panther Lake off just yet. 63 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:55,120 That's for later. If you want to feel excited about Intel, however misguided that may be, check out this now 64 00:05:55,120 --> 00:06:00,040 deleted reply tweet from the official Intel gaming account, seemingly confirming the rumored 65 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:06,880 ARC B770. They say they're thrilled that this fan is pumped about the B770, making sure to also 66 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:11,360 mention the other two things the fan was pumped about as well, and throw in some friendly 67 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,600 emojis. I'm pretty sure this is an AI. 68 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,680 It's a bot reply. The B770 is canceled, everyone. 69 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:23,840 An AI has revealed it's using its codex coding agent to help improve its codex coding agent. 70 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:29,680 The system can reportedly monitor its own training runs, and, when prompted, decide what code 71 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:35,280 changes to make next, meaning this AI has taken another step towards a self-improving 72 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:38,280 singularity situation. 73 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:47,800 Although the nerds told it to do that, so don't panic yet. The nerds at Google DeepMind also announced its first automated research lab in the UK, 74 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:55,120 where a blend of AI systems and robotics in the facility will, I guess, automatically 75 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,960 make scientific discoveries in material science. 76 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:04,280 Here's hoping they come up with something good. I'm gonna go spend the week on the very fun yacht we talked about earlier. 77 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:10,960 Oh, but first, the US government has launched a new US tech force to rapidly recruit skilled 78 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:18,000 tech workers into the federal government. The plan is to bring in a thousand engineers, data scientists, and developers for two-year 79 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:23,040 stints and have them work on what the government is calling the world's most complex and difficult 80 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:28,720 problems. Doing IT for government people. 81 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,080 Problems which somehow have rapidly sprung up after the government laid off all of those 82 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:39,840 tech workers that it laid off earlier this year. Critics warn the program could pose serious conflicts of interest since many recruits 83 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:44,360 are expected to come directly from major tech companies where they may return after two 84 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,320 years of accessing all kinds of juicy government data. 85 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,600 If only there was some way to keep them focused on what really matters. 86 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:57,320 Enter the Stanford researchers who developed this audio shield system. 87 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:04,800 It helps people with ADHD focus by amplifying the sounds of everyday tasks instead of blocking 88 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:10,680 them out. The wearable device uses microphones and earbuds to turn actions like typing, washing hands, 89 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:17,560 or handling objects into real-time audio cues that they say will boost mindfulness and attention 90 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,680 while you're doing stuff. Basically, it's like a hearing aid. It just makes everything louder. 91 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:27,200 In early studies, users stayed on tasks longer and reported higher focus. 92 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:31,080 So next time a loud talker is distracting you from your work, don't tell them to keep 93 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:35,880 it down. Tell them to turn that shit up. It might just change your life. 94 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,080 And so we'll come back this Wednesday for more tech news. 95 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,640 In the meantime, I've got a wicked craving for a bowl of cereal. 96 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,320 It's magically delicious, hopefully. There's gotta be some around here somewhere. 97 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:51,520 I'll just follow my nose. So we can remember all that stuff?