WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 I can't get enough of that tech news. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.360 You can never get enough. 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 00:00:17.520 --> 00:00:22.840 AI tools after slower than expected adoption by customers, according to internal sources 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 00:00:34.400 --> 00:00:40.600 to quietly relax growth expectations for certain AI products, as enterprise customers pushed 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:50.920 back on paying for agents whose returns they said were hard to measure. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:56.280 However, after a few outlets picked up the story, Microsoft told Futurism that the initial 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:03.760 reports inaccurately combine growth and sales quotas, insisting that AI sales targets were 00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:09.920 never lowered, even as internal adjustments suggest expectations are being reset behind 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. 00:01:17.440 --> 00:01:23.240 The newest update for LGTV's Bakes Copilot directly into the home screen. 00:01:23.240 --> 00:01:27.640 And while it can be hidden, there's no option to uninstall. 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:31.440 Because nothing complements your movie-watching experience, like another button you'll never 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 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. 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. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:50.040 Which is the 2025 Merriam-Webster word of the year. 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. 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:02.720 I wish to see its face no more. 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, 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:16.280 including Framework, which is increasing the price of its laptop DDR5 kits by 50% and Dell, 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:21.760 which will be raising the prices of their enterprise PC products from 10% to 30%, depending. 00:02:21.760 --> 00:02:27.560 Framework says they solemnly do pledge to stay transparent, only raising prices to cover 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:31.160 real cost increases and lowering them again if costs fall. 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. 00:02:35.760 --> 00:02:41.160 Linus is invested in them. I am only invested in having a good time. 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:45.960 Meanwhile, Dell and Lenovo are reportedly considering limiting their mid-range laptops 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 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. 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 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:14.320 SSDs next year to focus on pricier memory and storage for AI data centers, which as 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 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:21.440 for regular consumers. Don't be sad, okay? 00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:25.360 Think about how happy Samsung's shareholders are going to be. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:30.080 Imagine hearing the laughter of children, but they're grown up and spending most of 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:34.960 their time on their ketamine yacht when they should be spending time with our sponsor. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:39.120 They're great! I'm referring to the quick bits, of course. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:45.320 iRobot, the maker of the Roomba robot vacuum, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and agreed 00:03:45.320 --> 00:03:50.320 to be bought out by its main Chinese manufacturer, Pisia Robotics. 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 00:03:57.480 --> 00:04:00.640 plan. Much clearer. Why didn't we say that first? 00:04:00.640 --> 00:04:06.800 The deal comes after years of mounting debt, stiff competition, and a failed Amazon acquisition, 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:12.320 and will take iRobot private under Pisia through a court-supervised restructuring expected 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. 00:04:17.840 --> 00:04:21.920 But at least app support and product services will continue as usual. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:28.920 So don't worry, not much is changing for all you Roombaddies, Roomballers. 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 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? 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, 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 00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:56.680 Google's just going back to saying, oh, you want security? 00:04:56.680 --> 00:05:00.560 Just turn on two-factor authentication. Why haven't you turned on two-factor authentication yet? 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 00:05:06.640 --> 00:05:10.080 keep talking to your smart device without saying, hey, Google, every three seconds, 00:05:10.080 --> 00:05:14.120 sorry. Behind a 10 bucks a month Google Home premium subscription. 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:18.400 This weekend, I couldn't even get Gemini to play a Spotify song, something Google Assistant 00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:22.320 handled fine. Can't even play Spotify? This is hell. 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 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, 00:05:38.840 --> 00:05:45.520 roughly GeForce GTX 1060 level, although Furmark is less of a gaming benchmark and more of 00:05:45.520 --> 00:05:49.920 a stress test, so let's not write Panther Lake off just yet. 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 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:00.040 deleted reply tweet from the official Intel gaming account, seemingly confirming the rumored 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 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 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.600 emojis. I'm pretty sure this is an AI. 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.680 It's a bot reply. The B770 is canceled, everyone. 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. 00:06:23.840 --> 00:06:29.680 The system can reportedly monitor its own training runs, and, when prompted, decide what code 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:35.280 changes to make next, meaning this AI has taken another step towards a self-improving 00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:38.280 singularity situation. 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, 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:55.120 where a blend of AI systems and robotics in the facility will, I guess, automatically 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:58.960 make scientific discoveries in material science. 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. 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 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 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 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:28.720 problems. Doing IT for government people. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.080 Problems which somehow have rapidly sprung up after the government laid off all of those 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 00:07:39.840 --> 00:07:44.360 are expected to come directly from major tech companies where they may return after two 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:48.320 years of accessing all kinds of juicy government data. 00:07:48.320 --> 00:07:52.600 If only there was some way to keep them focused on what really matters. 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:57.320 Enter the Stanford researchers who developed this audio shield system. 00:07:57.320 --> 00:08:04.800 It helps people with ADHD focus by amplifying the sounds of everyday tasks instead of blocking 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:10.680 them out. The wearable device uses microphones and earbuds to turn actions like typing, washing hands, 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:17.560 or handling objects into real-time audio cues that they say will boost mindfulness and attention 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. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:27.200 In early studies, users stayed on tasks longer and reported higher focus. 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 00:08:31.080 --> 00:08:35.880 it down. Tell them to turn that shit up. It might just change your life. 00:08:35.880 --> 00:08:39.080 And so we'll come back this Wednesday for more tech news. 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:42.640 In the meantime, I've got a wicked craving for a bowl of cereal. 00:08:42.640 --> 00:08:46.320 It's magically delicious, hopefully. There's gotta be some around here somewhere. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:51.520 I'll just follow my nose. So we can remember all that stuff?