One does not simply learn of the tech news.
It is guarded by unseen forces. Yet, as your host, I will venture where others would not.
Google is testing out an experimental new AI-powered browser called Disco Baby.
Baby isn't part of the name. Disco Stu is gonna love this, man.
Disco aims to retool how you browse
by turning your messy stack of open tabs into interactive, task-focused mini apps called GenTabs,
powered by Google's latest Gemini 3 model, to complete jobs for you so you can stop staring at a screen
and have some free time to doomscroll Instagram. It's launching as a Google Labs experiment
with a macOS waitlist, but Google says insights
from the experiment could eventually roll into products like Chrome, because of course it will.
What, Google's not gonna force AI on the majority of users and launch a completely separate AI web browser
named after a dead music genre? Who said Disco's dead?
Who said it? I think everybody. Open AI certainly wants to prove that rumors
of their death have been exaggerated. Looking to reclaim their edge in the AI market
after Google's Gemini 3 reportedly made them declare a code red, the company has released GPT 5.2,
its most capable model series yet. Apparently, GPT 5.2 shows strong benchmark gains
against GPT 5.1 and human experts and is currently beating Gemini 3 in web dev
on LLM arena while losing in other areas.
But beware, Open AI admitted that its AI models
are getting so good at coding tasks that they could help build zero-day exploits
or assist in sophisticated hacks. It's so dangerous.
They're working with outside security experts, including a new advisory group and creating special programs
so cyber defense pros can use advanced model features responsibly, but regular people can also use it too.
It's probably fine. Disney fired a cease and desist at Google on Wednesday night,
accusing it of copyright infringement on a massive scale
over the tech giants use of Disney IP for AI training
and slop generation. Despite what a Google spokesperson called
a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship
with Disney, it appears the house of mouse is moving on because like an X on the rebound,
they turned around, saw Open AI and were like,
well, let's strike a three-year deal that's both a licensing partnership and a big investment.
Disney wait, Disney wait, I still love you.
What are you, Google? I'm Google.
It's over, Google. No. You son of a bitch.
Disney is putting about a billion dollars into Open AI
and officially allowing more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar
and Star Wars characters to be generated in the Sora Slop app, starting in early 2026.
Okay, so what exactly is Disney getting out of this deal?
Well, they're getting free chat GPT subscriptions for its workforce, integration with its products.
And if we're lucky, they may even show fan made AI shorts
on Disney plus.
Both companies stress responsible AI use and creator protections and their deal deliberately
excludes real actors voices or likenesses from being used,
even though those absolutely are already have been trained
and you can probably do that anyway. While Disney CEO Bob Iger assures folks
that the deal doesn't threaten creatives, film industry folks see it as a moment
that reshapes how entertainment companies interact with AI licensing and copyright issues and creative labor
with Wired saying this deal redefines the AI copyright war, allowing me to say
in a Yoda voice, begun to copyright wars half.
I mean, they already began, but now it's getting real. Hey Riley, why do you think Yoda stopped fighting Palpatine?
I think he could have got him.
What happened there? The US government has approved the sale of NVIDIA's H200 AI chips to Chinese companies,
reversing course after years of only allowing China
to buy cut down H20 chips. In return for allowing this,
the White House will take a 25% cut of H200 sales,
a very normal and not mafia like thing to do at all. And if anyone says different,
I know some real nice fishes who'd love to meet you. They need a sleeping partner, which is a thing.
The thinking seems to be that, sure, China will get more powerful AI chips,
which could give them a boost in the AI race, but they're still last gen H200 chips,
not the flagship B200. Plus allowing NVIDIA to sell a lot of very expensive GPUs
will help fund their R&D, the richest company in the world.
They don't have five trillion, it's a drop in the bucket.
Sure, why not? Experts say the whole setup is legally and procedurally weird.
And then there's the question of whether China even wants their companies buying American chips,
following conflicting reports on the matter. But NVIDIA is reportedly looking
at ramping up H200 production regardless. Meanwhile, with the memory supply chain
already stretched thin, memory maker SK Heineck says it's slowing down
its production of next gen HBM4 to focus on the HBM3e used in H200 and B200 chips.
Regular desktop memory, still screwed though. Well, there's always paper and pens.
You can even use a fancy one like our sponsor, Gollum Impression.
We want them, we needs them, must have the quick bits. They stole it from us, those sneaky little hobbits is...
Wicked Trixie Falls. I can't do a Gollum Impression.
I'm sorry, they wrote, you believed in me too much.
I don't believe in you. Handheld company Ionio has shown off
its first smartphone, the Ionio Pocket Play.
Perhaps an homage to the old Sony Xperia Play, because of course this thing's also a gaming handheld.
The play's screen slides up to reveal a full set of physical controls.
D-pad, ABXY buttons, shoulder buttons,
and dual smart touch pads. I mean, you might have a nice set of thumbs,
but you'd probably rather see the game than...
The Pocket Play's specs, price, and release timing are still unannounced, as Ionio is gauging interest
via an upcoming Kickstarter. So details like the processor, battery, and cameras
are still under wraps. They're teasing us. Aw, it's just shy, it doesn't wanna show,
it's just like, eep, hello? Fortnite is officially back on the Google Play Store
in the US after a five year absence caused by all the stuff I talked about in this video.
The game's return is due to Google recently settling with Epic,
after Google's last legal appeal was denied in July.
Epic's Tim Sweeney must be flying high, except that before anyone declared Epic
the final boss of antitrust lawsuits, Apple went ahead and scored a partial win of its own.
It does bleed. An appeals court says Apple can still charge commission
on purchases made outside the App Store,
just not as much or as freely as before.
Whether all of this legal mudslinging was worth it in the end could be debated,
but hey, Tim Sweeney says he's happy. And that's what it's all about.
That's why I get up in the morning. Trump seems to be pretty serious
about the whole one national AI law thing.
A new executive order could potentially block states from enforcing their own AI rules,
introducing plans for a new litigation task force
whose job is to review any AI laws made at a state level
and change the one they don't like. Once again, normal, and totally fine.
This probably doesn't bode too well for New York,
which just passed a new AI disclosure and posthumous likeness law
that will allow family members the choice over having their deceased relatives in AI videos.
Now it looks like the government will have to decide whether you get to see your dead grandma
in an AI slop video. Very cool. A startup calling itself Operation Bluebird
wants to bring back Twitter, arguing that Elon Musk effectively abandoned the name
and poor Bluebird when he rebranded everything to X.
They've filed to claim the trademarks and plan to launch Twitter.new as early as next year,
promising return to the proverbial nest, so to speak.
I can't wait for legal experts to weigh in on this situation because it's either going to be
the greatest brand resurrection in tech history or it'll be another influencer buys Enron situation.
The bird may fly again or this could be how we finally find out
that birds aren't real. Claire obscure Expedition 33 one game of the year
and a bunch more of the 2025 game awards last night,
which is great and much deserved, but come on. We were all really watching for the new launch trailers,
right? Especially when a three minute trailer
reportedly costs over a million dollars, which explains why a few trailers,
like the one for the new Street Fighter movie were under a minute long.
Honestly, they could have also shortened the teaser for Star Wars, Fate of the Old Republic,
a spiritual successor to Kotor from the originals director, Casey Hudson.
And I wouldn't have been upset because they literally just started working on it
and it won't be out for like five years minimum.
Celebrate brand. Star Wars galactic racer seems cool though.
Hopefully there's more pods involved. Baldur's Gate three developers, Larian Studios,
returned to the Divinity franchise with a very not safe for work trailer,
which is very hype, but good God.
That trailer for control resonant? Hello?
Ring ring, Remedy Entertainment? Can I give you the most money I can right now?
Oh, it's so guys. There were a lot more trailers, obviously,
that we didn't talk about. Well, what channel do you think this is? The Beacons of Gondor are Lint.
Lint? Which is probably why they're not working too well.
But regardless, we're gonna use them to call you back for more tech news on Monday.
For Gondor! There, you like that?
Yeah.