1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,520 So I ran into my old pal Aragorn, son of Aerithon, and he says to me, 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,600 Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mock? 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,360 To which I reply, buddy, I don't know what you're talking about. 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:17,520 But I can tell you the tech news. YouTube has finally addressed concerns over view counts 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:22,800 raised by a good number of creators in recent weeks, including Red Letter Media, Second Wind, 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,800 and even Awkward Teenager with a full beard Linus Tech Tip, Sebastian. 7 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,800 YouTube's response, as delivered in a support article published this morning, 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,680 essentially boils down to skill issue. 9 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:37,760 It's all in your head. Get good, pleb. 10 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:46,240 The article first addresses the idea that the reason view counts suddenly dropped in mid-August 11 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,480 was due to YouTube rolling out age verification. This is a hypothesis that Red Letter Media talked about in their video, 12 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,680 but they referred to accounts that had been age restricted 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:03,360 as having restricted mode automatically turned on, which I guess led YouTube to spend this whole section clarifying 14 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,640 that restricted mode can only be manually turned on. 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:13,680 It's a separate thing that has absolutely nothing to do with what they call age restricted content. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:18,560 Restricted mode restricts the viewing of videos based on whether they're appropriate for kids, 17 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,920 but that doesn't mean that the videos blocked by restricted mode 18 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,720 are classified as age restricted content. 19 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:30,720 Does it make sense? Yeah. This part of the response was super helpful 20 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,400 in not addressing the question of whether the age verification rollout, 21 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:41,040 which happened on August 13th, has anything to do with the massive views drop reported by creators around the same time. 22 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:47,440 So thanks for that, YouTube. The other major hypothesis going around is that YouTube has stopped counting views 23 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:52,080 from devices using an ad blocker, or they've changed the way they count views 24 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:57,520 in some way. But YouTube says, you fool, we've done no such thing. 25 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,160 There is no systemic issue that is impacting creators. 26 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:10,400 Okay, but there's just one problem. As pointed out by Linus and one of LMG's best boys, 27 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,920 Dan Besser on the WAN Show, while views have dropped, 28 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:20,480 the ratio of likes to dislikes has shot up, and the revenue per video is about the same despite lower views, 29 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,400 which would be consistent with ad blocked views not counting anymore 30 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,000 as YouTube creators only get revenue if the viewer sees an ad. 31 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:33,200 That's just how it works. Then there's this little detail spotted by Josh Strife Hayes. 32 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,840 It's views from computer users specifically that have dropped. 33 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,600 You know, the device on which it's easiest to install an ad blocker. 34 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,760 And you know what? You may have noticed our views have also been down since mid-August. 35 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,360 So let's take a look at our views from mobile. It looks mostly fine. 36 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,120 TV? Yeah, seems normal. Computer? Whoa! 37 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,480 Okay, but YouTube's probably right. We're just a victim of on-platform competition. 38 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,760 You know, it's just hard for me to grasp that because we're the only tech news channel on YouTube. 39 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:09,280 I checked. Eden, a Nintendo Switch emulator, has launched on the Google Play Store. 40 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:15,440 It's not the first Switch emulator on the Play Store. The infamous Yuzu emulator was also available on the platform 41 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,200 before being thoroughly destroyed by Nintendo's legal team. 42 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:24,960 Eden is a fork of Yuzu, apparently built by a team of masochistic developers. 43 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,480 Its brazen release onto the Play Store has fans excited, 44 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:35,040 but also probably wincing a little bit as they wait for a legal orbital strike from the Mushroom Kingdom. 45 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,120 According to Eden's Play Store page, the emulator focuses on high performance 46 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,880 without compromising aesthetics, compatibility, or stability. 47 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:48,560 And that concentration on performance is one of the more attractive points about Switch emulators in general, 48 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,600 because Nintendo hardware, first-party hardware, 49 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,040 is rarely the best place to actually play Nintendo games. 50 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:00,320 For example, just this weekend, Digital Foundry released a video about how the Switch 2's CPU 51 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,240 holds back the performance of games that use Unreal Engine 5. 52 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,160 With a nearly constant stream of new Android-powered handhelds, 53 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:14,960 the timing of Eden's release seems great, but we'll just have to see how long they can dodge the wrath of Nintendo. 54 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:21,840 Good luck, Eden, and I'm sorry for bringing attention to you. NVIDIA is being accused of violating anti-monopoly laws 55 00:04:21,840 --> 00:04:27,360 by a Chinese regulatory body. These enormous corporations just cannot catch a break. 56 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,400 China launched the investigation into NVIDIA's business practices 57 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,640 back in December 2024 over NVIDIA's potential failure 58 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:41,120 to comply with government provisions in its acquisition of U.S.-Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies 59 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,760 back in 2020. The specifics of NVIDIA's breach of those provisions are still vague, 60 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,040 but the timing of this whole scenario makes a lot of sense. 61 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,320 The investigation into NVIDIA started only a week after the U.S. 62 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,200 announced tougher export controls on certain chips and chip-making equipment going into China. 63 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:02,400 And now, the Chinese regulator's accusation of monopolistic behavior from NVIDIA 64 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,280 comes just as U.S. and Chinese officials meet in Madrid for trade talks. 65 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,960 So maybe NVIDIA is as bad as China is making them out to be, 66 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:16,080 or maybe this is all just part of a political game between two global superpowers. 67 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,840 Or, you know, two things can be true at the same time. 68 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:23,280 So my other buddy Gandalf, who was a white wizard at this point, 69 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:28,880 good for him, told his steed, Shutter Facts! Shutter's at the meaning of haste! 70 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,960 But I said, hold your horses, friend. These quick bits will do just fine. 71 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,040 TikTok might be sticking around in the U.S. after all. 72 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:45,840 While in Madrid for the U.S.'s trade talks with China, U.S. Trade Secretary Scott Besant told reporters that the two countries have reached 73 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:49,920 a framework on a deal to switch TikTok from the hands of bite dance 74 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,800 into U.S. controlled ownership. Now, one key to the deal succeeding was the fact that China 75 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,320 is interested in Chinese characteristics of the app. 76 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,920 But the U.S. doesn't care about Chinese characteristics. 77 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,520 TikTok has been given until September 17th to make a deal, 78 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:10,160 or they risk being banned from the U.S. But this date has already been pushed back before, 79 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,840 and probably will be again. The perpetual doomscroll continues. 80 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaking of which, Qualcomm has announced its next flagship processor, 81 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,640 the Snapdragon Elite 8 Gen 5. 82 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,240 A doozy of a name that kicked off a conversation about whether Qualcomm 83 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,240 had maybe had one too many drinks and skipped a few generations of chips. 84 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,960 That's because Qualcomm's preceding chip was called the Snapdragon 8 Elite. 85 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:39,520 No gens, two to four, I guess. The name caused enough confusion that Qualcomm felt the need to explain themselves 86 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:46,640 in a blog post, writing, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 marks the fifth generation of our premium 8-series platform 87 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,280 since we introduced our new single-digit naming, 88 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:56,080 and adding, Gen 5 isn't just a number, it's a signal that this platform leads the family forward. 89 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,480 And why is it called Elite again? Because it is Elite. 90 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:06,240 Awesome, just checking, thank you. Google has had a lawsuit brought against it by Penske Media Corporation, 91 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,640 or PMC to its friends. The publisher of Rolling Stone Variety, 92 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,480 Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and they're also an investor in Box Media. 93 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,520 All my aunts, uncles, and parents' favorites. 94 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,040 PMC's complaint claims that Google's AI overviews 95 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,720 give someone no reason to actually click on the source of the information 96 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:30,080 that the AI just summarized, and that results in a loss of traffic for PMC's sites. 97 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:35,520 We've talked about this before on the channel. In a statement, PMC's CEO, Jay Penske, 98 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:40,000 said that PMC will proactively fight for the future of digital media 99 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,160 and preserve its integrity, all of which is threatened by Google's current actions. 100 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:49,600 And while I don't watch a lot of combat sports, I am here for inter-corporate juggernaut brawls. 101 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,440 And TSMC is buzzing about their newest announcement. 102 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,720 Ah, well, is that a pun? Maybe the company, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, 103 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,480 is getting into the honey business. Not the extension. 104 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:10,000 Nope. As Tom's hardware states, TSMC has worked with local beekeepers in Taiwan 105 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,920 to produce GME, TSMC-branded honey. 106 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:20,080 Okay, the Taiwanese business isn't just getting into the venture for the honey money, though. 107 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,960 These beekeeping efforts are to show off that TSMC is environmentally responsible, 108 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,280 and their operations don't affect the natural ecosystems around the facilities, 109 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:34,000 like at all, an uplifting story, but one that makes me hungry. 110 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,200 So I'm gonna go. If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe, 111 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,040 and don't forget to come back on Wednesday for more tech news. In the meantime, 112 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,080 I'm going back to having one-sided conversations with my TV 113 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,400 while I rewatch Lord of the Rings. Bye-bye now.