WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.520 So I ran into my old pal Aragorn, son of Aerithon, and he says to me, 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:07.600 Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mock? 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:11.360 To which I reply, buddy, I don't know what you're talking about. 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:17.520 But I can tell you the tech news. YouTube has finally addressed concerns over view counts 00:00:17.520 --> 00:00:22.800 raised by a good number of creators in recent weeks, including Red Letter Media, Second Wind, 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.800 and even Awkward Teenager with a full beard Linus Tech Tip, Sebastian. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:30.800 YouTube's response, as delivered in a support article published this morning, 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.680 essentially boils down to skill issue. 00:00:34.480 --> 00:00:37.760 It's all in your head. Get good, pleb. 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:46.240 The article first addresses the idea that the reason view counts suddenly dropped in mid-August 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, 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.680 but they referred to accounts that had been age restricted 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 00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:06.640 that restricted mode can only be manually turned on. 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. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.560 Restricted mode restricts the viewing of videos based on whether they're appropriate for kids, 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.920 but that doesn't mean that the videos blocked by restricted mode 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:24.720 are classified as age restricted content. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:30.720 Does it make sense? Yeah. This part of the response was super helpful 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:34.400 in not addressing the question of whether the age verification rollout, 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. 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 00:01:47.440 --> 00:01:52.080 from devices using an ad blocker, or they've changed the way they count views 00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:57.520 in some way. But YouTube says, you fool, we've done no such thing. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.160 There is no systemic issue that is impacting creators. 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, 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.920 Dan Besser on the WAN Show, while views have dropped, 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, 00:02:20.480 --> 00:02:24.400 which would be consistent with ad blocked views not counting anymore 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:28.000 as YouTube creators only get revenue if the viewer sees an ad. 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. 00:02:33.200 --> 00:02:37.840 It's views from computer users specifically that have dropped. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:41.600 You know, the device on which it's easiest to install an ad blocker. 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. 00:02:45.760 --> 00:02:49.360 So let's take a look at our views from mobile. It looks mostly fine. 00:02:49.440 --> 00:02:53.120 TV? Yeah, seems normal. Computer? Whoa! 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:58.480 Okay, but YouTube's probably right. We're just a victim of on-platform competition. 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. 00:03:03.760 --> 00:03:09.280 I checked. Eden, a Nintendo Switch emulator, has launched on the Google Play Store. 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 00:03:15.440 --> 00:03:19.200 before being thoroughly destroyed by Nintendo's legal team. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:24.960 Eden is a fork of Yuzu, apparently built by a team of masochistic developers. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:28.480 Its brazen release onto the Play Store has fans excited, 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. 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:39.120 According to Eden's Play Store page, the emulator focuses on high performance 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:42.880 without compromising aesthetics, compatibility, or stability. 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, 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.600 because Nintendo hardware, first-party hardware, 00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:55.040 is rarely the best place to actually play Nintendo games. 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 00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:04.240 holds back the performance of games that use Unreal Engine 5. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.160 With a nearly constant stream of new Android-powered handhelds, 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. 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 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:27.360 by a Chinese regulatory body. These enormous corporations just cannot catch a break. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:30.400 China launched the investigation into NVIDIA's business practices 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:34.640 back in December 2024 over NVIDIA's potential failure 00:04:34.640 --> 00:04:41.120 to comply with government provisions in its acquisition of U.S.-Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:45.760 back in 2020. The specifics of NVIDIA's breach of those provisions are still vague, 00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:49.040 but the timing of this whole scenario makes a lot of sense. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.320 The investigation into NVIDIA started only a week after the U.S. 00:04:52.320 --> 00:04:57.200 announced tougher export controls on certain chips and chip-making equipment going into China. 00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:02.400 And now, the Chinese regulator's accusation of monopolistic behavior from NVIDIA 00:05:02.400 --> 00:05:07.280 comes just as U.S. and Chinese officials meet in Madrid for trade talks. 00:05:07.280 --> 00:05:10.960 So maybe NVIDIA is as bad as China is making them out to be, 00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:16.080 or maybe this is all just part of a political game between two global superpowers. 00:05:16.080 --> 00:05:19.840 Or, you know, two things can be true at the same time. 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:23.280 So my other buddy Gandalf, who was a white wizard at this point, 00:05:23.280 --> 00:05:28.880 good for him, told his steed, Shutter Facts! Shutter's at the meaning of haste! 00:05:28.880 --> 00:05:32.960 But I said, hold your horses, friend. These quick bits will do just fine. 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:37.040 TikTok might be sticking around in the U.S. after all. 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 00:05:45.840 --> 00:05:49.920 a framework on a deal to switch TikTok from the hands of bite dance 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 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.320 is interested in Chinese characteristics of the app. 00:05:58.320 --> 00:06:01.920 But the U.S. doesn't care about Chinese characteristics. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:05.520 TikTok has been given until September 17th to make a deal, 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, 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:13.840 and probably will be again. The perpetual doomscroll continues. 00:06:13.840 --> 00:06:17.440 Speaking of which, Qualcomm has announced its next flagship processor, 00:06:17.440 --> 00:06:20.640 the Snapdragon Elite 8 Gen 5. 00:06:20.640 --> 00:06:24.240 A doozy of a name that kicked off a conversation about whether Qualcomm 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:28.240 had maybe had one too many drinks and skipped a few generations of chips. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.960 That's because Qualcomm's preceding chip was called the Snapdragon 8 Elite. 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 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 00:06:46.640 --> 00:06:49.280 since we introduced our new single-digit naming, 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. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.480 And why is it called Elite again? Because it is Elite. 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, 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:10.640 or PMC to its friends. The publisher of Rolling Stone Variety, 00:07:10.640 --> 00:07:14.480 Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and they're also an investor in Box Media. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:17.520 All my aunts, uncles, and parents' favorites. 00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:21.040 PMC's complaint claims that Google's AI overviews 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:24.720 give someone no reason to actually click on the source of the information 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. 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, 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:40.000 said that PMC will proactively fight for the future of digital media 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.160 and preserve its integrity, all of which is threatened by Google's current actions. 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. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:53.440 And TSMC is buzzing about their newest announcement. 00:07:53.440 --> 00:07:58.720 Ah, well, is that a pun? Maybe the company, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.480 is getting into the honey business. Not the extension. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:10.000 Nope. As Tom's hardware states, TSMC has worked with local beekeepers in Taiwan 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:13.920 to produce GME, TSMC-branded honey. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:20.080 Okay, the Taiwanese business isn't just getting into the venture for the honey money, though. 00:08:20.080 --> 00:08:24.960 These beekeeping efforts are to show off that TSMC is environmentally responsible, 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:29.280 and their operations don't affect the natural ecosystems around the facilities, 00:08:29.280 --> 00:08:34.000 like at all, an uplifting story, but one that makes me hungry. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.200 So I'm gonna go. If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe, 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:41.040 and don't forget to come back on Wednesday for more tech news. In the meantime, 00:08:41.040 --> 00:08:44.080 I'm going back to having one-sided conversations with my TV 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.400 while I rewatch Lord of the Rings. Bye-bye now.