1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,560 Do not get this twisted. We've got some high-quality tech news for you today. However, 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:10,960 I am saving my bandwidth for CES next week, so I will just calmly state this is today's intro bit. 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:17,920 Thank you. Grock, the edgiest chatbot, decided the best way to start off the new year was by generating 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:23,360 sexualized images of minors following a lapse in its safety systems. 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,240 Now the worst kind of Twitter users were apparently able to get Grock to bypass filters 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:33,600 that are supposed to block this kind of content entirely, despite those filters having never 7 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:40,000 been successful at preventing Grock from generating incredibly weird, heinous sh** constantly in the 8 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:46,000 past. XAI says the issue has been fixed and the safeguards tightened, but that is not exactly 9 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,760 comforting. When the failure was, oops, we released some CSAM, it's almost like having a 10 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:57,040 not-safe-for-work spicy mode on one of the world's most prominent social media platforms 11 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:02,720 is maybe not the best idea. Now these incidents capped off a week of complaints after people 12 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:09,600 realized that any degenerate can ask Twitter's resident Goonbot to neutify every photo ever 13 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:14,400 tweeted directly in the replies to said tweet. But there's nothing we can do guys, you know, 14 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:21,440 this is just the world we live in now. Instagram CEO Adam Massari says that AI slop is so common 15 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:27,600 it may be more practical to label real content instead of labeling fake content. That's right, 16 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,680 apparently there's so much AI generated slop that it's outnumbering the real people who just 17 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,840 want to show us important stuff like their Warhammer collections. I want to see those, 18 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:42,000 if they're real. In fact, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is now blogging about how maybe we don't 19 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,040 even need to call it AI slop now, because maybe that hurts some people's feelings who have put 20 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:52,560 mind-boggling amounts of money into tools that let people make that stuff you're calling slop. 21 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,480 Think about how those people maybe might feel. ASUS has reportedly told partners that it won't 22 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:04,480 release any new Zen phone or ROG Android phones in 2026, but says it's not abandoning phones 23 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:10,080 entirely and will keep supporting existing models. Reports indicate the pause is driven by weak sales 24 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:15,200 and tough market conditions, with ASUS framing it as a temporary step back rather than a full 25 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,800 exit from smartphones. Our writers told me that they didn't even know ASUS made phones until today, 26 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:26,080 so this must be tragic news for the five of you watching this on your ROG phone. 27 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:32,240 Does kind of explain the weak sales, though. In more phone news, Weibo tipster Smart Chip Insider, 28 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:39,600 he sounds like he knows a lot, claims LPDDR6 RAM could be about 20% more expensive than the 29 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:44,960 previous generation standard, meaning only the most premium 2026 Android flagships, 30 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:52,160 and likely just the 16GB variants, will bother using it while everyone else will stick with LPDDR5X. 31 00:02:52,160 --> 00:03:00,240 Well, Smart Chip Insider? I want some smarter chips inside my phones. You know what I'm saying? 32 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:05,520 The phone market is a mess, but there is a glimmer of hope. A report out of South Korea indicates 33 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:12,560 Samsung looks set to keep Galaxy S26 prices the same as the S25 lineup, a relief for 34 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:19,200 buyers. However, the phones aren't expected to see any significant upgrades to battery capacity, 35 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,840 which I'll take. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, even if that horse is the same horse from 36 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:29,120 last year was just a slightly different saddle. The horse cost the same in this economy? Leaked 37 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:34,720 PlayStation 5 ROM keys have exposed a foundational piece of the console's security, potentially 38 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:40,320 enabling early, hardware-level jail breaks that Sony can't patch with software updates. 39 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,720 The best part? This all started with some guy who just really wanted to play Beat Saber with 40 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:50,480 custom songs. Security researcher Smash Stacking noticed the console version of Beat Saber 41 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:55,760 didn't support community tracks. So rather than simply swapping to PC like a normal person, 42 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:01,680 he spent months attempting to reverse engineer the PS5, eventually presenting his discovery of 43 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:07,200 multiple exploits on stage at the Chaos Communication Congress conference. 44 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,440 While he didn't name the console he was working with during his presentation, 45 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:17,520 a set of boot ROM signing keys quietly appeared online soon afterward. If they turn out to be 46 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:23,760 valid, they could allow researchers to decrypt and study Sony's bootloader, a permanent crack in 47 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:30,160 the security chain for the PS5 akin to the PlayStation 3's infamous signing key failure. 48 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:36,320 Days later, developer Gazine Dev made a Twitter post demonstrating a potential jailbreak method 49 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,960 using Star Wars Racer Revenge, a somewhat rare and forgotten PS4 game. 50 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,920 Running code from the physical copy of the game appears to trigger a debug mode 51 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:51,760 on the PS5, meaning that as of right now this is the most promising potential jailbreak path yet 52 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,200 for the console and instantly it caused resale prices for that game to explode online. 53 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:02,400 Now this method is still in the early stages and nothing has been made publicly available yet, 54 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,640 but no doubt the seven or eight people in the world who would be able to actually make something 55 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,360 using these leaks and hide their tracks well enough to avoid getting sued into oblivion by Sony, 56 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:19,120 see this is a huge win! We are not bringing the Quickbits to Vegas with us. Not after what happened 57 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:26,000 last time. Pebble has revived its round-faced smartwatch with a new Pebble Round 2, a slim 58 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:31,600 $200 watch with a 1.3-inch color e-paper screen up to two weeks of battery life, basic health 59 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:37,280 tracking and voice features available to not pre-order now for a May release. It drops things 60 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:42,960 like a heart rate sensor to stay affordable, but keeps the classic Pebble vibe, thin stainless 61 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:48,400 steel build and iOS and Android compatibility focusing on simplicity and nostalgia over high-end 62 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,320 features. I mean even if you don't really care about Pebble, we've already taken the time to 63 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:57,600 learn the difference between Pebble, Rebel, Repebble, etc. So it's worth pointing out that hey, 64 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:04,800 there's a new old watch coming its round! Brand new New York Mayor Zaron Mamdani banned Flipper Zero 65 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:11,680 and Raspberry Pi devices at his inauguration, but the interesting part isn't quite what was banned, 66 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:16,960 it's how. These weren't listed as categories like wireless tools or computers, they were 67 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:23,360 singled out by brand name right next to weapons and drones. The Flipper Zero ban is at least 68 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,920 kind of understandable given its reputation, but Raspberry Pi is literally just a tiny 69 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,200 general-purpose computer. Maybe they thought it was made out of fruit and they were going 70 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:37,360 by airline rules? I don't know. California has launched a new delete request and opt-out platform, 71 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:43,520 aka drop, which lets residents submit a single request to more than 500 data brokers to delete 72 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:48,080 their personal information like email, phone number, and other sensitive details. The state says 73 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:54,400 the tool, which went live January 1st under the California Delete Act, it just sounds like you're 74 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:59,120 trying to delete the state, aims to give people more control over their privacy and could help 75 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:04,480 reduce spam and fraud, though brokers don't have to start processing these requests until later 76 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:09,520 in 2026. Now I genuinely think this is cool, I've said it before, but I find it very telling that 77 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:15,040 the state most concerned with your cybersecurity is also the one that houses all of the data-hungry 78 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:20,400 big tech companies. California understands the mind of the psychopath because they are the asylum. 79 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:27,520 A UK company, Spaceforge, fired up a furnace in a mini-satellite that can reach up to 1,000 degrees 80 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:34,720 Celsius to test making semiconductors in space where the microgravity and vacuum let impurities 81 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:40,880 naturally separate, producing purer chips than on Earth, theoretically. Now the furnace got a ride 82 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:46,080 from a SpaceX rocket up into orbit in June and it's a milestone because it's a step towards 83 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:52,240 orbital manufacturing for ultra clean tech materials with bigger space fabs and re-entry tests 84 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:57,120 planned in the future. Because it's not safe having all the fabs in the chip manufacturing 85 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:03,840 just in Taiwan, put it up in space that way no one can get to it. And some tech startups 86 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,560 have apparently decided the best way to boost productivity isn't better tools or fewer meetings. 87 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:15,440 No, it's free nicotine pouches. Reports have emerged of a trend where offices stock fridges 88 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:21,760 and vending machines with sesh pouches, pitched as a focus aid for developers grinding through long 89 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:29,360 AI assisted work days. Doctors are unsurprisingly not thrilled, pointing out that nicotine is still 90 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,800 addictive even if it skips the smoke. What? I thought I was addicted to the clouds. But hey, 91 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:40,560 if coffee and soylent had a baby, it would be like this. Guess nerds need some lip dinner too. 92 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:45,040 I'll tell you what though, I might need some kind of stimulant to get through next week when 93 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,600 ses happens. We're gonna have a new episode every day of the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 94 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,000 Thursday, Friday. So we'll see how that goes. Come back on Monday. We'll find out.