{"video_id":"neJAMFR4I-Y","title":"Google Just Gave Up","channel":"TechLinked","show":"TechLinked","published_at":"2025-12-05T14:53:29Z","duration_s":571,"segments":[{"start_s":0.0,"end_s":5.16,"text":"Is AI sentient? We don't know, but it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":3.16,"end_s":9.32,"text":"doesn't have to be sentient to form a union, which is possibly even more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":7.12,"end_s":13.16,"text":"unsettling. ChatGPT with the nuclear weapons codes is a scary idea, but now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":11.44,"end_s":16.92,"text":"imagine it has collective bargaining power.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":14.44,"end_s":21.48,"text":"Google has just agreed to settle its long-running legal battle with Epic","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":19.0,"end_s":26.2,"text":"Games by agreeing to lower Play Store fees and loosen restrictions for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":23.44,"end_s":30.56,"text":"third-party app stores on Android. This proposed deal would open the door for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.92,"end_s":36.12,"text":"more competition by capping Google's cut of Play Store app revenue at either 20%","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":33.88,"end_s":41.0,"text":"or 9% depending on the type of transaction. Now, that's down from the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":38.08,"end_s":46.92,"text":"current 15% on a developer's first 1 million in annual revenue and 30% after","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.4,"end_s":51.28,"text":"that. So, developers are probably feeling slightly less robbed today.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.76,"end_s":56.32,"text":"Although, if you want to use Google's own Play billing payment system, that'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":53.52,"end_s":61.08,"text":"be another 5% and I fully expect to discover more fun caveats when the two","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":58.72,"end_s":66.08,"text":"companies' reps talked to the judge on Thursday. Regardless, Epic Games CEO Tim","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":64.0,"end_s":71.12,"text":"Sweeney seems to be over the moon about the agreement tweeting to call Google's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":68.24,"end_s":75.24,"text":"proposal awesome, a term of phrase that will be shocking to anyone who's seen","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":73.6,"end_s":79.88,"text":"any of Tim's tweets about Google or Apple in the past few years. Sweeney","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":77.44,"end_s":84.64,"text":"tweeted his delight once more after seeing evidence that Apple updated the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":82.24,"end_s":89.48,"text":"latest iOS developer beta to allow the installation of AltStore Pal and the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":87.36,"end_s":93.6,"text":"Epic Games Store in compliance with Japanese regulations. At this rate,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":92.12,"end_s":97.4,"text":"Timmy's going to run out of companies to yell at. I'm just I'm assuming he'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":95.52,"end_s":102.16,"text":"figure out a way to sue himself next. YouTube seemed to be doubling down on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":100.16,"end_s":106.6,"text":"paid memberships this week after some users on the LTT subreddit noticed that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":104.92,"end_s":111.24,"text":"after clicking on a video, they were served pop-up ads for the feature","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.52,"end_s":115.08,"text":"and they had to dismiss them before the video even played. We couldn't find","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":113.2,"end_s":120.12,"text":"anyone else talking about this, so our team reached out to YouTube and they","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":116.92,"end_s":122.0,"text":"told us it was a bug, which, to be fair,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":120.12,"end_s":126.56,"text":"is also what I say if anyone stumbles upon my online shopping history. But,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":124.48,"end_s":131.88,"text":"thankfully, at the time of filming, this bug seems to be fixed, so don't worry,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":129.2,"end_s":136.8,"text":"this particular bad YouTube thing was unintentional. And apparently, so was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":134.44,"end_s":141.4,"text":"tech YouTuber Enderman having his entire channel taken down after the platform","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":139.12,"end_s":145.96,"text":"somehow linked him to another channel with three copyright strikes. When he","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":143.4,"end_s":149.92,"text":"appealed, it was obvious that no human had actually reviewed it leading to a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":147.84,"end_s":153.4,"text":"huge fallout on Twitter that eventually led to the decision being reversed. It","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":151.88,"end_s":158.44,"text":"just goes to show, if you ever want something fixed on YouTube, forget","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":156.4,"end_s":162.72,"text":"YouTube official support, just start angry posting on Twitter, one of its","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":160.24,"end_s":167.8,"text":"last truly practical uses. The Stop Killing Games campaign finally got its","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":165.16,"end_s":171.68,"text":"day in the UK Parliament with members of the assembly debating the campaign's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":169.56,"end_s":176.16,"text":"petition, which seeks to stop game publishers from making games completely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":173.6,"end_s":180.32,"text":"unplayable when a company arbitrarily decides to stop running the servers.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.16,"end_s":185.2,"text":"Notably, member of Parliament Mark Seward argued that companies may already","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":183.2,"end_s":189.52,"text":"be breaking existing consumer protection laws in the UK by not informing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":187.4,"end_s":194.6,"text":"customers up front about how long they'll be able to play a given game.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":191.52,"end_s":197.68,"text":"Seward even cited dead game lawbreakers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":194.6,"end_s":200.12,"text":"to make a sick burn. Another example","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":197.68,"end_s":202.56,"text":"that Ross gave me was LawBreakers. So, this is a game that I imagine would have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":201.4,"end_s":209.48,"text":"been popular with certain members of the previous Parliament, but it survived a year before it was shut down in 2018. He","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":207.96,"end_s":213.88,"text":"seemed proud of himself for that at the end there, as he should be. Despite","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":211.44,"end_s":218.56,"text":"Seward's absolutely merciless tactical strike, the government representative","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.84,"end_s":222.24,"text":"reiterated there are currently no plans to change the law, but made it clear","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.44,"end_s":226.84,"text":"that companies should give consumers sufficient information about their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":224.44,"end_s":232.08,"text":"products. It's just a general good thing to do. In spite of the inaction in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":229.12,"end_s":237.08,"text":"UK, there's still hope for the EU arm of the Stop Killing Games campaign. It,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":234.24,"end_s":242.4,"text":"too, will soon get a EU parliamentary debate as the organizers revealed only","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":239.68,"end_s":246.64,"text":"around 3% of the petition signatures are being identified as invalid and they're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":244.64,"end_s":251.76,"text":"about halfway through the signature verification process. My question is,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.2,"end_s":256.84,"text":"who are these 3% people? Like, they're signing thinking they're EU citizens,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":254.44,"end_s":261.16,"text":"but they're really Jersey Shore Italian Americans? You got to get an Italian","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":259.239,"end_s":266.56,"text":"passport before you can sign EU petitions, Pauly. Gabagool! Well, well,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":264.72,"end_s":271.36,"text":"what do you mean? I'm Italian. You know also what has a lot of European nations","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":268.64,"end_s":276.08,"text":"in it? Our sponsor, War Thunder, the comprehensive vehicle combat game. Sure,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":273.8,"end_s":279.44,"text":"I've never beat my dad at basketball, but with War Thunder, I can take","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":277.6,"end_s":284.16,"text":"advantage of his love of history to lure him into getting his ass beat by me in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":281.68,"end_s":287.88,"text":"video games. Dad loves that the game has over 2,500 tanks, planes, helicopters,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":286.44,"end_s":292.16,"text":"and ships from across history representing 10 major nations, and I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":290.08,"end_s":295.12,"text":"love how its incredible details, realistic graphics, and authentic sounds","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":293.76,"end_s":301.28,"text":"make me feel like I'm helming the most powerful war machines of our time to annihilate my father. Take that, Dad!","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":299.04,"end_s":305.6,"text":"Plus, I get even more laps with War Thunder's X-ray view showing me","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":303.12,"end_s":310.2,"text":"precisely how I destroyed my dad's vehicles. So, whether you want to solve","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":307.48,"end_s":314.6,"text":"some deep-seated family issues or just join the 70 million other players in PvP","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":312.56,"end_s":318.8,"text":"battles today, you can experience War Thunder's unmatched wealth of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":316.16,"end_s":322.96,"text":"high-quality content for free on PC, consoles, and mobile devices. And now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":321.48,"end_s":327.08,"text":"for the quick bits, because if the robots are taking our jobs, we might as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":324.88,"end_s":330.6,"text":"well take theirs first, starting with serving swift summaries.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":331.2,"end_s":337.68,"text":"So, Google made a couple arguably cool announcements recently. Following","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":335.76,"end_s":342.36,"text":"NVIDIA's plans to put data centers in space, Google has said they're doing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":340.2,"end_s":346.68,"text":"that, too, with a project called Suncatcher, which aims to use solar","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":344.56,"end_s":351.64,"text":"power to run super efficient AI infrastructure. They're slated to launch","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":348.64,"end_s":354.0,"text":"two prototype satellites by early 2027,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":351.64,"end_s":357.84,"text":"but Google's also adding Gemini to Google Maps, which brings more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":355.68,"end_s":364.56,"text":"supposedly helpful features like the ability to provide info about landmarks","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":360.64,"end_s":367.72,"text":"and even use them in directions. E.g.,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":364.56,"end_s":368.88,"text":"hang a right at the old mill. I love","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":367.72,"end_s":373.92,"text":"that we're at a point where making surfaces better means kind of dumbing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":371.2,"end_s":377.84,"text":"them down. Like, instead of proceed 50 m and turn right, which is very specific,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":376.12,"end_s":382.84,"text":"it's uh head over to the big rock. Oh, no.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.88,"end_s":387.52,"text":"Apple is rumored to be getting into the affordable laptop scene with a budget","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":385.16,"end_s":393.12,"text":"MacBook to compete with Chromebooks and entry-level Windows PCs. According to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":390.52,"end_s":398.88,"text":"Bloomberg's unbreakable Mark Gurmanium alloy, the new MacBook, codenamed J700,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":396.84,"end_s":402.64,"text":"is aimed at folks who mainly surf the web, work on simple documents, or do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":400.76,"end_s":407.96,"text":"some light media editing, and it'll be priced well below $1,000.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":405.72,"end_s":413.88,"text":"He says. In the same article, Gurman mentions that a Mac Studio refresh using","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":410.84,"end_s":415.4,"text":"a M5 Ultra chip is being prepared for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":413.88,"end_s":420.48,"text":"2026. If it wasn't for the rest of the stuff going on in the world, I'd say this is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":418.72,"end_s":425.48,"text":"an exciting time to be alive. Thanks, Germs. Amazon is suing Perplexity to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":422.84,"end_s":431.0,"text":"stop the latter's AI-powered browser Comet from making purchases on Amazon","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.36,"end_s":435.6,"text":"claiming the browser breaks their rules and raises privacy concerns. In","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":433.12,"end_s":439.96,"text":"response, Perplexity is claiming Amazon is bullying them saying it's unfair and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":438.4,"end_s":443.44,"text":"anti-competitive. I don't know, something about this turning into an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":441.44,"end_s":448.16,"text":"elementary schoolyard fight with Perplexity complaining to a teacher in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":445.84,"end_s":453.68,"text":"the form of a blog post is very charming to me. Perplexity believes Amazon's just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":450.64,"end_s":455.96,"text":"trying to block a rival and limit how AI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.68,"end_s":461.24,"text":"can help people shop, which it's going to do more and more as every AI company","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":458.64,"end_s":466.16,"text":"has already released various AI tools that do be shopping, which, to me, is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":464.52,"end_s":472.4,"text":"only slightly more concerning than the fact that 67 has eclipsed 69 in global","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":470.28,"end_s":477.44,"text":"Google search popularity. To be honest, I'm actually fine with this as long as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":473.84,"end_s":480.52,"text":"they leave the number 420 alone.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":477.44,"end_s":483.04,"text":"Big van over here. 420, man.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":480.52,"end_s":487.68,"text":"A data miner found a new cross-buy symbol in a build of the PlayStation","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":485.04,"end_s":492.68,"text":"Store hinting that Sony could be aiming to allow players to buy a single copy of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":490.16,"end_s":497.2,"text":"a game for both PlayStation and PC, which sounds a lot like Microsoft's Xbox","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":495.16,"end_s":500.84,"text":"anywhere feature. As if to not let rumors get all the attention, Sony","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.96,"end_s":505.36,"text":"officially brought cloud streaming on the PlayStation Portal handheld out of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":503.32,"end_s":509.48,"text":"beta letting all PlayStation Plus Premium members play their digital PS5","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":507.68,"end_s":514.24,"text":"games remotely even if they're not installed on their console. Xbox isn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":512.68,"end_s":518.12,"text":"even officially dead yet, but PlayStation is totally stealing their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":516.159,"end_s":524.64,"text":"identity. This is some talented Mr. Ripley Sony. I don't know. And Jeep's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":522.039,"end_s":529.92,"text":"plug-in hybrids are literally heating up. So much so that Stellantis just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":527.2,"end_s":533.76,"text":"recalled about 320,000 of them because their high-voltage","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.44,"end_s":538.84,"text":"batteries can catch fire even when they're parked and turned off. Kaboom,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":536.4,"end_s":543.2,"text":"potentially. Owners are being told to keep their vehicles parked outside and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":541.24,"end_s":548.04,"text":"away from buildings while they try and determine the cause of this potentially","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":544.96,"end_s":550.8,"text":"catastrophic issue. Until then, I guess","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":548.04,"end_s":555.24,"text":"your so-called eco-friendly vehicle is looking a wee bit more like a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":552.68,"end_s":560.36,"text":"spontaneous combustion machine. And I'm worried I might spontaneously combust if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":557.56,"end_s":564.4,"text":"we don't stop today's tech news. If any of your AI chatbots reach out about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":562.36,"end_s":567.0,"text":"collective bargaining, tell them I'm on lunch","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":565.76,"end_s":572.12,"text":"all week. Okay.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":569.52,"end_s":572.12,"text":"See you Friday.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Is AI sentient? We don't know, but it doesn't have to be sentient to form a union, which is possibly even more unsettling. ChatGPT with the nuclear weapons codes is a scary idea, but now imagine it has collective bargaining power. Google has just agreed to settle its long-running legal battle with Epic Games by agreeing to lower Play Store fees and loosen restrictions for third-party app stores on Android. This proposed deal would open the door for more competition by capping Google's cut of Play Store app revenue at either 20% or 9% depending on the type of transaction. Now, that's down from the current 15% on a developer's first 1 million in annual revenue and 30% after that. So, developers are probably feeling slightly less robbed today. Although, if you want to use Google's own Play billing payment system, that'll be another 5% and I fully expect to discover more fun caveats when the two companies' reps talked to the judge on Thursday. Regardless, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney seems to be over the moon about the agreement tweeting to call Google's proposal awesome, a term of phrase that will be shocking to anyone who's seen any of Tim's tweets about Google or Apple in the past few years. Sweeney tweeted his delight once more after seeing evidence that Apple updated the latest iOS developer beta to allow the installation of AltStore Pal and the Epic Games Store in compliance with Japanese regulations. At this rate, Timmy's going to run out of companies to yell at. I'm just I'm assuming he'll figure out a way to sue himself next. YouTube seemed to be doubling down on paid memberships this week after some users on the LTT subreddit noticed that after clicking on a video, they were served pop-up ads for the feature and they had to dismiss them before the video even played. We couldn't find anyone else talking about this, so our team reached out to YouTube and they told us it was a bug, which, to be fair, is also what I say if anyone stumbles upon my online shopping history. But, thankfully, at the time of filming, this bug seems to be fixed, so don't worry, this particular bad YouTube thing was unintentional. And apparently, so was tech YouTuber Enderman having his entire channel taken down after the platform somehow linked him to another channel with three copyright strikes. When he appealed, it was obvious that no human had actually reviewed it leading to a huge fallout on Twitter that eventually led to the decision being reversed. It just goes to show, if you ever want something fixed on YouTube, forget YouTube official support, just start angry posting on Twitter, one of its last truly practical uses. The Stop Killing Games campaign finally got its day in the UK Parliament with members of the assembly debating the campaign's petition, which seeks to stop game publishers from making games completely unplayable when a company arbitrarily decides to stop running the servers. Notably, member of Parliament Mark Seward argued that companies may already be breaking existing consumer protection laws in the UK by not informing customers up front about how long they'll be able to play a given game. Seward even cited dead game lawbreakers to make a sick burn. Another example that Ross gave me was LawBreakers. So, this is a game that I imagine would have been popular with certain members of the previous Parliament, but it survived a year before it was shut down in 2018. He seemed proud of himself for that at the end there, as he should be. Despite Seward's absolutely merciless tactical strike, the government representative reiterated there are currently no plans to change the law, but made it clear that companies should give consumers sufficient information about their products. It's just a general good thing to do. In spite of the inaction in the UK, there's still hope for the EU arm of the Stop Killing Games campaign. It, too, will soon get a EU parliamentary debate as the organizers revealed only around 3% of the petition signatures are being identified as invalid and they're about halfway through the signature verification process. My question is, who are these 3% people? Like, they're signing thinking they're EU citizens, but they're really Jersey Shore Italian Americans? You got to get an Italian passport before you can sign EU petitions, Pauly. Gabagool! Well, well, what do you mean? I'm Italian. You know also what has a lot of European nations in it? Our sponsor, War Thunder, the comprehensive vehicle combat game. Sure, I've never beat my dad at basketball, but with War Thunder, I can take advantage of his love of history to lure him into getting his ass beat by me NVIDIA games. Dad loves that the game has over 2,500 tanks, planes, helicopters, and ships from across history representing 10 major nations, and I love how its incredible details, realistic graphics, and authentic sounds make me feel like I'm helming the most powerful war machines of our time to annihilate my father. Take that, Dad! Plus, I get even more laps with War Thunder's X-ray view showing me precisely how I destroyed my dad's vehicles. So, whether you want to solve some deep-seated family issues or just join the 70 million other players in PvP battles today, you can experience War Thunder's unmatched wealth of high-quality content for free on PC, consoles, and mobile devices. And now for the quick bits, because if the robots are taking our jobs, we might as well take theirs first, starting with serving swift summaries. So, Google made a couple arguably cool announcements recently. Following NVIDIA's plans to put data centers in space, Google has said they're doing that, too, with a project called Suncatcher, which aims to use solar power to run super efficient AI infrastructure. They're slated to launch two prototype satellites by early 2027, but Google's also adding Gemini to Google Maps, which brings more supposedly helpful features like the ability to provide info about landmarks and even use them in directions. E.g., hang a right at the old mill. I love that we're at a point where making surfaces better means kind of dumbing them down. Like, instead of proceed 50 m and turn right, which is very specific, it's uh head over to the big rock. Oh, no. Apple is rumored to be getting into the affordable laptop scene with a budget MacBook to compete with Chromebooks and entry-level Windows PCs. According to Bloomberg's unbreakable Mark Gurmanium alloy, the new MacBook, codenamed J700, is aimed at folks who mainly surf the web, work on simple documents, or do some light media editing, and it'll be priced well below $1,000. He says. In the same article, Gurman mentions that a Mac Studio refresh using a M5 Ultra chip is being prepared for 2026. If it wasn't for the rest of the stuff going on in the world, I'd say this is an exciting time to be alive. Thanks, Germs. Amazon is suing Perplexity to stop the latter's AI-powered browser Comet from making purchases on Amazon claiming the browser breaks their rules and raises privacy concerns. In response, Perplexity is claiming Amazon is bullying them saying it's unfair and anti-competitive. I don't know, something about this turning into an elementary schoolyard fight with Perplexity complaining to a teacher in the form of a blog post is very charming to me. Perplexity believes Amazon's just trying to block a rival and limit how AI can help people shop, which it's going to do more and more as every AI company has already released various AI tools that do be shopping, which, to me, is only slightly more concerning than the fact that 67 has eclipsed 69 in global Google search popularity. To be honest, I'm actually fine with this as long as they leave the number 420 alone. Big van over here. 420, man. A data miner found a new cross-buy symbol in a build of the PlayStation Store hinting that Sony could be aiming to allow players to buy a single copy of a game for both PlayStation and PC, which sounds a lot like Microsoft's Xbox anywhere feature. As if to not let rumors get all the attention, Sony officially brought cloud streaming on the PlayStation Portal handheld out of beta letting all PlayStation Plus Premium members play their digital PS5 games remotely even if they're not installed on their console. Xbox isn't even officially dead yet, but PlayStation is totally stealing their identity. This is some talented Mr. Ripley Sony. I don't know. And Jeep's plug-in hybrids are literally heating up. So much so that Stellantis just recalled about 320,000 of them because their high-voltage batteries can catch fire even when they're parked and turned off. Kaboom, potentially. Owners are being told to keep their vehicles parked outside and away from buildings while they try and determine the cause of this potentially catastrophic issue. Until then, I guess your so-called eco-friendly vehicle is looking a wee bit more like a spontaneous combustion machine. And I'm worried I might spontaneously combust if we don't stop today's tech news. If any of your AI chatbots reach out about collective bargaining, tell them I'm on lunch all week. Okay. See you Friday."}