AI is hallucinating citations, nuking nostalgia projects, and creeping into every corner of software and hardware – and that’s just the start of today’s HackerNews.fm. In this episode, we dig into a wave of fake references discovered in ICLR 2026 submissions and a failed attempt to recreate the legendary 1996 Space Jam website with Claude. We also look at Google’s new “Titans” architecture for long-term AI memory and a provocative essay arguing that the coming AI wildfire will be both painful and ultimately healthy for the industry.

From the perennial pain of software estimates, to a brutally honest postmortem from someone who says they wasted years in crypto, today’s stories circle around a single theme: how humans keep colliding with hype, complexity, and unintended consequences.

Stories in this episode:

1. At least 50 hallucinated citations found in ICLR 2026 submissions

- Rank: 1 · Points: 473 · Comments: 375

- Article: https://gptzero.me/news/iclr-2026/

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181466

2. I Tried and Failed to Rebuild the 1996 Space Jam Website with Claude

- Rank: 1 · Points: 392 · Comments: 325

- Article: https://j0nah.com/i-failed-to-recreate-the-1996-space-jam-website-with-claude/

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183294

3. Using LLMs at Oxide

- Rank: 1 · Points: 663 · Comments: 265

- Article: https://rfd.shared.oxide.computer/rfd/0576

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46178347

4. Google Titans architecture, helping AI have long-term memory

- Rank: 2 · Points: 453 · Comments: 147

- Article: https://research.google/blog/titans-miras-helping-ai-have-long-term-memory/

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181231

5. The AI Wildfire Is Coming. It's Going to Be Painful and Healthy

- Rank: 15 · Points: 107 · Comments: 188

- Article: https://ceodinner.substack.com/p/the-ai-wildfire-is-coming-its-going

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183011

6. Estimates are difficult for developers and product owners

- Rank: 1 · Points: 185 · Comments: 190

- Article: https://thorsell.io/2025/12/07/estimates.html

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184229

7. I wasted years of my life in crypto

- Rank: 1 · Points: 127 · Comments: 171

- Article: https://twitter.com/kenchangh/status/1994854381267947640

- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181371