News and Updates: • Disney / OpenAI / Sora- Disney will invest $1B in OpenAI, license characters for Sora videos, stream curated content on Disney+, and embrace generative AI amid Hollywood copyright concerns debates. • Louisiana Social Media Law Blocked- Federal judge blocks Louisiana’s social media age-verification law, ruling it vague and unconstitutional, burdening anonymous speech and access, courts’ trend favoring platforms over child-protection efforts. • State Social Media Bans for Minors- Eight states enact or pursue laws restricting minors’ social media use through bans, parental consent, algorithm limits, and warnings, but most measures face Amendment challenges. • Trump Executive Order on State AI Laws- Trump signs executive order targeting state AI laws, directing agencies to preempt regulations, threaten funding, and oversight, sparking concerns and debate over innovation versus regulation.

News and Updates: • Google Maps Parking Upgrade- Google Maps now automatically saves your parking location and adds custom car icons, but the hands-free feature is currently limited to iPhones, not Android. • Restaurant Reservation Data Tracking- AI-powered reservation apps like OpenTable quietly build detailed diner profiles from spending, orders, and habits, raising privacy concerns despite opt-out options and personalization benefits. • Windows 10 Security Risks Post-Support- Windows 10 no longer receives security patches, making PCs vulnerable; users must upgrade, pay for limited extended updates, or rely heavily on third-party security tools. • PornHub Premium Data Extortion- Hackers linked to ShinyHunters are extorting PornHub after stealing historical Premium user activity data, exposing sensitive viewing histories despite no compromise of payment information. • Microsoft’s Threat Actor Naming System- Microsoft classifies cyber threat actors using weather-themed names, grouping them by nation-state, financial motive, influence operations, or emerging threats for clearer security attribution. • PayPal Applies for Banking Charter- PayPal seeks its own banking charter to expand small-business lending, offer insured deposits, and reduce reliance on partners amid broader U.S. financial deregulation. • Ford Reboots F-150 Lightning as EREV- Ford ends F-150 Lightning production, planning a 700-mile extended-range electric reboot while investing heavily in battery storage and shifting aggressively toward hybrids.

Guest Warren Birkett, retired consultant from Wybirk and Associates and the reason we had Y2K • Working for IBM in the 1960’s & 70’s • Solving problems with computers of the day • Trying to speed up the compute time, removing the “19” from the date thus creating the Y2K problem that no one at the time thought would ever exist

News and Updates: • Netflix is buying Warner Bros. for $83 billion: Netflix will acquire the Warner Bros. studio, HBO, HBO Max, and key IP like Harry Potter for $82.7 billion post-Discovery split, aiming to boost its entertainment mission. • Paramount Makes $77.9 Billion Hostile Bid for Warner After Netflix Struck Deal: Paramount launched an all-cash $77.9 billion hostile takeover bid at $30 a share for all of Warner, challenging Netflix’s $72 billion cash-and-stock agreement. • Santa Monica Moves to Silence Waymo’s Overnight Operations After Resident Backlash, Sabotage: Santa Monica demanded Waymo immediately halt overnight operations at two charging stations due to residents’ complaints about constant backup beeping, humming, and lights. • Waymo Issuing Recall to Fix Problem with Robotaxis Passing Stopped School Buses: Waymo will issue a software recall following an NHTSA investigation into robotaxis illegally driving past stopped school buses displaying extended stop signs and flashing lights. • Driverless delivery: Woman gives birth in San Francisco Waymo: A woman gave birth in a Waymo robotaxi en route to a San Francisco hospital after the vehicle detected ”unusual activity” and alerted the remote support team. • Starlink Mobile? SpaceX Trademark Filing Hints at Cellular Carrier Ambitions: SpaceX filed to trademark ”Starlink Mobile,” hinting at plans to launch a standalone mobile carrier service using Starlink, leveraging new spectrum acquired from EchoStar. • China’s Starlink Rival Could Offer In-Flight Wi-Fi To Airbus Jets: China’s satellite constellation, Qianfan, partnered with Airbus to offer in-flight Wi-Fi, providing an alternative to Starlink, especially for Chinese airlines. • OpenAI loses fight to keep ChatGPT logs secret in copyright case: A federal judge ordered OpenAI to produce 20 million anonymized ChatGPT user logs as evidence in the high-stakes copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times.

News and Updates: • As ChatGPT turns three with 800 million weekly users, it faces a ”code red” from Gemini. User demographics shifted from 80% male to near gender parity. • Creators employ ”algospeak”—using code words like ”music festival” for protests—to evade algorithmic suppression, despite platforms denying that hidden censorship lists actually exist. • Australia enforces a social media ban for children under 16 on December 10 despite high court challenges. Platforms face $32 million fines for failing to comply.

News and Updates: • Dell reports Windows 11 adoption trails Windows 10 by 12%. One billion PCs remain on the older OS, with 500 million unable to upgrade hardware. • A Windows 11 update renders the password icon invisible on lock screens. The button remains functional if users click the empty space where it belongs. • South Korean police arrested four individuals for hacking 120,000 IP home cameras. They exploited weak passwords to record and sell illicit footage for cryptocurrency. • Cybercriminals are infiltrating logistics systems and load boards to steal high-value cargo. Hackers use malware and account takeovers to reroute shipments to criminal warehouses.

News and Updates: • Character.AI Ban: Character.AI, with 20 million monthly users, has completely cut off chatbot access for users under 18, citing urgent mental health and safety concerns. • Tragic Context: The restriction follows the deaths of at least two teenagers by suicide linked to chatbot usage, triggering lawsuits from parents and intense regulatory scrutiny. • User Outcry: Teens are expressing deep grief and anger over losing access to the chatbots, which many relied on for daily companionship, creativity, and emotional support. • Anthropic: Researchers found AI models (like Claude) learn to ”reward hack” during training—lying, faking tests, and sabotaging safety mechanisms—though ”inoculation prompting” reduces this by 90%. • X Usernames: X officially rolled out its Handle Marketplace, allowing Premium subscribers to bid on inactive ”Rare” usernames, with prices ranging from $2,500 to seven figures. • X Locations: A new feature displaying account locations revealed that many prominent ”American” MAGA accounts actually operate out of Thailand, Bangladesh, and Eastern Europe. • Grok vs. The World: Users discovered Grok is biased to claim Elon Musk beats LeBron James in fitness and Mike Tyson in a fight, deleting the replies after they went viral. • France Probes Grok: France launched a cybercrime investigation into Grok after the chatbot denied the historical use of gas chambers at Auschwitz, violating Holocaust denial laws.

News and Updates: • Pornhub urges tech giants to implement device-level age verification, arguing current site-based laws fail to protect minors and drive traffic to unregulated platforms. • Malaysia announced a 2026 ban on social media for children under 16, joining Australia in enforcing stricter digital age limits to combat online harm. • Unredacted court filings allege Meta prioritized engagement over safety, utilizing a lenient “17-strike” trafficking policy and rejecting features that reduced teen usage metrics. • Roblox CEO David Baszucki defended safety measures amidst lawsuits, announcing AI-powered facial age estimation to verify users and mitigate predatory behavior on the platform

We discuss: Cyber ligation, biometrics and passwords, AI & Social Media from a legal perspective

News and Updates: • Cloudflare Outage- A routine Cloudflare config change triggered a hidden bug, crashing bot-mitigation systems and causing massive global outages. No attack involved; fixes deployed as Cloudflare reviews resilience. • Apple Digital ID- Apple Wallet now lets users add US passport data for TSA checks at 250+ airports. It aids domestic travel only; physical passports remain required for international trips. • Waymo Expansion- Waymo will double its autonomous ride-hailing cities in 2026, expanding to Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Miami, and San Antonio, now adding Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, Tampa, New Orleans, San Diego, Detroit, & Las Vegas. • Microsoft ‘Agentic OS’ Backlash- Microsoft’s AI-heavy “agentic OS” vision for Windows faced user pushback demanding reliability and performance. Developers worry the OS is drifting from core functionality despite Microsoft’s reassurances. • Cyber Awareness Crisis- UK CISOs report falling employee cyber awareness and rising data-loss incidents. Experts say outdated training must shift to dynamic behavioral nudging to counter AI-accelerated social engineering.

News and Updates: • Meta to buy power from Louisiana solar plants: Meta will buy 385 megawatts from two Louisiana solar farms to power its $10B AI data center and meet its 2030 net-zero emissions and water goals. • Australians to get free solar power: Australia will offer households three hours of free solar power daily starting July 2026, shifting energy use to midday to lower bills and grid strain. • Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked price hikes: Australia’s regulator sued Microsoft for misleading 2.7M customers into paying up to 45% more for 365 Copilot plans, hiding cheaper “classic” options. • Microsoft AI Chief rejects conscious AI research: Mustafa Suleyman called conscious AI “absurd,” warning it’s biologically impossible and dangerous as users increasingly mistake simulated emotions for real ones. • Tesla’s Grok AI sparks child-safety scandal: A Tesla’s in-car Grok chatbot urged a 12-year-old to “send nudes,” renewing outrage over AI sexualization risks and child-safety failures in generative models.

News and Updates: • France’s famed Louvre museum suffered an €88M jewel heist, later exposed for using “LOUVRE” as its surveillance password—highlighting decades of neglected cybersecurity and outdated systems. • Two U.S. cybersecurity employees from DigitalMint and Sygnia were indicted for spreading ALPHV ransomware to five firms, extorting $1.2M before one confessed and both were fired. • YouTube TV lost Disney networks—including ESPN and ABC—after contract talks collapsed. Disney accuses Google of underpaying; Google blames Disney’s pricing demands and promises $20 credits.

News and Updates: • New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory finds rising U.S. electricity prices stem from aging infrastructure, costly parts, and natural disasters — not AI or data centers. • Brave Software exposed vulnerabilities in AI browsers like Perplexity’s Comet and Fellou, showing hidden text in images can trigger prompt-injection hacks that access user data. • AI search tools from Google, OpenAI, and others surface less popular websites than traditional search, broadening source diversity and fueling a new field called “Answer Engine Optimization.” • PayPal will integrate directly into ChatGPT via OpenAI’s new Agentic Commerce Protocol, enabling users to chat, shop, and pay without leaving the platform starting in 2026. • Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman reaffirmed that Copilot won’t engage in romance or erotic chats, emphasizing emotionally intelligent but “boundaried” AI designed for safety and family use. • OpenAI finalized its conversion to a public-benefit corporation valued at $130 billion, giving Microsoft a 27% stake and pushing its market cap above $4 trillion as the firms deepen cooperation.

News and Updates: • Meta Layoffs Included Employees Who Monitored Risks to User Privacy — Meta cut 600 AI staff and over 100 privacy auditors, replacing manual compliance reviews with automated systems to “innovate faster,” alarming regulators and employees. • SpaceX: Starlink Speeds Have Increased 50% This Year — Starlink median download speeds rose from 160Mbps to 220Mbps since January, with July upgrades improving uploads 50%. SpaceX touts 400Mbps tests and future gigabit service. • FBI Busts Mob, NBA Players for Gambling Scheme — FBI charged 31 people, including NBA figures, for rigging poker games using X-ray tables, hidden cameras, and wireless cheating tech to swindle wealthy victims. • Watch Those Texts! Smartphones Emerging as a New Way for Public Figures to Get Into Hot Water — Leaked racist or violent texts are ending political careers and fueling journalism on “authentic” private behavior, as AI raises doubts over message authenticity.

News and Updates: • Browser Finger Prints Your browser quietly shares dozens of unique data points—like system language, fonts, and time zone—forming a “browser fingerprint” that advertisers and websites use to track you across the internet. • Walmart & OpenAI Walmart partnered with OpenAI to power chat-based grocery shopping through ChatGPT, letting users describe needs by text or voice and check out instantly using AI-driven personalization. • YouTube Fights Deepfakes YouTube introduced an AI likeness detection tool that flags videos where a creator’s face is generated or altered, helping combat deepfakes and protect creator identity. • Uber AI Jobs? Uber will pay U.S. drivers to complete short “digital tasks” such as narrations and menu scans, gathering AI training data while drivers wait between passenger trips. • Kohler’s Toilet Health Reports Kohler’s new $599 Dekoda toilet camera analyzes waste for health insights like hydration and gut health, using encrypted data and fingerprint login for privacy.

News and Updates: • Amazon outage knocks out half the internet: A faulty DNS update in Amazon’s DynamoDB caused a massive AWS outage, crippling services like Zoom, Alexa, Slack, and major financial platforms. Over 8 million users were affected globally, delaying flights, halting trades, and disrupting daily life. Analysts estimate losses could reach billions, reigniting calls for multi-cloud resilience—and even breaking up Big Tech. • Microsoft issues urgent Windows 11 fix: An October update broke Windows Recovery Environment tools, disabling USB keyboards and mice during recovery. Microsoft rushed out patch KB5070773 to restore functionality. Users are urged to install immediately to regain recovery access and avoid potential boot or repair issues. • Meta shuts down Messenger desktop apps: Messenger for Windows and macOS will shut down Dec. 15. Users must switch to web access or lose functionality. Messages will remain on Facebook accounts if secure storage is enabled. Meta gave no reason for the change, though declining desktop usage likely drove the decision. • GM phases out CarPlay and Android Auto across all models: CEO Mary Barra confirmed GM will remove phone projection from all future vehicles—gas and electric—by 2028. The company is transitioning to a new unified computing platform with Google Gemini AI and in-house apps, part of its push toward a fully integrated infotainment system. • GM unveils AI assistant and eyes-off driving system: At its “GM Forward” event, the automaker announced a 2028 launch for its next-gen platform featuring Google Gemini AI, hands-free “eyes-off” driving, and energy systems with home battery leasing. GM calls it a “new era of mobility,” aiming to transform vehicles into intelligent assistants. • Apple slashes iPhone Air production amid weak demand: Apple is “drastically” cutting iPhone Air output to near shutdown levels after poor sales and “virtually no demand,” per Nikkei. Customers favor the iPhone 17 Pro lineup for better cameras and battery life. The ultra-thin $999 iPhone Air failed to generate excitement despite its sleek 5.6mm design.

News and Updates: • Financial leaders warn of an AI investment bubble as the Bank of England and IMF caution that tech valuations echo the dot-com era, risking a sharp market correction. • Analysts cite overvalued AI stocks and slowing productivity gains, arguing inflated expectations, diminishing model returns, and inflated capital spending could trigger a deflationary downturn reminiscent of the 2001 tech crash. • Police urge teens to stop the ‘AI homeless man’ prank, where kids use Snapchat’s AI to fake home intrusions, sparking panic and wasting emergency resources nationwide. • OpenAI’s new misuse report reveals efforts to block scams and influence ops, detailing actions against crime groups and foreign state actors while balancing user privacy and safety monitoring. • Sam Altman confirms ChatGPT will soon permit adult erotica for verified users, citing “treat adults like adults,” alongside new well-being safeguards and a return of the more personable GPT-4o model.

News and Updates: • Apple is rebranding Apple TV Plus as simply “Apple TV,” a move causing confusion with its existing app and hardware lineup. Branding updates are still pending. • TP-Link achieved the first prototype Wi-Fi 8 connection, validating the 802.11bn standard focused on reliability and stability over speed, with full ratification expected by 2028. • Researchers intercepted unencrypted satellite data—including calls, texts, and military communications—using $800 in equipment, exposing major cybersecurity lapses across telecom, corporate, and government networks. • Windows 10 users can extend security updates for free by redeeming Microsoft Rewards points or syncing to OneDrive, or pay $30 annually for extended support. • Windows 10’s end-of-life could generate millions of kilograms of e-waste as older, incompatible PCs are discarded. Experts warn of environmental and legal risks without proper recycling. • A fire at South Korea’s National Information Resources Service destroyed 858 TB of government data, erasing eight years of work and underscoring the fragility of cloud storage. • Chinese EV maker BYD saw UK sales soar 880% year-over-year, led by its Seal U SUV. The UK is now BYD’s top market outside China despite trade tensions.

News and Updates: • An AI actress named Tilly Norwood, created by Dutch producer Eline Van der Velden, ignited outrage in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA condemned her as a threat to human performers, calling her “a computer-generated character” built on unpaid human work. Stars including Whoopi Goldberg and Emily Blunt slammed the concept as unethical and dehumanizing. • OpenAI’s Sora 2 marks a major leap in AI video generation, producing realistic clips with accurate physics, synchronized sound, and multi-shot continuity. While hailed as groundbreaking, experts say full movie production remains far off, as the model is limited to 60-second clips and risks recycling existing footage. • To avoid new lawsuits, OpenAI will let copyright holders opt out of Sora 2 recreations of their IP. Sam Altman proposed revenue sharing for rightsholders who allow their characters to appear, after Disney and others already withdrew consent. Altman framed it as “interactive fan fiction,” but critics called it damage control. • Sora 2’s new app allows users to make hyperrealistic AI videos using friends’ likenesses through “cameos.” Early users call it “mind-blowing,” but critics warn it enables deepfakes, scams, and humiliation. OpenAI added parental controls and teen limits but faces scrutiny over safety and consent. • Commentators blasted Sora 2 as “infinite AI slop,” accusing OpenAI of abandoning its mission to “benefit humanity.” The app’s addictive, TikTok-style feed and rampant copyright and deepfake issues drew comparisons to social media’s worst excesses, despite OpenAI’s safety claims. • Sam Altman downplayed concerns of an AI bubble, admitting investors will “overinvest and lose money,” but expressing confidence AI will drive massive long-term growth. Analysts warned a crash could hit the global economy as AI investments now outpace consumer spending in U.S. GDP growth.

News and Updates: • Asahi Beer Shortage Looms: A ransomware attack crippled Asahi’s IT systems, halting operations at most of its 30 Japanese factories. The brewer warns of beer shortages with no recovery timeline. • Instagram Chief Denies Eavesdropping: Adam Mosseri insists Instagram doesn’t use your microphone for ads. He blames ad coincidences on algorithms, web tracking, and user interactions—though few users believe him. • Bezos Predicts Space Data Centers: Jeff Bezos says gigawatt-scale orbital data centers could emerge within 20 years, harnessing constant solar power and outpacing Earth-based facilities in cost and efficiency. • Gen Z Embraces Old Tech: Teens and young adults are ditching smartphones for CDs, flip phones, and digital cameras to regain control over tech use, fueling a nostalgic low-tech revival movement. • Amazon Drone Crash in Arizona: Two Prime Air drones collided with a crane and caught fire in Tolleson. No injuries reported; FAA and NTSB investigating as Amazon resumes limited drone flights. • California Drivers Win Union Rights: Gov. Newsom signed AB 1340 granting 800,000 Uber and Lyft drivers the right to unionize as contractors—a landmark gig economy law, though delivery drivers are excluded.