1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: are you? It's time for the tech news for Thursday, 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: March thirtieth, twenty twenty three. So Apple has announced that 6 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: this year's Worldwide Developer Conference, or WWDC, will run from 7 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: June fifth to June ninth. The conference is an event 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: where app developers go and learn how to best use 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: Apple's technologies while they're designing apps for Apple devices. But 10 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: it's also an event where the company occasionally shows off 11 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: new products. Now, typically those are software features and that 12 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: kind of thing, as opposed to physical hardware. But yeah, 13 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: WWDC is sort of an event where stuff can be 14 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 1: unveiled or launched, usually something about like an operating system 15 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: or again some features that will enhance apps, but once 16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: in a while they'll show off some hardware. And this 17 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: year there is a great deal of anticipation that Apple 18 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: will finally show off its mixed reality headset at WWDC. 19 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: So the version that Apple is going to show off, 20 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: if it does in fact show it at all, is 21 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: a more modest effort than what was originally planned. So 22 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: Apple's goal was to create an augmented reality headset that 23 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: looked like a stylish but otherwise normal pair of eyeglasses. 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: But it turns out that cramming that many components into 25 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: so small a form factor is a challenge we just 26 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: can't overcome yet. Gordon Moore might smile and say, just 27 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: wait a couple of years on that one. So instead, 28 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: the mixed reality headset is reportedly one that has a 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: display built into it with cameras that would feed live 30 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: video to the display when you have it in AR mode, 31 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: and otherwise you'd be using it like a VR headset. 32 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: So in other words, when you wear this headset and 33 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: you're using it as an augmented reality headset, what you're 34 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: doing is watching a live video feed of whatever it 35 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: is in front of your face, just like if you 36 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: were holding your phone up in front of your eyes. 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: The logo for WWDC twenty three doesn't give any clues 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: as to whether or not they will show this off. 39 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: The logos just a series of colorful, metallic style arcs, 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: kind of like a Wi Fi signal symbol. Rather, last 41 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: I heard, analysts expect that Apple's headset will go on 42 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: sale later this year in the holiday season for a 43 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: really hefty price tag, like you know, three grand or 44 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,839 Speaker 1: something Moreover, while the hope was to follow this up 45 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: with the AAR glasses, that plan is on indefinite hold 46 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: at the moment. Instead, Apple plans on releasing an updated 47 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: and perhaps less expensive headset further down the line. So yep, 48 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: we're gonna be waiting a while till we get those 49 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: cool iron Man style eyeglasses. Now let's talk a whole 50 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: lot about artificial intelligence. So first up, an advoticacy group 51 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: called the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Policy sent 52 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, 53 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: asking that agency to stop any more commercial releases of 54 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: products that use GPT four, which is the latest of 55 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: the large language models developed by open Ai. This is 56 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: interesting because the FTC is about stuff like consumer protection 57 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: and ensuring fair trade practices. So what's going on here. Well, 58 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: the advocacy group claims that GPD four is quote biased, deceptive, 59 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: and a risk to privacy and public safety end quote. 60 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: Now the bit that would really concern the FTC would 61 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: be the deceptive part if a company where to leverage 62 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: GPT to generate false claims about products or services that 63 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: amounts to false advertising. The group says that GPT four 64 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: isn't quote transparent, explainable, fair, and empirically sound while fostering 65 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: accountability end quote. These are standards that the FTC otherwise 66 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: demands when it comes to trade. More than one thousand 67 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: people reportedly signed this letter. Meanwhile, there's a different letter, 68 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: this one from the Future of Life Institute, which is 69 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: a nonprofit organization that says it's dedicated to pushing technology 70 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: to benefit humanity and to reduce the risk of you know, 71 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: like existential annihilation. Also, it has a similar message In 72 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: this letter. The letter calls for an immediate pause on 73 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: quote training of AI systems more powerful than GPT four 74 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: end quote. That pause, the letter says, should be at 75 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: least six months while people take a closer look and 76 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: evaluate the risks associated with these AI models. The letter 77 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: points out that the technology greatly outpaces governments and their 78 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: ability to create laws and regulations meant to safeguard citizens. 79 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: That's true, that's kind of how it always works, honestly, 80 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: But the point that the letter is making is that 81 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: the risks of AI could end up being too severe 82 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: to just do the normal move fast and break things 83 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: approach to tech and let law catch up later. The 84 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: letter is an open letter, so it's not like a 85 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: letter that's being sent to a specific entity. Also, when 86 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: it was sent, it had more than one thousand, one 87 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: hundred signatories on it, including some really famous names on there, 88 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: like Steve Wozniak at Elon Musk. But at least some 89 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: of the folks whose names appeared on that list have 90 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: since spoken up to say they never actually signed the 91 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: ding dang darn thing, which should definitely at least raise 92 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: some eyebrows. A chief AI researcher and meta named Jan 93 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: Lakun is one of the folks who says he never 94 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: signed the letter, and in fact, he disagrees with the 95 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: letter's premise. So something hanky's going on here. I know 96 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: we can't trust the robots, but now it sounds we 97 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: can't trust the peeps who say we can't trust the robots. 98 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: Y'all know, lots of teachers worry about how students could 99 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: potentially use chat GPT in an effort to avoid doing 100 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: work themselves, essentially you know, cheating off a chatbot. You 101 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: know about that, right, Well, according to the information, a 102 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: former Google AI researcher has said that Google's kind of 103 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: doing the same thing, just at a much bigger scale. Namely, 104 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: this researcher, named Jacob Devlin, has accused Google's AI team 105 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: of cheating off rival open ais GPTEAM model. The information 106 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: says that, according to Devlin, the Google team was scraping 107 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: data from open ais share gpt website in an effort 108 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: to have training material for its own barred chatbot AI. 109 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: Google's Chris Papas told The Verge that the company didn't 110 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: use any data from share GPT or chat gpt to 111 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: train Bard. So Google is outright denying these allegations. Now, 112 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: there is no denying that Google was caught with its 113 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: artificial intelligence pants down when chat gpt took the world 114 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: by storm late last year, and Google has scrambled its 115 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: various teams to try and make up for lost ground. 116 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: According to the information, this actually extends to convincing teams 117 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: from two different AI initiatives under Alphabet that's the parent 118 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: company that Google is under, and that would be Google's 119 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: Brain AI team and an independent like subsidiary, Deep Mind. 120 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: That typically these two groups are rivals, they don't really 121 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: work well together, or they don't often work together at all, 122 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: and the Deep Mind has been rumored to be looking 123 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: to actually completely spin off from the company for a 124 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: while now, but at the moment their efforts appeared to 125 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,679 Speaker 1: be aligned as they try to catch up to open Ai. 126 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: Not too long ago, I mentioned in the news episode 127 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: that Google was under investigation for allegedly destroying evidence relating 128 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: to its legal fight against you know, a whole bunch 129 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: of folks that includes Epic Games. That's the company that's 130 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: behind Fortnite, the Match Group attorneys general for thirty eight 131 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: of the fifty states that we have here in the 132 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: good old US of A. The lawsuits are focused on 133 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: Google's policies with its app store, arguing that the company 134 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: has engaged in anti competitive and exclusionary practices that hurt well, 135 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: pretty much anyone who ain't Google, really. But as to 136 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: evidence tampering, those accusations have led to a federal judge 137 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: ruling that Google did intentionally destroy evidence and so it 138 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: must be sanctioned. The judge stated that quote Google intended 139 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 1: to subvert the discovery process and that chat evidence was 140 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: lost with the intent to prevent its use in litigation 141 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: and with the intent to deprive another party of the 142 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: information's use in litigation quote. So essentially, what the judge 143 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: is saying is that Google purposefully did not instruct any 144 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: document custodians within its company to turn on the chat 145 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: history feature. So by default, Google's chat deletes its chat 146 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: history after twenty four hours, but you can turn this off, 147 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: and if you do turn it off, then it maintains 148 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: that chat history. So what the judge is saying is 149 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: that Google tried to be coy and deny that it 150 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: was hiding evidence by not admitting that the chat histories, 151 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: which could be you'll saved and used as evidence, were 152 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: set to automatically delete, and that you know, that was 153 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: just a regular policy, there was nothing wrong with that, 154 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: and that, of course they didn't even think to tell 155 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 1: their custodians to turn on chat history. As to what 156 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: punishment the judge will meet out to Google, that has 157 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: yet to be decided. For one thing, until the judge 158 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: can figure out what and how much was deleted, it's 159 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: actually pretty hard to determine the extent to which Google's actions, 160 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: or lack thereof, in the case of not turning on 161 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: chat history, have actually hurt the prosecution's case, but in 162 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: the meantime, Google does have to cover the legal fees 163 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: for the prosecution. Google has protested this ruling, saying its 164 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: policies fall under the restrictions of what is reasonable under 165 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: federal rules, and of course this is just a corollary 166 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: to the actual legal case, which itself will continue. Okay, 167 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break, but we'll be back 168 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: with more tech news in just a moment. While Google 169 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: defends itself against accusations of being anti competitive, it is 170 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: accusing Microsoft of being anti competitive. In this case, Google 171 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: says that Microsoft's cloud computing businesses are designed to discourage competition, 172 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 1: and further that Microsoft's recent negotiations with cloud vendors in 173 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: Europe are going to make things worse. The arguments are 174 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: giving me a lot of deja vu, actually, because essentially 175 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: the critics are saying that Microsoft ties its various products 176 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: together in such a way that's very hard to mix 177 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: and match with other vendors, Like you can't easily and 178 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: seamlessly incorporate whichever products you want from whichever vendors you want. 179 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: Because the various systems are designed to interlock together. That 180 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: Microsoft's approach is really intended to keep customers within the 181 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: Microsoft ecosystem, relying on things like Windows for on premises 182 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: computing systems and Azure in the cloud. And the reason 183 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:52,839 Speaker 1: I say this gives me deja vu is that back 184 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: in the nineties, Microsoft was accused of doing something really 185 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: similar by tying its web browser, which was Internet Explorer 186 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: at the time time, with the Windows operating system. This 187 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: practice was seen as anti competitive because it discouraged Windows 188 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: users from seeking out alternatives to Internet Explorers, such as 189 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: Netscape Navigator. This whole thing led to a massive antitrust 190 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: lawsuit against Microsoft. In fact, at one point, the United 191 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: States government even ordered Microsoft to break up into smaller companies, 192 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: but that ruling was subsequently reversed. Anyway, Google says Microsoft 193 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: is following that old playbook, only now it's looking at 194 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: enterprise customers and cloud services instead of regular consumers, and 195 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: Google is hoping that regulators and the EU will take 196 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 1: a closer look and perhaps intervene. Also fun fact, Google 197 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: is in third place when it comes to being a 198 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: cloud service provider. First place goes to Amazon, then Microsoft, 199 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: then Google. So would Google behave in a way that 200 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: was more competitive and would not be exclusionary? I guess 201 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: we'll have to wait and find out our old pal. 202 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: Sam Bankman freed AKASBF as another charge against him. Now 203 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,960 Speaker 1: do you remember him. He's the co founder of FTX, 204 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: which used to be the second largest crypto exchange in 205 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: the world before it had a spectacular collapse late last year. 206 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: SPF already faces multiple securities and fraud charges, but this 207 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: new one is different. This time, he's accused of having 208 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: bribe Chinese officials to unfreeze assets connected to his cryptocurrency companies. 209 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: This appears to have happened before the collapse of FTX, 210 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: so apparently Chinese officials froze the assets as part of 211 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: a probe into quote a particular Alimeda trading counterparty end quote. 212 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: The size of the bribe is a staggering forty million 213 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: dollars yauza. Think about that for a second. Think about 214 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: having so much money tied up that you're willing to 215 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: spend forty million dollars to get that money. Meanwhile, I'll 216 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: just be over are just trying to imagine what forty 217 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: million dollars looks like. Anyway, This means OLSBF is now 218 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: looking at thirteen major charges in the wake of his 219 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: FTX disaster, and he's still going with a not guilty plea, 220 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: despite the fact that his FTX co founder Gary Wong 221 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: has already pled guilty to charges of wire securities and 222 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: commodities fraud. Moving on to TikTok, there's a small stable 223 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: of politicians who oppose the growing calls or a nationwide 224 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: ban against the social video platform here in the US. 225 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: The newest member of that group is Senator Rand Paul, 226 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: a Republican politician who is one of the few conservative 227 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: voices to speak out against a ban on TikTok. Paul 228 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: has expressed concern that a band could lead to restrictions 229 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: on free speech. He's also expressed concern that should the 230 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: government ban TikTok, young folks will sour on the Republican 231 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: Party and the GOP will find itself out of a job. 232 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: So this isn't all about standing up for the rights 233 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: of citizens here. There's a healthy dose of self preservation 234 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: going on. Now. I've said in the past that I 235 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: do have real concerns about TikTok, and I still do. 236 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: But I also have real concerns about data security and 237 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: privacy in general, and as many others have repeatedly pointed 238 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: out China doesn't exactly need an app on the inside 239 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: of the US in order to get hold of our data. 240 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: China could just do what the FBI does and buy 241 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: data from data brokers. So yeah, the problem with security 242 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: and privacy is much, much, much larger than TikTok itself, 243 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: and really we need to have an approach that gets 244 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: to the source of the problem, which, in my opinion, 245 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: is our irresponsible approach to personal data, which extends all 246 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: the way to matters of national security, and that the 247 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: app is just built on top of this, this massive 248 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: vulnerability we have. It's not the cause of that vulnerability, 249 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: it's just potentially exploiting it. One of the proposals that 250 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: could potentially ban TikTok is called the restrict Act. Now 251 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: I've yet to read this bill myself, but according to 252 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: Motherboards sources, the language in it is too vague and 253 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: too broad and could lead to massive problems down the road. 254 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 1: So the purpose of the bill is to give the 255 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: US government the authority to restrict communication services that have 256 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: connections to foreign countries. And by connections, I think what 257 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: is implied is at least foreign ownership. But as Motherboards 258 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: Joseph Cox points out this could potentially extend not just 259 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: to social networks and messaging apps and that kind of thing, 260 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: but perhaps to other stuff like VPNs or virtual private networks. Apparently, 261 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: the bill says that technology linked to a quote unquote 262 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: foreign adversary would be subjected to this proposed restriction. That 263 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: includes countries like Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. 264 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: And it also covers a lot of different kinds of software, 265 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: including stuff like games and payment applications. Now, I hope 266 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: to read the full bill soon, even though reading proposed 267 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 1: legislation often makes my head hurt or it puts me 268 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: to sleep. But the objections here sound like there are 269 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 1: some real legit concerns that the bill could lead to overreach, 270 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: and worse, failed to address the root cause of the issue, 271 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: so we would still have the problem there, and this 272 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: bill would not solve the problem. It would just cause 273 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: more issues. EA aka Electronic Arts is joining the ranks 274 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: of companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Twitter in that 275 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,920 Speaker 1: it's laying off employees. According to The Wall Street Journal, 276 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: the layoffs will affect around six percent of the company's workforce. 277 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: That means around seven hundred eighty employees could be shown 278 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: their walking papers. According to a blog post published by 279 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: e A CEO Andrew Wilson, one of the reasons for 280 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: the layoffs is that EA is looking to reduce its 281 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: actual office space, and it means that some folks just 282 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: won't have a place to work at anymore. Those affected 283 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: are promised severance pay and healthcare support as they transition, 284 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,680 Speaker 1: which is the decent thing to do. How this will 285 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:10,920 Speaker 1: affect game development remains to be seen, but at the 286 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: risk of sounding like a broken record, sure do hate 287 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 1: seeing more folks getting laid off. Finally, Valve, a different 288 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 1: video game company, has announced that beginning on January first, 289 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, it's popular game platform and online store, 290 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: Steam will no longer work on machines running on Windows 291 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: seven or Windows eight. Microsoft itself stopped supporting those operating 292 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: systems earlier this year, so Steam is actually a little 293 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: bit behind on that regard, But this means that gamers 294 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: are still using older versions of Windows to access their 295 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: Steam library of games will need to upgrade before next 296 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:44,440 Speaker 1: year or face the very real prospect that they won't 297 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: be able to play their Stardo Valley anymore, which y'all, 298 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: Star Doo Valley is a fantastic game. No one out 299 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: there wants to be deprived of their Stardus Valleys. All 300 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: that being said, as you would probably imagine, this is 301 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 1: going to impact a very small number of Steam custom 302 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: According to Valve, fewer than two percent of all Steam 303 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: customers are on platforms using Windows seven or Windows eight. 304 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: But if you are time to upgrade, all right, that's it. 305 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: That's the news for Thursday, March thirtieth, twenty twenty three. 306 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: I hope you are all well out there, and I'll 307 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:26,360 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an 308 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 309 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.