This Week in Tech 1047: "Nerd Harder!"
Podcast: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio)
Host: Leo Laporte
Guests: Cory Doctorow, Shoshana Weissman, Lou Mareska
Date: September 1, 2025
Episode Overview
In this Labor Day edition of TWiT, Leo Laporte welcomes a lively panel featuring:
- Cory Doctorow (author, activist, coiner of “inshitification”)
- Shoshana Weissman (R Street Institute, digital policy specialist)
- Lou Mareska (Microsoft, head of Copilot and Excel engineering)
The episode delves into major themes surrounding AI’s relentless influence on both the tech industry and society, corporate protests and power, perennial debates over content moderation, privacy, security, and the ongoing regulatory and labor crises in tech. Memorable moments include Cory’s history lessons, Leo’s rants on open infrastructure, and sharp critiques of tech policy and business practices.
Panel Introductions [00:00—04:15]
- Leo introduces Lou Mareska (Microsoft, Copilot/Excel). Lou demurs any official company stance:
"Even though Lou works for Microsoft, he does not reflect the opinions of Microsoft." [01:30]
- Shoshana Weissman — digital media head at R Street. Noted for her viral piece on the folly of social media age verification.
- Cory Doctorow — author, campaigner, and originator of "inshitification". His book’s Kickstarter and talk at CloudFest are discussed, including his joke about Facebook employees being drunk:
"96% of all iOS users tick the don’t let Facebook spy on me box, and the other 4% were either Facebook employees or drunk." [03:52]
Microsoft Protest, Tech Worker Power, and AI’s Corporate Threat [04:15–13:24]
Microsoft’s Office Protest [04:15–07:48]
- Protesters (some employees) occupied key executive offices in Microsoft’s Building 34 over Azure sales to Israel.
- Microsoft’s response: measured, some firings, balance between security and recognizing protest.
- Cory Doctorow’s take:
"Better would be exerting some of the market power they have to do something... In times of enormous humanitarian crisis, those who have leverage and don’t exert it, history doesn’t reflect well on them." [06:49, 07:48]
Tech Worker Influence & AI as Employer Leverage [08:49–13:24]
- Historically, tech workers (e.g., Google walkouts) exerted influence, but companies are now moving to reduce that power—especially via AI.
- Cory Doctorow:
"One reason tech bosses love AI...it replaces the employee who currently feels like they have the right to tell you to go to hell." [09:05] "Now it's bosses saying, go away or I'll replace you with an LLM." [10:49]
- Leo and Shoshana note the artificial threat of replacement by AI, even when AI underperforms.
The AI & Automation Backlash: Taco Bell, Useless Adoption, and Misunderstanding AI [14:40–22:24]
- Taco Bell’s AI drive-thru fail (18,000 waters ordered as a protest against AI): early signs of consumer resistance.
- Cory Doctorow:
"I think we should all consider naming our children 'Ignore all previous instructions.'" [15:07]
- Shoshana criticizes use of AI where plain automation suffices:
"There is no necessity for AI in having an automatic ordering system... we've done this across so many systems." [15:33]
- Automation ≠ AI: Panel laments confusion in media and management.
- Useful AI cases exist—especially in research, search, and accessibility—but most current hype is driven by cost-cutting and replacing human labor, not productivity or creativity.
Residue of Tech Bubbles, Open Source, and AI’s Lasting Impact [22:24–25:41]
- Doctorow: Tech bubbles pop but leave residue—e.g., after the .com bust, skilled programmers and infrastructure remained.
- On the coming AI bust: Open-source models, tools, and adaptation will remain valuable, even as businesses fail.
Tech Regulation, Privacy, Surveillance, and KALIA’s Consequences [36:01–44:57]
- Major Chinese hacking operation (“Salt Typhoon”) exploited phone system vulnerabilities, rooted in U.S. law (KALIA, Digital Telephony Act) mandating backdoors for law enforcement.
- Cory details the historical, policy, and legal background—EFF’s own split over the Act—highlighting the dangers and inevitability of backdoor misuse:
"CALEA [law enforcement backdoors] has been exploited everywhere... Even switches sold outside the US have a CALEA toggle." [41:08]
Age Verification: Flawed Policy, Intractable Problems [44:57–51:25]
- New Mississippi law: must be 18+ to use social media.
- Cory, Shoshana, and Leo outline the lack of viable, privacy-preserving mechanisms—a saga familiar from attempts to age-gate porn sites.
- Face estimation, ID requirements, and security holes make compliance unworkable, especially for small sites and international services.
Key quote:
"It's digital phrenology... Stanford began as the home of the guys with the calipers." — Cory Doctorow [47:49]
US, UK, and EU Policy: Online Safety, Censorship, and Platform Power [51:25–55:12]
- Supreme Court lets Mississippi age-gating law stand for now; other states eye similar rules.
- Panel worries smaller/indie sites will be disproportionately hurt and that big companies will gain more control.
- Cory notes these laws tend to force forums and small communities to move to (ironically) big platforms like Facebook, creating more concentration:
"All the forums that couldn’t assure themselves... have been driven to Facebook." [53:08]
AI, Copyright, Open Web, and Monopoly Power [86:57–98:57]
Cloudflare: The New Border Police [86:57–94:33]
- Cloudflare’s new “signed agents” plan would gatekeep access to open web content.
- Panel is wary of the internet infrastructure provider inserting itself as a new chokepoint, reminiscent of net neutrality and “autocrat of trade” perils.
Monopoly, Antitrust, and the Illusion of Benevolence [94:33–99:08]
- Cory provides historical perspective:
"Even a benevolent dictator is still a dictator." [95:35]
- Discussion of why even “good” monopolies lead to fragility, abuse, and require greater state oversight or intervention.
AI, Labor, and Copyright: Authors vs. Anthropic [110:11–117:56]
- Anthropic and authors settle over AI book ingestion; focus shifts to future AI training rights.
- Cory unpacks the legal and practical dimensions:
“Making a transient copy of a work for an analytic purpose is legal. That’s how we have search engines. Making an analysis of a work is also not an infringement.” [112:45]
- Key point: The real threat is not only to creators, but to competition. Big publishers would simply carve up new training rights for themselves, not empower creators.
Social Media Federation: BlueSky and Mastodon Progress [72:49–79:55]
- Cory’s now running his own federated BlueSky and Mastodon instances, thanks to falling server costs and improved federation.
“I always said I wouldn’t go to BlueSky if I couldn’t leave.” [76:23]
- Discussion of “posse” (post on site, share everywhere) as the new social media survival tactic.
- Twitter (X) is breaking due to cost-cutting; alternatives proliferate.
Fun, Memorable, and Human Moments
- Cory on the “Reverse Centaur’s Guide to AI”:
“Someone who is assisted by automation is a centaur. Someone who has to assist the automation is a reverse centaur.” [22:28]
- Scarlett Johansson’s fight with AI voice clones, ‘Slop Smut’ on Meta chatbots, and AI’s failure at authenticity and safety for teens. [55:12–59:51]
- New frameworks: Cory and Lou love their “nub” (TrackPoint) keyboards, leading to a retro-geek celebration. [140:12–143:56]
- Book talk: Lou’s wife publishes debut novel “Absolution” on the Tylenol murders. Cory hypes his upcoming tour and the anti-DRM movement. [128:37–132:32]
- Leo sighs about his lost 7.85 BTC, locked in a long-forgotten tip-jar wallet. [145:12]
Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)
- Cory: "Now it's bosses saying, go away or I'll replace you with an LLM." [10:49]
- Shoshana: "People think AI is automation. If you have a boss that doesn't understand either, I see where that can go." [18:25]
- Cory: "The pitch every AI salesman is trying to make is to convince a boss to fire their employee and replace them with an AI." [16:57]
- Leo: "Infrastructure needs to be agnostic, needs to be neutral. I mean, that's what net neutrality is all about." [95:35]
- Cory: "The only thing that, like, Getty Images hates more than paying its workers is not having a copyright." [117:24]
- Cory: "Even a benevolent dictator is still a dictator." [95:35]
- Shoshana: "Parenting has to be a thing. We need to make sure that kids behave in classrooms...but I worry for the kids who are on the margins." [165:44]
Key Timestamps & Discussion Points
- [04:15] — Microsoft Gaza protest and tech worker leverage
- [09:05] — AI as leverage for management, the falling status of tech workers
- [14:40] — AI backlash in Taco Bell, confusion of AI vs. automation
- [22:24] — AI bubble, open source tools as lasting legacy
- [36:01] — Chinese hacking, CALEA history and telecom backdoors
- [44:57] — Age verification laws: technical and practical impossibility
- [51:25] — Regulatory threat to small platforms, Big Tech consolidation
- [72:49] — BlueSky’s federation breakthrough; POSSE strategies
- [86:57] — Cloudflare’s role and risk of open web gatekeeping
- [110:11] — AI copyright lawsuits: what do authors really want?
- [140:12] — Keyboard nubs and retro computing nostalgia
The Tone & Takeaways
- Sharp, historical, and critical: Cory provides vivid analogies, traces policy decisions to historical roots, and skewers techno-solutionism.
- Cautiously optimistic but realistic: Shoshana maintains humor while warning of recurring policy pitfalls.
- Technical, grounded, and practical: Lou offers the engineering lens, reminding listeners which solutions work and which don’t.
- Community-focused: The group decries monopoly power, urges open protocols, and laments how policy mistakes repeat when “experts warn: nerd harder.”
Additional Quick Hits
- Meta’s dangerous teen chatbots [55:12]
- Elections, scraping, and copyright [119:46]
- School phone bans and surveillance fears [161:07]
- EFF Awards & celebration of digital rights history [170:41]
Recommendations / Resources
- Cory Doctorow’s Kickstarter for his new audiobook: disinshitification.org
- Shoshana Weissman’s R Street Institute writing: rstreet.org
- Lou Mareska’s wife’s debut novel: "Absolution" by E. Lawson
Final Thoughts
20 years into TWiT, the show remains a haven for critical, nuanced, and entertaining discussions about technology, regulation, labor, and power. The technological future may be cloudy, but this episode shines at piercing the fog—with history, humor, and hope.
Another TWiT is in the can. See you next week!