This Week in Tech 1075: The Commonwealth Club

Date: March 15, 2026
Host: Leo Laporte
Panelists: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy (The Verge), Richard Campbell (Windows Weekly/RunAs Radio), Ian Thompson (TechFinitive)

Episode Overview

On this lively Ides of March edition, Leo brings together tech journalists Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Richard Campbell, and Ian Thompson—representing a “Commonwealth Club” (UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand) contingent—to unpack a busy week in technology. The discussion ranges from Meta's layoffs and AI woes, social media’s societal impact, high-profile lawsuits, the state of social media platforms, U.S. regulatory absurdities, privacy and security, emerging solar innovations, and a sampling of global cultural quirks—topped with a look at the flying car future and poignant moments of humor.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Meta Layoffs, AI Costs, and Corporate Restructuring

[03:20–07:14]

• Meta plans to shrink by 20% as AI costs skyrocket, including $600 billion proposed spend on data centers by 2028.

• Meta and other "Magnificent Seven" tech giants lay off thousands, but hiring never really stops—firings and hirings are often about role changes, not true contraction.

  “They laid off 30,000 and hired 30,000. So the total net employment was the same, but for different roles.” – Richard [05:18]

• Meta delays its latest AI model "Avocado" over readiness concerns. “Chipotle’s Avocado AI” is revealed to be rebranded Claude.

• AI is being used to replace workers with lower-grade engineers; prompts and workflows are recorded and used for job outsourcing.

  “I got a disturbing email… he’s been instructed to use AI tools… now they've outsourced his job to two lower grade engineers using the info he was forced to give them.” – Ian [04:14]

Social Media Lawsuit: Addiction & Harm Trial

[07:50–14:54]

• Landmark jury trial underway in Los Angeles: a young plaintiff alleges lifelong harm due to social media addiction (Meta & YouTube defendants; Snapchat & TikTok settled).

• Huge public interest: parents fill courtroom, believing social media harms their kids.

  “The entire courtroom outside was full of parents whose children have been meaningfully, they believe, harmed by social media.” – Jennifer [12:08]

• Discussion: Is social media addictive like tobacco? Algorithmic curation vs. conscious creation. Comparison to magazines, sugary cereals, and fast food.

  “It’s much harder to prove [causal harm] than smoking and cancer—a lot of things can lead to distress in young people.” – Leo [10:30]

  “There is enough evidence out there that social media has caused harm for especially for younger people… Instagram has been very bad for body image for teenage girls.” – Jennifer [16:56]

• The real legal test is if there is “meaningful harm” and if platform algorithms directly cause it.

  “Did [Facebook/Meta] know their product was addictive and did they make it more addictive… and that causes meaningful harm?” – Jennifer [14:32]

• Societal nuance: Social media replaces IRL socialization; bullying is now 24/7 and inescapable for kids.

  “It used to be if you got bullied at school, you went home. Social media is in your face 24/7 now.” – Ian [20:55]

• Jury trial will be pivotal for future regulation.

X/Twitter, Bots, and AI Content Misinformation

[37:51–43:28]

• X claims to have banned 800 million bot and spam accounts. Despite AI and moderation efforts, platforms are still “bot-infested” and gamed (Reddit/Tesla example).

• AI-generated content, including fake Iran War footage, now polluting X.

• Removal of real journalists from Pentagon press pool; rising government hostility toward the media.

  “Bots are everywhere and there needs to be a screening mechanism, but no one’s come up with one yet.” – Ian [42:42]

Legal and Political Shenanigans

[29:57–34:32]

• Trump administration’s TikTok deal involved a $10 billion payment to the Treasury, raising questions about government brokering and legal “bribes.”

• Satire on political personalities (shoe sizes, hand sizes, cabinet footwear).

  “This is a power move. I’m gonna give you some shoes, make sure you wear those.” – Leo [33:29]

• British politics receives ribbing as panelists compare Boris Johnson, Farage, and current US politicians.

Social Media Platform Fragmentation

[36:13–40:51]

• BlueSky CEO Jay Graber steps down; platform search for CEO underway.
• Mastodon, BlueSky, Reddit—each drawing subgroups as there is no single "winner" social network anymore.
• Digg's failed relaunch: shut down due to “unprecedented bot problem,” proving old pitfalls persist.

AI: Industry Rivalries, Model Improvements, and Losses

[44:54–71:43]

• Elon Musk's XAI faces turmoil: only 2 of 12 original founders remain; Musk shifting resources across Tesla, SpaceX, XAI, and more.

• Nvidia’s upcoming GTC anticipated as a major AI hardware/software inflection point—plans to open-source AI agents and push for non-CUDA compatibility.

• Anthropic’s new Opus 4.6 model leaps to one-million-token context window; discussion on the “hook” of subscription-based models, and the financial sustainability for AI companies.

  “Anthropic seems to be accelerating away from everyone by using their own tools to improve their tool.” – Richard [71:01]

• Amazon vs Perplexity: court halts agentic bots from shopping on customers’ behalf (Amazon claims it interrupts their advertising model and site experience). The “DoorDash problem”—AI agents may entirely bypass web UIs, disrupting site traffic and ad revenue for all online businesses.

  “If you can do everything with AI, what happens to the services you’re using? You’re no longer using them.” – Jennifer [75:23]

Privacy & Security: Doge Data Breach & Facial Recognition Disaster

[96:05–101:05], [138:29–142:35]

The Doge Depositions

• Whistleblower reveals Doge (federal tech team) engineer copied 500 million sensitive Social Security records to a thumb drive; panels express deep concern over young, naive hires with “God-level” access.

  “We were worried about this… when these kids, these 20-somethings got brought into government.” – Leo [96:22]

Deposition Videos: Word Search for DEI

• Doge team admits to using simple word searches and AI to flag and auto-cancel grant applications mentioning diversity, equity, and inclusion—often with no understanding of meaning or context.

  “He says, I don’t know what DEI is, but I know it when I see it.” – Leo [100:24]

Face Recognition Failure

• Tennessee grandmother jailed for months after AI misidentifies her as a bank fraudster 1,200 miles away; she loses her home, pets, and receives no apology.

  “No amount of money replaces that.” – Leo [141:39]

Regulatory and Tech Society Oddities

[102:22–116:29]

• Texas & Florida ban lab-grown salmon and meat (“God-given right to know what’s on our plate” / “global elite conspiracy” rhetoric).

• Plug-in solar (balcony solar) popular in Europe, just beginning to gain legal status in Utah; panel advocates for accessible energy and battery backup, despite utility company resistance.

  • Recommended: Ecoflow for plug & play solar battery systems.

  “It’s great to be able to have a backup source that’s not the grid, without investing a huge amount of money.” – Jennifer [108:45]

• U.S. energy grid and regulatory systems face upheaval from homeowner solar and battery installations.

Nuclear & Energy Future

[117:00–124:35]

• Bill Gates’ TerraPower project: sodium-cooled fast reactors promise safer, more efficient energy—if regulatory barriers and technical hurdles (handling of sodium & fuel source) can be overcome.

  “When you’re in the fast spectrum, you’re far less likely to generate plutonium for weapons… but sodium reacts with everything.” – Richard [118:59]

Flying Cars and EVTOLs

[153:24–157:02]

• FAA pilot program aimed at bringing drones/electric air taxis (EVTOLs/Evols) to cities.

• Panel is skeptical about safety and the “Jetsons” future, especially with untrained ultralight pilots.

  “The idea of letting your standard non-pilot trained person do this—software better be damn good or you’ll have things falling out of the sky.” – Ian [155:00]

Social, Cultural & Lighthearted Moments

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Bacon, Back Bacon, and Brisket:

  • “If I want to get screwed, I want a kiss, not a credit card receipt.” – Ian, on $15 scotch eggs [169:12]
  • “You have a paintbrush you slop it on.” – Leo, on barbecue sauce application [172:59]

• Brits on American Gas Prices:

  • “I was talking… about British petrol prices, he was like, hang on, you’re paying $11 a gallon!” – Ian [62:36]

• YouTube Becomes #1 Media Giant:

  • “Every long-tail culture you could imagine is somewhere—everybody’s YouTube experience is different.” – Richard [159:19]

• Quicksort Creator Tribute:

  • “There are two ways of constructing a software design. One is to make it so simple there are obviously no deficiencies…” – Tony Hoare, in memoriam [164:24]

• On Tech Bros & The Singularity:

  • “I get the feeling so many of these tech bros have read Iain Banks and not understood the message.” – Ian [131:51]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Meta Layoffs, Avocado AI Delayed: 03:20–07:14
• Social Media Addiction Trial: 07:50–14:54
• Algorithmic Harm & Comparisons: 14:54–23:41
• X/Twitter & Bot Problems: 37:51–43:28
• TikTok Deal, US Political Satire: 29:57–34:32
• AI/Anthropic/Nvidia Battle: 44:54–71:43
• Perplexity vs. Amazon Lawsuit: 73:08–79:19
• Doge Data Breach & DEI Controversy: 96:05–101:05
• Facial Recognition false arrest: 138:29–142:35
• Lab-Grown Meat Politics: 102:22–106:08
• Balcony Solar: 106:13–116:29
• Nuclear Talk: 117:00–124:35
• Flying Cars/EVTOLS: 153:24–157:02
• YouTube Media Dominance: 157:05–159:16
• IG Nobel Prizes Leave US: 159:34–160:37
• Tribute to Tony Hoare: 163:49–165:46

Final Thoughts

This freewheeling episode of TWiT, dominated by “Commonwealth” voices, blends skepticism and humor on emergent AI, regulatory trends, security nightmares, and social consequences of tech, seasoned with warmth, nostalgia, and culinary asides.

Memorable, funny, and informative—with deep dives into the human side of technology’s impact.

“We don’t want a handful of companies to dominate this… we need open platforms.” – Leo [66:49]