Grumpy Old Geeks - Episode 717: "Quantum of Nope"

Hosts: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister, with guest Dave Bittner
Release Date: October 10, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jason and Brian dive into the week’s messiest tech headlines, offering biting commentary on broken systems, corporate missteps, and digital absurdities. From European battles with social algorithms to AI-driven legal mishaps, podcast promos gone wrong, and the messy realities of in-home gadgets, the Grumpy Old Geeks own the walk of shame for the tech industry. No mercy, no filter: Their grumpiness is matched only by their expert (and hilarious) analysis of what went wrong, who’s to blame, and why it probably won’t get better soon.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

[00:00–03:27] Personal Updates & Banter

• Jason and Brian catch up, discussing Brian’s upcoming family trip to London and Paris and Jason’s shockingly high utility bills in LA.
  • Jason: "Do you know how much my DWP bill was this week?... $2,000." [01:56]
  • Brian: "Everything is. Everything is. Yeah, well and truly fucked, as they say." [02:11]
• Announced future guest: Donovan Atkinson, aka "Southern Geek" on Discord, will guest host next week.

[03:27–05:03] Algorithmic Social Timelines in Europe

• The Netherlands court ordered Meta to give users an easy (free) way to ditch algorithmic feeds on Facebook/Instagram under the Digital Services Act, following similar UK moves.
  • Brian: "This is all any of us want...a non algorithmic timeline." [04:04]
  • Jason: "We keep saying that, you know, that's all we ever wanted...a decade ago." [04:30]
  • Both agree bots, Zuckerberg, and surveillance capitalism must also go.

[05:03–09:52] AI Video Generator Sora 2: Copyright, Performance, and Environmental Impact

• Sora 2 flipped from "no copyright guardrails" to overly restrictive, making creative AI videos nearly impossible except for cherry-picked demos.
• Jason tried Sora 2, producing awkward videos: "Bruce Lee fighting Mother Teresa. That was horrible." [05:45]
• Brian notes the 'uncanny valley' in user-produced AI videos, and underlying environmental costs of compute resources.
• Debate over value: "Hundreds of millions of dollars of compute...what do we have? A couple shrugs. And that was cute." – Jason [08:47]

[09:52–12:38] AI Platform Slowdowns & Personalization

• Noticeable slowdowns using platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
  • Brian: "Yesterday it was glacial. Just like the glaciers they removed to make it." [09:52]
• Discussion of ChatGPT’s "personalities" feature; Jason finds “nerd” mode boring, “cynic” slow.
• Privacy/tracking worries: Brian refuses to sign in, Jason likes personalized context/history.

[14:31–18:44] ICE Surveillance, ICEBlock App, and Law Enforcement Creep

• Apple pulled the ICEBlock app after law enforcement pressure; debate over whether it put agents at risk and how user-generated reporting works.
  • Jason: "Just make it a web app, then you don't have to deal with these assholes..." [15:13]
• ICE building a 24/7 social media surveillance team; plan includes crawling TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, etc., with minimum staff requirements.
  • Brian: "You're gonna monitor the entirety of the Internet with three people?" [18:04]
  • Jason: "That's the Internet police that we deserve." [18:07]

[18:50–20:47] AI and Surveillance: OpenAI Disrupts State-Sponsored Social Media Spying

• OpenAI banned Chinese accounts designing surveillance systems for government clients, echoing the ICE story.
• Russia, Korea, Cambodia also using ChatGPT for malware/scam development.

[20:50–22:38] Tesla Insurance Under Fire & Diner Gripes

• Tesla’s California insurance arm accused of claim-handling failures, delays, and shoddy investigations.
  • Brian: "That's not the Tesla I know." [21:36]
  • Jason: "If we can get him out of the diner business now too, that'd be great." [21:58]
• Rant about cybertrucks' poor quality.

[22:39–24:51] AI Arms Race: OpenAI and AMD’s Massive Deal

• OpenAI to buy 6 gigawatts worth of AMD AI chips, complicated by cross-ownership and financial “kiting.”
  • Jason: "It's all fucking Monopoly money and accounting tricks to keep this fucking ball in the air." [23:58]
  • Brian: "They're all starting to own parts of each other. It's a big fucking octopus of hell." [23:52]
• Warning of economic catastrophe if the AI bubble bursts.

[25:19–26:55] AI Audit Hallucinations: Deloitte’s Australian Fiasco

• Deloitte forced to refund AU$291,000 for a welfare penalty review riddled with AI-generated citation errors.
  • Jason: "Classic AI hallucinations." [25:28]
• In quick succession, Deloitte inks massive deal to put Anthropic’s Claude AI into 470,000 employee workflows globally—a quick pivot after their AI flub.

[26:59–28:11] Surveillance in Schools & AI-Triggered Arrests

• 13-year-old in Florida questioned by police after Gaggle surveillance flagged violent ChatGPT search.
• Discussion on tech-driven school surveillance; both hosts cautiously supportive inside classrooms.

[28:13–29:40] Taylor Swift Faces AI Slop Backlash

• Fans blasted AI-generated errors in promotional content for Swift’s new album.
  • Internet reaction: "She's too rich to be this cheap." [28:53]
• Brian: "You can have it good, or you can have it quick." [29:11]

[29:40–30:59] Find My Phone Busts Major iPhone Theft Ring

• British police used Apple’s "Find My" to break up a massive iPhone smuggling ring.
• Phones have become more lucrative for British criminals than drugs.

[31:17–32:55] Media Picks: The Diplomat S3 & The Long Walk Review

• Excitement over unusually fast release of The Diplomat S3 (Netflix).
• Jason reviews The Long Walk movie: "Kind of like Stand By Me...with a lot more murder. Like Stand By Me meets Squid Game." [32:15]
  • Brian: "You're the only person who has used fun to describe this movie." [32:55]

[33:21–34:49] CA Bans Loud Streaming Ads

• New law will stop streaming services from blasting commercials louder than program audio.
  • Jason: "I don't think there's any audio police either because regular TV does this shit all the fucking time." [34:00]
  • Both criticize rising ad volumes, especially on paid services.

[34:49–36:48] Bond Without the Gun: Poster Censorship

• Amazon’s new Prime Video posters for James Bond edit out Bond’s iconic gun, leading to awkward images and online ridicule.

[36:48–38:46] AI Music: Fake Bands, Real Deals, and Family Pleas

• "Bleeding Verse", an AI band, signs with Halwood Media; also highlights other AI artists getting record deals.
• Zelda Williams asks for an end to AI-generated Robin Williams content: "please just stop sending me AI videos of dad. It's dumb...and not what he'd want." [38:11]

[38:50–40:03] Jony Ive & OpenAI’s “Not Highly Anticipated” AI Device

• Ongoing struggles, including privacy issues and unclear purpose, are delaying OpenAI’s hardware project with Jony Ive.

[40:03–41:58] CarPlay Face-off: Rivian Bucks Apple Trend

• Rivian’s CEO defends refusal to support Apple CarPlay in favor of AI/UX innovation.
  • "No, it won't." – Brian [41:22] (on AI making UX better)
  • "Just turn on the fucking Carplay...car companies are so well known for great user interfaces." – Jason [41:56]

[42:05–43:24] Spotify & AI Recommendations Partnership

• Spotify Premium and free users can now link their accounts to ChatGPT for AI-generated music/podcast recommendations.
  • Skepticism from hosts: "That's bullshit." – Jason [42:52], doubting no data will be used for AI training.

[43:24–47:29] Amazon Echo Show & the Creep of Ads on Paid Devices

• Amazon’s new Echo Show pitches “background blending” but pushes even more intrusive ads.
  • Amy Scoreheim (via Brian): "It’s really fucking distracting when...my Echo Show...is replaced by a full blown advertisement for DeWalt drill bits." [44:54]
  • Brian resents ads on paid hardware; Jason: "If you're paying for a fucking product, you shouldn't be getting ads with it." [45:47]

[47:29–49:56] France Investigates Apple Over Siri Audio Privacy

• French prosecutors revisit Apple's past recording and review of Siri queries by contractors, especially before the opt-in policy was added.

[49:57–50:24] Quake 3 Nostalgia & Open-Source Gaming

• Jason discusses the IOQuake3 open-source port; struggles to find a Mac-compatible copy; shouts out GOG (Good Old Games) community and master torrenters on Discord.

[50:28–53:59] Book Talk: Peter Cawdron's "Dark Beauty" & Cory Doctorow's "Inshitification"

• Both hosts disappointed by Peter Cawdron’s Kurt Vonnegut homage, preferring Vonnegut originals.
• Jason recommends Cory Doctorow’s "Inshitification," celebrating its scathing, accurate critique of the inescapable degradation of online services.
  • Jason: "Thank God it wasn't read by Will fucking Wheaton. Corey reads this one himself..." [52:20]
  • Brian: "He points it out meticulously...and provides solutions that will never, ever, ever happen." [53:14]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Brian [04:12]: "It is unacceptable that a few American tech billionaires can determine how we view the world."
• Jason [09:10]: "For all of the different models that I'm using across the board...they're slowing down considerably."
• Brian [23:52]: "They're all starting to own parts of each other. It’s a big fucking octopus of hell."
• Jason [28:53]: "She's too rich to be this cheap."
• Brian [41:22]: "No, it won't." (refuting Rivian’s CEO’s UX/AI claims)
• Jason [45:47]: "If you're paying for a fucking product, you shouldn't be getting ads with it."

Additional Timestamps

• [03:27] European courts force Meta to offer non-algorithmic feeds
• [05:45] Sora 2: Copyright woes and AI video disasters
• [18:04] ICE unveils national internet surveillance plan
• [22:39] OpenAI’s massive AMD chip deal and economic warning
• [25:19] Deloitte’s AI audit errors and mega-Anthropic deal
• [34:49] Bond movie posters digitally censored
• [38:11] Zelda Williams on AI deepfakes: "please just stop sending me AI videos of dad."
• [43:24] Amazon Echo Show slammed for intrusive ads

Closing & Listener Interaction

• Patreon shoutouts (Svs, Martim, regulars)
• Merch store issues and forthcoming designs
• No new reviews, no notable deaths, some Friday content missed due to early taping
• Jason: "We are the fucking bestest. I do have like five PCs…"
• Brian: "No podcast has better criminal friends." [49:25]

Tone & Style

The show delivers snark, scorn, nostalgia, and real tech insight—brutally honest, filled with cultural references, and delivered in the casual, exasperated patter of two tech veterans who have seen it all (and wish they hadn’t). It combines in-depth analysis, gallows humor, and "grumpy" camaraderie, with memorable lines and moments.

Summary for New Listeners

If you want the inside scoop on why everything sucks online, why AI isn't magic, and why tech keeps making the same old mistakes—served with no-nonsense humor—this episode is essential listening.