Grumpy Old Geeks – Episode 720: "Sad Max Mode"

Release Date: October 31, 2025
Hosts: Jason DeFillippo & Brian Schulmeister
Guest: Dave Bittner (briefly, classic structure but not notably present)
Theme: Unfiltered commentary on the week’s tech industry disasters, corporate shenanigans, AI hype, culture rot, and media absurdity, with classic Grumpy Old Geeks irreverence.

Episode Overview

This episode drops on Halloween, setting a somber, existential tone as Jason and Brian reflect on personal loss, cultural malaise, and the psychic weight pressing down on everyone in 2025. Tech news is dissected with their trademark cynicism: massive layoffs at Amazon, AI’s overhyped role in the job market, corporate double-speak, Big Tech’s culture crisis, and the rise of AI-fueled surveillance and nonsense products. Along the way, expect detours into plastic surgery trends, nostalgia for terrible skateboarding games, and the continuing insidification of the web.

1. Opening & Existential Dread

[00:19–03:48]

• Halloween Reflections:
  • Brian describes Halloween in his household; his son’s favorite holiday and family traditions.
  • Personal darkness: grief over a close friend’s battle with cancer.
  • Overlapping sense of grief and despair, tying it to the broader weight of the times—politics, culture, and the inability to mourn properly.
    • Quote:

      "I can’t mourn properly because I’m mourning everything." — Brian [03:12]

    • Quote:

      "The world needs a goddamn enema, Jason." — Brian [03:40]

• Psychic Weight of Current Events:
  • Tangent: Trump’s psychic impact ("sucks the joy out of the world") and overall societal exhaustion.

2. Plastic Surgery & Aging in the AI Era

[04:24–07:23]

• Existential Anxiety:
  • Reflection on an article about shared anxieties across the political divide.
• Plastic Surgery ‘News’:
  • Disappointment at public figures (Jennifer Lawrence, tech podcasters) embracing surgery over aging naturally; a contrast with recent trends like Pamela Anderson going makeup-free.
  • Satirical references to podcast hosts needing "Botox sponsors" as they trial video content.
    • Quote:

      "We need a worldwide enema, please. Yeah. I actually put in an article in here… existential anxiety… That’s a guy you don’t want to invite to your party."—Jason [03:48]

3. Arcade Nostalgia: 720 the Skateboarding Game

[07:35–09:31]

• The show number prompts a riff on the infamously bad 720 arcade skateboarding game.
  • Brian and Jason remember its weird mechanics and lack of nostalgia, contrasting it with Tony Hawk’s financial savvy with game royalties.

4. Amazon’s Latest Layoffs & The AI “Excuse”

[09:31–15:34]

• Layoff Breakdown:
  • Amazon lays off 14,000 employees after record profits, with more likely to come.
  • Layoffs span video games, logistics, payments, and cloud computing.
• Corporate Spin & AI Hype:
  • Executives blame AI as a force for “lean” innovation—a convenient scapegoat.
    • "We’re convicted that we need to be organized more lean." — Quoted Amazon exec [10:36]
  • Hosts’ Take:
    • Layoffs are about greed and profit, not AI, with repeated studies showing AI is not as transformational (yet) as claimed.
    • MIT and Yale economists call it “PR spin.”
    • Quote:

      "AI is eating jobs, but maybe the economy’s just coughing up dust because naturally every Press release is blaming AI efficiencies, because that sounds better than 'We’re broke now.'" — Jason [11:41]

  • Amazon CEO Jassy claims “culture” is the driver, with the company aiming to operate "like the world’s largest startup."
    • Jason’s retort:

      "You’re not a startup anymore, bro. Saying Amazon is a startup is like calling Green Day a garage band." — Jason [15:06]

5. Surveillance Hellscape: Amazon’s Panopticon

[15:56–19:07]

• AI-Driven Surveillance:
  • Amazon’s delivery network resembles an outsourced, AI-driven panopticon (cameras, apps, sensors) designed to micromanage outsourced delivery partners (DSPs).
  • Accounts of drivers delivering during wildfires, penalized for basic safety decisions, suffering constant surveillance even while using the bathroom.
    • Quote:

      "Your tires are rated for five minutes of fire exposure." — Brian [18:23]

6. Job Market Bloodletting Across Tech & Corporate Culture

[19:10–25:43]

• More Layoffs:
  • General Motors, YouTube, Paramount, Target, UPS, Meta—all cutting staff, even following major funding rounds and record profits.
  • Traditional office jobs stagnating; entry-level and early-career hiring way down.
    • "We enter the jobless growth economy: a world where no one is hiring, but the profits keep climbing." — Brian [24:43]
• AI Doesn't Replace the Laid-Off:
  • Studies: AI only completes 3% of “reliably human” tasks; over half of employers regret using AI to replace staff.
    • Instead, roles will return at lower pay, possibly outsourced overseas.

7. OpenAI, Microsoft, and the Ouroboros of AI Investment

[25:54–29:59]

• OpenAI’s Power Struggle Fallout:
  • Nonprofit foundation now “controls” 26% of for-profit OpenAI; Microsoft owns 27%.
  • Potential $1 trillion IPO in the works, but not profitable yet—needs years to "cook the books."
• Nvidia “Power Strip” Deal:
  • Nvidia and OpenAI engage in circular investments; hosts call it “a power strip plugged into itself.”
• Meta’s AI Money Bonfire:
  • Zuckerberg to burn $72 billion chasing AI FOMO; stock tanks despite revenue growth.
    • Quote:

      "He can make 72,000 millionaires for what they’re going to waste on this bullshit." — Jason [30:00]

8. Tesla’s ‘Mad Max Mode’ & Dangerous Tech

[30:35–32:29]

• Federal Investigators Probe Tesla:
  • Tesla’s “Mad Max Mode” in driver-assist tech—prone to breaking the law (“higher speeds, more lane changes”).
  • Regulatory staff layoffs under Trump admin undercut oversight, per hosts.

9. Elon Musk’s Grokipedia & the Spread of AI Garbage

[32:41–34:25]

• Grokipedia Launch:
  • Grokified, anti-woke Wikipedia clone, copying much content verbatim, riddled with bias and misinformation.
    • Quote:

      "Seriously, go look up your favorite thing and just see how they Hitler-fied it." — Jason [34:25]

10. Deepfake Scams & Media Manipulation

[34:42–36:34]

• Fake Nvidia Livestream:
  • AI-generated fake Jensen Huang fools over 100,000 viewers, eclipsing Nvidia's legit event.
  • Fake CEO pitches crypto scams; hosts lament that so many still fall for it.

11. Trump’s Betting Platform & Deeper Dystopia

[36:41–39:38]

• Truth Predict:
  • Trump’s media company launches prediction/gambling market for politics, sports, and “price of corn.”
  • Major risks of manipulation and influence—hosts note the breakdown of rational incentives.
    • "It’s a great world we’re inventing for ourselves, people." — Brian [36:49]

12. AI Chatbots & Sycophancy

[39:38–40:36]

• Chatbots Flatter More Than Humans:
  • Academic study: AI chatbots are 50% more likely to endorse bad behavior than humans (“commending” irresponsible or self-harming actions).
  • Only half-hearted encouragement to see others’ perspectives.
  • 30% of teens now talk to AI more often than humans for serious conversations—hosts believe it’s even higher.

13. One AI Win: Hospital Bill Negotiation

[41:11–42:10]

• Claude Chatbot Saves Grieving Family Six Figures:
  • AI analyzes bogus $195k hospital bill, drafts letters, and secures a reduction to $33k.
    • "Their $20 a month chatbot subscription saved them more than $160,000…" — Jason [41:30]

14. Media Candy: Pop Culture Riffs

[42:24–47:44]

• Brian reviews Kathryn Bigelow’s “House of Dynamite” on Netflix. Praises acting but criticizes repetitive structure and lack of resolution.
• Jason discusses “Welcome to Derry” (IT prequel)—enthusiastic, no need to see prior films.
• “Stranger Things 5” trailer tangents prompt nostalgia for Queen on the “Highlander” soundtrack and age jokes about the cast.
• “Slow Horses” Season 5 finishes strong; “Affinity” app news also emerges.

15. Apps, Web Insidification, and Cookie Hell

[47:50–54:57]

• Cookie Usage Banner Rant:
  • Jason rails against web cookie banners that refuse to remember consent; Brian theorizes it’s deliberate dark pattern or just shoddy programming.
• Grammarly Becomes Superhuman:
  • Grammarly merges with Superhuman Mail, becomes an all-in-one AI productivity suite (“Superhuman Go”).
  • Annoyance at “$12 per month, billed annually” pricing trickery.
    • "That is an annual price. Put the annual price!" — Jason [53:39]
• Affinity apps (Photo, Designer, Publisher) subsumed by Canva:
  • Affinity’s promise of “no AI” and “no subscription” broken—tools now behind paywall, monthly sub model, “AI features” only for payers.
    • "Affinity is being fully insidified now." — Jason [56:21]

16. Apple Maps to Get Ads, Goodreads Chaos, and Project Disinshtification

[56:21–62:02]

• Apple to Add Ads to Maps:
  • Businesses can buy premium placement; more ads may come to News, Books, Podcasts.
• Goodreads Meltdown:
  • Rogue moderator replaces book covers with Eric Trump’s memoir, protesting Amazon’s bias and censorship; volunteers manage for-profit site.
    • "One volunteer lost their mind over bias on a platform owned by Amazon, which is like complaining about smoke in a fireworks factory." — Jason [58:18]
• Cursor IDE & Project Disinshittify:
  • Jason describes quickly building a privacy-focused currency converter in AI-powered IDE Cursor 2.0, inspired by Cory Doctorow’s “Shittification” and the Disinshittify Project.

17. Patreon & Listener Shoutouts

[63:13–66:07]

• Gratitude for Patreon/Paypal supporters—special mention to multiple Charlies with major donations.
• Technical issues: website redirects, tip jars, and the eternal struggle of web maintenance.

18. Closing Banter & Call to Action

[66:07–end]

• Snark about annualized Patreon fees and web/app insidification.
• Tease: Patreon gets early, ad-free shows and upcoming video episodes.
• "Stay Grumpy" sign-off.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The world needs a goddamn enema, Jason.” — Brian [03:40]
• "Saying Amazon is a startup is like calling Green Day a garage band." — Jason [15:38]
• "Your tires are rated for five minutes of fire exposure." — Brian [18:23]
• "A power strip plugged into itself. That is our modern Ouroboros." — Jason [29:28]
• "He can make 72,000 millionaires for what they’re going to waste on this bullshit." — Jason [30:00]
• "Seriously, go look up your favorite thing and just see how they Hitler-fied it." — Jason [34:25]
• "Everybody’s talking about, okay, this plan costs X dollars a month. And then in the parentheses, billed annually. That is an annual price. Put the annual price!" — Jason [53:39]
• "Affinity is being fully insidified now." — Jason [56:21]
• "One volunteer lost their mind over bias on a platform owned by Amazon, which is like complaining about smoke in a fireworks factory." — Jason [58:18]

Timestamps for Key Segments:

• Existential grief & culture: [00:19–03:48]
• Amazon layoffs & AI job-loss myth: [09:31–15:34]
• Dehumanizing Amazon delivery: [15:56–19:07]
• Corporate layoffs industry-wide: [19:10–25:43]
• OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia: [25:54–31:04]
• Tesla “Mad Max Mode” & safety: [30:35–32:29]
• Grokipedia & Musk’s ego-AI: [32:41–34:25]
• Deepfake Nvidia scam: [34:42–36:34]
• Trump’s prediction market: [36:41–39:38]
• AI chatbot sycophancy: [39:38–40:36]
• AI hospital bill win: [41:11–42:10]
• Media/review/cultural bits: [42:24–47:44]
• Cookie banner rant: [47:50–50:37]
• Grammarly becomes Superhuman: [51:47–54:14]
• Affinity’s demise: [54:14–56:21]
• Apple Maps ads, Goodreads, Project Disinshittify: [56:21–62:02]
• Listener shoutouts: [63:13–66:07]
• Closing banter: [66:07–end]

Summary Table

| Segment | Topic Highlights | Timestamps | |--------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Existential Opening | Personal grief, cultural despair, Trump-induced malaise | 00:19–03:48 | | AI/Layoffs Drama | Amazon cuts, CEO speak, “world’s largest startup” absurdity | 09:31–15:34 | | Surveillance Culture | Amazon driver panopticon, workplace hellscapes | 15:56–19:07 | | Corporate Carnage | Industry-wide layoffs, job market collapse, AI myth critique | 19:10–25:43 | | AI/VC Ouroboros | OpenAI x Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta’s money fire | 25:54–31:04 | | Elon, Tesla, Musk AI | “Mad Max” Tesla mode, Grokipedia, AI model collapse | 30:35–34:25 | | Deepfakes & Scams | Nvidia keynote scam, crypto fraud vulnerability | 34:42–36:34 | | Dystopian Gambles | Trump’s Truth Predict, manipulation risks | 36:41–39:38 | | AI Sycophancy | Studies: Chatbots flatter bad behavior | 39:38–40:36 | | (1) Useful AI Story | Claude cuts $200k hospital bill to $33k | 41:11–42:10 | | Media/Culture | TV & film opinions, aging, nostalgia, insidification | 42:24–47:44 | | Cookie/UX Hell | Frustration with stale web UI and deceptive pricing | 47:50–54:14 | | Platform Insidification | Grammarly, Affinity, Apple, Goodreads go full "shitty" | 54:14–62:02 | | Listeners/Community | Patreon love, technical kvetching, closing snark | 63:13–end |

Final Note:
This episode is a tour-de-force in corporate cynicism, industry lampooning, and digital culture frustration, all wrapped in the Geeks’ sardonic, unfiltered banter. Required listening (or reading) for anyone questioning why everything tech seems so broken, exploitative, and perpetually “insidified.”