Tech Brew Ride Home – "The Bloodbath In Crypto"

Podcast Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Brian McCullough

Episode Overview

This episode of Tech Brew Ride Home delivers a brisk summary of the latest tech news, with a sharp focus on dramatic trends in the crypto markets ("the bloodbath"), key moves in AI both in terms of product and capital, and important industry updates from companies like Cloudflare, Databricks, and Roblox. Brian McCullough walks listeners through the interconnectedness of tech and financial markets, the latest on major outages, AI's emotional intelligence revolution, and new minimum ages for chatting on Roblox.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cloudflare Major Outage

[02:07 – 04:30]

• Cloudflare, a backbone internet service, experienced a significant outage affecting prominent sites like X (Twitter), ChatGPT, Uber, Canva, and more.
• The outage began after “a spike in unusual traffic,” starting at 6:20am ET, leading to error messages about unblocking Cloudflare challenges.
• Brian relays updates from Cloudflare:

  “We are still working to remediate broad application services impact… We do not yet know the cause of the spike… All hands on deck.”
  (Cloudflare spokesperson, Jackie Dutton, paraphrased by Brian; 03:50)

• This comes shortly after similar, cascading outages at Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, highlighting ongoing risk in cloud infrastructure.

2. XAI’s “Grok 4.1” AI Model Update

[04:32 – 07:17]

• XAI unveiled Grok 4.1, focusing on creative, emotionally intelligent chatbot performance.
• Major upgrades:
  • Hallucination rate is “three times less,” signaling drastically improved reliability.
  • “Grok 4.1…seeks to redefine how Grok interacts with people, making it exceptionally capable in creative, emotional and collaborative interactions.” (05:16)
  • Silent rollout led to users preferring 4.1 over 4.0 65% of the time.
  • Topped “EQBench 3,” an emotional intelligence benchmark.
  • “This update sees XAI try to follow in the footsteps of two of its biggest competitors, Anthropic with Claude and OpenAI with ChatGPT.” (06:26)
• The latest trend is towards chatbots that feel more personable—some appreciate the human-like touch, while others find it “a bit fake or a put on.” (07:07)

3. Crypto Market Crash: The ‘Bloodbath’

[07:20 – 11:20]

• Over $1.2 trillion in value wiped out since October 6 across 18,000+ coins, with Bitcoin down 28% to $89,500, its lowest since April.
• Key quote:

  “Investors who had borrowed money to boost their returns, leaving them particularly exposed when prices fell, now solemnly refer to the sell off as $10.10.”
  (11:02; quoting David Namdar, CEA Industries)

• Main drivers:
  • Trader leverage led to rapid sell-offs.
  • President Trump’s tariff threats against China on October 10 triggered a $20 billion liquidation—the largest single-day decline on record (10:12).
  • Uncertainty over Federal Reserve interest rate cuts reduced the appeal of risky assets like crypto.
• Insight:

  “The scale of the sell off is different this time because positions are larger, leverage ran deeper and the unwind takes longer… The fundamentals have not changed.”
  (11:13; David Namdar again)

4. AI Bubble Warnings: Sundar Pichai Interview

[13:02 – 14:44]

• Google CEO Sundar Pichai voices concerns over “irrationality in the current AI boom,” comparing it to past tech bubbles.
• Notable quote:

  “I think no company is going to be immune, including us.”
  (13:37; Sundar Pichai, BBC)

• He expects AI’s investment cycles to overshoot, invoking Alan Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” remark from the '90s.
• Pichai sees AI as profoundly transformative but expects significant work disruptions—emphasizing adaptation:

  “The people who will do well…are people who learn how to use these tools.”
  (14:35; Sundar Pichai)

5. Debt Surge Fuels the AI Build-out

[15:00 – 17:10]

• Tech giants are issuing record levels of debt for AI era expansions:
  • Amazon raised $15B in bonds (first since 2022).
  • Alphabet, Meta, and Oracle have all issued massive bonds in 2025.
  • JP Morgan forecasts $1.81 trillion in new US “high grade” debt in 2026, mostly AI-driven.
• Amazon’s capex is “expected to top $147 billion next year, roughly three times the level seen as recently as 2023.” (16:17)
• Amazon inked a $38 billion deal to supply OpenAI with Nvidia GPUs.
• Commentary: Companies are seeking “more funding flexibility” as data center needs balloon.

6. Databricks’ Runaway Valuation

[17:12 – 18:25]

• Databricks is in talks for investment at a $130B+ valuation, up 30% from just two months ago.
• Competing closely with Snowflake; both firms reporting over $1 billion in quarterly sales and high cash flows.
• Databricks’ AI business is now over $1B annualized revenue.
• Ongoing debate about private company valuation “inflation.”

7. Roblox’s New Age Verification for Chats

[18:27 – 20:02]

• Roblox will require all users to go through age estimation for chat features, beginning January 2026.
• Motivated by child safety lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny.
• Users will be assigned to age bands (under 9, 9–12, 13–15, etc.) and chat will be restricted between groups.
  • Eg: a 12-year-old can chat with users up to age 15; users aged 16+ are blocked from initiating chat with her.
  • 18-year-olds can chat with 16+, but younger siblings must be 13+ for trusted connection.
• All images/videos used for verification are deleted post-processing for privacy.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cloudflare outage:

  “We are all hands on deck to make sure the traffic is served without errors.”
  (03:50, paraphrasing Cloudflare’s Jackie Dutton)

• On Grok’s AI progression:

  “Grok 4.1 is best at understanding human emotions and responding with empathy, making conversations more comfortable and supportive.”
  (05:53)

• On the crypto sell-off:

  “Traders get out over their skis. They think this time is different.”
  (09:41, quoting Ryan Rasmussen, Bitwise Asset Management)

• On AI investment exuberance:

  “We can look back at the internet right now. There was clearly a lot of excess investment, but none of us would question whether the internet was profound. I expect AI to be the same.”
  (13:51, Sundar Pichai)

• On Roblox’s safety overhaul:

  “Alisa estimated age 12… will have access to chat with users 15 or younger… all users 16 or older are prevented from initiating or engaging in chat with her.”
  (19:23)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Cloudflare Outage: 02:07–04:30
• Grok 4.1 AI Model Upgrade: 04:32–07:17
• Crypto Bloodbath: 07:20–11:20
• Sundar Pichai AI Bubble Caution: 13:02–14:44
• AI-Driven Debt Issuance: 15:00–17:10
• Databricks Valuation Leap: 17:12–18:25
• Roblox Age Verification Changes: 18:27–20:02

Conclusion

This brisk episode captures a moment of steep volatility in financial and tech markets, with crypto’s plunge serving as a case study in interconnected economic risk. The developments in AI (Grok 4.1), the explosion of capital for infrastructure (Amazon, Databricks, etc.), and platform measures (Roblox) paint a vivid picture of a tech industry in rapid—and potentially unstable—flux. Sundar Pichai’s cautions about irrational exuberance offer a historical through-line, reminding listeners of both the potential and the perils at today’s digital frontier.