Complete Spotify torrent, RIP Steam Deck LCD, China gets Blackwell + more!

Summary

TechLinked – "Complete Spotify Torrent, RIP Steam Deck LCD, China Gets Blackwell + More!"

Date: December 23, 2025
Hosts: James, Riley

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Episode Overview

This episode of TechLinked delivers a rapid-fire rundown of the latest breaking stories in the world of tech and gaming. Key topics include the unprecedented leak of Spotify’s entire music library, the quiet discontinuation of the original Steam Deck LCD, China’s clever workarounds to U.S. chip export bans, major browser updates, curious YouTube resource drains, San Francisco’s driverless car woes, and nostalgic Dreamcast news. True to the podcast’s punchy style, hosts James and Riley keep things irreverent, insightful, and packed with memorable one-liners.

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1. Spotify’s Entire Music Library Leaked (00:25)

• Event: An activist pirate group scraped nearly all of Spotify’s music library (~300 TB encompassing metadata and tens of millions of tracks) and dumped it on Anna’s Archive, an open-source “shadow library.”
• Details:
  • Represents 99.6% of Spotify listens
  • “Take a second to appreciate just how much music that no one cares about is in these files.” — James (00:54)
• Purpose of Leak: Pitched as a “preservation project” by hackers, though Spotify claims the group abused public endpoints and bypassed protections.
• Security Impact:
  • No customer personal info was compromised.
  • Focus was on audio files and metadata — not some full internal breach.
  • “It's not a lot in size, but it's a lot in file count.” — James (01:13)
• Spotify Response:
  • Vowed to defend artist rights and seek legal action.
  • James’ take: “When hacktivists scrape someone's data, they call the lawyers. But nobody bats an eye when data from YouTube, Twitter, or Reddit gets scraped by AI, the AI doesn't know any better. It's still learning.” (01:26)
  • Reflection on platform responsibility and data licensing.

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2. RIP Steam Deck LCD (01:48)

• News: Valve quietly discontinued the original Steam Deck LCD handheld.
• Significance:
  • Launched 2022 at $400, was the entry-level portable gaming device.
  • “One of the best bang for your buck handheld gaming devices ever made.” — James (01:50)
• Why Discontinued:
  • Likely due to OLED version sales cannibalizing the LCD.
  • OLED model ($550) now the new baseline.
  • “The murderer, the cane of handheld. Still, it stings.” — James (02:19)
• Industry Note: Handheld prices are rising, and the LCD was one of the last affordable options.
• Bonus News: Steam itself will go fully 64-bit on Windows by 2026.
  • 32-bit Windows installs will lose update support.
  • “Steam isn't mad, it's just moving on.” — James (02:41)

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3. China Gets Its Hands on Nvidia Blackwell (02:46)

• Background: U.S. export bans bar Nvidia Blackwell B200 AI chips from sale in China.
• Workaround:
  • Chinese tech giants (notably Tencent) lease top-tier Nvidia GPUs from a Japanese cloud operator (Data Section) that owns the hardware and operates outside China.
  • “They're kind of like the Blockbuster Video for AI. The chips never physically enter China, so the arrangement stays technically legal under current rules.” — James (03:06)
  • “I guess more like Netflix.” — James (03:12)
• Scale: Thousands of B200 and newer B300 chips leased, contracts worth billions.
• Benefit:
  • Outperforms chips approved for sale inside China.
  • Possibly more desirable than buying legal domestic chips.
  • Nvidia still grows influence globally—just received US antitrust clearance for a minority Intel investment (03:46).
• Industry Trend: Vertical integration and global hardware jockeying.

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4. Firefox Adds AI Kill Switch (05:22)

• News: Mozilla, after community feedback, will introduce one explicit toggle switch to disable all AI features in Firefox.
• Context:
  • New CEO pushing Firefox as a modern browser with (optional) AI features.
  • “One big button to make the annoying thing go away. I wish I could do this with Christmas and you just get them all enough.” — James (05:33)
• Significance: Responding to privacy concerns and user demands for control; reflects changing attitudes to browser AI.

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5. YouTube Causing High CPU Load (05:35)

• Issue: YouTube Premium web app is causing high CPU usage, even when idle or on the homepage.
• Discovery:
  • Reported by “Rayzazel” on the LTT subreddit, traced to a “web worker” called ‘Echo Worker JS’ sitting in a busy-wait loop.
  • “Sounds like my old job.” — Riley (06:04)
• Solutions:
  • Temporary workaround for Firefox users available via Rayzazel’s post.
  • Chrome users: “Pick up some more CPU cores while you're downloading more ram, homeboy. Just you're on your own.” — James (06:24)
• Comedic Dog Pack Banter:
  • Riley: “Pack is Firefox users.” (06:18)
  • James: “It's a canine. Who is this guy?” (06:22)

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6. Chinese GPUs Challenge Nvidia (06:27)

• Release: More Threads launches new GPU line, including the Huashan AI chip.
• Claims: Competitive with Nvidia’s most powerful chips.
• Market Impact: Stock price jumps, excitement over tech independence.
• Caveat: “Company hasn't given detailed benchmarks yet, and there's no third party benchmarks...” — James (06:36)
• Desire for Real-World Power: “I'm just looking for an affordable GPU that can run Crysis.” — James (06:43)

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7. Waymo Robo-taxis Blocked by Power Outages (07:13)

• Incident: Major San Francisco power outage led to traffic lights going out; Waymo driverless cars got stuck, further clogging roads.
• Response: Waymo paused services until the grid was restored.
• Global Expansion:
  • Uber & Lyft collaborate with Baidu to bring Apollo Go robo-taxis to London for 2026 tests.
  • “Just hope there's no power outages, Londoners, or you'll be back to chakin the tube.” — James (07:50)
• Tone: Wry commentary on the growing pains of autonomous driving.

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8. Sega Dreamcast Browser Dies After 25 Years (07:52)

• Headline: Google drops support for Dreamcast’s “PlanetWeb 3.0” browser (original to the 1999 console).
• Significance:
  • “One of the longest running services Google didn't intentionally kill.” — James (08:07)
  • “How the heck am I supposed to get my optimal seaman growth strategies now? Jeff, I need you to stay strong. I will get you out of that tank eventually. It's a Dreamcast game, Riley, okay?” — James (08:19)
• Retro Nods: Mourning the end of web connectivity for a beloved retro platform.

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Noteworthy Quotes & Moments

• “Take a second to appreciate just how much music that no one cares about is in these files.” — James (00:54)
• “The murderer, the cane of handheld. Still, it stings.” — James (02:19)
• “They're kind of like the Blockbuster Video for AI.” — James (03:06)
• “Steam isn't mad, it's just moving on.” — James (02:41)
• “One big button to make the annoying thing go away. I wish I could do this with Christmas and you just get them all enough.” — James (05:33)
• Playful banter on canine vs. fox naming (06:18–06:27)
• “I'm just looking for an affordable GPU that can run Crysis.” — James (06:43)
• “How the heck am I supposed to get my optimal seaman growth strategies now? Jeff, I need you to stay strong. I will get you out of that tank eventually.” — James (08:18)

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Timeline Quick Reference

| Topic | Start Time | |---------------------------------------------------|:----------:| | Spotify library scrape | 00:25 | | Valve discontinues Steam Deck LCD + 64-bit news | 01:48 | | China/Nvidia Blackwell chip leasing workaround | 02:46 | | Firefox AI kill switch | 05:22 | | YouTube high CPU bug | 05:35 | | More Threads new Chinese GPUs | 06:27 | | Waymo robo-taxi power outage, London expansion | 07:13 | | Dreamcast browser end | 07:52 |

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Conclusion

The Dec 23, 2025 episode of TechLinked covers the biggest stories shaking the world of tech and gaming: massive piracy, the bittersweet rise of better hardware at higher prices, boundary-pushing cloud computing to skirt export bans, the ever-complicated role of AI in mainstream products, quirky browser nostalgia, and the odd snafus that come with our automated future. Sprinkled throughout are sharp observations, in-jokes, and a healthy dose of holiday-tech malaise — everything fans expect from TechLinked’s style.

Transcript

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[James]

You'Re getting the greatest gift of all, a James hosted Tech News so so be grateful. And yes, James does refer to himself in the third person. Good boy. Spotify has had its entire music library scraped by a pirate activist group and dumped on Anna's Archive, an open source search engine for shadow libraries books with black pages. The scraped Data is about 300 terabytes, including metadata and of course tens of millions of tracks, apparently making up 99.6% of Spotify listens. 10 Take a second to appreciate just how much music that no one cares about is in these files.

[Riley]

Now it's all AI.

[James]

Just delete the file. You got it. Apparently this hack is a preservation project, but Spotify says it was done by abusing public access and bypassing protection. Spotify insists no customer personal info was compromised, and that this is more about scraped audio and metadata than some full internal leak. But still, that's a lot of data. It's not a lot in size, but it's a lot in file count.

[Riley]

It's a lot in emotion.

[James]

For its part, Spotify isn't gonna take this lying down, promising to defend the rights of the artists on their platform. Sure, yeah, when hacktivists scrape someone's data, they call the lawyers. But nobody bats an eye. When data from YouTube, Twitter, or Reddit gets scraped by AI, the AI doesn't know any better. It's still learning. Maybe if those platforms own the license to my content, they would fight for me. Valve has officially discontinued the original Steam Deck lcd, quietly sunsetting one of the best bang for your buck handheld gaming devices ever made. Launched in 2022 for US$400, the LCD model was the most to play your Steam library on the go and even helped kick off entire handheld PC boom that we're still basking in today. Once existing stock is gone, she gone for good, leaving the Steam Deck OLED as the new entry Point at $550. Valve hasn't exactly said why they pulled the plug, but the writing's been on the wall since the OLED model first launched. The newer version has a better screen, improved internals, and likely cannibalized sales of its little brother, the murderer, the cane of handheld. Still, it stings. With handheld prices climbing across the board, the Steam Deck LCD was one of the cheapest grade options. In related Valve News Steam itself is going fully 64 bit on Windows. Support for 32 bit installs is entering its final countdown and will stop receiving updates in 2026. So if you are still somehow running 32 bit Windows, don't worry. Steam isn't mad, it's just moving on China's tech giants have found a hilarious workaround to get at Nvidia's Band AI chips while Nvidia Blackwell B200 accelerators are barred from being sold in China, companies like Tencent are still getting access by renting them from overseas. According to the Financial Times, Tencent is leasing large amounts of Black belt compute through a Japanese NEO cloud operator called Data Section, which owns the hardware and runs data centers in Japan and Australia. They're kind of like the Blockbuster Video for AI. The chips never physically enter China, so the arrangement stays technically legal under current rules.

[Riley]

Block what?

[James]

I guess more like Netflix. Tencent reportedly has access to thousands of B200 GPUs and even newer B300 chips under contracts worth billions of dollars, allowing them to continue training advanced AI models. Analysts say this rental approach may actually be more attractive than buying approved chips inside China, since overseas Blackwell Hardware massively outperforms what's allowed domestically. That's the whole reason to do it, right? Meanwhile, Nvidia is still strengthening its position elsewhere, recently receiving US Antitrust clearance for a min investment in intel, quietly expanding its influence across the industry, vertically integrating consolidation, owning the world Speaking of hardware you can actually own, you should check out these sick deals from our sponsor MSI and their MAG272QP QDOLED X50 Christmas is coming, so why not spoil the gamer in your life? Or maybe it's you yourself. With a snazzy new display, this beast delivers stunning image quality and an absurdly fast performance thanks to a 0.03 millisecond response time and and a 500Hz refresh rate. The kind of specs that give you a real edge over your gaming buddies. And you hate your buddies. Every one of your victories looks Incredible on its 3rd gen QD OLED panel with VESA display HDR True Black 500 and Clear Mr. 21,000 certification, making the picture friggin gorgeous. MSI also made sure it plays nice with the PS5 and Xbox Series series, so console and PC gamers are equally covered. It's packed with everything you'd expect from a premium monitor, and if OLED burn in worries, you fool. MSI's got your back with a three year burn in warranty. Do yourself or some other lucky cuss a favor this holiday season and check out the MSI Mag 27.2 QPQD OLED X50 at the link below. Trying to hide Christmas presents from the quick bits is a nightmare. They just zip around until they find them. Pain in the ass. Little ingrates. Mozilla says Firefox will add a dedicated AI kill switch to after community pushback the company's new CEO has been pitching Firefox as a modern browser with optional AI features to keep up with competition, and so far everything that's been added is optional to use. The new change simply adds a single explicit toggle to disable all AI features at once instead of making you hunt through settings one big button to make the annoying thing go away. I wish I could do this with Christmas and you just get them all enough.

[Riley]

I wish I could do it with.

[James]

All AI el people YouTube accounts appear to be showing strangely high CPU usage, even when videos are paused or just when you're on the homepage before you've watched anything. In a chonky post on the LTT subreddit user Ray Zazzle caught the issue, surmising that YouTube Premium seems to have a web worker a way for a website to run JavaScript in the background called Echo Worker JS that sits in a busy wait loop using the CPU for no real reason.

[Riley]

Sounds like my old job.

[James]

Luckily, our boy Rayzazel does offer a fix for Firefox users, so if you're a member of the Dog Pack, go check out that post. If you're, I don't know, wrestling Dog.

[Riley]

Pack is Firefox users.

[James]

Yeah, I guess.

[Riley]

It's not a dog, it's a fox.

[James]

It's a canine. Who is this guy?

[Riley]

It's not cat.

[James]

If you're a Chrome user, I guess pick up some more CPU cores while you're downloading more ram, homeboy. Just you're on your own. Chinese chip designer More Threads has just rolled out a new set of GPUs, including its next generation Huashan AI chip that it says can compete with Nvidia's high end products, helping fuel a stock price jump. You love to see it. An investor excitement that's still going higher as China pushes for tech independence. Huawei 2026 Riley what? I wasn't despite all this, the company hasn't given detailed benchmarks yet, and there's no third party benchmarks, leaving some questions about how it really stacks up against Nvidia. More power to you, more threads. I'm just looking for an affordable GPU that can run Crysis. You know what is today's crisis? Let me know in the comments. A big old power outage knocked out traffic lights in San Francisco, causing Waymo's driverless taxis to get stuck.

[Riley]

This is fine and normal.

[James]

With the cars immobilized and adding to the blackout mess, Waymo paused its Robo taxi services for safety, but has since resumed operations as power came back on. If this story didn't turn you off Robo Taxis and you live in London, good news. Uber and Lyft are teaming up with China's Baidu to bring Apollo Go Robo Taxis to London streets for testing in 2026, putting them on the starting grid against Waymo, who's already testing cars in the old smoke. Just hope there's no power outages Londoners, or you'll be back to chakin the tube.

[Riley]

Wow.

[James]

And Google has finally pulled the plug on the Sega dreamcast planet web 3.0 browser. No officially breaking web access on a console released all the way back in 1999, the last good year on this planet. The shutdown happened because Google services simply stopped responding to the ancient browser, quietly ending a 25 year run. Which is honestly impressive because this might be one of the longest running services Google didn't intentionally kill. How the heck am I supposed to get my optimal seaman growth strategies now? Jeff, I need you to stay strong. I will get you out of that tank eventually. It's a Dreamcast game, Riley, okay? And you'll need to stay strong to make it through these next few days without any tech news. But don't worry, we'll be back soon enough. Me and my seaman are gonna stay safe and cozy in my house over the break. Though if I hear anyone banging the roof, I'm not gonna be checking out. You're not gonna catch me in any of that Tim Allen Santa Claus bull.

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