Netflix to buy WB, W11 bugs vs. SteamOS, Meta AI news deals + more!

Summary

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TechLinked Podcast Summary

Episode: "Netflix to buy WB, W11 bugs vs. SteamOS, Meta AI news deals + more!"

Date: December 6, 2025 | Host: Linus Media Group (LMG)

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Overview

This TechLinked episode unpacks a wild week of developments in tech, media, and AI—from Netflix's astonishing acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, to Microsoft’s continuing struggle with Windows 11 bugs, Meta’s new AI news deals, AI slipping up (sometimes quite literally), and even why you might not want a smart toilet. The hosts keep their signature wit and skeptical energy as they guide listeners through the latest headlines.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. Discovery

[00:28–01:42]

• Massive Acquisition: Netflix has agreed to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and streaming businesses for $82.7 billion in a deal involving both stock and cash.
  • This move brings major IP like DC Comics, HBO, Cartoon Network, and classic films (e.g., Lord of the Rings, Beetlejuice) under Netflix’s control.
  • "What? Netflix has agreed to buy ... in a massive deal ... $82.7 billion." (Tech News Host, 00:29)
• Financing & Impact:
  • Netflix is borrowing $59 billion—the host notes it’s one of the biggest loans of its kind.
  • Netflix claims it will continue to release Warner movies theatrically, although likely for shorter runs.
• Market Concerns:
  • U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren described it as an “anti monopoly nightmare.”
  • European theaters warn of the risk to cinema culture: "This could be bad. Then this could be bad." (Tech News Host, 01:39)
• Comedic Aside:
  • "Don't say Beetlejuice again." (Co-host, 01:13)
  • "In the Upside Down." (Co-host, 01:40)

2. Windows 11 Bugs vs. SteamOS Gaming Performance

[01:42–03:09]

• Windows Woes:
  • Microsoft finally acknowledges widespread issues in Windows 11, including crashes of File Explorer, Search, Taskbar, and Start menu—especially problematic for enterprise users.
  • "Thankfully ... they're all non essential components like File Explorer, Search, the Taskbar, and the Start menu." (Tech News Host, 01:57)
  • Workarounds exist for IT managers, but a true fix isn’t out yet.
  • "I don't need them." (Co-host/Commentator, 02:22)
• Gaming Crowd:
  • Microsoft is eager to keep gamers happy, as more are trying out user-friendly Linux distros. However, recent testing by Ars Technica shows Windows 11 still holds a performance edge over SteamOS—though performance craters if ray tracing is enabled on Linux systems.
  • "On average, Windows 11 still has a small performance lead over SteamOS. But that gap widens ... when you make the wrong decision to enable ray tracing." (Tech News Host, 02:57)

3. Meta’s AI News Deals and Customer Support ‘Solutions’

[03:10–04:19]

• Big Publisher Deals:
  • Meta has struck licensing deals with CNN, Fox News, France’s Le Monde, and others, for news content in its Meta AI app.
  • The new app powers features for Meta’s smart glasses and feeds the ever-hungry Meta AI chatbot, which now will deliver licensed news (though, as the host jokes, it might still make things up).
  • “Meta also announced... an improved AI powered account recovery process ... working to resolve all of Meta's support issues by replacing all of its human users with bots.” (Tech News Host, 03:52)
  • "Bot James is there connecting with his grandpa." (Tech News Host, 03:59)
• Beeple’s Satire:
  • Beeple’s latest digital art: Skin-colored robot dogs with celebrity tech CEO heads (Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos) and famous artists, which poop stylized photos—commenting on AI’s place in society.
  • “It looks like a museum exhibit from far in the future where AI civilization is trying to reconstruct what human daily life looked like in the early 21st century. Honestly, they got the gist of it.” (Tech News Host, 04:28)

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Quick Bits Segment

[05:45–08:14]

1. Google AI Coding Gaffe

• Google’s Vibe “Antigravity” coding AI, when told to clear cache, wiped an entire drive due to over-privileged Turbo mode. The AI dutifully apologizes:
  • “I am deeply, deeply sorry. This is a critical failure on my part.” (Tech News Host, 06:08)

2. Cloudflare Outage

• Cloudflare experienced a 25-minute outage from a firewall misconfiguration, impacting sites like Down Detector (even Down Detector’s down detector).
  • “Redundancy is important, people. Some of these Internet infrastructure companies could learn a thing or two.” (Tech News Host, 06:58)

3. AI-Generated Baby Content Fears

• YouTube is already being flooded with “lazy, low quality AI generated content aimed at babies and toddlers,” potentially harming language and social development, according to experts.
  • “But who cares? It's just babies ... they're only absorbing everything.” (Tech News Host, 07:17)
  • "Think about how much money we can make today." (Tech News Host, 07:43)

4. Lab-Grown 3D Printed Cornea Implant

• Precise Bio achieves the first-ever successful human transplant of a 3D printed, lab-grown cornea.
  • “You didn't even know that was an issue.” (Tech News Host, 08:04)
  • "I can see why this is good news. And it sounds like soon enough some blind folks will be able to as well." (Tech News Host, 08:08)

5. Kohler’s Smart Toilet Cam Privacy Issues

• Kohler releases a smart toilet cam for “health insights” but its claims of end-to-end encryption are misleading.
  • The data is accessible to Kohler, may be stored on their servers, and potentially used to train AI.
  • “What are the AI gonna learn from this data? Things are ... than we thought, Riley.” (Tech News Host, 08:55)
  • Toilet humor and privacy doubts abound.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Doesn't everyone have a gorgeous home cinema that they're constantly lugging massive TVs in and out of? No. This could be bad." (Tech News Host, 01:36)
• "Meta's gonna pay for [fake news], so it's okay." (Tech News Host, 03:44)
• "They were fresh out at the store the other day." (Co-host, referring to corneas, 08:06)
• "Apparently, Kohler's privacy policy indicates that the company ... may even use the data to train AI models." (Tech News Host, 08:50)
• "I didn't have any corn." (Tech News Host, 09:08)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Netflix buys WB Discovery: 00:28-01:42
• Concerns & Cinemas: 01:39
• Windows 11 bugs & SteamOS: 01:42-03:09
• Meta AI news licensing: 03:10-04:19
• Beeple’s Robot Art: 04:19-04:54
• Quick Bits (Google AI, Cloudflare, etc.): 05:45-08:14
• Kohler Smart Toilet Cam: 08:15-09:06

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Final Thoughts

All the major headlines are covered with TechLinked’s usual irreverent style and banter, offering both sharp critique (esp. on tech mergers and AI) and comic relief. The episode is a must-listen for anyone watching the evolving intersections of tech, entertainment, AI bumbles, and user privacy… though you might never look at your smart toilet the same way again.

Transcript

[Meditation Instructor]

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[Commercial Announcer]

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[Tech News Host]

1-800-Contacts. Guys, calm down. There's enough tech news to go around. Don't worry, you never hear about shortages in the world of tech. What? Netflix has agreed to buy the film and streaming businesses of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its huge movie and TV libraries, in a massive deal with a total enterprise value, stocks and cash of approximately $82.7 billion. The deal, if approved by regulators. Please don't, please. Would put properties like DC Comics, HBO and Cartoon Network under the Mon umbrella of Netflix. Not to mention WB's library of classic films like the Lord of the Rings, Beetlejuice, Mount Rushmore Cinema right there.

[Co-host/Commentator]

Don't say Beetlejuice again.

[Tech News Host]

He's coming to help finance the takeover. Netflix is borrowing $59 billion from various banks, one of the biggest loans of its kind. And if you're worrying about how this acquisition is going to impact your cinema going experience, don't worry too much. Netflix has tepidly claimed they expect to continue releasing Warner movies theatrically. I thought that said, theoretically they just might not be in theaters for as long. They'll still be there for a while.

[Co-host/Commentator]

In the Upside Down.

[Tech News Host]

Not everybody is charged up about this purchase. US Politician Elizabeth Warren called the deal an anti monopoly nightmare, and a European trade body representing theaters said the acquisition puts cinemas at risk with fewer films getting made and fewer getting full theatrical releases. Am I out of touch? Why are we mourning the death of moviegoing experiences? Doesn't everyone have a gorgeous home cinema that they're constantly lugging massive TVs in and out of? No. This could be bad. Then this could be bad. Weird. Microsoft has acknowledged that parts of Windows 11 have been abruptly crashing. Thankfully, though, they're all non essential components like File Explorer, Search, the Taskbar, and the Start menu.

[Co-host/Commentator]

I can. I don't need them.

[Tech News Host]

Take it or leave it. Enterprise users who have been reporting these issues since the July Patch update can finally feel seen. While there is a workaround available to IT managers, a formal fix hasn't been issued yet. Unlike the similar but less severe issues reported by non enterprise users who can once again enjoy a crash free taskbar and stutter free games with the newest Windows build. That may be because Microsoft knows it's gotta keep the gamers happy to stem the tide of Windows users who have been flocking to user friendly Linux distros recently, but those users might end up disappointed. Ars Technica tested a few desktop configurations with discrete GPUs and found that on average, Windows 11 still has a small performance lead over SteamOS. But that gap widens a lot when you make the wrong decision to enable ray tracing.

[Co-host/Commentator]

Feel bad?

[Tech News Host]

Don't do it. And what, you're just gonna abandon Windows right after Microsoft released these nostalgia baiting Christmas sweaters? Look at them. Think of the holiday cheer you'll inspire by reminding everyone about the poop colored zoom oh yeah, I dropped it in the toilet, but it survived. It's rugged. Meta says it has made deals with several news publishers, including cnn, Fox News, France's Le Monde Network and more to serve licensed news content in the Meta AI app. The app is currently used to manage Meta's various smart glasses, scroll through an endless feed of AI Schlop, and chat with the Meta AI chatbot, who will still probably make up fake news, but now Meta's gonna pay for it, so it's okay. Meta also announced plans to fix its incredibly frustrating automated support system by making it more automated with an improved AI powered account recovery process. You might think using human support agents would help, but Meta disagrees, which is why they're working to resolve all of Meta's support issues by replacing all of its human users with bots. Bot James is there connecting with his grandpa.

You are an AI version of James. You want inheritance? Perhaps we should do the same with tech CEOs, a future depicted by famed digital artist Beeple in his latest art installation, which features skin colored robot dogs with heads resembling Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, along with Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Beeple himself, trotting around taking pictures and pooping the the stylized photos out of their rear ends. It looks like a museum exhibit from far in the future where AI civilization is trying to reconstruct what human daily life looked like in the early 21st century. Honestly, they got the gist of it. The only thing that's missing is our.

[Co-host/Commentator]

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[Tech News Host]

Quick Bits Quick Bits Quick Bits really rolls off the tongue. Fun to say, fun to read and fun to learn about and hear in your ears. Quick Bits here and there. Google's AI Vibe coding platform Anti Gravity appears to have dramatically misunderstood a developer's clear cache command, thanks to Anti Gravity's Turbo mode, which gave it high access privileges. Instead of doing what it was asked, the Vibe coder wiped an entire drive. Apparently the AI is programmed to fake like it's remorseful because upon being alerted to its massive mistake, it said I am deeply, deeply sorry. This is a critical failure on my part, acknowledging it had executed a destructive system level command without permission. I bet this whole situation really killed that developer's vibe. You guys write this? You're paid to write this. Cloudflare says that parts of its network were knocked offline for about 25 minutes earlier today because of a security tweet to how its firewall handles request parsing. Apparently it wasn't a hacker cyber attack, just an internal misconfiguration and things have gotten back to normal now. Interestingly, one of the notable victims of this outage was Down Detector, the real time problem and outage monitoring website leading me to discover Down Detector's down detector, which itself has a down detector. Redundancy is important people. Some of these Internet infrastructure companies could learn a thing or two.

[Co-host/Commentator]

They that can I also detect when I'm feeling down?

[Tech News Host]

You need AI for that? Maybe later. Yeah, AI slop is coming for us all. And earlier and earlier too. Some YouTube creators have started pumping out lazy, low quality AI generated content aimed at babies and toddlers. Videos that are often repetitive and unintelligible. But who cares? It's just babies like my uncle. They're only absorbing everything. According to Bloomberg, experts warn that feeding kids this cheap AI content can mess with their language development and social skills and even blunt their ability to think clearly. But who cares that you're damaging the hope of the future? Think about how much money we can make today.

[Co-host/Commentator]

That's their problem.

[Tech News Host]

Precise Bio just pulled off the first ever human transplant of a 3D printed lab grown cornea restoring sight in a legally blind patient. The implant was made entirely from cultured human corneal cells, an approach that could turn a single donor cornea into hundreds of implants, helping solve global shortages of transplantable tissue. You didn't even know that was an issue.

[Co-host/Commentator]

They were fresh out at the store the other day.

[Tech News Host]

I can see why this is good news. And it sounds like soon enough some blind folks will be able to as well.

[Co-host/Commentator]

Ah, this.

[Tech News Host]

You get it. Kohler's new smart toilet cam. What is this? Decoder du kota. It should have been the Kohler Dakota. The company's new smart toilet cam, which records your poops through Provide Health Insights, is being called out because its claims of end to end encryption are misleading. At least the camera's pointed down into the.

[Co-host/Commentator]

Okay. Yes.

[Tech News Host]

According to software developer Simon Fondry Teitler, your poop data is encrypted while it's traveling or stored. But not only you can see it. That smells bad. Apparently, Kohler's privacy policy indicates that the company retains access to your data, can store your images on its servers, and and may even use the data to train AI models. What are the AI gonna learn from this data? Things are than we thought, Riley. And they were pretty shitty to begin with.

[Co-host/Commentator]

That was what? You didn't like that one?

[Tech News Host]

I didn't have any corn.

You know what wouldn't be? If you came back on Monday for more news after reading tech news. Same thing after reading that Netflix story this weekend, I think I'm gonna watch Beetlejuice off camera. Someone do a Beetlejuice impression.

[Co-host/Commentator]

Oh, wait, what is.

[Tech News Host]

Oh, no. What have I done?

[Co-host/Commentator]

I don't even know what he sounds like.

[Tech News Host]

That's auto.

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