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You again. I swear, if you ask me for tech News one more time, you're gonna get it. Tech News. That's. That's what you're gonna Here you go. Google Search was ruled a monopoly last August, so this week the tech giant and the US Justice Department are back in court to figure out a way to make this right that doesn't involve Google paying the DOJ $20 billion a year to use Google AS as their default search provider. It's like the only card Google has. No the DOJ wants Google to sell Chrome, and OpenAI is interested. According to head of product for ChatGPT Nick Turley, OpenAI's ambitions to build their own web browser are well known. But what the company really seems to be interested in is access to Google's search API, since, as Turley put it, OpenAI's had significant quality issues with their existing search partner, referred to as provider number one in the courtroom because you always want to avoid saying Bing's name out loud for obvious Did I hear my name? Ah, geez. Nope, nobody said anything. You want to search something? Oh man, Turley said. OpenAI had asked Google if they could license their search API, but Google declined. So even if OpenAI wasn't allowed to buy Chrome, having that license sure would be nice to restore competition, something Google is going to have to get into the practice of allowing. During the trial, it came out that Google Google was paying Samsung an enormous sum to pre install Gemini on Galaxy devices while blocking Motorola from making a similar deal with AI. Search engine perplexity. In other antitrust news, the FTC just sued Uber for making it too difficult to cancel subscriptions, in what is hopefully a signal that the Trump administration will continue to rein in big tech. Or maybe the ghost of former FTC chair Lina Khan is haunting the halls, and suing corporations is the only way to let her spirit rest. We can't know. Intel has begun rolling out 2002 boost, a new BIOS profile that will let gamers overclock compatible Core Ultra 200s processors without losing warranty coverage. In what some are calling an okay apology for making its Arrow Lake chips suck at gaming so hard, I didn't buy them, but I accept. The new profile enables significant bumps in fabric, die to die and memory frequencies for the 285k, 265k, and KF, and 245k and KF on select motherboards with select memory kits, YouTuber Derbauer has already got some updated benchmarks of the 285k on his channel, showing that while it's still not Gonna Touch, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D enabling the 200s boost profile can boost gaming performance by anywhere from 4% to 19%. Pretty good. It's just too bad that intel had to cut 20% of their staff, which is like 20,000 jobs to do it. I know connecting those two pieces of news doesn't make any sense, but I'm just telling you what happened, okay? Stop yelling at me. An AI service called Cluly that promotes cheating on everything by having AI essentially provide you with dialogue options and information in real time has gone viral thanks to a cluelessly dumb ad in which the app's creator unsuccessfully tries to date a woman a few years older than him. He's 21, apparently, but they act like he's a 13 year old sneaking into a scary movie. The vibe is off, but I guess I should expect this from a guy whose previous product was also about cheating on coding interviews and who equates using spellcheck and Google with going on a date, which apparently is not a real use case for the product, according to him. What is this ad? The guy's tweet here reveals that his real go seems to be to cheat attention and go viral by apparently peddling vaporware. Because yeah, hands on impressions of Clulee indicate that it kind of sucks. As weird as it is to say, Nvidia's local AI powered Project G Assist might actually not suck. The company just announced that gamers can now build custom plugins to enable actually useful voice commands, with some examples being telling a plugin to change your system lighting, adjust fan speed, check if a streamer is live very use, and who knows what else. Nvidia has posted full instructions on GitHub. Just don't write a plugin to help you develop exam questions. The State Bar of California did that, angering a ton of lawyers, which doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. Maybe they got advice from Cluley. In other AI news, Grok got vision and multilingual abilities for its real time voice mode and character AI unveiled Avatar fx, which can generate long form voice and video from an input image. I think long form here refers to like a minute long or something. It can't do real time chatbot interactions yet, so don't worry. We have a few more years left of being able to speak to Gen Alpha and then they'll be gone. I'm gonna tell them about our sponsor boot.dev, the smartest way to learn backend web development from start to finish. Why is it the smartest? Because it makes sure that you're never bored. It's self paced, feels like a captivating RPG game, and gets you writing a ton of code. Because the only way to really learn is by slapping your fingies on that keyboard like it's a bass guitar and laying out the funkiest lines of python and go code this side of the Mississippi. Now you might have heard that the median salary for backend developers in the US in 2023 was over $100,000, but I bet you didn't know that training for that job is also fun. With boot.dev. this doesn't seem fair. Earn XP level up, get achievements and complete quests to climb the global leaderboard. And if you ever get stuck, you can ask the active Discord community or Boots a powerful bear wizard. No, I'm not gonna explain that. They've got a free demo of every course and a 30 day no questions asked refund policy. Plus you can use the code TechLinked to get 25% off your first payment for boot.dev so click the link in the description to choose your subscription and get 25% off your first month or first year. You never asked for the quick bits, but you're gonna get them anyway. You know why? Because earlier this week the U.S. commerce Department imposed tariffs on solar materials imported from Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand of up to 3521%. Now obviously that's crazy. So this morning they brought it down to 3,403 0.96%. Okay, we're reasonable people. Indeed, President Trump said yesterday that his tariffs on China will come down substantially, but won't be zero because companies are starting to feel the squeeze. I mean, China's ban on rare earth materials exports has caused Tesla to delay the launch of its Optimus humanoid robot. No. Also, yeah, that's totally why it's delayed, not because it wasn't ready, which is why they had to have humans control them. Humans are who are now gonna be out of a job since the launch is delayed. Great. The European Union has fined Apple the equivalent of $570 million and Meta 228 million for breaching the Digital Markets Act. In Apple's case by restricting user access to better deals outside of the App Store, and in Meta's case by providing insufficient choices for privacy minded users. Epic Games issued a press release about this because they're basically a news outlet that solely reports on news that has almost nothing to do with them as long as Apple is losing in some way. I don't do that. Emails released in the other antitrust trial that's going on right now, metas have revealed that in 2022, in order to try and boost Facebook's popularity, Mark Zuckerberg had a bright idea. Delete everyone's entire friends list. Maybe removing all of their social connections on the platform, which they spend a lot of time building, would somehow keep them on the platform. Is that. Would people like that? I wouldn't know. I'm not people. That would suck. That was Zuck talking, by the way. Hello. And MIT researchers have created a metamaterial, which means a material made by combining a bunch of microscopic structures that could be used to build, among other things, stretchy computer processors. It could also lead to stretchy computer enclosures like laptops. And if that's the case, I'm not sure why we'd stop there. I mean, stretchy everything. Someone get the investors in on this. If we're gonna bet the whole economy on things like crypto and AI, we might as well get some floppy iPads out of the deal. Now, here's a deal for you. You come back on Friday, and I provide tech news. That is, if I found the time to watch all three initial episodes of Andor. If I haven't, then I'll be doing that. But you still come back here, just in case.
Title: OpenAI wants Chrome, Intel '200S Boost', AI 'Cluely' ad + more!
Host/Author: Linus Media Group
Release Date: April 24, 2025
The episode kicks off with a deep dive into the ongoing legal tussle between Google and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Last August, Google Search was officially ruled a monopoly, prompting both parties to return to court this week to negotiate a resolution that doesn't involve Google footing a hefty $20 billion annual bill to retain its position as the default search provider.
Host Highlights:
Amid these developments, OpenAI has surfaced as a significant player. According to Nick Turley, OpenAI's Head of Product for ChatGPT, the organization is not merely interested in developing their own browser but is primarily seeking access to Google's search API. Turley explained, “OpenAI had asked Google if they could license their search API, but Google declined.” (00:00)
This move by OpenAI aims to address "significant quality issues" with their current search partner, humorously referred to as "provider number one," a thinly veiled nod to Bing.
Courtroom Revelations: During the trial, it was disclosed that Google has been financially incentivizing Samsung to pre-install its Gemini AI on Galaxy devices. Simultaneously, Google is restricting Motorola from securing similar AI deals, highlighting the depth of Google's market control strategies.
In antitrust-related news, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated a lawsuit against Uber, accusing the ride-sharing giant of making it excessively difficult for users to cancel subscriptions. This legal action is seen as a potential indicator that the Trump administration may continue its efforts to regulate and rein in big tech companies.
Host Commentary: “The FTC just sued Uber for making it too difficult to cancel subscriptions, in what is hopefully a signal that the Trump administration will continue to rein in big tech.” (00:00)
Speculation arises that the aggressive stance might also be influenced by the "ghost of former FTC chair Lina Khan," suggesting a persistent drive to hold large corporations accountable.
Intel has announced the rollout of "200S Boost," a new BIOS profile tailored for gamers. This profile allows overclocking of compatible Core Ultra 200S processors without voiding warranty coverage, addressing previous criticisms of Intel's Arrow Lake chips’ gaming performance.
Key Points:
Host Insight: “It's just too bad that Intel had to cut 20% of their staff, which is like 20,000 jobs to do it.” (00:00)
This move by Intel is perceived as an "okay apology" for earlier performance shortcomings, though it coincides with significant workforce reductions, hinting at internal restructuring challenges.
A new AI service named Cluly has stirred debate by promoting academic and professional cheating. The service, which provides real-time dialogue options and information, gained viral attention not for its utility but due to a poorly received advertisement.
Highlights:
Host Critique: “Hands-on impressions of Clulee indicate that it kind of sucks.” (00:00)
The episode suggests that Cluly's primary strategy is to gain attention through questionable means, likening it to "peddling vaporware" rather than offering a genuinely useful product.
Nvidia has unveiled Project G Assist, an AI-powered local service designed for gamers to create custom voice command plugins. This development marks a significant step towards integrating more personalized and functional AI interactions within gaming environments.
Features include:
Notable Incident: The State Bar of California utilized Project G Assist to develop exam questions, which led to backlash from the legal community, indicating potential misuse of the platform.
Host Commentary: “Just don't write a plugin to help you develop exam questions. The State Bar of California did that, angering a ton of lawyers.” (00:00)
Despite this hiccup, the host remains optimistic about the utility of Nvidia's initiative, emphasizing its potential for enhancing gaming experiences.
The podcast also touches on the latest developments in AI technology:
Grok Enhancements: Grok now boasts vision and multilingual capabilities within its real-time voice mode, broadening its applicability across diverse use cases.
Avatar fx by Character AI: This tool can generate extended voice and video content from a single input image. While promising, it currently supports only up to minute-long outputs and lacks real-time chatbot interaction capabilities.
Host's Take: “I think long form here refers to like a minute long or something. It can't do real-time chatbot interactions yet, so don't worry.” (00:00)
These advancements indicate a trend towards more sophisticated and versatile AI tools, though some limitations remain before they reach peak functionality.
The episode highlights recent shifts in U.S. trade policies affecting the tech industry:
Solar Material Tariffs: The U.S. Commerce Department initially imposed exorbitant tariffs on solar materials from countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand—reaching up to 3521%. This was quickly moderated to a more manageable 3,403 and then to 0.96%, reflecting a balance between protectionism and economic pragmatism.
President Trump's Statements: President Trump announced a substantial reduction in tariffs on China, though he maintained that tariffs wouldn’t be entirely eliminated as companies face increased pressure.
Tesla's Optimus Delay: China's ban on rare earth material exports has resulted in Tesla delaying the launch of its Optimus humanoid robot, indirectly impacting job markets as human roles remain necessary to control the robot.
Host Remarks: “President Trump said yesterday that his tariffs on China will come down substantially, but won't be zero because companies are starting to feel the squeeze.” (00:00)
This segment underscores the intricate web of international trade policies and their direct consequences on technological advancements and employment.
The European Union has imposed significant fines on major tech companies for violations of the Digital Markets Act:
Apple: Fined approximately $570 million for restricting user access to better deals outside of the App Store ecosystem.
Meta: Penalized with a $228 million fine for not providing adequate privacy options to users.
Additional Insights:
Epic Games' Reaction: As a company not directly involved, Epic Games released a press statement capitalizing on Apple’s situation, portraying itself as a defender in the unfolding antitrust battles.
Meta's Antitrust Strategy: In related antitrust proceedings, Meta revealed that in 2022, Mark Zuckerberg contemplated deleting users' entire friends lists to artificially inflate platform engagement—a strategy that would likely undermine user satisfaction and platform integrity.
Host Observations: “Would people like that? I wouldn't know. I'm not people. That would suck. That was Zuck talking, by the way. Hello.” (00:00)
These actions by the EU reflect a broader commitment to enforcing fair competition and safeguarding consumer rights within the digital marketplace.
Concluding the episode, the host discusses MIT's groundbreaking creation of a metamaterial—a composite material engineered with microscopic structures—to enable the development of stretchable computer processors and enclosures. This innovation paves the way for more flexible and durable electronic devices, potentially revolutionizing the design and functionality of future technology.
Host's Humor: “If we're gonna bet the whole economy on things like crypto and AI, we might as well get some floppy iPads out of the deal.” (00:00)
While the practical applications remain promising, the host playfully questions the market readiness for such flexible technologies, hinting at both excitement and skepticism.
The April 24, 2025 episode of TechLinked offers a comprehensive overview of significant developments in the tech and gaming spheres. From legal battles involving tech giants like Google and Apple to innovative strides in AI and hardware flexibility, the podcast delivers insightful commentary enriched with humor and critical analysis. Notable quotes and specific timestamps provide listeners with a pinpointed understanding of each topic, making the summary both informative and engaging for those who missed the live episode.