RAM prices down in China, Artemis II lunar fly-by, LinkedIn 'Browsergate' + more!

Summary

TechLinked Podcast Summary

Episode: RAM prices down in China, Artemis II lunar fly-by, LinkedIn 'Browsergate' + more!

Date: April 7, 2026
Hosts: Linus Sebastian, James

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Overview

This episode dives into the latest shifts in tech and gaming, focusing on crashing RAM prices in China, the historic Artemis II lunar fly-by, a privacy scandal dubbed "Browsergate" involving LinkedIn, and several rapid-fire updates on the tech landscape. The tone is witty, irreverent, and packed with cultural references and sly humor—a signature of the Linus Media Group crew.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Plummeting DDR5 RAM Prices in China

• Chinese DDR5 prices are collapsing, especially in the gray market. Vendors who hoarded RAM during shortages are left with unsellable mountains of modules.
  • "Clips on Twitter show vendors in a Shenzhen market surrounded by piles of modules saying they're 'doomed.'"
  • There's skepticism around the authenticity of these scenes, partly due to AI-generated images circulating in media coverage.
  • The largest price drops are on recycled/repackaged sticks, not factory-fresh kits; prices have fallen 25–30% from this year's peaks (01:14).
• Caveat for consumers: Major manufacturers are actually hiking contract prices.
  • "Samsung just bumped Q2 DRAM contract prices another 30% on top of already doubling them in Q1. So the people who actually make this stuff, they're not sweating it." (01:16)
  • Example: The Lenovo Legion Go2 handheld Windows device just jumped $650 from its $1,350 launch, illustrating the disconnect between spot and retail market pricing.

2. Artemis II Lunar Fly-By

• Historic mission in progress as the show records: Artemis II crew, including Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, just broke Apollo 13’s distance record (01:59).
  • "Suck it Apollo 13 crew. You got nothing on Canadian dreamboat Jeremy Hansen. Suck it. Tom Hanks." (01:59)
• Mission details:
  • Six-hour observation window photographing lunar craters, lava flows, landing zones, and measuring albedo on the far side of the moon.
  • Using modified GoPro cameras and testing the O2O laser system, capable of beaming 4K video from the moon at 260Mbps—better than Netflix's lowest tier (02:36).
• Most viral moments:
  • Crew forced to pee in bags after urine tank froze and broke: "Evidently their urine froze in the collection tank... meaning that the crew has resorted to peeing in bags." (02:54)
  • A floating jar of Nutella in the livestream prompted speculation ("Is it poop?"), leading NASA to clarify they have no Nutella sponsorship.

3. LinkedIn ‘Browsergate’ Privacy Scandal

• LinkedIn secretly scans your browser for extensions every time you visit (03:35).
  • "[LinkedIn] performs hidden JavaScript checks for job search tools, competitor products, and extensions tied to religious beliefs, political views and neurodivergence, then sends the results back to LinkedIn's servers." (03:37)
  • None of this is disclosed in their privacy policy. Bleeping Computer independently verified that LinkedIn checks for 6,236 extensions, up from 2,000 last year.
• LinkedIn’s denial:
  • The exposé was published by a developer banned for scraping, and a German court denied his injunction.
  • Linus: "But that doesn't change the fact that LinkedIn is verifiably scanning your browser for extensions every time you visit the site without telling you." (04:20)
  • Raises concerns because LinkedIn combines this data with real identities and employment info.

4. Quick Bits (Rapid-Fire Tech Updates)

a. Nvidia & Intel: Neural Texture Compression

• Nvidia’s demo reduces VRAM usage for game textures from 6.5GB to under 1GB with minimal visual loss using neural networks (05:38).
• Intel claims up to 18x smaller textures. No current game support yet, but the promise is substantial.
  • "Your GPU might finally stop running out of memory... Or GPU makers will just use that as an excuse to give you less." (05:38)

b. Netflix’s Unlawful Price Hikes in Italy

• Italian court ruled Netflix’s 2017–2024 price increases unlawful; refunds of up to €500 for premium users (06:30).
  • "Consumer group Movimento Consummatori... actually an Italian consumer rights organization that brought the suit arguing Netflix violated Italy's consumer code by hiking prices without proper justification." (06:30)
• Netflix plans to appeal.

c. OpenAI Acquires TBPN Podcast

• The "greenest podcast in the universe," TBPN, acquired by OpenAI to "shape the AI conversation"—while promising editorial independence (07:14).
  • "...claim the podcast will maintain editorial independence, which seem like two completely opposing statements." (07:18)
• Linus notes this follows a trend of big tech and billionaires acquiring media outlets to control narratives.

d. SpaceX Preps for Historic IPO

• SpaceX filed for what could be the largest IPO ever ($1 trillion+ valuation).
  • Elon Musk required banks involved to buy Grok chatbot subscriptions.
  • Banks expect to rake in over $500 million in fees (08:03).

e. CRISPR Therapy Cures Sickle Cell Disease

• Newsworthy breakthrough: Ruby trial shows one-time CRISPR treatment nearly cures severe sickle cell in 27 out of 28 patients (08:46).
  • "...the Ruby trial... treated 28 patients... 27 out of 28 had zero painful crises after treatment, with hemoglobin levels normalizing within six months..." (08:46)
  • Linus: Good news for patients and Marvel fans hoping for "Captain America style super serum."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On RAM vendors’ woes:
  • “Clips on Twitter show vendors in a Shenzhen market surrounded by piles of modules saying they’re quote, doomed.” — Linus (00:34)
  • "Look how sad he is. It's real." — James (01:14)
• Canadian pride during Artemis II:
  • "Suck it Apollo 13 crew. You got nothing on Canadian dreamboat Jeremy Hansen. Suck it. Tom Hanks." — Linus (01:59)
  • "Is it poop?" — Internet speculation on the Nutella jar, recounted by Linus (02:54)
• On LinkedIn’s privacy practices:
  • "That doesn't change the fact that LinkedIn is verifiably scanning your browser for extensions every time you visit the site without telling you." — Linus (04:20)
  • "And since LinkedIn already knows your real name, your employer, and your job title, that's not exactly an anonymous data point." — Linus (04:32)
• On Nvidia’s neural compression:
  • "Or GPU makers will just use that as an excuse to give you less." — Linus (05:38)
• On OpenAI acquiring TBPN:
  • "...claim the podcast will maintain editorial independence, which seem like two completely opposing statements." — Linus (07:18)
• Elon’s IPO stipulation:
  • "For this historic milestone, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made a demand that the banks advising on the deal buy Grok subscriptions." — Linus (08:03)
• CRISPR trial summary:
  • "...the Ruby trial... treated 28 patients... 27 out of 28 had zero painful crises after treatment, with hemoglobin levels normalizing within six months..." — Linus (08:46)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:34 – Plummeting DDR5 RAM prices and reseller crisis in China
• 01:59 – Artemis II lunar fly-by and viral Nutella moment
• 03:35 – LinkedIn ‘Browsergate’ privacy scandal exposed
• 05:38 – Nvidia and Intel’s neural neural texture compression
• 06:30 – Netflix’s Italian price hike refunds
• 07:14 – OpenAI acquires TBPN podcast
• 08:03 – SpaceX’s $1 Trillion IPO plans and Grok stipulation
• 08:46 – CRISPR gene therapy for sickle cell

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Conclusion

An action-packed, humorously critical roundup of tech news, this episode juggles market trends, space milestones, privacy bombshells, and science breakthroughs—all delivered in Linus Media Group's colorful, irreverent style.

Transcript

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[Linus Sebastian]

Happy Easter. Guess what the Easter Bunny got you.

[James]

Chocolate.

[Linus Sebastian]

What? No, it's Tech News. Chocolate for everybody. Can you imagine the shipping? Chinese DDR5 prices are plummeting and resellers who stockpiled RAM during the shortage are stuck with mountains of products they can't move. So that's where that all went. Clips on Twitter show vendors in a Shenzhen market surrounded by piles of modules saying they're quote, doomed. Though how real any of this is remains an open question, especially after WCCF Tech illustrated their coverage with what appears to be an AI generated image of a man ripping his hair out while his RAM flies all over the place in a warehouse. I hate it when that happens.

[James]

Look how sad he is. It's real.

[Linus Sebastian]

Reports out of China say the biggest drops are hitting the gray market, meaning these are recycled and repackaged sticks, not factory fresh kits with prices down 25 to 30% from their peaks earlier this year. But before you get too excited rubbing your little fly hands together, industry sources told ET News that Samsung just bumped Q2 DRAM contract prices another 30% on top of already doubling them in Q1. So the people who actually make this stuff, they're not sweating it. Which probably explains why this higher tier of The Lenovo Legion, Go2 just received a $650 price hike from its $1,350 launch price just six months ago for that runs Windows.

[James]

That's the worst part.

[Linus Sebastian]

The eyes of the world are on NASA's Artemis 2 crew as they conduct their lunar flyby, which is happening right now as we're filming this in a rare moment that seems to be bringing the world together. Also, they just broke Apollo 13's record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth. Suck it Apollo 13 crew. You got nothing on Canadian dreamboat Jeremy Hansen. Suck it. Tom Hanks, you Whoa. Canada. Canada. At the time of writing, the four astronauts are in a six hour observation wind photographing craters, lava flows and future landing zones on the far side of the moon, the better side measuring surface albedo and snapping shots of nearby planets. Right now, the live feed is coming from modified GoPro cameras on Orion solar array wings. But the spacecraft is also testing a laser system called O2O that can beam 4K video from the moon at 260Mbps, which means future missions could live stream higher quality footage from the moon and than Netflix allows on its cheapest plan. Ultimately, the whole mission has been going so well that the biggest talking point so far is the astronauts bathroom situation. Evidently their urine froze in the collection tank, breaking the mechanism that allows them to go number one aboard this ship, meaning that the crew has resorted to peeing in bags. The Internet has also been going nuts for a jar of Nutella that keeps floating through the cabin on a livestream. Is it poop? Prompting NASA to have to make a public statement that they don't have a product placement deal with Nutella could be pretty swee LinkedIn is silently scanning visitors browsers for over 6,000 Chrome extensions every time they load the site, according to a new report called browsergate, published by a European group called Fairlinked. No relation. The Expose claims that LinkedIn performs hidden JavaScript checks for job search tools, competitor products, and extensions tied to religious beliefs, political views and neurodivergence, then sends the results back to LinkedIn's servers where no one cool works. Funnily enough, none of this is mentioned in LinkedIn's privacy policy. Bleeping computer independently verified the scam scanning behavior through their own testing and confirmed the script checks for 6,236 extensions, up from about 2,000 just last year. Now LinkedIn says the report's claims are plain wrong and that the person behind the Browsergate website is the developer of a browser extension called TeamFluence, whose account was banned for scraping and violating LinkedIn's terms of service. A German court did deny TeamFluence's injunction against LinkedIn, so there's clearly some beef here. But that doesn't change the fact that LinkedIn is verifiably scanning your browser for extensions every time you visit the site without telling you. And since LinkedIn already knows your real name, your employer, and your job title, that's not exactly an anonymous data point. You know, it is worth knowing about

[James]

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[Linus Sebastian]

the dead, let's resurrect some stories that didn't quite make the main lineup. It's quick bits time. Nvidia demoed a new compression method to shrink the textures in games last weekend. You know the surface details that make walls look like walls and skin look like skin? Their new neural texture compression uses tiny neural networks to unpack those details on the fly, and in one demo it cut VRAM usage from 6.5 gigabytes down to under a gig while looking basically identical. Intel showed off their own version too, probably suckier, but let's hear them out, claiming up to 18 times smaller textures. No games use it yet, but if they did, your GPU might finally stop running out of memory all the time. Or GPU makers will just use that as an excuse to give you less.

[James]

I mean, you're just gonna put DLSS5 on top of it anyway.

[Linus Sebastian]

What are you gonna do with it?

[James]

You're just gonna chatgpt it anyway.

[Linus Sebastian]

Chatgpt is the one who needs it. A court in Rome has ruled that Netflix's price hikes in Italy between 2017 and 2024 were all unlawful and ordered the company to refund effective subscribers. Consumer group Movimento Consummatori, which despite sounding like an Italian vampire coven, is actually an Italian consumer rights organization that brought the suit arguing Netflix violated Italy's consumer code by hiking prices without proper justification. Premium customers could be owed up to €500. With standard subscribers entitled to around 250. This is a decent class action, yeah, Netflix says it plans to appeal OpenAI has just announced that it's acquiring the TBPN podcast, a daily live tech show that's popular with tech bros but that most of the rest of us know as the greenest podcast in the Universe. According to OpenAI, they acquired the podcast to help with shaping the conversation around AI, but claim the podcast will maintain editorial independence, which seem like two completely opposing statements. It seems like old scammy boy is just pulling a page out of the Ellison playbook, joining a trend of billionaires snapping up media to help control the narratives around their products. I think I speak for all of us though when I say that the only thing I care about is that it stays overwhelmingly green. So I know to swipe past it as quickly as possible during production. My Doom scroll sessions. And if you're a fan of that show and you watch this show, well now you can just only watch this show if you don't like Samoa.

[James]

Oh so easy. Thanks James.

[Linus Sebastian]

Keep watching us. That's actually green behind me too.

[James]

Oh no.

[Linus Sebastian]

We might be greener than SpaceX filed with the SEC last week for what could be the biggest IPO ever, targeting a valuation of more than a trillion dollars cause it's Elon Scale for this historic milestone, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made a demand that the banks advising on the deal buy Grok subscriptions. With some already agreeing to spend tens of millions on the chatbot, it's not surprising that the banks acquiesced, as with an IPO of this magnitude, they stand to make over $500 million in fees. And I'm sure that plugging the nude ifying Mecha Hitler AI into the companies that triggered the 2008 financial crisis that affected us globally will be totally, completely fine.

[James]

He's a good guy if you get to know him.

[Linus Sebastian]

And Cleveland Clinic researchers just published results showing that a one time CRISPR gene editing therapy can functionally cure severe sickle cell disease. The Ruby trial, published in the New England Journal of medicine, treated 28 patients with a therapy called Renicel that edits their own stem cells to correct the mutation causing the disease. 27 out of 28 had zero painful crises after treatment, with hemoglobin levels normalizing within six months, which is great news for people suffering from debilitating genetic diseases and also for everyone who's been hoping for a Captain America style super serum to be available so they don't have to go to the gym anymore. And that's all the tech news for this Easter Monday. Enjoy your chocolate, hug your loved ones, and remember, if the Easter Bunny asks for your phone number, don't give it to him, no matter how much candy he offers. He's been trying to get people into a multi level marketing scheme. See you on my Downline Wednesday.

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