Regulators vs. Grok, UK privacy crackdown, Gemini-powered Siri + more! - TechLinked

TechLinked – Regulators vs. Grok, UK Privacy Crackdown, Gemini-powered Siri + More!

Host: Linus Media Group
Date: January 13, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of TechLinked delivers a fast-paced roundup of recent tech and gaming news, focusing on growing regulatory action against AI platforms (notably Elon Musk's 'Grok'), crackdowns on digital privacy and content in the UK, Apple's new Siri-Gemini partnership, and more global tech industry moves. The hosts' signature blend of sarcasm and wit adds levity to otherwise serious topics such as platform accountability, privacy, and the social consequences of emerging tech.

Major Discussion Topics & Key Insights

1. Grok & Twitter/X in Regulatory Crosshairs

00:30 – 03:05

Context: Twitter (now X, owned by Elon Musk) faces a UK investigation after its AI feature 'Grok' allowed users to easily generate thousands of non-consensual sexualized images.
Regulatory Response:
- Ofcom states X may have violated the UK’s Online Safety Act, which requires platforms to block illegal content.
- New law makes it illegal to supply tools creating non-consensual intimate images—X could face up to 10% of global revenue as fines or even a total UK ban.
- Malaysia and Indonesia have already blocked Grok. US Democrats petition Apple and Google to remove X from their app stores.
Musk’s Response:
- Compares the situation to scapegoating and decries censorship.
- [Quote, 01:52] "Musk, much like that kid in elementary school who flipped the Monopoly board if he lost, responded by complaining that people are looking for any excuse for censorship and suppressing free speech."
- Musk further escalates by reposting AI-generated images mocking the UK Prime Minister.
Industry Voices:
- Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney sides with Musk, framing the ban as gatekeeper censorship but notes, "The difference is not all AI models are baked directly into social platforms where they can generate CSAM right into the replies and wake up believing they're Hitler every other week." [02:49]

2. Cloudflare Fined by Italy

03:06 – 04:23

Incident: Cloudflare is fined €14 million for refusing to block pirate sites via its DNS service according to Italy’s tough “piracy shield” law.
CEO Matthew Prince Retorts:
- Calls it a “scheme run by a shadowy cabal of European media elites.”
- [Quote, 04:10] "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Now that's a spicy CEO."
Collateral Damage: Accidental blocking of Google Drive and hundreds of legitimate sites, while pirates evade blocks—highlighting flaws in rushed content regulation.

3. UK’s Expanding Digital Crackdown

04:24 – 05:20

Conservatives propose social media ban for under-16s.
Ofcom ordered to assess “client-side scanning”—a system scanning messages on users’ devices before encryption to crack down on terrorism and child exploitation.
Commentary: “A.K.A. allowing the UK government to read every message on your phone before it's encrypted.” [05:10]
Discord banned in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Russia, leading to spikes in VPN usage.

4. Apple & Google Team Up: Gemini-powered Siri

05:21 – 06:20

Announcement: Apple partners with Google to power a revamped Siri with Gemini AI, snubbing OpenAI.
Details:
- Multi-year deal, with Siri/Gemini focused on “complementing” Apple’s own AI rather than replacing it; user privacy and on-device processing stressed.
- [Quote, 05:55] “Reuters calls it a multi-year deal and in a joint statement, Apple and Google stress that Gemini will complement Apple’s own AI work rather than replace it.”
Broader Context: Google is integrating shopping features powered by AI across Gemini and AI Search, introducing a universal commerce protocol.
AI Safety Caution: Google disables AI health search overviews after accuracy concerns—raises doubts about big data approaches vs. true privacy.
Host skepticism:
- [Quote, 06:17] “But regarding their partnership to relaunch Siri, Apple emphasizes that personal data won't be used for advertising or profiling, and I have learned that whenever a big company tells me my data is safe, I should trust them.”

5. Quick Bits: Hardware, Microsoft, SpaceX & More

08:45 – 13:34

Valve’s Steam Machine Leaks:
- 512GB and 2TB versions spotted on Czech sites; possible $950-1,070 target price range—high but unconfirmed.
- “I always anxiously await the word of Gaben.” [09:34]
Windows 11 Copilot Uninstall:
- Admins can now remove Copilot from work machines—a win for IT control.
- “Copilot has single handedly turned me into a gruff, individualistic veteran cop from an 80s action movie.” [10:00]
Epstein’s Windows 7 Key:
- Joke mention of a Windows 7 activation key linked to Jeffrey Epstein successfully activating Windows—warning about risks and dark humor.
DRAM Shortages & Used PC Market:
- Micron shuts down Crucial brand; DRAM shortage may continue till 2028, driving up hardware prices globally.
SpaceX Starlink Expansion:
- FCC approval for 7,500 new satellites (potential 15,000 total).
- China files for 200,000 satellites — regulatory and logistical space race.
Airborne Energy Transfer Demo:
- Overview Energy demonstrates power beaming from aircraft to ground devices—a step toward possible space-based solar power applications.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Grok/X and social consequences:
- “Twitter, AKA Elon Musk's ex, is officially under investigation in the UK after its AI Grok went full goon mode...” [00:32]
- “The difference is not all AI models are baked directly into social platforms, where they can generate CSAM right into the replies and wake up believing they’re Hitler every other week.” [02:49]
Regulation Ridicule and Skepticism:
- “Italy’s piracy shield law demands websites get nuked within 30 minutes of a copyright complaint with little to no judicial oversight. … Mamma mia.” [03:45]
- "A.K.A. allowing the UK government to read every message on your phone before it's encrypted." [05:10]
On Apple-Google Gemini Deal:
- “You know, sunk cost fallacy with user choice on device processing and privacy protections highlighted.” [05:59]
- “Whenever a big company tells me my data is safe, I should trust them.” [06:17]

Timestamps for Key Segments

[00:29] – Main news intro, X/Grok scandal and regulatory pushback
[02:49] – Tim Sweeney on AI moderation and censorship
[03:06] – Cloudflare’s Italy fine and CEO’s retort
[04:24] – UK explores mass message scanning; Discord blocks
[05:21] – Apple-Google Siri/Gemini partnership, user privacy
[07:35] – Google disables AI medical search functionality
[09:00+] – Steam Machine pricing leak, Windows Copilot uninstall
[10:10] – Windows 7 and Epstein key joke
[11:35] – Micron DRAM shortage; Japanese PC market adaptation
[12:36] – Starlink and China’s satellite ambitions
[13:10] – Airborne energy transfer technology proven

Tone & Style

The hosts maintain a playful, irreverent tone, frequently deploying sarcasm, pop culture references ("gruff, individualistic veteran cop from an 80s action movie"), and dark humor to underscore the often absurd or alarming realities of tech news.

In Summary:
This episode delivers a sharp, satirical look at how rapidly evolving AI and regulatory frameworks are clashing worldwide, the continuing arms race between tech giants over AI assistants and privacy claims, and provides quickfire updates on hardware shortages, emerging technologies, and global digital rights.

Transcript

A (0:00)

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B (0:29)

Soon, neurological implants will make having a bad case of the Mondays a thing of the past. But the future's not here yet. So this is the tech news you get. Twitter, AKA Elon Musk's ex, is officially under investigation in the UK after its AI Grok went full goon mode, allowing users to generate thousands of non consensual sexualized images of women and children directly in the timeline. UK media regulator Ofcom says Twitter may have violated the Online Safety act, which requires platforms to block illegal content. UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall announced the government is also bringing a new law into force this week, making it illegal for companies to supply tools designed to create non consensual intimate images. If found guilty, X faces fines of up to 10% of global revenue. Finally, it's based on percentages or Ofcom could seek a court order to block the platform entirely. In the uk, a net social good Malaysia and Indonesia have already blocked Grok, and Democrats in the US are are now asking Apple and Google to boot Twitter from their app stores. Musk, much like that kid in elementary school who flipped the Monopoly board if he lost, responded by complaining that people are looking for any excuse for censorship and suppressing free speech. In a master class of public relations, he reposted AI generated images of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a bikini. A good point. Hmm, never thought about it like that. You can't stop me from doing this. Kier First Page Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also decided to wade into the fray. Why not? Calling the ban an attempt by gatekeepers trying to censor political opponents and arguing that all AI models go off the rails sometimes. The difference is not all AI models are baked directly into social platforms, where they can generate CSAM right into the replies and wake up believing they're Hitler every other week. Also, going off the rails is usually seen as a bad thing. Tim EG trains Cloudflare just got slapped with a 14 million euro fine by the Italian government for refusing to block pirate sites on its 1.1.1.1 DNS service. Italy's piracy shield law demands websites get nuked within 30 minutes of a copyright complaint with little to no judicial oversight. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince called it a scheme run by a shadowy cabal of European media elites. Ooh, drama. Prince threatened to pull all Cloudflare servers out of Italy, discontinue free cybersecurity services for Italian users, and cancel pro bono, which I think is Italian protection for the Milano Cortina Olympics. His exact words Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Now that's a spicy CEO. In fairness to Prince, Italy's track record with implementing this law isn't great. Last year they accidentally blocked Google Drive in the country for three hours. Mamma mia. Researchers found hundreds of legitimate websites caught in the crossfire, while actual pirates just move to the new address. Those have gotta be some of the best pirates I've ever seen over in the UK Again, some members of Parliament wanna follow Australia's lead with a Conservative party proposing to ban people under the age of 16 if you can call them people from social media entirely. The UK government also just ordered Ofcom to explore client side scanning as a way to catch terrorism and CSAM related messages hidden by end to end encryption protocols, AKA allowing the UK government to read every message on your phone before it's encrypted. And and speaking of digital crackdowns, Discord just got banned in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Russia. Users reported stuck on loading screens, the telltale sign of government led block rather than a service outage. In unrelated news, ProtonVPN saw 103% spike in signups on Saturday alone, with usage still climbing. Wow. Good for them. Apple is gearing up to finally, hopefully launch its big Siri refresh by partnering with Google's AI, spurning OpenAI in the process and making Siri a Gemini. Which is too bad. My tarot card reading warns against befriending Geminis. I guess I've got no choice but to switch to Grok. Reuters calls it a multi year deal and in a joint statement, Apple and Google stress that Gemini will complement Apple's own AI work rather than replace it. You know, sunk cost fallacy with user choice on device processing and privacy protections highlighted. At the same time, Google is pushing AI powered shopping, adding buy buttons in Gemini and AI Search and introducing a universal commerce protocol designed to let AI agents interact with multiple retailers in a standardized way. Not all of Google's AI experiments are moving forward. The company has pulled AI overviews for some medical searches after concerns about accuracy and potential harm for sensitive health queries, dying and making a scene. Which reminds us that Google's accumulate all data in the universe approach might not gel all that well with Apple's supposed commitment to user privacy. But regarding their partnership to relaunch Siri, Apple emphasizes that personal data won't be used for advertising or profiling, and I have learned that whenever a big company tells me my data is safe, I should trust them. But seriously, you can trust today's sponsor, Kinsta. We're pretty busy around here at TechLinked, and it can be a lot, but that's nothing compared to how overwhelming trying to figure out what web hosting can be. Well, that's exactly why having Kinsta is such a relief, where real experts handle the technical side of things for you. Even if you're not a techie, you get fast, reliable performance, always on security, and an intuitive dashboard that's genuinely easy to use if something goes wrong. Their WordPress experts are available 24. 7, not bots reading scripts. It's no wonder over 140,000 businesses trust Kinsta to just make web hosting work. If you're tired of being your own website support team, switch your hosting to Kinsta and get your first month free plus a a 30 day money back guarantee to make sure you're totally convinced. And don't worry about the move, they'll handle the whole migration for you, no tech expertise required. Just visit the link in the description or scan the QR code on the screen to get started. There's actually a team of Russians out to get the quick bits in order to harvest valuable juices and convert them into new super steroids, but we won't let them. Valve's upcoming Steam machine may have just leaked at some Czech retailers, with the listing showing a 512 gigabyte model around 950 $250 and a 2 terabyte version near $1,070. That's based on a rough conversion from Czech Karuna Abago. Ooh, I wanna take you. WCCFtech points out that similar hidden listings popped up at multiple stores, though they likely include some retailer markups. Compared with consoles like the PS5, that's definitely on the pricey side, but Valve has not confirmed any official prices yet, and I always anxiously await the word of Gaben. Should I read the next bit? Gaben? His silence speaks volumes. Windows 11's latest Insider build allows admins to finally uninstall Microsoft Copilot as long as the device is managed and you're the administrator. This works on Pro, Enterprise and Edu versions, giving it teams more control over the AI tools on work devices. Copilot has single handedly turned me into a gruff, individualistic veteran cop from an 80s action movie. I work alone. I I don't want a copilot. Not after what happened to Clippy. As for other Microsoft news, in what I'll tentatively call a developing story, it appears that Twitter and YouTube users are finding that a Windows 7 activation key belonging to infamous dead American financier, human trafficker and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein can be used to successfully activate Windows 7 Home Premium. Good job Free Windows. Now you're on a watch list. Was it worth it? Micron is trying to smooth things over as it shuts down its consumer brand crucial, reassuring users. They're somehow still looking out for consumers. I don't know how, but maybe they'll explain that to us later. At the same time, the company warns that the DRAM shortage could stick around until 2028. We might not even be around back then, meaning higher RAM and SSD prices are probably here to stick by themselves. In fact, as PC Gamer points out, a Tokyo computer shop is so desperate for inventory that it's put out a call for customers to sell their used gaming PCs, offering pretty high prices for desktops, laptops and even non gaming rigs because new stock is critically low amid ongoing hardware shortages. At least Japan's got great convenience stores and delicious okonomiyaki. First time I've read that ever. All I've got is a Windows 7 activation key and my faith in GabeN. SpaceX just got FCC approval to launch another 7,500 Starlink satellites, which will end up bringing their total to around 15,000. And they'd better hurry. China just filed to put 200,000 satellites in orbit. These maneuvers are happening amidst a Starlink blackout occurring in Iran, where authorities are using military jammers to block satellite Internet. Trump says he's talking to Elon Musk, their friends on again about restoring the Internet in Iran, which I'm sure he'll get to once he's done his flame war with the entirety of the youth okay, government and Overview Energy just demonstrated sending beams of power from a moving airplane to devices on the ground, proving their airborne energy transfer concept can actually work. Announced in December, the tech was a successful proof of concept, and while it's still early days, it's a promising step towards space based solar power where sunlight collected in orbit could be sent down to earth just like the regular sun does, or used in other high tech energy applications in the future. It feels good to end the show on an upbeat note like this. Oh, no, no. They're going to use airplanes to block out the sun and steal all the solar energy, aren't they? We're always getting Mr. Burns ed. It's like he never died. But you're not gonna get. Burns did. If you come back on Wednesday for more tech news, in fact, you might even get to see a new beefcake. James, what is it? I've convinced the Quick Bits to lend me some valuable juices, and I'm gonna experiment with super steroids. He's joking. Dos Vodania. He's joking, guys.