The WAN Show: “Amazon Owes Us $2.5 Billion”

Episode Date: September 27, 2025
Hosts: Linus Sebastian & Luke Lafreniere (Linus Tech Tips)

Episode Overview

This week’s WAN Show dives into several major tech topics, including Amazon’s historic FTC settlement over deceptive Prime practices, the partial merging of Android and Chrome OS into a future “Android PC,” advances in AI-powered hardware cooling, Microsoft Teams frustrations, AI in spam and marketing scams, and more. Linus and Luke blend hot industry takes with their signature banter, offering both detailed tech analysis and comedic sidebars. The episode rounds out with Q&A, merch announcements, and hands-on tech anecdotes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Amazon’s $2.5 Billion Prime Settlement

[00:00–06:30]

• Context: Amazon agreed to pay $2.5B ($1B penalty, $1.5B in refunds) to settle an FTC lawsuit over misleading Prime enrollment and cancellation tactics.
• Significance: Largest ever FTC penalty for a rule violation; second-highest restitution award in FTC history.
• Consumer Impact: 35 million US customers to receive refunds—sadly excludes Canada, but US market effects often trickle worldwide.
  • Linus: “It’s nice to see for freaking once these agencies actually hold companies account with nice big fines that might actually incentivize them to do things properly going forward.” [04:25]
• Regulatory Spillover: US + EU actions (like EU forcing Apple to USB-C) tend to influence global tech behaviors.
• UI Cancellations: FTC now requires Amazon to implement a clear “Decline Prime” button and to remove manipulative cancellation prompts (e.g., "No, I don't want free shipping").
  • Luke: “They need to go after a lot of other places then too.” [06:20]

2. Frustrating User Interfaces & Notification Hell

[06:30–10:45]

• Both hosts rant about intentionally confusing/dismissive UI:
  • Linus scorns persistent “high power usage” popups on his OnePlus watch.
  • Microsoft Teams forces repeated "Stay signed in?" prompts, which don't seem to work.
    • Linus: “Someday I dream. I dream of a day when that button will work. It'll be great...But it is not this day.” [09:36]
  • Linus despairs at apps with no “never show again” for nag messages.

3. Microsoft Teams: Unbundling & Critique

[10:45–14:35]

• EU forced Microsoft to start unbundling Teams from Office 365; global rollout for new enterprise customers.
  • Luke: “Teams is, in my opinion, just objectively not a very good communications platform...for, like, a bunch of reasons.” [10:33]
• Teams' integration is its main selling point, not its UX/features.
• Annoyances: Annoying unread indicators, taskbar bugs, first seconds of calls are always lost ("millennial pause"), and persistent audio device issues.
  • Linus: “Remarkable how often the first like six seconds of a team's call are cut off... WhatsApp works.” [14:07]

4. AI-Powered Cooling & Supercomputers

[15:05–28:12]

• Microsoft & Cointis: New microfluidic cooling for AI accelerators, laser-etched coolant channels right up to the silicon, offering 3x better cooling. Highlighted as cutting-edge server tech.
  • Linus: “You just plumb the coolant directly up to the pro? Are you kidding me right now?” [16:41]
• Simon Fraser University (SFU) 'Fur' Cluster (BC, Canada):
  • Linus recounts an in-depth tour of the new supercomputer, “Fur,” which greatly surpasses their old “Cedar” system.
  • Specs: 1U nodes with up to 192 cores, full liquid cooling (CPUs, memory, NICs, SSDs), no fans.
  • Massive 600,000-watt heat exchangers; sophisticated loop monitoring; $82 million CAD budget.
  • Luke: “Have you already seen it?”
    Linus: “I was there this week.” [19:39]
• Old supercomputers (“Cedar,” Cheyenne, etc.) are inefficient relics relative to new hardware; not worth maintaining for most, even if cheap.

5. Merch Messages & LTT Store Update

[30:13–39:16]

• New fall shirts (regular & tall), “defrag” clearance sale, behind-the-scenes newsletter for product design.
• Live demo of how merch messages work (replacing tips/super chats).
• Memorable moment: Luke models the new tall-fit shirts and jokes about buying yet more. [30:45]

6. Building Custom Houses: Experience & Regret

[34:38–39:16]

• Linus on why he’d hesitate to build a custom house—custom homes rarely have broad resale appeal; even thoughtful planning can’t account for late surprises or future needs.
  • Linus: “The more experience I get, the more I realize that I don’t know and the fewer things I can assume.” [34:51]
• “Perfect” layouts are fleeting; needs/wants change over time.

7. YouTube View/Algorithm and Content Evolution

[48:13–56:50]

• Linus and Luke discuss shifting YouTube audience behavior, algorithmic quirks, and feedback responding to “LTT has fallen off” claims.
• Content: Balance between wild custom PC builds, affordable builds, and “expensive” product coverage is hard to strike. Audience opinions are deeply split.
  • Linus: “It’s always been both—cheap and expensive, and this is going to blow your mind… you can watch the videos that appeal to you.” [54:57]
• Short vs. long content: Modern LTT videos are 20–30+ minutes, a big change from past 8–10 minute guides.
• Nuanced update: Many features, e.g., build guide content, are heavily saturated genres; tough to keep “fresh.”

8. Android PC Coming 2026: Google Platform Strategy

[59:59–64:57]

• Google will combine Chrome OS and Android into a desktop platform (launching 2026); Android as the base, ChromeOS layered for PC experience.
  • Actual plans are murky; some statements appear contradictory.
  • Goal: Universal Android ecosystem across categories, especially with new AI features and Linux app improvements.
  • Linus: “Hopefully you don’t abandon it.” [64:57]

9. Meta’s “Vibes AI” and AI Doomscrolling

[65:11–68:58]

• Meta launches “Vibes” — an AI-generated, short-form video feed no one asked for.
  • Luke: “The direction of almost every corporation [in AI] is just so uninteresting.” [66:41]
• Linus recaps reviewing friend.com’s “AI companion” on Short Circuit, describing the experience as “utterly pointless and wasteful.”
  • Luke: “Bell’s actually been wearing it since the Short Circuit...It’s just as bad as you thought. Maybe worse.” [67:49]

10. ChatGPT Pulse & Dark Side of Personal AI

[69:16–73:12]

• OpenAI’s “Pulse” feature: collects personal info/goals to deliver “updates”—which are likely targeted ads under the hood.
  • Linus: “Basically they just want you to feed more personal data into it.” [70:30]
  • Luke: “This is almost certainly going to be an ad engine.” [70:36]
• Reflection: Spreading out AI interactions makes services more addictive—a new “mind trick.”

11. Plug-In Hybrids: People Just Don’t Get It

[83:39–87:04]

• Many plug-in hybrid owners don’t charge the battery at home, running them purely on gas.
  • Linus: “You get the benefits of a gas car and an EV...I was shocked when I talked to a guy who worked at the Chevy dealer who was like, yeah, I had a guy trade one in who literally like didn’t even realize that you had to plug it in.” [84:47]
• Toyota’s “Charge Minder” app aims to gamify and boost plug-in rates.

12. Spam GPT & The Rise of Automated Scams

[87:42–91:36]

• “Spam GPT” – $5,000 toolkit for AI-generated spam/phishing, complete with GUI and analytics.
  • Luke: “It might be a pretty attractive option for like legitimate ad campaign management because the multi [user model]... is really expensive.” [89:19]
• Another “Spam GPT” uses ChatGPT to waste scammers’ time, but found most spam was already written by AI — bots talking to bots.
  • Linus: “So we were just automatically spamming each other while OpenAI made money, I stopped using it.” [91:36]

13. Communication Platform Headaches (SMS, WhatsApp, Apple)

[93:53–104:32]

• Linus discusses the ongoing lack of true message syncing in Google Messages and the pains of transitioning between devices/platforms (Android↔iOS).
  • Transfers often fail (“out of 15,000 text messages or something, it managed to transfer two.” [99:50])
  • Both iMessage and Google Messages have user-hostile quirks, like lack of retry buttons and poor backup/restore options.
• WhatsApp’s update finally allows multi-device/phone use, but Linus details previous pains recovering messages.

14. AI in Music, Gaming & Security

[124:32–127:16]

• AI music “performers” are now getting multi-million dollar record deals; all vocals/music are AI-generated.
• Steam under fire for malware-laden indie games stealing user funds, including from charity campaigns.
• Game “Ascent Rivals” (pod racer lookalike) is built with deep NFT/crypto connections—hosts clarify lack of endorsement: “We have zero interest in NFTs in the game.” [128:29]

15. Synology NAS Locks Features—Open Source to the Rescue

[128:58–132:56]

• Synology blocks hardware transcoding on some NAS models via kernel driver removal; workaround guide floated, but Linus champions alternatives.
  • Linus is an investor in Hexos, a “for-dummies” TrueNAS interface with a lifetime license option: “For something that the whole point of it is that you own it, you should have an option to own it.” [132:28]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Linus (re: Amazon ruling):
  “For freaking once these agencies actually hold companies [to account] with nice big fines that might actually incentivize them.” [04:25]
• Luke (re: manipulative UIs):
  “If you book a flight, it’s always like, ‘no, I want to be unsafe or whatever’—like, I don’t want my trip to be whatever.” [06:20]
• Linus (Teams login frustration):
  “Someday I dream...I dream of a day when that button [stay signed in] will work.” [09:36]
• Linus (on SFU's server):
  “...liquid cooled, no fans. The CPUs are liquid cooled. The memory is liquid cooled. The NIC is liquid cooled. The SSD bay is freaking liquid cool. Everything is liquid cooled...” [21:16]
• Luke (on AI video doomscrolling):
  “The direction of almost every corporation [in AI] is just so uninteresting.” [66:41]
• Linus (Spam GPT, AI spam):
  “So we were just automatically spamming each other while OpenAI made money.” [91:36]

Additional Highlights

• Merch drop: New fall LTT shirt colors in both regular and tall sizes—demoed on air.
• YouTube “fallen off” narrative: Linus and Luke push back, citing content evolution and platform changes. Audience has wide, conflicting tastes.
• AI “Pulse” and privacy: Pulse is a “Trojan horse” for advertising based on deeply personalized data and behavioral addiction.
• Communication platform migration pain: Not just a Google vs. Apple thing—all modern chat apps create data loss nightmares during device switches.
• Steam’s lax security: Even charities and streamers are victimized by malware updates on Steam, raising ongoing alarm.

Useful Timestamps

• [00:00–06:30] Amazon’s FTC penalty and anticonsumer subscription traps
• [10:00–14:00] Microsoft Teams, forced prompts, and the “millennial pause”
• [15:05–28:12] Data center cooling, SFU’s new supercomputer “Fur,” liquid vs air cooling
• [59:59–64:57] Android PC 2026, Google+Qualcomm collaboration
• [87:42–91:36] Spam GPT and bots talking to other bots, death of human interaction

Conclusion

This WAN Show blends hard tech news—Amazon’s regulatory defeat, AI-powered infrastructure, security warnings, OS shakeups—with the hosts’ unique brand of in-depth, lived tech commentary and comic relief. The episode is especially rich on behind-the-scenes industry insights, the effects of regulatory actions, AI’s growing pains, issues with mainstream platforms (Teams, Google, Apple), and the relentless effort it takes to make tech work for real people.

(Summary by WAN Show Superfan, Sept 2025)