The WAN Show – Our World Record Was Shattered

Linus Tech Tips | December 12, 2025
Episode Date: December 13, 2025
Hosts: Linus Sebastian & Luke Lafreniere

Episode Overview

This episode of The WAN Show spotlights explosive tech news from the week, centering on breaking computational world records, AI copyright lawsuits, wild console sales figures, and evolving tech legislation. Linus and Luke bring their classic humorous, sometimes self-deprecating take on the latest headlines, plus some personal anecdotes and spirited debate. If you care about real-world impacts of technology, drama in the AI space, and want insight from creators on the bleeding edge, this episode is a must-listen.

Headlines & Key Discussion Points

1. Storage Review Shatters World Record for Most Digits of Pi Calculated

[03:07–06:17]

• Storage Review calculated Pi to an incredible 314 trillion digits using a beefy 2U Dell PowerEdge R7725 server loaded with dual AMD EPYC (192-core) CPUs and a whopping 2.5 Petabytes (!) of Micron 6550 ION SSDs (that’s 40 x 61.44TB SSDs).
  • Luke: "Turns out Storage Review were the ones responsible for the NAND flash shortage crisis. How much is that's two and a half petabytes of SSDs, for crying out loud." (04:14)
• The calculation took a staggering 110 days, with an emphasis on power efficiency due to electricity costs experienced by LTT in their previous Pi record attempt.
  • Linus: "I had no idea how much we had spent on that endeavor until we were already done. It was ludicrous.” (04:41)
• Linus and Luke take the news lightheartedly, joking about encouraging the new record holders to aim for meme-worthy Pi digit milestones ("369" and "420" trillion).
• Both express humility, pride in their previous efforts, and root for further computational feats (from the sidelines!).

2. YouTuber Class Action Lawsuit Against NVIDIA for AI Video Training

[06:17–16:15]

• NVIDIA is hit with a class action lawsuit by several YouTubers (including H3H3 Productions), alleging their videos were used without permission to train NVIDIA’s new AI video model "Cosmos."
  • Luke: "Is this piracy?" (07:30)
  • Linus: “I am mostly a live and let live kind of guy. I’m a little bit peeved. I don’t like this. I would like to be compensated… But, you know, live, let live.” (09:47)
• Lawsuit centers around videos allegedly being downloaded in violation of YouTube's TOS for AI dataset generation.
• LMG (Linus Media Group) videos were found in the scraped data. Linus says LMG won’t join the lawsuit, expressing dislike for litigiousness, but also discomfort at having content used without consent.
  • Linus: “There’s a difference between you doing that as a person and Nvidia doing that as a corporation.” (09:53)
• The hosts discuss fair use, copyright culture, the inevitability of content scraping, and how AI models are shifting the landscape.
• They mention Disney’s partnership with OpenAI (including a $1B deal and licensing of Disney IP for AI generation), while Disney cracks down on unauthorized use elsewhere.

3. Merch Updates & LTT Store Logistics

[16:54–22:56]

• LTT’s merch had a customs fee mishap, where some orders outside the US/Canada were misdeclared in USD instead of CAD, causing excess fees. They’re working on refunds.
  • Luke: "So an outside party didn't realize, because nobody knows what a Canadian dollar is, that our documentation was in Canadian dollars..." (17:09)
• Launch of the new Teddy Fleece jacket and various holiday bundle deals are detailed.
• Updates on the LTT holiday loot drop: hundreds of mail-in sweepstakes entries, and reflections on how to handle future contests more efficiently.

4. Nostalgic "Open World vs. Live Service" Gaming Debate

[28:43–37:45]

• Response to a fan question on “hating on new games that use old mechanics” (e.g., open-world, live service).
  • Luke expresses fatigue with live service games: “A new content pack every quarter…I consider that to be a bug, not a feature.” (29:20)
  • Linus contends that trends are cyclical, and small studios are now breaking away from big publishers to make great games again.
• Notable mentions: indie titles, Larian Studios, the ebb and flow of gaming company cycles.

5. EV Charging Standardization and Adoption Hurdles

[38:29–42:03]

• Discussion about the widespread adoption of Tesla’s NACS charging port over J1772 and CCS.
  • Linus: "Why couldn't we settle this stuff ages ago? Now I have the wrong connector on my car and I have to carry around an adapter forever." (38:48)
  • Luke admits his biggest barrier is not owning an electric car, and logistics of home charging in a condo scenario.

6. Australia Bans Social Media for Under-16s

[42:23–53:02]

• Australia becomes the first nation to ban users under 16 from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Discord, Reddit, and more.
  • Linus: “This ain’t gonna work. Overall, I’m not entirely unsupportive... but it’s not going to work.” (47:22)
• Hosts agree, kids will find ways around the ban (alt platforms, VPNs), so parental supervision is paramount.
• Luke checks in on his own kids’ social media use: most platforms are banned, Discord is closely monitored.

7. Entrepreneurial Spirit – Linus’s Son’s 3D Printing Business

[53:02–58:14]

• Linus’s son made about $200 profit (after expenses!) at his school’s entrepreneur fair, selling 3D printed toys and snow cones.
  • Linus: "He’s already doing that calculation, which is sick." (54:02)
  • Linus reflects positively on letting kids stay up late for meaningful work, balancing parental guidance with independence.

8. Robots and AI: Safety, Hype, and “Fake” Autonomy

[58:34–65:51]

• Inside AI’s video where ChatGPT controls a robot that ends up shooting the host with a BB gun, illustrating prompt-based workarounds for AI “safety” restrictions.
• Discussion of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, speculations of human teleoperation, and debates over the true state of robot autonomy.
  • Luke: "Together, these incidents highlight how fragile the appearance of autonomy still is in humanoid robots." (62:34)

9. Intel Battle Mage Rumors

[69:44–72:30]

• Hype about the mysterious Intel BMG G31 GPU (likely codename for "Big Battle Mage"), potentially signaling new high-end competition for NVIDIA and AMD.
• Leaked shipping manifests reference a 300W card, but it’s not confirmed to be for gaming.
  • Linus: "Just even if it's just because there's constant rumors that they're gonna stop doing GPU stuff and it's so annoying." (71:29)

10. Philips Fixables & Corporate 3D Printing Initiatives

[72:34–75:16]

• Philips responded to LTT about their “Fixables” program for user-3D-printable spare parts.
  • Linus/Luke appreciate honest feedback: "From the outside, our pace looks slow. This is a fair call." (73:34)

11. AMD’s FSR Redstone: Machine Learning Upscaling

[84:33–87:14]

• AMD launches FSR Redstone—a machine learning-based upscaling/frame generation system, only for Radeon RX 9000 (RDNA 4) GPUs.
  • Linus: "The old cards just don't have the AI processing on board." (87:14)
  • Some AMD fans are miffed older GPUs are left out.

12. Pebble Founder’s $75 AI Smart Ring – Disposable or Disruptive?

[88:13–105:28]

• New “Index” smart ring is discussed—a non-rechargeable, non-replaceable battery (lasts 2 years), mic only activates on button press, no health tracking, simple voice note feature.
  • Linus: “It’s less stupid than it sounds.” (88:13)
  • Luke isn’t a fan of disposable products, especially when not needed: "I'd rather pay a little bit more if it wasn't for sure gonna be dead in two years." (92:04)
• Both hosts debate consumer habits, repairability, and trade-offs. Linus is willing to try the product for what it is.

13. Wild Black Friday Console Stats: Who’s Next Playground?!

[105:30–110:43]

• PS5 dominates, Switch is second, but unexpectedly, the “Next Playground” outsold Xbox Series consoles, grabbing 14% of sales.
  • Luke/Linus are baffled: "It's a $200 Microsoft Kinect that plays mobile games..." (106:19)
• This little-known active play system for kids/families succeeded with heavy in-store marketing, while Xbox struggles with identity.

14. Legislation Against "Surveillance Pricing"

[115:01–121:20]

• Discussion of the new Senate bill to ban “surveillance pricing”—charging more based on personal data.
  • Linus: “We have confirmed it now. By harvesting your personal data or inferring things about you, companies can charge you more for the same services.” (116:04–116:31)
• Examples: test prep pricing by zip code, ride shares charging more when your phone battery is low, etc.
• Both hosts agree strong regulation is needed, as free market solutions have failed.

15. AI in Advertising: McDonald’s AI Holiday Ad Controversy

[125:56–129:46]

• McDonald's Netherlands pulled an AI-generated ad after backlash; many complained about “AI slop” replacing real human work.
  • Luke: “It's just so unnecessary...if you just did it normally, it would have looked better and taken less time.” (128:34)
• Discussion of inevitable rise of generated content, and the gap between online backlash and broader public awareness.

16. Flying Cars Are Here (Sort Of) – Alef Model A

[148:23–155:26]

• Alef Aeronautics begins handmaking its $300,000 “Model A” flying car, but it can only legally take off and land at airports—mass adoption is likely impossible.
  • Linus: “All the issues of any other personal flying vehicles...with the big one being... they have this tiny cone that basically blows away anything near them.” (151:03)

17. Forum Folding Month Shatters Records

[146:17–148:23]

• LTT community contributed 230 billion points for disease research in Folding@Home’s annual folding month—over three times last year’s total.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Getting Their Pi Record Broken
  “Someone's got to get 369. And then someone's got to get 420. And then I think the whole loop. We can.” – Linus (01:30)

• On AI Copyright Lawsuit
  “There’s a difference between you doing that as a person and Nvidia doing that as a corporation.” – Linus (09:47)

• On Fair Use & Company Practices
  "Are we all just borrowing lightly but not damaging the market for the original content?... as long as everyone kind of goes in good faith." – Luke (09:53)

• On Social Media Bans for Kids
  “This ain’t gonna work. Overall, I'm not entirely unsupportive… but it's not going to work.” – Linus (47:22)

• On Flying Cars
  “...it can only take off from and land at airports. So like what is the point of it?” – Linus (149:40)

• On Surveillance Pricing
  “By harvesting your personal data…companies can charge you more for the same services.” – Linus (116:04)

Episode Timeline & Notable Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Details | |-----------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:07 | Storage Review shatters world Pi record | Hardware specs, impact, LTT’s response | | 06:17 | Nvidia class action by YouTubers | AI video model, LMG videos used, legal/ethical debate | | 16:54 | Merch & logistics update | Customs, new products, contest entries, planning | | 28:43 | Gaming mechanics/industry cycle | Open world vs. live service debate, indie resurgence | | 38:29 | EV standard talk | NACS vs. CCS, home charging hurdles | | 42:23 | Australia bans social media <16 | Government vs. parents, efficacy, LTT house rules | | 53:02 | Linus’s son: 3D printing entrepreneur | Small business lesson, parenting philosophy | | 58:34 | AI robot shoots BB gun | AI safety limits, Tesla Optimus tele-op speculations | | 69:44 | Intel BMG GPU rumors | Market needs, rumors vs. fact | | 72:34 | Philips fixables update | Corporate response, 3D printability | | 84:33 | AMD FSR Redstone | Feature details, limited support, AMD vs. Nvidia | | 88:13 | Pebble smart ring debate | Disposable tech ethics, use cases, repairability | | 105:30 | Black Friday console stats | PS5, Switch, "Next Playground" outsells Xbox | | 115:01 | Surveillance pricing | Law, examples, market failure | | 125:56 | AI-generated McDonald’s ad controversy | Creativity, job replacement, "AI slop" | | 148:23 | Alef Model A flying car skepticism | Range, feasibility, fun with physics | | 146:17 | Folding@Home record | Community effort for science |

The WAN Show Spirit

The episode is a classic mix of deep tech insight, friendly jabs, humility amid defeat, sidebars about parenting and business, and honest takes on the problems and promise of current technology. Linus and Luke strike a balance between critique and optimism, often displaying genuine curiosity, occasional bemusement at the absurdity of the tech world, and not a little bit of introspection about their own work and legacy.

For Fans & New Listeners:
Whether you want hot takes on AI copyright battles, heartwarming family stories, or riffs on the future of personal technology, this WAN Show episode is a prime cut of the Linus Tech Tips experience.

(Skip to After Dark for less-structured Q&A, sponsor discussions, and club/life updates from the team.)