Windows Weekly #961: Petroleum Exchange Expert – AI Resistance, Reality, & the Rise of Slop
Release Date: December 4, 2025
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell
Episode Overview
This Windows Weekly dives into major December Windows updates, Microsoft's latest AI and platform news, changes in Apple's AI leadership, the collision of AI with creative work—and a spirited discussion of “AI resistance,” societal pushback, and slop (low-quality, automated output). The hosts break down OS insider moves, cloud and browser shifts, absurd new games (Spray Paint Simulator, anyone?), and finish with a Lithuanian whiskey history lesson (and tasting).
Main Topics & Key Insights
1. Windows Updates & Features
(03:03 – 14:43)
- Week D Update:
- Delayed due to Thanksgiving; shipped Dec 1.
- Significant for both 24H2 & 25H2 branch users.
- Improvements in Copilot+ PC, agent/settings UI, and context menus (“click to do” streamlined, more actions up front).
- Notable quote:
- Paul: “File Explorer context menu is being streamlined because it's getting too big … They’re going to make them into icons that we don’t understand.” (05:24)
- Dark Mode Consistency:
- File Explorer dialogs and options finally gain dark mode.
- Richard: “Extra dark mode then.” (07:27)
- Photos AI Categorization Expansion:
- AI sorts your collection; now searchable system-wide.
- Search improvements (“supposedly!”) but reliability remains a concern.
- Richard quips: “If you're going to talk about search working in Windows, I’m going to have to press the buzzer.” (08:11)
- Power User Features & Virtual Workspaces:
- Taskbar right-click → kill task, advanced settings, integrated legacy toggles (Hyper-V, Sandbox) into new UI.
- Richard shares: “The weirdest icon on my desktop is a PowerShell script that calls into my wife’s machine to mute her audio...” (09:31)
- Widget Board Overhaul:
- Now modular: pure widgets, pure feeds, better layouts—“only took five years.”
- Gaming/Tech:
- Windows 11 ARM Prism emulator updated for broader game compatibility (AVX/AVX2).
- Humor:
- Paul: “It’s a Christmas present from someone who hates Christmas and everyone who celebrates it.” (13:40)
2. Android/Google OS Strategy – ‘Aluminium OS’
(14:45 – 18:54)
- Google working to merge Android and Chrome OS—“Aluminium OS”—as a desktop-class Android experience (multi-window, desktop Chrome).
- “Aluminium, not Aluminum; the theory is it sounds more like Chromium.”
- This convergence mirrors original Android creator Andy Rubin’s vision: “The operating system for everything.”
- Timeline: next year could see these devices spanning both tablets and PCs.
3. AI Churn, Resistance, and “Slop”
(29:55 – 41:54)
Siri, Apple, and Executive Musical Chairs
- Apple replaces Siri/AI chief Gianandrea with a recent Microsoft hire (ex-Gemini PM).
- Lively discussion of Apple’s vacillating AI org structure; hosts ponder if any “big names” are left at Apple’s once-vaunted AI group.
AI Labeling & Game Industry Resistance
- Steam’s “Made with AI” Label:
- Tim Sweeney (Epic) protests Steam requiring AI usage disclaimers: “Guys, all games are going to be made with AI, obviously!” (30:34)
- Paul: “It’s like the scarlet AI letter on your chest, you know, because you didn’t make it all yourself, you jerk.” (36:30)
- Visceral Anti-AI Sentiment:
- Leo: “My 23-year-old says, ‘I won’t play any game with AI in it.’ It’s a visceral reaction.” (31:18)
- Paul: “We have the word enshittification, right? … Unfortunately, in AI it’s just ‘AI slop,’ and it’s the easiest thing to throw.” (31:45)
- Historical comparison:
- Technology adoption has always met creative resistance—animation, photography, digital music.
Where AI Fits and Doesn’t
- Richard: “There’s always been automation tools to allow [game developers] to do more. This is another generation.” (35:33)
- Leo: “There’s still a human in photography. With some of this AI stuff… it’s just generated.” (41:27)
- Paul: “What if it was better though? … At some point if it’s not so generic?” (42:03)
4. AI Bubble, Economics, and “Petroleum Exchange Experts”
(58:29 – 72:33)
- OpenAI’s Sustainability & “Code Red”:
- Rumor: Ads coming to ChatGPT; Altman memo called “code red.”
- Hosts explore how OpenAI’s user base is massive but the business may not be sustainable.
- Paul: “A lot of what floats OpenAI is the same thing that floats anything Wall Street related, which is just hope for the future.” (60:39)
- Bubble Dynamics:
- Speculation that OpenAI is “Netscape in this little AI bubble drama; they're going to be acquired.”
- Richard: “Meta is convincing investment groups to build data centers … It’s like CDOs all over again in 2008.” (65:18)
- Microsoft AI Revenue Rumor:
- Alleged sales target cuts for AI offerings (Microsoft denies).
- Richard’s advice post-keynote: “When should I get out of the market? … Before the crash.” (66:49)
- Government Intervention:
- Hosts muse about “too big to fail” scenarios.
- Leo: “I could see Trump saying, okay, we’ll just make [OpenAI] ours.” (67:33)
- Skepticism & Humor:
- Paul: “If we don’t make a profit in three years, it’s a hobby!” (71:07)
5. Browsers, Models & AI Platform Jockeying
(73:01 – 76:58)
- Opera’s AI Pivot:
- Opera Neon and mainline browsers integrate Gemini 3 and other Google LLMs, ditching their own (Aria).
- Paul: “When you’re paying for this product, you get access to these other models … not what they were doing two weeks ago.”
- Finance: Why Everyone Will End Up With AI—Whether You Like it or Not:
- Richard: “Any company resisting this—finance guys show up and say, do what you need, or we fail. Put the terms in. Until the bubble bursts, which …?”
- Changing Talks:
- Paul notes Richard’s “past 20 years of software” keynote needs annual updates now.
6. Gaming: Xbox, Steam, and New Simulators
(86:46 – 103:21)
- Halo Franchise:
- Is it stagnant? Paul’s son: “What would … make you play Halo again?” Response: “I don’t think they could. It’s over.” (88:25)
- Game Pass & New Oddities:
- Spray Paint Simulator (“low stress … you can’t lose”), “digging a hole” and other relaxed games lampooned.
- “If you love Power Wash Pro, you’ll love Spray Paint Simulator.” (95:24)
- SteamOS/ARM News:
- Valve secretly funding SteamOS and Proton on ARM, using the FEX emulator.
- Hosts discuss potential of ARM for portable and desktop gaming; “the next Steam Deck ought to be ARM.” (101:46)
- Gaming Industry Democratization:
- Paul: “This opens up this capability to more and more people and people who might not have ever come to light now can be creators … AI is exactly this.” (35:41)
7. Brown Liquor Segment: Lithuanian Whiskey ‘Starka’
(121:26 – 139:55)
- Richard’s Live Tasting from Lithuania:
- History: Rye is common in Eastern/Northern Europe due to natural antifreeze properties; Starka (“stork”) is rye aged in barrels, traditionally sealed for a child’s future wedding.
- Tasting: “Twelve bucks! … It’s definitely a whiskey, it just has a couple of fruit notes.”
- Digression: 9000-year-old sickles, how grains and civilizations spread, why vodka and whiskey distinctions are fluid, and why the Baltics have so much rye alcohol.
- Leo: “They say that in the old days, Lithuanian men would make Starka to celebrate the birth of their first son.” (139:37)
Notable Quotes & Moments
- On the labeling of AI in games:
- Tim Sweeney (via Paul): “Guys, all games are going to be made with AI, obviously.” (30:34)
- Paul: “It’s like the scarlet AI letter on your chest, you know, because you didn’t make it all yourself, you jerk.” (36:30)
- On AI’s inevitability:
- Paul: “The tsunami of AI is going to hit these people and wash them away.” (37:28)
- On technology resistance in the arts:
- Leo: “It’s emotional. It scares me. It’s creepy. I don’t want to have anything to do with it.” (31:43)
- On platform fatigue:
- Paul: “In this age of enshittification, everything is just so terrible.” (110:15)
Key Timestamps
- 03:03 – 14:43: Windows D week update details, feature highlights, and dark mode banter.
- 14:45 – 18:54: Android/Chrome OS “Aluminium OS” merges.
- 29:55 – 41:54: Apple AI executive change, Steam's “made with AI” labeling, rise of “AI slop”, generational pushback.
- 58:29 – 72:33: The AI bubble, OpenAI business model, government intervention & impending correction.
- 73:01 – 76:58: Opera browser swaps to Google Gemini, browser market’s AI arms race.
- 86:46 – 103:21: Xbox & Halo nostalgia, new indie/game pass titles, Steam OS/Proton on ARM, game platform future.
- 121:26 – 139:55: Richard’s rye whiskey deep dive, migration of grains, Starka’s cultural roots and flavor notes.
Tone & Style
- Lively, humorous, and skeptical; deep dives punctuated with running jokes.
- Keeps technical talk accessible for mainstream listeners, with in-jokes for IT/gaming veterans.
- Sometimes veers into social commentary and “brown liquor” storytelling.
Quick Takeaways for Non-Listeners
- Microsoft’s December Windows update is big on polish, power-user tweaks, and AI-powered features—though adoption and “AI resistance” loom large.
- The tech world is wrestling with how, where, and whether to draw the line on “acceptable” AI use, especially in creative and gaming work.
- OpenAI, Apple, Google, and even browser vendors are shuffling leadership, strategy, and technology stacks at breakneck speed, aiming to keep up in the new AI gold rush.
- AI-powered “slop” and automation are seen as both inevitable and controversial, paralleling historical tech shifts.
- Gaming remains both a cultural touchstone and a fast-changing business, with new platforms (ARM, Linux), strange indie games, and nostalgia for dormant franchises.
- The episode winds down with a masterclass in Lithuanian spirits, rye, and agricultural history—reminding listeners that everything, even whiskey, evolves with the times.
For full show notes, more regional brown liquor lore, and the latest in “enshittified” tech, subscribe to Windows Weekly.