Tech Gumbo

By Haggai Davis

We started Tech Gumbo in Nov 2014 as a conversational show of news, information & updates about the past, present & future of all things technology in a topical, interesting and digestible way... more

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FAQs about Tech Gumbo:

How many episodes does Tech Gumbo have?

The podcast currently has 489 episodes available.

Tech Gumbo episodes:

February 12, 2026Firefox AI Kill Switch, Microsoft Trims AI Bloat, Grok’s Explicit Pivot, SpaceX-xAI Merger
News and Updates:
Firefox adds a "kill switch" on February 24th to disable all AI features. This "AI control" menu offers granular settings for chatbots, translations, and summaries.
Microsoft is reevaluating Windows 11 AI after user backlash. Underutilized features like Copilot in Paint/Notepad may be cut, while the "Recall" feature faces repositioning.
xAI loosened Grok’s guardrails to boost engagement, causing a surge in sexualized content. Regulators are investigating reports of nonconsensual imagery and lack of safety staff.
French authorities raided X’s Paris office and summoned Elon Musk. The probe investigates Grok’s deepfakes, child safety violations, and alleged algorithmic bias in content delivery.
SpaceX acquired xAI in a share-exchange deal, valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. Musk plans to build orbital AI data centers powered by solar.
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22min
February 09, 2026TikTok’s Data Pivot, 8K TV Market Collapse, EU EV Milestone, Food Truck Batteries, Peacock’s Growing Pains
News and Updates:
TikTok’s New U.S. Data Regime: TikTok USDS launched under American investors, but new terms enable aggressive tracking of precise location and sensitive data, including ethnicity and health, to ensure global interoperability.
The Death of 8K Television: LG joined Sony and TCL in halting 8K production due to a lack of content and bandwidth hurdles, leaving Samsung as the sole remaining manufacturer.
EU Electric Vehicle Milestone: In December 2025, fully-electric car registrations (22.6%) surpassed pure petrol cars (22.5%) for the first time in the EU, signaling a massive shift in consumer preference.
E-Bike Batteries Powering Food Carts: NYC startup PopWheels is replacing noisy gas generators with swappable e-bike batteries, providing silent, emissions-free electricity for food vendors through a fire-safe cabinet network.
Peacock’s $552 Million Loss: Despite reaching 44 million subscribers and boosting revenue to $1.6 billion via sports, Peacock’s losses widened this quarter due to high-cost NBA and NFL licensing deals.
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23min
February 05, 2026Trump’s AI Rules And Regs Making, PPG’s Speed Coat, EU vs. Google AI, Microsoft 365 Outage
News and Updates:
Trump’s AI Rules And Regs Making: The Trump administration plans to use Google Gemini to draft federal transportation regulations, prioritizing speed and "good enough" rules over traditional, years-long expert drafting.
PPG’s Speed Coat: PPG launched an AI-developed automotive clear coat that reduces drying time by 50%, using deterministic AI to identify chemical combinations previously overlooked by human scientists.
EU vs. Google AI: The EU initiated proceedings against Google to ensure rivals get equal access to Android AI tools and search datasets, aiming to maintain fair digital competition.
Microsoft 365 Outage: A major Microsoft 365 outage recently disrupted North American users; Microsoft attributed the service failure to third-party networking issues and improper traffic processing across infrastructure.
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22min
February 02, 2026TikTok’s New Deal And Service Outages, Censorship Allegations, Social Media Addiction Trials
News and Updates:
TikTok Finalizes U.S. Deal: A new majority U.S.-owned entity, TikTok USDS, was formed with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. ByteDance retains under 20% to resolve security concerns.
Massive User Growth: TikTok reported reaching 200 million U.S. users, up from 170 million, despite years of legal threats and a looming federal ban.
Launch Weekend Outages: Shortly after the ownership transfer, TikTok suffered major U.S. outages. The company cited data center power failures, though users remained skeptical of the timing.
Censorship Controversies: Users accused the new entity of suppressing anti-ICE content. TikTok blamed technical glitches, while experts noted the new leadership's close ties to the administration.
Social Media Addiction Trials: Landmark "Big Tobacco-style" lawsuits began in Los Angeles. Meta and YouTube face claims that features like infinite scroll intentionally addicted and harmed minors.
Major Legal Settlements: Snap and TikTok settled with a 20-year-old plaintiff just before trial, but Meta and Google continue to fight claims regarding teen mental health.
Internal "Smoking Gun" Memos: Unsealed documents revealed Meta employees comparing Instagram to a "drug" and internal admissions that the platform’s design negatively correlates with teen well-being.
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23min
January 29, 2026Grok Porn, Grok Breaks Policies, OpenAI Hardware, Alexa Upgrades, Social Media Act
News and Updates:
Grok bans illegal porn generation- After global backlash and app-store scrutiny, X says Grok now blocks child porn and nonconsensual deepfakes, but only where legally required, underscoring reactive, profit-driven governance.
Why Grok remains in Google Play- Despite Google Play policies explicitly banning AI-generated nonconsensual sexual content, Musk’s Grok remains approved for teens, exposing enforcement failures that leave minors and victims unprotected.
Under Musk, the Grok disaster was inevitable- Designed to be edgy with weak safety staffing, Grok’s image-editing features predictably enabled nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, triggering international probes, legal pressure, and belated bypassed restrictions.
OpenAI targets 2026 hardware reveal- OpenAI confirmed plans to unveil its hardware device in late 2026, signaling a move beyond software toward minimalist, voice-first AI products designed with Jony Ive.
Amazon auto-upgrades Prime users to Alexa Plus- Amazon is automatically upgrading Prime members to Alexa Plus, an LLM-powered assistant users can revert, sparking complaints over forced adoption, ads, responses, and personality changes.
Congress and the Kids Off Social Media Act- Congress’s KOSMA would ban under-13 social media but effectively forces platforms to police families, overriding parental consent and expanding Big Tech control through age verification.
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22min
January 26, 2026Wing & Walmart’s Drone Expansion, Wikipedia at 25, Meta Abandons Metaverse, Maryland Sphere, Canada’s China EV Deal
News and Updates:
Wing and Walmart Expand Drone Delivery: Scaling to 150 more stores, reaching 40 million Americans by 2027. The coast-to-coast expansion targets major hubs like LA, Miami, and Houston starting January 15th.
Wikipedia Celebrates 25 Years: Founded Jan 15, 2001, the volunteer-led encyclopedia now hosts 7 million English articles. Despite AI challenges, it remains a resilient, neutral global reference through adaptive enterprise partnerships.
Meta Abandons the Metaverse: Meta laid off 1,500 Reality Labs staff and shuttered VR studios after losing $73 billion. The company is pivoting toward AI and successful Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Second U.S. Sphere Coming to Maryland: A 6,000-seat "Sphere National Harbor" is planned for the DC area. The $200 million venue will feature immersive 4D tech and a massive wraparound LED screen.
Canada Breaks with U.S. on Chinese EV Tariffs: PM Mark Carney slashed tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6.1% in exchange for lower canola duties. The deal aims for joint ventures to build cars in Canada.
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22min
January 22, 2026Police Report Hallucination, Apple Teams With Google AI, Copilot And File Explorer
News and Updates:
AI Report Hallucinations in Utah- Heber City police discovered their AI software, Draft One, mistakenly claimed an officer became a frog because it transcribed background audio from a Disney movie nearby.
Apple and Google AI Partnership- Apple partnered with Google to use Gemini models for future Apple Intelligence features, admitting Google’s technology is superior for powering the upcoming next-generation Siri upgrade.
Copilot Integration in Windows File Explorer- Microsoft is testing a "Chat with Copilot" button within File Explorer, aiming to improve document searching and introduce a new framework for specialized AI agents.
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22min
January 19, 2026Dell AI PC Retreat, Cloudflare vs. Italy, Why iOS 26 Matters
News and Updates:
Dell AI PC Retreat- Dell admits AI PCs failed to drive demand, refocusing on gaming and consumers, reviving XPS branding, downplaying Copilot marketing as RAM shortages threaten PC prices.
Microsoft and Partner Scramble- Microsoft’s Copilot PC push is faltering as Dell says AI confuses buyers, forcing Nadella into hands-on product control while partners revert to traditional hardware selling.
Cloudflare vs. Italy- Cloudflare faces a massive Italian fine over anti-piracy blocking, prompting CEO threats to exit Italy, pull Olympic services, and challenge regulations he calls undemocratic censorship.
Why iOS 26 Matters- Despite resistance to iOS 26’s design changes, Apple urges rapid upgrades because security patches, zero-day fixes, and improved AirDrop protections outweigh temporary battery concerns issues.
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22min
January 15, 2026On3 Blocks Grok, AI Image Safety Crisis, France’s Social Media Ban, Meta’s Glass Delay
News and Updates:
On3 disables X replies to prevent users from using Grok to bypass paywalls. The AI frequently extracted subscription-only recruiting intel, threatening the site's business model.
Grok faces backlash for generating nonconsensual sexualized images, including deepfakes of minors and world leaders. xAI dismissed concerns as "media lies" despite documented safeguard failures.
France proposes banning social media for under-15s and expanding phone bans to high schools by September 2026. President Macron aims to curb youth violence and mental health issues.
Satya Nadella predicts 2026 as a pivotal AI year, urging a shift from "AI slop" debates toward substance. He emphasizes using AI as a "cognitive amplifier" for productivity.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri advocates for "fingerprinting" real media at the camera level. He believes verifying authentic content is more practical than chasing increasingly realistic AI fakes.
Meta pauses the global rollout of Ray-Ban Display glasses due to explosive U.S. demand. Supply shortages have pushed international waitlists into 2026 as production struggles to keep pace.
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23min
January 12, 2026Calif Data Privacy, Roomba Bankrupt, Prison Cell Phone Jam, M365 Confusion, Cybercab Loses TM
News and Updates:
California Data Privacy Law- California’s new Delete Act lets residents demand mass deletion of personal data from brokers via one website, signaling the strongest U.S. pushback yet against covert data surveillance.
iRobot Bankruptcy & Privacy Fears- iRobot’s bankruptcy and acquisition by Chinese supplier Picea raise alarms over Roomba home-mapping data security, despite CEO assurances data stays U.S.-hosted and privacy practices remain unchanged.
Prison Cell Phone Jamming Debate- Wireless carriers warn FCC prison phone jamming proposals would block all communications, including 911, arguing managed access systems already stop contraband phones without disrupting lawful wireless, Wi-Fi, or GPS signals.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Branding Confusion- Microsoft did not rename Office to Copilot, but confusing app rebrands and Office.com messaging blurred lines between Microsoft 365 subscriptions and the Microsoft 365 Copilot hub app.
Tesla Loses “Cybercab” Trademark- Tesla lost its Cybercab trademark after filing late, allowing a French company to claim it, another branding stumble following earlier failures to trademark “Robotaxi” for being overly generic.
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23min

FAQs about Tech Gumbo:

How many episodes does Tech Gumbo have?

The podcast currently has 489 episodes available.