The number one podcast about tech business and culture, from James "JR" Hennessy and Raph Dixon.

After a former Anthropic employee went on a press tour telling everyone he quite because the stuff they're cooking up is big and scary, a whole new round of discourse has hit the proverbial fan. Many of the big players have come out to say "yes, we SHOULD be pumping the breaks!" but only in a particular way and without too much government intervention? There's a whole lot to dig through and a whole lot of ulterior motives at play here, and Henno and The Riph Raph are here to get to the bottom of it.

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Down Round

I Don't Wanna Be A Paperclip

Artificial General Intelligence. Computers using computers. Computers getting Raph a coffee because he yelled "me coffee". Computers curing diseases before we even discover them. Computers discovering the infinite money glitch and creating a work-free utopia. Sound familiar? Well, it should! Because clearly, since the release of OpenAI's GPT-6: Astra, Artificial General Intelligence has been achieved! We're here! Take-off! Well, kind of?
 If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AGI is here?

In the past few years, Flock Safety have peppered the United States with their license plate reading cameras. Together, they form a lattice network capable of tracking anyone with pinpoint accuracy across a wide area. Lately, they have become the subject of widespread backlash, as citizens raise numerous concerns including privacy, misuse by law enforcement (including ICE), and the cameras being left up despite their contracts not being renewed. Is this the beginning of the end for individual privacy? Or did it already die years ago?

If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flock Cameras: Safety or Surveillance?

That damned rumour mill is spinning up again with word that the next AirPod Pro model will feature cameras in the ear buds. Is this really true? Kind of, but probably not the way you think. James and Raph sat down to discuss the prevalence of cameras and surveillance in modern tech/our lives. But first, Raph gives James a gift?
 If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cameras on Everything: Hardware in 2026

The EU is making AI companies put identifiable markers in their AI generated content, so that they can be easily spotted as such. A lot of the big hitters have played ball, but it opens up an interesting discussion about how much AI use earns the title of slop, who stands to benefit from it, and whether or not the models' outputs are going to be worse as a result.
  
 If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI Markers: The Scarlet Letter

Demis Hassabis has stepped up/down/around from his position as CEO of Google Deepmind, becoming Chair of Deepmind and Chief Scientist at Alphabet. "Henno and the Riph Raph" discuss how this reflects on Google and it's AI landscape as a whole.
  
 If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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