TWiT 1047: Nerd Harder! - From Cloudflare's Internet Gatekeeping to AI's Labor Threat

This Week in Tech (Audio)

Leo Laporte

Technology, Techtv, Tech News, This Week In Technology, Twit, Leo Laporte

4 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2025

⏱️ 175 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Cloudflare's latest moves to police who can access the internet and governments' push for age verification set off alarms for the future of the open web, as panelists debate the hidden costs of centralization and regulation.

Microsoft fires four workers for on-site protests over company's ties to Israe
Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 water
Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenu
FBI cyber cop: Salt Typhoon pwned 'nearly every American
Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification law
UK's Online Safety Act censors the internet — a preview of US proposal
Meta updates chatbot rules to avoid inappropriate topics with teen user
Meta reportedly allowed unauthorized celebrity AI chatbots on its service
UK's demand for Apple backdoor may have been broader than previously though
Bluesky now platform of choice for science communit
SpaceX's giant Starship Mars rocket nails critical 10th test flight in stunning comeback
FCC rejects calls for cable-like fees on broadband providers
The web does not need gatekeepers
Intel warns a US equity stake could trigger "adverse reactions"
US firms are racing through a $1 trillion buyback spree in record time
Microsoft reveals two in-house AI models
Authors celebrate "historic" settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
A rule exempting small packages from tariffs is ending today
Framework is working on a giant haptic touchpad, Trackpoint nub, and eGPU for its laptops
Germany fines economist Thomas Vierhaus €16,100 for sarcastic X posts1
Google wants to make sideloading Android apps safer by verifying developers' identities
South Korea bans smartphones in all middle and elementary school classrooms

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Cory Doctorow, and Louis Maresca

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's time for Twitter, Labor Day edition, and we've got a great Labor Day panel for you.
0:04.3	Shoshana Weissman is here from R Street.org.
0:07.3	Our very own Lumoreska from Microsoft and Cory Docterow.
0:11.8	There's lots to talk about, including what happened at Microsoft this week.
0:16.9	Why Taco Bill is abandoning AI for its drive-through and why one FBI cybercop says,
0:25.5	the Chinese own us all. It's all coming up next on Twit.
0:31.7	Podcasts you love.
0:33.6	From people you trust.
0:36.1	This is Twit.
0:42.9	This is Twit.
0:44.7	This week at Tech.
0:46.0	Episode 147 recorded Sunday, August 31st, 2025.
0:51.6	Nerd Harder.
0:53.8	It's time for Twit this week in Tech, the show we cover the week's tech news.
0:58.7	And it's always, it's like Christmas Day every Sunday for me here when I get to open up the wrapping and find out who's on the panel.
1:05.6	And oh my gosh, we have a great panel today.
1:09.1	I'll start on the right with Lumoreska.
1:11.7	He is at Microsoft where he is head of engineering for co-pilot in Excel.
1:17.7	So if you're doing pivot tables with co-pilot, you could thank this man right here.
1:23.1	Or if you're writing Python in Excel.
1:25.4	That's right.
1:26.4	You can thank this man right here.
	...

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