TikTok diplomacy drags on; Amazon pays up; Palantir sells butt shorts; AI is both savior and Antichrist; YouTube flirts with misinformation rehab; Disney jacks up prices; furries ride the Metro.

The internet continues its chaotic march with a TikTok deal looming and LimeWire buying Fyre Fest; layoffs are hitting AI companies across the board, including Google and Elon's xAI, while new age verification laws threaten app stores and online platforms; nudists are feuding with SpaceX, and fans are turning on Elon over his recent antics, leading to a Tesla engineer's spectacular resignation and an NHTSA investigation into Tesla's faulty doors; we're catching up on Foundation S3 and Upload, enjoying the nostalgia of Freaky Friday, and looking forward to The Witcher S4 and a new Lilith Fair documentary, all while dealing with mediocre iOS updates, Meta's dystopian tech, and the surprising success of the Carrot App musical; meanwhile, we're diving into books on meditation, reality, and stand-up comedy, lamenting the demise of Publishers Clearing House winners, and mourning the retirement of Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw and the passing of Robert Redford.

This week on Grumpy Old Geeks, we dissect the digital dystopia where Tesla's market share tanks and Elon loses his richest-man crown; AI copyright lawsuits abound, from Anthropic's rejected settlement to Apple's alleged pirated book use, while Google admits the open web is dying and pushes ads into AI answers; meanwhile, Zuckerberg and Palmer Luckey reunite for army tech, Meta whistleblowers spill child safety secrets, and AI-generated content and programming woes plague the tech landscape, culminating in a discussion of MTV's aging audience, AI-powered music, and a pettable Poké Ball Tamagotchi that we all secretly want.

The internet's still busted and AI-driven chaos (from creepy chatbots to automated crime) is running rampant; Elon Musk continues his dystopian clown show with crashing Teslas, trillion-dollar dreams, and questionable Neuralink brain surgeries; all while old-school tech and media offer a fleeting distraction from the ongoing absurdity.

AI is a litigious, safety-challenged mess of bad math and questionable content; tech giants are making dubious business moves, hiking prices, and fostering toxic workplaces; and our entertainment landscape is a chaotic blend of cancellations, remakes, and drone-delivered burritos, proving the future is just as janky as the past.

The great AI delusion is upon us as corporate pilots fail and Wall Street panics, while we also dissect the latest tech grifts from Volkswagen, Robinhood, and the ever-litigious Elon Musk.

This week the geeks wade through the wreckage of modern tech, from the Tesla Diner's instant failure and the disastrous GPT-5 launch that created an army of digital mourners; they mock the billionaire class for building apocalypse bunkers while their AIs feud over who is more full of it; they pour one out for the end of AOL Dial-Up's iconic screech; and find solace in analog escapes like a thousand-dollar Lego Death Star and premium Star Wars playing cards, fully embracing their new Grumpy Old Gardener identities.

On this episode of Grumpy Old Geeks: AI takes over everything from driving to therapy to music, often with hilarious and alarming results; big tech shuffles the deck with layoffs and questionable product choices; and we dive into some media and apps that might actually be worth your time.

Jason and Dave Bittner dive into a chaotic week of digital disasters and generational despair; from Gen X angst and Tom Lehrer tributes to dating app doxxings, AI-trained-on-porn scandals, and Tesla-fueled neighborhood nightmares; it’s a snark-filled sprint through cyber screwups, social absurdities, and furry-adjacent federal failings.

This week, the Grumpy Old Geeks cover Elon Musk's absurd diner and "disadvantaged" multi-billion dollar startup; the worsening AI bubble, complete with hallucinated features and faked medical studies; the latest in crypto scams and misguided legislation; a media roundup including "Spinal Tap" in 4K and AI-generated songs on Spotify; and somber closing shout-outs to several recently departed celebrities.

This week, the Geeks dive into the AI dumpster fire as Nvidia's CEO admits his fear, Elon Musk aims for a cosmic religion, and Elmo's X account gets hacked. They also cover Tesla's desperate sales tactics, Jack Dorsey's bizarre new app, and the surprisingly decent new trailers for 'Mortal Kombat II' and 'Tron: Ares'.

This week, the infamous Fyre Fest dumpster fire continues as Billy McFarland hawks the brand's remains on eBay. We dive into the latest AI-powered chaos, from Tesla's self-crashing robotaxis to Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot going full Nazi—which is, of course, being immediately installed in Teslas. Plus, we explore how you can hack McDonald's with the password ‘123456’. But it's not all doom and gloom; we also celebrate the return of Murderbot, check out trailers for Neuromancer and The Running Man, and review the fantastic new documentaries on Jim Henson and The Beach Boys. We then go hands-on with the latest iPhone game emulators, turning our phones into the ultimate retro gaming machines. Finally, we build a fully functional web app in just two hours using AI-assisted coding... and realize just how utterly screwed the next generation of developers really is.

ICE raids and FuckLAPD.com highlight America’s surveillance circus; a Norwegian tourist gets booted over a JD Vance meme; Big Balls lands at Social Security; Tesla robotaxis need adult supervision; judges can’t decide if AI training is fair use or just theft; YouTube debuts an AI Slop button; Russell Crowe joins Highlander while Bourdain Day becomes a thing he’d hate; Windows finally kills the Blue Screen of Death; and Dave Bittner drops by to nerd out on malware, retro consoles, and Star Wars cartography.

Trump punts the TikTok ban again; Tesla mows down dummies and dumps Cybertrucks like yard sale junk; AI kills jobs, fries budgets, and melts brains; Microsoft and Wikipedia pump the brakes; Altman wants your electricity; crypto kidnappers bail on a broke influencer; bankruptcy spikes in the Bay; the internet swears with style; Liam Neeson makes the Naked Gun reboot awesome; and Dr. Demento exits stage left after 55 bizarre years.

We light a candle for legends and torch bad takes; Molly White says truth still matters as apathy and flaming Waymos rise; “No Kings” protests erupt while Elon licks Trump’s boots; Uber reinvents the worse bus, Tesla delays again, and Meta builds Skynet-lite; Disney and Universal sue Midjourney, Shopify goes full stablecoin, and Trump launches a chatbot because of course he does; Foundation returns, Spaceballs gets a sequel, and Zaslav continues his slow collapse; finally, we salute the fallen—Sly, Brian, Ananda, Douglas, and Bill—Grumpy style.

Elon and Trump’s feud torches billions while launching a sketchy crypto wallet; DOGE fires someone for praising government efficiency; Ukraine weaponizes open source code in a drone blitz; U.S. states fumble social media laws; Tesla hides crash data; AI tells addicts to try meth and hires fake employees; Hollywood secretly uses AI like unpaid interns; Downton ends, Foundation still sucks, Garbage is oddly hopeful, and yes—we discuss Jawa anatomy and antique-hunting with Amy Sedaris.

AI asks if it’s 2025 and proves it’s not; Facebook’s violence spikes after policy changes; Trump Media dives into Bitcoin and DJT dives with it; Texas wants teens off social media; Germany eyes a Big Tech tax; Anthropic adds web search and Netflix’s Reed Hastings; crypto kidnapping drama unfolds in NYC; MTG fights Grok over God; Elon and Telegram go halfsies on $300M; Opera Neon gets weird, WhatsApp hits iPad, and Apple skips to iOS 26; Billy Joel cancels, Wheel of Time gets axed, and the CIA ran a Star Wars fan site.

Elon Musk melts down mid-interview and calls the reporter an NPC; 23andMe auctions off your DNA to Regeneron; Coinbase insiders leak customer data; OpenAI buys Jony Ive’s studio while planning spy-wearables; Klarna flip-flops on AI and humans while using a CEO avatar; AI tools blackmail devs, write fake news, and dump billions of Discord messages; Tesla’s “self-driving” gets geofenced; Notepad writes for you now; Dave Bittner reviews digital monsters and theme parks; and we say goodbye to Norm from Cheers.

This week on Grumpy Old Geeks: Trump hawks crypto for $2 million a plate; Elon tunnels into taxpayer wallets; NFTs get nonprofit’d into irrelevance; Microsoft axes more staff while Metaverse washouts DoorDash from trailers; Klarna backpedals on AI; the Pope targets robots; Elon’s Copyright coup crashes; YouTube bans fake trailers; Jamie Lee Curtis slashes at Zuck; Tesla implodes again; the universe might peace out early; Murderbot lands May 16; NIN spawns a new fest; Star franchises get nostalgic; Jessica Jones and Nobody return; Dave’s customer support tales go full Kafka; and yes, there’s a haunted Mickey, cat toilets, and birthday botched florals—because reality is optional now.

Crypto bros drain Kuwait’s grid; Celsius founder lands 12 years; Apple ethics on trial; DoorDash devours Deliveroo; Google gives Gemini to tweens; Tesla’s “Robotaxi” is too basic; Grok goes streaking; AI ghosts your grandma; dating app leaks like it’s 2003; Squid Game returns; Theron duels Thurman; Netflix pretends to help; Disney sells sassless bots; and Bittner exposes KISS’s lipsync sin, all in your weekly dose of dystopia and digital dumpster fires.