TWiT 1090: Flock of SQLs - Apple & Microsoft Grapple With Soaring Hardware Prices
Shownotes
Tech giants and chipmakers are facing off as AI-fueled memory shortages trigger sweeping price hikes on everything from Macs to game consoles. Hear why global supply chain standoffs, long-term contracts, and old-school market forces are quietly reshaping your daily technology.
- Apple and Microsoft hike prices on devices amid global memory shortages
- Surge in AI data centers drives RAM and storage crisis
- Intel's comeback: Core Ultra chips compete with AMD in handheld gaming
- Microsoft's pivot to ARM, Qualcomm-NVIDIA alliance, and x86 rivalry
- AI fear and backlash; organic concern amplified by international actors
- White House abruptly pulls Anthropic's Fable model, sparking industry uproar
- US government U-turns on AI regulation, restricts top models to select partners
- Tension over AI innovation vs. regulatory "rug pull" and global competition
- Smart home chaos: Matter 1.6 standard, Samsung and Level Lock shake-up
- Debate over local vs. cloud smart home control and API access fees
- Ring and Flock cameras ignite privacy and surveillance state concerns
- Social media bans for under-16s fail in Australia, UK, and Norway plan similar rules
- BBC Radio 4 long wave broadcast ends after a century
- Meta gets caught tracking employees for AI; PlayStation deletes owned movies
- US regulators propose removing brake pedals from Robotaxis
- Ford's automated systems flop, company rehiring engineers
- Farewell to tech journalist and GigaOm founder Om Malik
Host: Leo Laporte
Guests: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Dan Patterson, and Daniel Rubino
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