Hashtag Trending

The episode opens with sponsor Meter and a conversation about Saturday morning cartoons before shifting to recent breakthroughs in AI video generation from ByteDance's "SeaDance" (with "SeeDream" as its image generator). 
Hashtag Trending would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt

The hosts describe SeaDance's cinematic quality, accurate physics, and realistic recreations of actors and IP (including examples like Tom Cruise vs. Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves as Neo/John Wick), and discuss the implications for film production, commercials, and local film economies such as Toronto and Vancouver. They cover backlash and gatekeeping, including an AI-made Thanksgiving-themed animated short that won a contest tied to AMC theaters' pre-show but reportedly wasn't shown, and compare resistance to historical Luddite reactions.
The discussion broadens to productivity and labor impacts, arguing that AI adoption may mirror the 1980s computer productivity dip before process re-engineering in the 1990s, while also raising concerns that AI leaders are forecasting major white-collar job losses. The hosts highlight the rise of agentic benchmarks (TerminalBench, Apex Agents, BrowseComp) and how AI search helps find information faster than traditional search, but emphasize that trust, reliability, and infrastructure are not keeping pace.
They raise major concerns about platform terms and data ownership, focusing on Perplexity's updated terms (non-commercial use only even for paid tiers, mandatory attribution, broad licensing rights over user content, and liability limits). They also discuss reliability failures: a widespread Google Gemini issue where users' chat histories disappeared (only visible as activity records with limited usability), and missing document links in ChatGPT chats. The hosts argue users must back up their own data and criticize unclear policies and weak support.
Security risks are illustrated through a story about the AI-enabled robot vacuum "Romo," where a developer used Claude to reverse engineer its app and reportedly gained access to control thousands of devices across multiple countries before responsibly disclosing the issues. They also reference broader concerns like connected home devices, Ring neighborhood features, and Microsoft's Recall concept.
In rapid-fire news, they mention Anthropic releasing Sonnet 4.6 as a strong, cheaper option near Opus-level performance, a new Grok release branded "4.20," and a clip from an AI summit in India where Sam Altman and Dario Amodei appeared to refuse to hold hands on stage, which the hosts cite as a sign of immaturity among AI industry leaders. The episode closes with sponsor Meter.
00:00 Sponsor + Welcome to Project Synapse
00:21 Saturday Morning Cartoons… Reimagined by AI
01:16 What is 'SeaDance'? Cinematic AI Video Goes Viral
03:17 Keanu Reeves, Neo vs. John Wick & the End of VFX as We Know It
06:43 From Movies to Ads: How AI Video Hits Commercial Production
07:41 The Hidden Economy of Commercials (and Why Cities Like Toronto/Vancouver Care)
09:56 AMC Won't Screen an AI-Made Short: Early Luddite Backlash
12:54 Artists, AI, and the 'Starving Creator' Reality
16:17 AI Adoption Parallels: The 1980s Computer Wave & the Productivity Dip
24:09 Agentic AI Benchmarks: TerminalBench, Apex Agents & BrowseComp
26:04 AI Search That Actually Saves Time (and Your Memory)
30:36 Perplexity's New Terms of Service: Non-Commercial Use & Ownership Shock
35:40 Liability Caps, More Corporate Gripes… and a Coke Zero 'Sponsor' Bit
37:36 Gemini 3.1's big leap—and why it still doesn't feel trustworthy
38:08 Gemini chat history vanishes: what happened and why users are furious
40:19 OpenAI document links disappearing too: what "saved" really means
42:04 Cloud AI's shaky foundation: security, reliability, and confusing settings
47:45 When reliance turns emotional: losing models, losing "someone"
49:22 Real-world stakes: the Social Security database whistleblower story
53:15 Owning your data (and why Google support won't save you)
54:53 Trust whiplash: Anthropic cuts off OpenClaw and the power to shut you down
57:29 Robot vacuum hacked with Claude: 7,000 cameras in strangers' homes
01:03:17 Smart home surveillance creep: Ring neighbors, TV cameras, and Microsoft Recall
01:07:14 Rapid-fire AI news: Sonnet 4.6, Gemini gains, and Grok 4.20
01:11:00 AI leaders' petty feud—and the show wrap & sponsor thanks

F-35 'Jailbreak' Talk, AMC Rejects AI Film, Gmail Training Confusion, and the AI Productivity Paradox
Host Jim Love covers four stories: 
Hashtag Trending would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt
Dutch Defense Secretary Gijs Tuinman suggests the F-35's software could be "jailbroken," highlighting allied concerns about U.S.-controlled update pipelines and mission systems (formerly ALIS, now ODIN) and arguing the main barriers are contractual and operational rather than purely technical. An AI-generated short film, "Thanksgiving Day" by Igor OV, wins Screen Vision Media's Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival and a promised two-week theatrical run, but AMC declines to screen it, reflecting ongoing Hollywood sensitivities around generative AI, authorship, and labor. Google responds to reports that it uses Gmail content to train Gemini by stating it does not use Gmail content for training, while confusion stems from wording and placement of Gmail "smart features" settings; the episode critiques the lack of plain-language clarity. Finally, a survey of 6,000 executives (reported via Tom's Hardware) finds over 80% of companies see no measurable productivity gains from AI, drawing parallels to the historic "productivity paradox" and suggesting organizations aren't redesigning processes; the show previews a deeper discussion on Project Synapse.
00:00 Trending Headlines + Sponsor: Meter
00:45 Can You 'Jailbreak' the F-35? Software Sovereignty & Ally Unease
02:48 AI Film Wins a Festival—AMC Says No: The Distribution Bottleneck
05:01 Does Google Train Gemini on Your Gmail? The Settings Confusion Explained
07:29 Why 80% See No AI Productivity Gains: The New 'Productivity Paradox'
09:47 Wrap-Up, Project Synapse Tease + Sponsor Thanks

Discord Age Verification Backlash, Tesla Robotaxi Crash Rate, YouTube Outage & Amazon Kills Blue Jay Robot
Host Jim Love covers several tech headlines: Discord's age verification rollout prompts user defections that push TeamSpeak beyond capacity, with concerns centering on third-party verification (including Persona) and broader trust issues; Discord says limited Persona use in the UK has ended and many checks won't require ID or facial scans. Data cited by Gizmodo suggests Tesla robotaxis crash about 1.3 times per million miles versus 0.3 for human drivers, with many incidents being low-speed rear-end collisions, intersection hesitation/entry errors, and strikes on stationary objects. YouTube experiences a major outage affecting hundreds of thousands of users across multiple services, traced to a malfunction in its recommendation system and later restored. Amazon reportedly shuts down its internal Blue Jay warehouse robotics project in under six months while continuing broader fulfillment-center automation. Finally, reports about an Apple AI pendant—a camera-and-microphone wearable likely paired to an iPhone—raise questions about whether Apple's secrecy has weakened or the details are a controlled leak.
Hashtag Trending would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt
00:00 Hashtag Trending Kickoff + Sponsor: Meter
00:45 Discord Age Verification Backlash Sparks TeamSpeak Surge
03:00 Tesla Robotaxis: Crash Rate vs Human Drivers (What the Data Shows)
05:18 YouTube Outage: Recommendation System Failure Explained
06:24 Amazon Scraps 'Blue Jay' Warehouse Robot After 6 Months
08:04 Apple's Mysterious AI Pendant: Leak, Strategy, or Secrecy Cracking?
09:57 Wrap-Up, Listener Thanks + Sponsor Message

In this episode of Hashtag Trending, host Jim Love covers reports that the Pentagon may cut ties with Anthropic over Claude's usage restrictions, after a $200M Department of Defense contract and disagreements about limits related to weapons development, surveillance, and violence. 
Hashtag Trending  would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt

The episode also examines warnings from Phison Electronics CEO KS Pua that an AI-driven memory crunch could push smaller consumer electronics makers toward bankruptcy or product exits by 2026 as high-end memory supply is prioritized for data centers, with potential ripple effects across devices and even automotive systems. MacWorld's critique of Apple's prolonged Siri overhaul is discussed, including delayed Apple Intelligence promises and reports Apple may integrate Google's Gemini into iOS, raising questions about Apple's premium brand perception amid broader software criticism. Finally, the show highlights a Meta patent describing AI that could continue posting and responding on behalf of deceased users by learning from their historical content, raising concerns about consent, control, authenticity, and identity online.
00:00 Hashtag Trending + Sponsor Message (Meter)
00:46 Pentagon vs. Anthropic: AI Guardrails and Military Use
03:05 AI Memory Crunch: Storage Shortages Threaten Consumer Tech
04:58 Is Siri Now an Apple Liability? Delays, Gemini, and Brand Risk
07:38 Meta's Patent: AI Posting After You Die (Digital Afterlife)
08:59 Wrap-Up, How to Support the Show + Sponsor Thanks

Host Jim Love returns after the holidays.
Hashtag Trending  would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/htt
The episode covers ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 AI video generator, which is producing highly realistic, film-quality scenes and prompting alarm in Hollywood, including comments from screenwriter Rhett Reese and renewed concerns about likeness rights and AI use in entertainment; ByteDance says it is strengthening safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property and likenesses. The show reports that Peter Steinberger, creator of the open-source agent tool OpenClaw, is joining OpenAI and the project is becoming part of a foundation for future agent-based AI, while also highlighting OpenClaw's widely discussed security weaknesses and the implications for OpenAI and competitor Anthropic. Western Digital is reported to be sold out of certain hard drive models as AI-related demand absorbs supply, following earlier GPU and memory price pressures. Finally, Ring's Super Bowl ad about finding a lost dog drew criticism for promoting neighborhood camera networks that resemble