Issue 2274 - Wednesday 19 February, 2025

Results are in! Thanks so much for your votes. About twice as many of you would prefer “election-minning” so I’ll mostly limit Sizzle-relevant election coverage to one section unless it’s really worth breaking out.

As a reminder: I’m always all ears for story ideas, tips and even errant thoughts. That goes doubly so during election season. You know where to find me!

In Today’s Issue

The News

Aussie crypto exchanges told to “please explain”

Fifty Australian cryptocurrency exchanges have been given “please explain” notices by Australia’s financial crimes watchdog (AFR, $). The head of AUSTRAC, which monitors money movements for things like money laundering and counter-terrorism funding, says that crypto is being used to allow “large volumes of money to move quickly between jurisdictions and then disappear”. Both crypto bulls and skeptics would agree with this assessment, it’s just that they differ on whether they think this is a good or bad thing lmao.

One thing that might help you decide where you stand on this: the premier blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis tracked a whopping US$9.9 billion in crypto scams in 2024 — and they reckon this number will grow to $12 billion as they “identify more illicit addresses and incorporate their historic activity into our estimates” (Chainalysis). Meanwhile, Argentine president Javier Milei is in hot water, facing lawsuits and calls for impeachment, after he promoted cryptocurrency $LIBRA which immediately pumped and was dumped. (WIRED, $)

RIP AI Pin, we hardly knew ye

The company behind the hyped but very flawed AI Pin, Humane, has been mostly sold to HP and is shutting up shop (The Verge). In an extremely on-brand move for Humane, the devices will lose much of its functionality at the end of the month when the company shuts down its servers. AI Pin and its similarly flawed counterpart the Rabbit R1 (here’s a devastating Verge review for those not familiar) were some of the first major forays into AI-powered gadgets that were vying to replace your phone, but they both were largely unusable and were huge commercial flops.

I wish they had worked out! I want some variety in my gizmos, I want people trying cool new form factors. The ubiquitous Little Glass Boxes we all have are very convenient, but there’s also plenty of use cases where it would be cool to have something else — like when you’re outside or when your hands are full. One strand to connect to this: while I love my little Apple walled garden, the way that the company limits how other devices can interact with their products (like the secret sauce for connecting AirPods shown in this arXiv paper) is clearly stifling gadget innovation by making it harder for other people to build good things that piggyback off the iPhone.

Should we be worried about AI chatbots?

The eSafety Commissioner has warned about the potential risks for Aussie kids using AI relationship chatbots (eSafety). Her “online safety advisory” highlights concerns such as dependency, learning unhealthy relationship habits, chatbot makers using “manipulative design elements” to encourage kids to pay, and the risk of exposure to sexualized conversations that could prime children for abuse.

By now, we’ve all heard the stories about children allegedly suiciding after conversations with bots (AP News) which are known to give dangerous advice when prompted or, sometimes even unprompted (MIT Technology Review). It’s good precaution to put out some advice for parents, but my “moral panic” sense is tingling. The fear-mongering about “AI girlfriends are ruining an entire generation of men” (The Hill) seems completely unfounded to me. We’ve always had people obsessed with things that can’t return their affection — it’s called fandom, from the Beatles to Harry Styles. I’m yet to be convinced that AI chatbots present a significant issue, but I’m open to changing my mind on this. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Oh, Also

How Apple helped fake brain cancer fraudster Belle Gibson

Amid the hype of the Apple Cider Vinegar —  a new Netflix series about the Australian influencer who pretended to have cancer, Belle Gibson —  I was amused to see a take from longtime Australian tech journalist Stephen Fenech. In an article titled ‘How Belle Gibson used Tech Guide to peddle her cancer lies’ (Tech Guide Australia) he laid out how Apple elevated Gibson.

Fenech recalled that the tech company flew out Gibson to its 2014 launch event for the release of the Apple Watch, which featured Gibson’s Whole Pantry app as one of the first apps to be available on its store. The iPhone app was priced at $3.75 and reportedly had 300,000 downloads (eugh, Daily Mail link). Apple’s promotion of it no doubt boosted it further.

“The move by Apple gave Gibson even more fame and a higher profile while also propelling her app The Whole Pantry into the stratosphere,” Fenech wrote. Of course, Apple wasn’t to know. In fact, Fenech admits he was completely convinced by her, too. I recommend giving the article a read!

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday afternoon. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.