Plus: can you tell if this is an antidepressant or a Tolkien character? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 16, 2026 | Read online
# Wikipedia's AI-themed 25th birthday, teen social media ban data and the Sizzler Say Plus: can you tell if this is an antidepressant or a Tolkien character?
Edition 2482
"SMIL computer manouver panel" by Nixdorf is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Good afternoon, Sizzlers! I hope you all have a GREAT weekend. I know I've already got my reading material sorted...
it’s bigger than i expected
Mentioned in today’s edition: Anthropic, Tony Robbins, eSafety, Waymo, mule accounts, The Tea App, Palantir, Thinking Machines Lab and Trump Mobile. Plus, deals on Samsung earbuds, MacBook Pros and Optus prepaid plans.
# The News
### Wikipedia celebrates a quarter century with AI companies that threaten its existence
Wikipedia is celebrating its 25th birthday by signing deals with AI companies that threaten its very existence (AP). The Wikimedia Foundation is doing some fun stuff to mark its quarter-century of operation, including releasing some videos featuring its editors, opening a time capsule, even launching a virtual birthday card (Wikimedia). At the same time, it's announcing deals with pretty much every AI company — except OpenAI, notably — to pay for the content that they've used as training data.
The Sizzle: It's funny to see the Wikimedia Foundation do, at an organisational level, what I do on my birthday: consider your own mortality. AI companies and their dream of being the platform between you and everything on the internet could ruin Wikipedia, which I believe should be the first digital Wonder of the World. Sure, money is good, but Wikipedia depends on volunteers and I doubt there's a high conversion rate of "ChatGPT user who sees a Wikipedia citation in an answer --> Wikipedia editor".
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### We got the first teen social media ban data and it tells us... not much
4.7 million social media accounts have been removed by tech companies complying with the teen social media ban (Guardian). The Albanese government said this shows the ban is "working" but everyone, including the government itself, knows that circumvention of the ban is widespread. I wrote a full piece on this at Crikey but, most generously, we don't know if the ban is actually helping kids yet. That hasn't stopped the UK from looking like they're going to follow suit (BBC).
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### The Sizzler Say: missing Markdown history, foldable iPhone mock-up and best 2025 apps
It turns out the history of Markdown that I shared earlier this week didn't include what Sizzlers say on the forum was some less than delightful behaviour by founder John Gruber that came after the invention. Credit to Quilgy in Slack for grappling with the leaks about the supposed foldable iPhone by printing out the design to see what it looks like IRL. There's a thread on the forum about the best apps/software of 2025 which you should check out (and maybe add to?) One Sizzler lamented on Slack all the paperwork they'd signed that was rendered useless now that the US has approved selling advanced chips to China.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Anthropic setting up shop in Australia (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) Google accelerates Waymo robotaxi Sydney launch plans (AFR, $) 'Scourge on society': Big four banks blast Meta over Facebook 'mule' accounts (Capital Brief, $) PM’s Department Weighed Down by Clunky Tech (InnovationAus, $) Extra! Extra! This exciting newsroom sim delivers hours of intrigue (Sifter)
Rest of World:
Government drops plans for mandatory digital ID to work in UK (BBC) FTC bans GM from selling drivers' location data for five years (BleepingComputer) People Are Paying $99 a Month to Talk to a Tony Robbins Chatbot (The Wall Street Journal, $) Inside OpenAI’s Raid on Thinking Machines Lab (Wired, $) Illegal Sports Streaming in UK Soared 33% in First Half of 2025 (Bloomberg, $) State Department Threatens UK Over Grok Investigation Because Only The US Is Allowed To Ban Foreign Apps (Techdirt) ‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid (404 Media, $) The Tea App Is Back With a New Website (Wired, $) Democrats ask Trump's FTC to investigate Trump Mobile's broken promises (Ars Technica)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Antidepressants or Tolkien?
Here's a fun game that will test your fantasy/pharmaceutical knowledge this Friday: Antidepressant or Tolkien?
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Belkin Soundform Nano, True Wireless Earbuds, 85db Limit - $22.50 at Amazon AU (Down from $69.95) Oppo Supervooc 80W Charger - $24.95 (Eco Packaging) (Down from ~$50) Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro Wireless Earbuds (White) - $208 at Skyradar Amazon AU (Down from $399)
Computing
Dell Latitude 5520 1145G7 16GB RAM 256GB SSD 15.6" - $319 at Australian Computer Traders (Refurb) (Down from ~$600) MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max) 14/32 Core CPU/GPU 36GB/1TB Black - $4997 at Officeworks (Down from $5700)
Mobile
Travel eSIM (1GB for 2 Days, Data Only) - Free at Kolet Optus 300GB 365-Day Prepaid SIM Starter Kit - $219 at Woolworths (Down from $350) Motorola Razr 60 5G 256GB - $899 at JB Hi-Fi (Blue and Pink Only) (Down from $1199) Oppo Find X9 5G 512GB - $1499 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $1799)The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
🤖 We love robots at the Sizzle but this newsletter has always been and will always be written by humans for humans. Also by Aussies for Aussies — so all prices are in dollarydoos, of course.
🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!
💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.
🌐 The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.
🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards.
## 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.
Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 The Sizzle PO Box 351 Bacchus Marsh, VIC 3340, Australia
Powered by beehiiv
Terms of Service