Plus: The government is cracking down on stingy pubs ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 20, 2025 | Read online
# OpenAI getting stinky, everyone has a bank now and Wikipedia fights threats Plus: The government is cracking down on stingy pubs
Edition 2442
"San Francisco 19.04.2007 011" (Flickr: Boris Gruschko)
Apologies that the forum poster-bot has been broken. I think I’ve fixed it for today!
# The News
### An increasingly stinky OpenAI says Australia’s copyright law doesn’t matter
OpenAI is lining up to open up its chequebook in Australia even if we don’t decide to hand over all of our intellectual property, its international exec says (Guardian Australia). The ChatGPT-maker’s vice president of global affairs Chris Lehane told SXSW last week that “we are going to be in Australia one way or another”, splitting from the tech lobby group Tech Council of Australia’s campaign to give free rein to train AI on copyrighted data.
It comes at the end of a pretty bad week for OpenAI, which included:
The backlash to the ChatGPT erotica promise and the less scrutinised, but still wild, claim that it has “mitigated” mental health risks. Our education minister claiming that AI chatbots are bullying kids (Guardian). OpenAI apologising for letting Sora 2 make “disrespectful depictions” of Martin Luther King and limiting what the video slopmaker can do for historical figures (CBS News). Its researchers falsely claiming that ChatGPT had solved some previously unsolved math problems (TechCrunch).
The Sizzle: OpenAI is trending dangerously closely to the “stinky” zone. Consider the difference between Google and Meta. Both are big tech companies with the same business model. Both have had some big problems. But Meta is severely unpopular, while Google still has some sheen. (This, by the way, is one of the reasons I believe Google/YouTube has pushed so hard against being in the teen social media ban — they do not want YouTube lumped in with Facebook as a “dangerous social network for teens”).
In short, Meta is stinky. The problem with being in stinky zone is that non-stinky people, businesses and governments ARE loath to work with stinky companies. In Meta’s case, they’re one of two of the biggest ad networks so they’re fine. But with OpenAI? Facing competition products like Gemini, Claude, every open source AI model, the company needs to have the prestige of a Google or Apple. But — as I think a little unfairly — when you’re talking about how your office productivity software can also suck users off… Well, you’re at risk of stink.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Why is everyone starting a bank?
Sony is the latest household name to move to start their own cryptocurrency bank (Nikkei). The Japanese company filed paperwork in the US under its subsidiary Connectia Trust and has indicated it intends to release a stablecoin. It follows YouTuber Mr Beast, whose company trademarked “MrBeast Financial” (Rolling Stone), and Republican tech billionaires Palmer Luckey and Peter Thiel who are both backing Erebor Bank (MSNBC)
| Exec Sum @exec_sum |
BREAKING: @MrBeast has filed a trademark for “MrBeast Financial,” signaling plans to launch his own banking venture The filing was made on an intent-to-use basis, meaning the YouTuber isn’t just reserving the name, but has real plans to bring the brand to life
4:44 PM • Oct 16, 2025
53 Likes 4 Retweets
5 Replies
The Sizzle: The obvious reason that everyone seems to be setting up a bank is that the Trump administration passed stablecoin ““““““regulations””””” which make it easier to do so. But, even still, why do it? This Bloomberg article from earlier in the year sums up the appeal:
A bank charter can be alluring, especially for financial-services startups that need dependable access to cash, which consumer deposits could provide. Becoming a bank would free them from having to rely on a banking partner. It also would give them access to insurance on customers’ deposits and to the Federal Reserve payment system, which enables efficient financial transactions.
Georgia Hall and Paige Smith
Should we start a Sizzle Bank? Much to consider.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Wikipedia needs to deal with both AI and guns
Wikipedia is facing two very different threats. Firstly, AI is siphoning away its traffic while draining its servers (Gizmodo). Wikimedia Foundation’s Marshall Miller wrote a blog post saying that its seeing an 8% year-on-year decrease in traffic! While Wikimedia does make data available for scraping, it also needs visitors on its platforms to contribute to it — or it faces withering away.
And if that wasn’t enough, a gunman who burst onto the stage of WikiConference North America late last week (NYT, $). The would-be attacker seemed to be under some bizarre delusion about Wikipedia and pedophilia but — thankfully — two volunteers grabbed him and wrestled the gun from him. And, naturally, the page for the event has already been updated to reflect the news.
god bless Wikipedia editors
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Google has hired barristers for its teen social media ban challenge (The Australian, $) 'I lost 25 pounds in 20 days': what it's like to be on the frontline of a global cyber-attack (The Guardian) TfNSW changes direction on autonomous buses (iTnews) Blackbird funds change hands at steep discounts rattling investors (Australian Financial Review, $) AWS feds contract doubles to 342m months after expiry (InnovationAus, $) New Tesla? It might not have a radio in it (james.cridland.net) "I just want what I paid for:" Tesla's first Australian customer not happy with FSD treatment (The Driven) Aussie demand for money-saving home batteries outpaces supply (GadgetGuy)
Rest of the world:
Big Tech is paying millions to train teachers on AI, in a push to bring chatbots into classrooms (AP News) 👀 definitely keeping an eye on this considering previous big tech incursions into the classroom. X is changing how it handles links to try and keep you in the app (The Verge) Microsoft confirms Windows 11 KB5066835 issues (Windows Latest) Apple’s AI team has lost some big names and is set to lose more (Bloomberg, $) Meta joins Nvidia, OpenAI, and AMD to launch Ethernet for Scale Up Network - ESUN competes with InfiniBand but will work with Ultra Ethernet Consortium (TechRadar) The White House is already one of the most blocked accounts on Bluesky (TechCrunch) Tech workers should join their unions to fight enshittification (Cory Doctorow) Why the open social web matters now (werd.io) The Zipper Is Getting Its First Major Upgrade in 100 Years (Wired, $) A tool for making your own custom RSS feeds (feed-me-up-scotty.vincenttunru.com) 4Chan Lawyer publishes Ofcom correspondence (Alec Muffett) Humans are no longer necessary. So we’re getting rid of them. Replacement.AI can do anything a human can do - but better, faster and much, much cheaper. (replacement.ai)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### The government is cracking down on stingy pubs
I follow the RSS feed for the National Measurement Institute. It’s a government body that exists to create Australian standards for measurements and enforce them.
This week, the NMI will be sending inspectors to do random checks at 350 venues across Australia to ensure “pot, schooner, middie, pint, nip, shot and glass poured is correct when sold by measurement.” (Industry dot gov).
How is this technology, you ask? Well, they will test “measuring devices, automated liquor dispensers and trading practices”, noting that a whopping 1 in 4 failed their last round of inspections back in 2022. Godspeed NMI!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
eufy Security 2K Indoor Pan and Tilt Camera - $78 at Harvey Norman INIU USB C Power Bank 140W 27000mAh - $87.42 at INIU AU via Amazon AU Philips Fullsize Ergo Massage Gun PPM7322DG, 10kg/12mm - $124 at Amazon AU (Down from $499.99) Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation - $258 at Amazon AU Pentax 17 HF 35mm Half Frame Film Camera - $619 at TVSN Samsung HW-Q930F/XY 9.1.4ch Dolby Atmos Soundbar - $880 at Appliance Central Samsung 42" S90F OLED 4K Smart AI TV - $1499 at JBHifi (Down from $2195) TCL 85 Inch C6K QD-Mini LED 4K Google TV 85c6k - $1899 at Costco
Computing
1 Year 1Password Family (New Accounts Only) - $0 at 1Password TCL NXTPAPER 11 LTE 128GB Tablet - Dark Grey - $199 at Harvey Norman LG 29wq500 - 29" 21:9 UltraWide Full HD (2560x 1080) - $229 at Amazon AU Samsung 870 EVO 4TB 2.5" SATA SSD - $364.66 at Amazon US via AU Dell Inspiron 15" 3535 8GB 512GB 120Hz at Dell Outlet Australia (As New) Ryzen 3 for $499 Ryzen 5 for $529 Aoostar WTR PRO 4 Bay NAS Ryzen 7 5825u - $549 at AOOSTAR PC via Amazon Au Apple iPad (10th Generation) Wi-Fi 256GB Blue (Refurbished) - $579 at Apple Western Digital 26TB WD Red Pro NAS - $806 at Amazon AU Apple iPad Air 11 Inch (2025) M3 256GB - $919 at Costco Online XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB Graphics Card - $999 at Scorptec Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M4, 10-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) - $1989 at Apple
Mobile
amaysim: 12-month SIM/eSIM with 320GB plus $39 cashback - $199 at TopCashback AU iPhone 16e 128GB - $899 at JB Hi-Fi
# The End
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