Plus: A rebuttal to the dead internet theory ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

November 13, 2025 | Read online
# Public servants to get AI chatbots, Valve console and bug spotting Plus: A rebuttal to the dead internet theory
Edition 2460
"Radebeul, DDR Museum Zeitreise - Robotron 1715 Computer"
# The News
### Australia wants all our public servants to use AI as much as our national security chief does
The federal government is giving every public servant access to a generative AI chatbot to try supercharge its uptake (AFR, $). Yesterday, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher released the Australian Public Service AI plan (Finance Department). The plan includes giving everyone access to a government AI platform chatbot called — what else — GovAI Chat and for every department to appoint a chief AI officer.
But we already know that AI is being used in the government:
Friend of the Sizzle Josh Taylor reported for the Guardian that the NDIA is already using machine learning to help develop NDIS plans. And, in an Australian first, I used FOI to get hold of the Department of Home Affairs’ national security chief’s Microsoft Copilot logs (Crikey, $) which showed how he was using it to ghost-write speeches, to write messages to colleagues and “first drafts” of “intergovernmental” communications 👀 .
so funny to just see this written
The Sizzle: Oh great, another big, fat government policy document about AI uptake 🙄 . It’s funny that one of the Department of Home Affairs’ reasons to exempt some documents from being released to me was because they feared that exposing AI chat logs would discourage public servants from using it. I can understand why — but the idea that there’s oversight into your use of a technology seems to be a pretty reasonable expectation to me! Maybe that’s being too idealistic but, hear me out, maybe we should know how public servants are using this new tool — complete with its own biases and problems — to decide what our government is doing.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Valve is getting back into the console wars
A decade after Valve’s first attempt flopped, the gaming platform (and occasional game maker) is getting back in the game — literally — with new gaming hardware (Verge). Valve is releasing the Steam Machine, a gaming PC running its Linux-based SteamOS that’s essentially an Xbox or Playstation competitor (Polygon). It’s also dropped a wacky looking controller and, perhaps most intriguingly, a VR headset called the Steam Frame that can run games locally or actually stream gameplay directly from a gaming platform using a proprietary wireless dongle (Verge). Prices and release dates aren’t clear yet, but it’s expected it’ll be in 2026 (PC Gamer).
The Sizzle: I bet you the folks at Xbox HQ aren’t stoked about more competition!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Is it helpful to report obscure bugs and not help fix them?
There’s been an interesting fight brewing in the open source community: the people who run the video processing software FFmpeg project (which is used by pretty much every major media player) have complained about Google reporting bugs to them (The New Stack). Weird, right? Well, their problem is that Google has launched a new AI agent that is finding incredibly niche bugs (“an issue with decoding LucasArts Smush codec, specifically the first 10-20 frames of Rebel Assault 2, a game from 1995”).
FFmpeg says that it’s not at all useful to be told about these issues while projects like this are run by unpaid volunteers. Massive companies relying on free resources that they do nothing/very little to assist is nothing new — but it seems like making an AI that inundates people with very esoteric problems is pushing people closer to the breaking point.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
DTA’s Digital Workforce Insights report (DTA) A warning about scammers impersonating police to target victims for cryptocurrency/seed wallet theft (Cyber.gov.au) Spy chief warns of China espionage threat to business, critical infrastructure (ABC News) Big tech stops complaining, starts complying with Australia's teen social media ban (Reuters, $) Menulog is closing down in Australia. Here's what we know (ABC News) No more buffering: a sex workers guide for better wi-fi (Tryst) Ikea brings its new Matter-compatible range to Australia (GadgetGuy)
Rest of the world:
Hard drives on backorder for two years as AI data centers trigger HDD shortage — delays forcing rapid transition to QLC SSDs (Tom's Hardware) Waymo robotaxis are now giving rides on freeways in LA, San Francisco, and Phoenix (TechCrunch, $) EU developers don't pass on App Store fee savings to users (AppleInsider) Google makes it easier for businesses to run Windows apps on ChromeOS amid an uncertain future (9to5Google) Are you listening to bots? Survey shows AI music is virtually undetectable (Reuters, $) How high are OpenAI’s compute costs? Possibly a lot higher than we thought (Financial Times, $) This is written using OpenAI financial data obtained by Ed Zitron and it is … wild
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### A rebuttal to the dead internet theory
With bots now everywhere, you may have heard about the “dead internet theory” which is the idea that most of the stuff you see online is coming from non-alive things. In response, someone called Spencer has built a project using the Internet Archive that proves that “the internet will always be filled with real people”.
whatever you think about this you can’t deny it’s alive
Hard to explain, but worth a try!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
$50 off $500 Appliances Online spend with PayPal Pay in 4 NOVOO Thin Wallet Tracker Card (Apple Find My iOS) at Mbest-AU via Amazon AU 1 Pack for $24.79 2 Pack for $42 Truefree Open Ear Bluetooth 5.3 Headphones, Wireless Earbuds with Earhooks - $26.99 at HQY-AU via Amazon AU CMF Headphone Pro - Bluetooth Wireless Over Ear Headphones with ANC - $106 at Amazon UK via AU Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro, White - $170 at Skyradar Amazon AU Oral-B Io7 Electric Toothbrush - $187 at Ebay (Down from $579) eufy Security S220 Solocam 2-CAM KIT (Homebase 3 Included) - $343 at Good Buyz Eufy Robot Vacuum 3-in-1 E20 - $599 at Bunnings Warehouse ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S PRO & Accessories Bundle Robot Vacuum - $614 at Ecovacs Robotics
Computing
Rapoo 9010M Multi-Device Keyboard and Mouse Combo - $25.99 at LH-RAPOO-US-DirectStore Amazon Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3200MHz C16 RAM - $129 at Amazon US via AU GL.inet GL-RM1PE with ATX Board - $141 GL.iNet Comet PoE With Fingerbot (GL-RM1PE With Fingerbot) - $149 at GL.iNet AliExpress GL.inet Slate 7 GL-BE3600 Dual Band Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router - $165 at GL.inet AliExpress ASUS TUF BE6500 Dual Band WiFi 7 Router - $184 at YQ Global Store AliExpress Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad Pro 2025 (12.7" 2.9K 144Hz, 8GB/128GB, Widevine L1) - $259 at Goldway AliExpress MSI PRO MP341CQ 34" UltraWide Business Monitor, 3440x1440 @ 100hz Curved VA - $299 at Amazon Au AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU - $359 at Binary Tech Store AliExpress Dell Latitude 7320 Laptop: Intel i5-1135g7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win11 Pro - $449 at Computer and Laptop Sales (Refurb) XFX Mercury AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT OC - $1099 at KS Computer via Amazon au LG 39GX90SA-W 39-inch OLED 240Hz WQHD Curved Smart Gaming Monitor - $1399 at LG AU
Mobile
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# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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