Plus: What did they think would happen when you combined an AI chatbot with a social media network? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 02, 2025 | Read online
# Let's get this over with, end of the password and Elon's Aussie boss denial Plus: What did they think would happen when you combined an AI chatbot with a social media network?
Issue 2323 - Friday 2 May 2025
Folks, thank heavens it’s Friday. Have a great weekend, vote early and vote often. And I’m looking forward to getting back to normal Sizzle programming on Monday - CW
# The News
### Let’s get this over and done with
Let’s get this over and done with: the election is tomorrow and I’ve said enough about it. Many of you have already voted. If you haven’t, here are a few things that might be interesting to think about on the way to the ballot box.
Labor vs Coalition: Tech policies to know this election (Information Age) 2025 Federal Election Scorecard: Where Parties Stand on Digital Rights (Electronic Frontiers Australia) Tech Council warns $167 billion opportunity slipping through political cracks (SmartCompany) Coalition costings confirm light touch industry and innovation plan (InnovationAus, $) Halving fuel excise will save $312, but an EV could save $27,000. You choose (The Driven)
### The end of the password is actually here
Microsoft is now making new accounts “passwordless by default”, instead prompting users to use passkeys, push notifications and security keys (The Verge). Similarly, Mastercard is enrolling all new Australian cards in its passkey and one-click check out programs (Information Age) There’s been talk for a long time about getting rid of passwords but somehow I always doubted we’d ever get to this point. We’re all more primed to be post-password than I realised — think about how many of us are using FaceID or equivalent. Also, for the record, I hate services that only offer logging in via an email one time password instead of a password. Sizzlers: I’d love to hear if you’re post-password? Send me some mail!
### Elon Musk’s Aussie boss is careful when talking about looking for his Tesla replacement
I’m sure you’re all familiar with this, but sometimes I forget that the richest man in the world who is BFFs with the most powerful man in the world has a boss: the Australian chair of Tesla, Robyn Denholm. Yesterday, she denied the report I included in yesterday’s Sizzle that the electric carmaker’s board was looking for a new CEO, i.e. firing Elon Musk (WSJ). She told the AFR that it was “absolutely false” that Tesla had contacted recruitment firms for a new CEO (AFR, archived) which is very specific wording. It would probably be a dereliction of directors duties if Tesla’s board wasn’t at least considering Musk’s position given everything that’s happening with the company and the man (YouTube). Anyway, Denholm is not only in charge of Musk but also holds a number of other influential Australian tech positions too and, in my opinion, still doesn’t get the close coverage that someone of her stature and responsibilities deserves.
#### Leftovers
NBN Co to raise wholesale plan prices from July (ARN) Trump’s Corruption Hits Next Level With Shady $2 Billion Crypto Deal (New Republic) Read the juiciest bits from the Apple-Epic court ruling (TechCrunch) iPhone 17 specs: the 5 biggest upgrades we’re expecting so far (The Shortcut) Spoilers ahead: Massive Galaxy S25 Edge leak reveals too much ahead of alleged launch (Android Central) How Amazon red-teamed Alexa+ to keep your kids from ordering 50 pizzas (The Register) Nvidia says Anthropic is telling ‘tall tales’ in its defense of U.S. AI chip restrictions on China (CNBC) Mark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industry (The Verge) X (the social media service formerly known as Twitter) has shed around 10 percent of its European users in the past six months (The Register) LinkedIn Shares Advertising Revenue With Creators In Video Push (Bloomberg, $) LinkedIn Games Are Still the Best Part of LinkedIn (WIRED, $) Sam Altman’s eye-scanning ID project launches in U.S. with six locations (CNBC) Polygon Sold To Valnet And Hit With Mass Layoffs [Update] (Kotaku) Monopoly Go passes $5B in gross bookings at a speed unseen in mobile gaming (VentureBeat)
# Oh, Also
### What did they think would happen when you combined an AI chatbot with a social media network?
A few days ago, Meta held an event around its AI offerings. One of the features it was launching was a social feed for its standalone Meta AI app. I wrote in the Sizzle Slack that I thought this was a smart idea — no one yet has nailed the social aspect to AI and it could be a way to make people more familiar with it. A former colleague of mine, Katie Notopoulos, quickly noticed an obvious problem: “I’m getting the sense that people using Meta AI don’t realize they’re posting to a public feed (this was a random post I saw, along with her voice)” she wrote on Threads (Threads).
The PMs at Meta probably should have designed a better UI to avoid problems that were obviously going to arise from combining AI chatbot with a social media platform.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Otto Pastel ANC Over-Ear Bluetooth Headphones - $17 at Officeworks Kids Sonic Activity Tracker 2.0 (for Kids & Adults) - $49.99 at Kidz Watches Eufy Clean L50 SES Robotic Vacuum - $349 at JB Hi-Fi Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (47mm Case 4G LTE) Titanium Grey - $573 at BecexTech via Amazon AU Roborock Qrevo Edge C Robotic Vacuum Cleaner (White) - $1599 at Roborock
Computing
Corsair Nautilus 360 RS ARGB CPU Cooler - $137 at Centre Com Kinstone Android Tablet FHD IPS 10.3" 4G 6GB/128GB 7500mAh - $149 at Phonebot Lenovo N27P 27" 4K 60Hz USB-C 65W PD Ergonomic Monitor - $297 at Officeworks Gaming PC at Evatech RTX4060 Ti 8G / 32G DDR5 / 1TB SSD / 750W + B650M/7500F for $1499 RTX4060 Ti 8G / 32G DDR5 / 1TB SSD / 750W + Z890/245K for $1849 Apple MacBook Pro 14-Inch M4/16GB/512GB SSD - Silver/Black - $2248 at Harvey Norman
Mobile
Google Pixel 9a 5G 8GB/128GB - Obsidian - $820 at Skyradar via Amazon AU iPhone 16 Pro Deal (Price Match Discount) - $1777 at JBHIFI
# The End
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