Issue 2342 - Thursday 29 May 2025

Sorry for running a bit late today! I was responding to all the emails, forum and Slack posts about suggesting self-hosting email when I actually meant just using a custom domain. As punishment I will be subjecting myself to self-hosting the Sizzle (which means I’ll be hand-delivering future editions).

The News

Bunnings says it didn’t need to ask permission to use facial recognition

Bunnings reckons it didn’t need permission to use facial recognition technology across dozens of its stores because it was using it on sus people (Biometric Update). The hardware giant is defending against the Information Commissioner’s case that it broke Australian privacy laws by using FRT at 63 stories. Documents obtained by FOI show Bunnings claims it was only capturing and comparing facial data from customers who were accused of abusive behaviour, and that it was unreasonable to ask them for consent (MLex, $) but commissioner Carly Kind ain’t buying it. In the US, AI surveillance company Flock is letting immigration agents search footage from the cameras installed by customers like local councils and businesses (404Media, $).

Nvidia is making off like a bandit from the AI boom

It’s seriously hard to comprehend how much money Nvidia is making off the AI hype. Initially, there were export restrictions on top level AI chips. Then, when Nvidia came up with some B+++ chips that it could sell to China, the Trump administration decided to ban their exports too at a cost of about US$8 billion. Despite this, Nvidia beat expectations with $44 billion in earnings this quarter —  were up 73% year-on-year — at a gross margin of 61% (CNBC). And if you thought it was just their data centres, Nvidia’s gaming and robotic divisions both saw 42% and 72% growth respectively. But despite rockstar CEO Jensen Huang’s lobbying for access to the $50b Chinese market, the Trump admin continues to crack down on anyone supplying anything related to chips — now telling US semiconductor design software companies with Chinese customers to knock it off (FT, $).

If kids are using ChatGPT to cheat, what should we do?

Following on from a previous Sizzle edition where we mentioned how every student is cheating using ChatGPT, I came across this newsletter where well-known US jazz historian Ted Gioia came up with some suggestions for how schools should respond (The Honest Broker). These boil down to ‘get your kids off the dang computer’! I think this is certainly part of how schools should start thinking about it. But also — I know this sounds crazy — maybe we should think of teaching and students’ capabilities on tasks that can’t easily be replicated by AI or will need to be even more important with AI. i.e. understanding how to judge the quality of information or how to talk/write like a real person. What do you think schools should do?

Leftovers

Oh, Also

Do you bank at Starbucks?

A 9NEWS story about the fact that there’s $30 million on toll e-tag accounts that haven’t been used in at least six months (LinkedIn) reminded me of a similar story: in 2016, a report on where Americans kept their money revealed that Starbucks held $1.2 billion from customers on their Starbucks cards (MarketWatch). This meant that the company had more money on hand than many banks — and all of it was being essentially lent to them free by customers. And, because most credit that isn’t used within a year will never be used, the company pockets $200 million each year (MarketWatch). Moral of the story? Don’t use gift cards if you can avoid it.

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. 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.