Plus: Can you guess if these are valid email addresses? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 18, 2025 | Read online
# Google's $55 million fine, EU client-side scanning and Robot Games Plus: Can you guess if these are valid email addresses?
{{OPEN_TRACKING_PIXEL}}
Edition 2398
"Neiman Marcus Kitchen Computer, 1969. At the San Jose Computer History Museum." (Flickr: Golan Levin)
# The News
### Google’s $55 million fine for paying Telstra and Optus to make subscribers use the search engine they’d be using anyway
Google will pay $55 million for its anti-competitive deals with Telstra and Optus to solely pre-install Google Search on their customers’ phones (ACCC). The ACCC said Google had agreed to a penalty over deals that were “likely to have the effect of making it more difficult to obtain the distribution of general search engines” between 2017-2024. This follows Telstra and Optus also agreeing with the ACCC to end their deals last year (ACCC).
The Sizzle: One of the reasons that Google has been perhaps the greatest money-making business ever is that the dynamics of search are so predisposed to dominance. Search already has a virtuous cycle: the more people who use Google Search, the more data it has to improve search results, which means more people will use it more. So the added dynamic of Google also using its enormous financial might to box out any competitor seems worthy of a rap over the knuckles.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### EU looking increasingly likely to make client-side scanning compulsory
Europe is considering a CSAM-scanning bill dubbed “Chat Control” that would force companies to analyse content from even encrypted messaging services (TechRadar). The proposal is to make mandate client-side scanning, which is device-level scanning of content against a database of content to see if there are any matches, like for known child sexual abuse material. Similar proposals in the EU have failed previously, but a new plan is already gathering steam according to a website tracking support among the member countries (Fight Chat Control).
The Sizzle: I wrote about a similar proposal in Australia back in 2023 (Crikey, $). It was ultimately watered down, giving encrypted services a carve-out as long as they “take appropriate alternative action” (Guardian Australia). While I’m uncomfortable with a compulsory system like this, I’m also uncomfortable about the growing amount of CSAM which continues to increase year on year (IWF). It’s pretty clear that we need to do something else — I’m just not sure what.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### It’s Robots Sports time, folks
In case you missed it, this year’s World Humanoid Robot Games has now come to a close. 280 teams with 500 robots travelled from around the world, including one from Australia, one report said(NEWSGD), to take part in the three-day event in Beijing. They competed in events like athletics, kickboxing, soccer and, uh, even dance. On top of the normal competitions, there were also “scenario-based events which simulated real-world settings such as factories, hospitals and hotels”. Sounds thrilling.
Humanoids crash, box, and race at China's 'robot Olympics' | REUTERS
The Sizzle: Like self-driving cars, robots is one of those areas of tech that has constantly been “two years away from being two years away” my whole adult life. Aside from being unintentionally comical like the dashing robot who had to pull out of a race because its head fell off, I like the games Games because it gets these robot guys out of the demos and into some real situations… like robot fights.
hate when that happens
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia’s teen social media ban tech trial derailed by expert turmoil and secrecy (Crikey, $) Tech Council warns against new AI laws, seeks plan for energy demands (The Australian Financial Review, $) ‘Incredibly dangerous’: Govt looks to dump proposed AI Act (InnovationAus, $) Judge criticises lawyers acting for a boy accused of terrorism for filing ‘misleading’ AI-created documents (The Guardian) Accenture buys CyberCX for $1bn, reshaping Australia’s digital defences (The Australian, $) Monash unveils Australia's first AI supercomputer for research (SecurityBrief Australia) ‘Incredibly comforting’: Meet the BFFs of ChatGPT (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) Charge ahead: Road taxes may be closer than they appear (The Driven) No Range Anxiety here, Polestar sets a new World Record (EFTM) How a CBA ChatGPT error spat out the wrong phone number, and what it says about AI governance (SmartCompany) Apple Is Slow-Rolling Immersive Video on the Vision Pro (Bloomberg, archived) How Exposed Teslamate Instances Leak Sensitive Tesla Data (Medium) Seagate spins up a RAID on a counterfeit hard drive workshop — authorities read criminals' writes while they spill the beans (Tom's Hardware) This Police AI Company Is So Secretive, It Redacted Its Own Press Release (Mother Jones) How China is making gasoline-powered cars competitive again (Rest of World) "AI" as normal technology (derogatory) (Max Read's Substack) “Kids used to have all these websites…” (Mastodon)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Can you guess if these are valid email addresses?
I am a nerd. I write a tech newsletter. I don’t work on the technical side of email, but I’ve sent a few in my time. So, I thought I’d be great at “Email is Easy”, a game that tests you on a simple question: is this email address valid or not? Turns out, not so much! Let me know what score you get!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
#### Electrical & Electronics
UGREEN FineTrack Smart Tag (Compatible with Apple Find My) - $17 at UGREEN via Amazon AU Kings 15W Wireless Charger - 2 for $19.90 at 4WD Supa Centre Meross Mini Smart Plug with Energy Monitor - 2-Pack - $28.99 at Shuzu-AU via Amazon AU Swann Evo Indoor 2K Wi-Fi Security Camera 2 Pack - $49 at Officework UGREEN 165W Power Bank 20000mAh with Built-in Retractable USB C Cable Nexode Fast Ch - $101 at Amazon AU (Down from $139.99) Reolink Duo 3V PoE, 16MP UHD Dual-Lens Poe Security Camera with 180° Panoramic Color Night Vision - $208 at Reolink Ecovacs DEEBOT T50 MAX PRO OMNI Robot Vacuum and Mop - $1102 at Amazon US via AU Samsung 75" QLED Q7F 4K Vision AI Smart TV - $1199 at Samsung EPP Samsung 65" Q7F 4K Vision AI UHD QLED Smart TV QA65Q7FAAWXXY - $1249 (Down from $2069) LG 48" Oled B5 AI UHD 4K Smart TV 2025 - $1268 at Amazon Q Acoustics Concept 300 Bookshelf Speakers - $2199 at Addicted to Audio
#### Computing
Ubiquiti Unifi Gateway Lite Router - $55 at PLE (Down from $129) UGREEN Mac Mini M4 10-ports dock with 8K display port & 10Gbps NVMe Enclosure - $95.99 at UGREEN GroupAU via Amazon AU Logitech MX Master 3S Wireless Mouse - Graphite - $116 at Umart Lenovo 27" QHD 100hz IPS 4ms Monitor N27q - $157 at Officeworks HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless Gaming Headset (Black-Red) - $161 at HP (Down from $299) NetGear Nighthawk MK72S AX3000 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 2-Pack - $179 at NetGear Amazon Eero 6+ Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 Router - $187 at Amazon AU AOOSTAR N1PRO Mini PC: N150, 12GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Dual 2.5GB LAN, USB-C, W11 Pro, Wi-Fi 5 - $229 at AOOSTAR Amazon AU HP EliteBook 830 G5 Laptop: Intel i5-8250u, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Win11 Pro (refurbished) - $315 at Computer and Laptop Sales GMKtec G10 Mini PC, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U, 16GB RAM 1TB SSD, USB C - $349 at GMKtec-AUS via Amazon AU TP-Link Deco BE25 Wi-Fi 7 Dual-Band Mesh Router 3-Pack - $427 at Bing Lee Kogan 27" QHD QD-OLED 280Hz Gaming Monitor - KAMN27OD28LA - $599 at Kogan (Pre Order) TerraMaster F4-424 Pro 4-Bay NAS (i3-N305, 32GB RAM, 2x M.2 NVMe, 2x 2.5G LAN) - $848 at TerraMaster Amazon AU Gaming PC at Evatech MSI 5070 Ti OC, 32GB 6400/C32 / 1TB NVMe + 9600X for $2288 Ultra 245K for $2545
#### Mobile
OnePass 300gb data for 365 days - $199 at onepassmobile Vodafone Prepaid Plus Starter Pack with 300GB for - $199 at Vodafone Samsung Galaxy S25 256GB - $982 at Amazon Au
# The End
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