IM 878: The 1AM Bus to Chinatown - Robots, Bison, and the Art of Savoring Small Stuff

IM 878: The 1AM Bus to Chinatown - Robots, Bison, and the Art of Savoring Small Stuff

Author: TWiT July 9, 2026 Duration: 3:05:44

Whether it's the sensory joy of homemade gelato or the privacy risks baked into AI-powered apps, the conversation spotlights how technology is transforming even the simplest moments—and why it's not always for the better.

  • OpenAI gets permission to roll out GPT-5.6 to the public on July 9
  • Beijing is looking at curbing overseas access to China's top AI models, sources say
  • OpenAI floats giving Trump administration 5 percent cut of AI boom
  • Mark Zuckerberg tells staff that AI agents haven't progressed as quickly as he'd hoped
  • Meta money grab is a plea to investors: Stick with us
  • Meta just launched a new AI generator, Muse Image, and users are already pushing back over use of their photos
  • Meta tests 'super sensing' AI glasses that can capture every moment
  • Google's AI buildout drove 37% increase in electricity use in 2025
  • Nvidia's Kyber AI rack slips to 2028, and one circuit board is to blame
  • Cloudflare will filter out web crawlers that serve AI companies
  • A Twist in This Year's Strangest Literary AI Scandal
  • Midjourney wants Hollywood studios to reveal the details of their AI usage
  • Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used AI to Cheat
  • Reid Hoffman: Introducing Tokens to the Future: Token Grants to AI Builders
  • Tilly Norwood to Lead New Movie 'Misaligned,' Marking Feature Debut for AI 'Actor'
  • MaximeRivest/riddle: The diary of Tom Riddle for the reMarkable Paper Pro — write with your pen, the page drinks your ink and answers in a flowing hand
  • lfnovo/open-notebook: An Open Source implementation of Notebook LM with more flexibility and features
  • GuideAlong

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Ian Bogost

Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:


From the team at TWiT, Intelligent Machines (Video) dives into the seismic shift unfolding right now. The first part of this century was defined by networks connecting people; the coming era will be defined by the intelligence embedded within the objects and systems around us. This isn't just about speculative fiction-it's about the algorithms in your car, the logic in your home appliances, and the evolving minds within our phones and robots. Each episode of this podcast unpacks a piece of that complex reality, examining both the profound potential and the tangible risks of this transformation. We're moving beyond simple gadget reviews to explore the deeper societal, ethical, and personal implications of living alongside thinking machines. The conversation is grounded in the present, looking at real-world applications and the engineers, philosophers, and policymakers shaping our automated future. Tune in for clear-eyed analysis and thoughtful discussion that aims to demystify the technology, helping you grasp not only what these systems do, but how they will redefine work, creativity, privacy, and human agency itself. Join us as we navigate the most significant technological revolution in generations, seeking to understand what we're building before it reshapes everything.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 33

Intelligent Machines (Video)
Podcast Episodes
IM 890: 200 Donuts - How One Engineer Manages a Team of 24 AIs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:52:34
What happens when a single person manages a staff of 24 AI "employees" with one-on-one performance reviews and weekly stand-ups? This episode takes you inside the wild, experimental frontier of local AI, where hobbyists…
IM 889: We Are the Neanderthals - Why LLMs Fail at Complex Reasoning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:37:02
Forget large language models. This episode uncovers a radically different approach to AI, where physics-guided reasoning and energy-based models are reshaping what machines can actually understand—and why that could unlo…
IM 888: Large Linguine Model - Inside the AI Doom Debate [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:41:37
Discover how to run serious AI at home without breaking the bank, as Lon Seidman reveals his tricks for turning old data center GPUs into powerful local LLM machines. Anthropic Researchers Raise Alarm Over A.I. Accelerat…
IM 883: Gates-Gate - AI Model Watermarks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:35:27
Can a single journalist armed with $30 in AI tools outpace traditional newsrooms and reinvent local reporting? This episode spotlights the DIY ingenuity shaking up journalism from the ground up. How Claude marks AI-gener…