Down Round

Reddit's CEO has stated that the forum site will move to “a logged-in-only experience”, and has pointed the finger at AI for forcing this change. When you ask google "Best Computer to buy 2026 Reddit" it now gives you the reddit consensus in it's summary, you're no longer browsing Reddit and giving them precious ad revenue. Is this the last domino to fall for the death of the 'free internet' as we once knew it? And moreover, does that even matter?   If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Years in the future historians will cite this humble podcast episode as a first hand account of an irreversible shift. There is now only the before and the after. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friend of the pod Richard Cooke has published his new book - The Last Best Place on the Internet: A Human History of Wikipedia. At his book launch in Sydney, James and Raph of Down Round podcast fame sat down for a discussion of the work, the human interest story behind it, and of course AI. Grab yourself a copy of the book here: https://richardcooke.com/books Recorded live at Gleebooks Sydney on 15/10/26See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elon Musk and his cronies over at Tesla had an event last week where they showed off the latest version of the Roadster. You may be thinking 'hey, didn't they announce that car like 8 years ago?' Yes, they did, yet it remains unreleased. Tesla have also kicked that can down the road another 2 years, announcing a 2028 release. Who better to detangle this web of theatrics than Henno and the Riph Raph.Also, Raph gives his thoughts on the newly announced Apple Homeview, a device which should be right up his alley as an Apple Home user. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the course of a week, Aussie neocloud company Firmus went from expecting a $40B IPO to cancelling it all together. The company and its Co-CEO Oliver Curtis have, to some, become a punching bag for the media and online critics alike. On the other hand, some are suggesting that Australia's 'tall poppy syndrome' may be obscuring a key opportunity for the country to get a slice of the AI pie. In this episode, Raph and Jimbo take us through the media circus day-by-day to diagnose what went wrong. Get your tickets for the Richard Cooke Book launch AKA Down Round LIVE (GET IN QUICK, ONLY STANDING ROOM LEFT!): https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1647769 If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some higher-up from Anthropic tried to talk the Pope into conceding that AI agents have a consciousness. Your hosts, Henno and The Riph Raph, discuss why they would make this claim, whether it's a possibility, and what it really means to be sentient.Get your tickets for the Richard Cooke Book launch AKA Down Round LIVE: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1647769If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OpenAI "hacked" an Australian Government website and said NOTHING!? Well, sort of?Albo pulled up his big boy pants and stormed up to New York on Thursday to tell the world and Sam Altman that he was displeased with OpenAI's recklessness in allowing their bots to scrape the "Medicare statistics reporting service portal". But, it didn't necessarily break any laws - it didn't use any passwords or workarounds - it just found some unprotected files and took them for research. Raph and James hike up some big boy pants of their own to get to the bottom of what really went down, and whether or not we should be freaking out about it.  Get your tickets for the Richard Cooke Book launch AKA Down Round LIVE: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1647769If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Raph and James sit down to answer a simple question: what the hell does an average person need an AI agent for?This question arises from the recent launch of Joe Schmoe-targeted agentic AI platforms like Instinct and Meta's Muse. Until now, AI agents have been the pipe dreams of techno sickos, who aim to use them for nefarious means like booking pickleball courts. Are the normies ready to start agentically booking holidays?Richard Cooke Book launch AKA Down Round LIVE: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1647769   If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a former Anthropic employee went on a press tour telling everyone he quite because the stuff they're cooking up is big and scary, a whole new round of discourse has hit the proverbial fan. Many of the big players have come out to say "yes, we SHOULD be pumping the breaks!" but only in a particular way and without too much government intervention? There's a whole lot to dig through and a whole lot of ulterior motives at play here, and Henno and The Riph Raph are here to get to the bottom of it. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial General Intelligence. Computers using computers. Computers getting Raph a coffee because he yelled "me coffee". Computers curing diseases before we even discover them. Computers discovering the infinite money glitch and creating a work-free utopia. Sound familiar? Well, it should! Because clearly, since the release of OpenAI's GPT-6: Astra, Artificial General Intelligence has been achieved! We're here! Take-off! Well, kind of? If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.