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Google keeps Chrome, AI blamed for FOI reforms and waxer wears smart glasses

Plus: It should not be this easy to crack a gift card like this

Author

Cam Wilson
September 03, 2025

Edition 2010

The News

Google won’t be forced to sell Chrome for illegal monopoly punishment

Google emerged unscathed from a US court ruling that could’ve made them sell Chrome (WSJ, gift link). After last year’s finding that the company was an illegal monopoly, the same District Court judge has ruled that Google can’t do deals to make Google an exclusive search option, and ordered the company to share limited search information with competitors at a marginal cost. Google’s stock pumped 8% on the news, suggesting the market views this as pretty good for the company (CNBC).

The Sizzle: I think it’s a pretty reasonable one considering the unintended consequences of some of the more severe punishments. Selling off Chrome made no sense because who out there has the money to buy it and fund its development like Google has? While payments to companies like Apple and Mozilla help Google maintain its place, forcing Google to cough data that other providers could use to improve their own products goes some way to ameliorate that. Like the judge noted (The Verge), clearly the generative AI boom is already a big threat to Google’s dominance — it makes sense to see how things shake out before really slicing it up.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

AI cited as reason to make it harder to get info from the government

AI-generated FOIs, criminals and foreign governments have been cited as reasons behind the federal government’s proposed FOI reforms that will make requests more expensive and less powerful. The government wants to start charging for federal FOIs and remove anonymous FOIs as a way of combatting abuse of the system (The Australian, $) and cited 600 FOIs sent to the eSafety Commissioner about one issue (Josh Taylor).

The Sizzle: I’m sympathetic to governments needing to deal with the new issue of an influx of AI-generated slop. In 2023, I wrote about a group using AI to spam submissions (Crikey, $). But this ain’t it chief. The government’s cited one example as its rationale. OK, give powers to deal with obvious vexatious outliers like this, but overall FOIs numbers are flat (Bill Browne). Cynically, I wonder if these measures were floated as negotiation bait, so they get struck out as concessions while other changes described by ANU academic Francis Markham as making it “easier for government to block access to information” end up sailing through.

(P.S someone has pseudonymously FOI’d the government for proof of this pesky bot problem on RightToKnow)

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Woman says waxer was wearing Meta Rayban glasses

An American woman says that she noticed her beautician was wearing Meta’s Rayban glasses while she was getting a wax (Shortcut). New York-based creator Aniessa Navarro posted a TikTok saying she noticed that her waxer was wearing “smart glasses” mid-wax. When she mentioned it, the beautician said that the glasses had her prescription lenses in them and weren’t turned on. Meta Raybans have a light that shows when its cameras are recording, but that’s not exactly foolproof since people sell stickers to conceal the light (WIRED, $).

The Sizzle: Stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What did Meta think was going to happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

  • TGA 'stepping up' regulation of AI scribes in healthcare (Information Age)

  • How Google's AI Overviews cost Thomas his job (Information Age)

  • Cloudflare blocks record-breaking 115 Tbps DDoS attack (BleepingComputer)

  • Aussie super industry to run industry-wide cyber exercise (Cyber Daily)

  • Hackers Threaten to Submit Artists' Data to AI Models If Art Site Doesn't Pay Up (404 Media, $)

  • Tesla’s new ‘Master Plan’ sounds like AI slop (The Verge)

  • Some therapists are secretly using ChatGPT to help them write their notes (MIT Technology Review, $)

  • Anti-Piracy Group Admits It Seeks Removal Of Games "Whether Or Not It Is Legal" (TheGamer)

  • Trump immigration advisers plan to use Israeli spyware to vet visa applicants (The Guardian)

  • Apple releases iOS 26 beta 9 for developers (9to5Mac)

  • UK council signs deal to use Palantir’s AI to predict which children are at risk (The Guardian)

  • What every argument about sideloading gets wrong (hugotunius.se)

  • Be honest, how cooked is this? (Reddit)

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

It should not be this easy to crack a gift card like this

A Melbourne developer found that gift cards, sold at supermarkets like Woolworths, were extremely vulnerable to brute-forcing after he bought a few duds. Simon Dean made a YouTube video about cracking a $20 gift card using exposed APIs on The Card Network’s website that don’t limit pin entries. Unsurprisingly for a company that clearly doesn’t give a shit about cybersecurity, it also wasn’t easy to get this solved, either.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electronics & electrical

Computing

Mobile

The End

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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.

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