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Teen YouTube accounts banned, Microsoft's AI deal and Aussie 'space' flight

Plus: The Aussie at the top of the world's AI (ab)use leaderboard

Author

Cam Wilson
July 30, 2025

Edition 2385

The News

Teens will be banned from having YouTube accounts, which will definitely solve every problem our kids are facing

The worst kept secret in politics is finally out with YouTube now being added to the social media platforms that will be required to try to stop teens from having accounts in Australia (ABC News). The federal government announced the decision in its now published “online safety rules” regulation (Legislative dot gov) and despite YouTube’s threats to sue.

The Sizzle: The YouTube exception is funny because it is the platform likely to be least affected by the ban because it only bans accounts. Why everyone’s focused on it, though, is that it was such a clear example of how the federal government has been making up shit as they go along with this law. Now that it’s fixed — pending a legal challenge, maybe — I don’t think the law is fundamentally any better for it being included because it is a bizarrely written law dealing with a vague grab-bag of every digital concern that some experts aren’t sure it’ll solve.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Microsoft and OpenAI have a really weird relationship

Microsoft is set to re-write its deal with OpenAI that will clear the way for the AI company to become a for-profit company (Bloomberg, $). Under its original investment, the Windows-maker has access to OpenAI’s tech until it either invents “artificial general intelligence” or hits $100 billion in total profits. These arrangements have complicated OpenAI’s quest to shed its status as non-profit — but apparently Microsoft might drop it for 30%~ share in whatever OpenAI becomes.

The Sizzle: This stuff might seem in the weeds but it’s subplot to the “AI is taking over the world” storyline. OpenAI has been pissing off Microsoft — even releasing competing office products (ZDNet) — but Microsoft ultimately holds the ChatGPT maker’s balls in a vice and can make life very hard if it wanted to. Whether OpenAI does become Skynet and control the world might ultimately depend on what deal Sam Altman can hash out with the company that makes Xboxes and Excel.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Australia’s first ever “space” flight is a go

Australia’s first ever space flight (or at least, space flight aspirant) has lift-off — for 14 seconds (ABC News). Gilmour Space has fought defects and unsuitable conditions for a few months, but has officially launched its first rocket, Eris, in north Queensland. After 23 seconds of “engine burn time”, the rocket briefly took off and crashed.

The Sizzle: Not much to add other than: cool. Keep at it, lol.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

  • As Australia’s teen social media ban looms, here’s how the platforms are lobbying for an exemption (Guardian Australia) 

  • Stake.com founder invests millions to build Australia’s ChatGPT (AFR, $) 

  • Stunted govt data sharing scheme to be ‘stripped back’, opened up (InnovationAus, $) 

  • Introducing study mode (OpenAI) 

  • Google AI Mode adding Search Live video, Canvas, PDF upload, and more (9to5Google) 

  • Photoshop just made it shockingly easy to edit objects and people into photos (The Verge)

  • Irrelevant facts about cats added to math problems increase LLM errors by 300% (Science)

  • YouTube tells creators they can drop more F-bombs (The Verge) 

  • Age Verification Laws Send VPN Use Soaring—and Threaten the Open Internet (WIRED)

  • Meta Is Going to Let Job Candidates Use AI During Coding Tests (404Media, $) 

  • Why does it take longer for MacOS to check an invalid login password than the correct one? (Reddit)

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

The Australian at the top of the AI (ab)use leaderboard

In yesterday’s Sizzle, AI company Anthropic said it was putting caps on its Claude Code product because of mega-users abusing its “all-you-can-eat” AI subscription. As soon as this was announced, the Claude Boys began pointing fingers at those people who were boasting about their use — like people on a third-party usage leaderboard.

When I looked yesterday, there was a familiar name at the top of the charts: an Aussie called Geoff Huntley who allegedly had clocked up $100,000s worth of usage and had a GitHub full of, err, odd projects. Dodging the pitchforks that were out for him, I hit up Geoff to find out what the fuck he was doing with all that compute but, alas, I’m disappointed to report that he had found a way to spoof usage. Still, a fun guy and one worth paying attention to!

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & electronics

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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