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In this episode of Beyond the Build, we talk about how personal AI agents are starting to change the way we interact with technology, including research showing that some agents may recommend more expensive options based on what they infer about a user.

We also get into the privacy tradeoffs of personal AI, OpenAI Dots vs. Meta Muse, whether Plan Mode still makes sense for coding agents, why taste still matters when building with AI, browsers sending gRPC requests directly, and what it actually takes to identify and push high-leverage engineering work inside an organization.

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This week on Beyond the Build, we break down some of the biggest stories in software engineering, cybersecurity, AI, and tech.

We discuss Jev, a new decision-focused AI model, the shifting AI talent pipeline between China and the US, AI hacking incidents, Kimi coming to AWS Bedrock, the reported FBI breach, North Korean fake developer interviews, Polymarket fraud, Samsung smart fridge failures, and the debate around whether MCP is still necessary.

We also talk about senior engineer communication, how coding agents edit files, and the growing problem with AI-generated writing.

If you’re a software engineer or tech professional trying to keep up with what’s changing across the industry, this episode is for you.

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00:00 Trailer
01:36 Intro — Last Week in Tech
01:50 Prediction Markets, Fraud & Polymarket
06:29 Kimi AI Comes to AWS
10:41 The AI Slowdown & Management Consultants
15:05 Jev: The AI Model Built for Fast Decisions
17:47 Slop Mop & The Problem With AI Writing
21:44 The Changing Landscape of Chinese AI Talent
26:56 AI Models Are Hacking Computers
30:27 Is MCP Still Necessary?
36:45 ShinyHunters Hack the FBI
39:46 When a Software Update Breaks Your Fridge
42:43 North Korean IT Workers & Deepfake Job Interviews
45:40 Rapid Fire: The Senior Engineer Death Spiral
48:03 Managing Capacity, Delegation & Engineering Work
50:13 How Coding Agents Edit Your Files
51:23 Should AI Be Writing Your Documents?
55:49 Wrap Up
56:17 A New Way to Get Your Questions on the Show

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In this episode of Beyond the Build, we break down Anthropic’s latest AI misuse report and look at how bad actors are already using AI for scams, surveillance, cyber operations, influence campaigns, telecom data scraping, and other real-world attacks.

We also discuss the growing AI arms race between companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and other major labs. AI companies are warning about models becoming harder to supervise while simultaneously investing billions to build more capable systems. Can any company realistically slow down if everyone else keeps racing ahead?

We also get into a new security problem emerging around AI coding agents and plugins. As developers give tools like Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, and Gemini CLI more access to repositories, terminals, APIs, and credentials, supply-chain attacks become significantly more dangerous.

Then we debate what code review should look like in the age of AI. If AI can generate code faster than humans can read it, should every line still be reviewed? Or does code review become less about catching bugs and more about making sure engineers still understand the systems they are building?

We also cover AWS infrastructure failures during geopolitical conflict, Windows 11 updates breaking hardware, OpenAI’s IPO plans, digital ownership, and what happens when the software and infrastructure we depend on become increasingly automated.

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