• System Crash Is Paused
    Jul 17 2025

    Some news, as they say: System Crash is going on hiatus as Brian and Paris are overloaded with other projects they need to take care of. Thanks for plugging in, and stay tuned to this feed for updates on what's next.

    Until then, subscribe to Brian’s newsletter Blood in the Machine, check out Paris’ newsletter Disconnect, and go listen to Tech Won’t Save Us.

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    6 mins
  • Palmer Luckey Wants to Arm the West With AI Weapons
    Jul 11 2025

    Brian is out this week, so we’re dropping one of our bonus episodes to give you a preview of the benefits of supporting the show over on Patreon. In the episode, Brian and Paris dig into Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey’s scary vision for the future of warfare — and how he plans to profit off the whole thing. Arming countries to the teeth with automated weapons, to the degree they’re considered “porcupines,” might sound bad to some people, but to Luckey it’s the obvious goal of the Western “warrior class.”

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    34 mins
  • The Ban on State AI Laws is Dead, Canada Bows to Trump and Big Tech, and the AI Backlash Grows
    Jul 4 2025

    This week on System Crash: Canada drops its digital services tax under pressure from Trump, the 10-year ban on state-level AI regulation is dead, and the backlash to generative AI just keeps growing. Plus, Peter Thiel and his buddies are starting a new bank named after something else from Middle Earth, Microsoft is cutting thousands of jobs, and people are using chatbots to text their friends.

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    58 mins
  • Patreon Preview: Mountainhead Exposes the Minds of the Tech Elite
    Jul 1 2025

    This is a preview of System Crash’s monthly bonus episode, where Paris and Brian present the first System Crash Culture Club by interrogating the new film Mountainhead and how it gets into the minds of our Silicon Valley oligarchs. To get the full bonus episode, become a supporter on Patreon.

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    5 mins
  • AI Has Its Day in Court and Tesla’s Robotaxis Are Already a Menace in Austin
    Jun 27 2025

    This week on System Crash: A court rules Anthropic can train on copyrighted works as long as they’re not pirated, and Elon Musk rolls out Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin — with all the problems you’d expect. Plus, Australia’s social media ban for under 16s moves forward, a new Fairphone is coming soon, Brian has a new series, and more!

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    58 mins
  • The Rise of the AI Military Industrial Complex, Trump’s Scam Phone, and Israel-Iran Slop
    Jun 20 2025

    This week on System Crash: A new player is about to take the smartphone world by storm, the AI industry is forging deeper partnerships with the military, and the Iran-Israel conflict is already overrun with AI slop. Plus, Tesla pauses production again, AI is creating problems for libraries, some Danish governments want to get off Microsoft, and more!

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    49 mins
  • Patreon Preview: Palmer Luckey Wants to Arm the West With AI Weapons
    Jun 15 2025

    This is a preview of System Crash’s monthly bonus episode, digging into Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey’s scary vision for the future of warfare — and how he plans to profit off the whole thing. To get the full bonus episode, become a supporter on Patreon.

    Support the show

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    5 mins
  • Donald Trump and Elon Musk Clash While Protesters Burn Waymos in Los Angeles
    Jun 13 2025

    This week on the show: The Donald Trump/Elon Musk feud continues into a second week and protests torch Waymos as Trump ramps up an authoritarian clampdown of Los Angeles. Plus, Ohio state mandates AI use to make undergrads “bilingual” in AI, video game performers have a tentative union agreement, Chinese tech companies are restricting AI tools, and more.

    Subscribe to Paris’s newsletter Disconnect.

    Subscribe to Brian’s newsletter Blood in the Machine.

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    47 mins