Up Against Reality

Who elected Big Tech—and when did AI companies get to write the rules? Plus: Rogue botnets, surveillance burrito bowls, data-center mega bills, and machines inventing their own language. You know, just another Tuesday in AI Bizarroland. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Mila on AI CEOs’ warnings | Instagram God’s Eye View | Bilawal Sidhu’s GitHub project Allison Stanger: The AI stack’s architecture is a constitution Exit, Voice, and Loyalty | Albert O. Hirschman Technofeudalism | Yanis Varoufakis The Tech Coup | Marietje Schaake OpenAI Terms of Use Anthropic Consumer Terms of Service PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/22/the-new-ai-constitution/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra is here, and we put it through real-world tests—from controlling desktop apps and editing a podcast to building games, websites, and creative tools—before asking the big question: are we actually entering the AGI era? Plus, Jensen Huang’s very convenient enthusiasm, a “safety-first” AI lab caught surveilling activists, and a rock band evicted from its own username. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Larry’s ChatGPT-6 Astra experiments: The Gravity Playground UAR Escape the Algorithm game UAR The Living Episode 3D interactive home theater model SR-71 Blackbird educational website YouTube: We need to talk about this… | Matthew Berman PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/15/chatgpt-6-astra/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

Here come the AI micro-dramas — the sixty-second, AI-generated soap operas quietly hijacking your phone. Plus: a CEO learns the hard way that privacy is a two-way street, ICE goes pet shopping, NYC pumps the brakes on the classroom’s newest distraction, and one country just handed its citizens a very generous gift. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Vertical Video Syndrome – A PSA WonderClip ReelShort Vigloo PineDrama | TikTok’s official short-drama app Peacock Deepens Mobile Engagement With Vertical Video and Original Unscripted Microdramas ChatGPT-6 Astra’s Safety Overview South Korea’s AI for All Project PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/08/ai-micro-dramas/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

Debra Ross spent 25 years building KidsOutAndAbout.com the old-school way – then AI turned her into a coder. We talk about her AI-powered business pivot, scaling from 52 to 160 regions, and raising kids who use AI without letting AI use them. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: KidsOutAndAbout.com | Your local guide to everything for kids, teens, and families BeyondTheNest.com | Your local guide to America’s arts, culture and recreation The Eclipse Effect – Debra Ross & Jamie Carter How Students Can Use AI to Learn to Write (Without Giving Away their Brains) Main Street Event AI Summit – Practical AI for Real Businesses Sacrificial Garden | Larry’s new Glass Animal album SUNO project PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/09/01/debra-ross/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality

AI’s now got a taste for jazz, your chatbot’s been gossiping about you behind your back, and OpenAI hit the brakes hard enough to leave skid marks. It’s an AI news avalanche for the ages. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: SUNO Studio Learning Jazz Fingerprints Claude Academy Cortical Labs | Living Human Brain Cells Play DOOM Unitree New Robot Preview: “Superman” PODCAST INFO: Podcast Website:UpAgainstReality.com Episode link:https://upagainstreality.com/2026/08/25/ai-news-avalanche-vol-6/ Apple Podcasts:podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/up-against-reality/id1689699654 Spotify:open.spotify.com/show/29wpR2Uf0d19FjTH2QubcD?si=a6359f9aa1964170 RSS:upagainstreality.com/feed/podcast Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/upagainstreality