Google fires protestors, NPR chaos, Humane's AI Pin, Startup tax crisis, sports betting scandal

Google’s Project Nimbus dispute moved from internal activism to job losses: 28 employees were fired after sit-ins, with nine arrested after refusing to leave. (Reuters) The protest targeted the $1.2 billion Israel cloud contract; Friedberg also relayed an executive-level Google contact saying company all-hands were dominated by employee demands for bonuses and benefits.

At the time of the episode, Section 174 forced specified domestic R&D costs to be amortized over five years, creating taxable income for some near-break-even businesses. (Congress.gov) Friedberg said a House fix had stalled in the Senate, while foreign R&D remained on a 15-year schedule, leaving software-heavy small firms exposed to cash-tax pressure. (Tax Foundation)

The Porter scandal showed how legal sportsbooks can expose player manipulation: an $80,000 bet that a Raptors reserve would underperform triggered scrutiny, followed by an NBA lifetime ban. (NBA Official) The league found Porter limited participation, shared confidential information and used an associate’s account for NBA bets, while licensed betting operators flagged the abnormal wagering. (NBA Official)

Humane had raised roughly $250 million before launching a $700 AI Pin that reviewers found slow, often wrong, hot, battery-starved and no better than a phone. The sharper diagnosis was strategic: it tried solving ambient AI and phone replacement simultaneously, when the more plausible opportunity may be AI layered onto the existing phone.

The most revealing anti-phone anecdote came from Chamath’s child’s school, which uses locking pouches and then “graduates” students to sealed envelopes they carry themselves. That approach treats self-control as a skill to rebuild; separately, one host said deleting TikTok felt liberating and that weaker Shorts and Instagram recommendations failed to replace its pull.

All-In Summit demand exceeded capacity within 72 hours, but the hosts said last year’s event cost more per attendee than ticket revenue covered. This year’s higher price was framed as an attempt to reach break-even, with scholarship tickets retained and alumni receiving their own registration window.

Chamath said he ran a high-school blackjack house game, while Jason Calacanis said he sold pirated tapes and software, fake IDs and counterfeit Manhattan parking placards. Friedberg said he bought underpriced used electronics and resold them, making early arbitrage and rule-bending a recurring theme in the hosts’ teenage money-making stories.