YouTubers have been pushing merch for a few years now. In 2023, though, it seemed to reach a fever pitch. Right now you’ve got Binging with Babish slinging knives, the Shahidi brothers joining forces with Kyle Forgeard of the Nelk Boys on Happy Dad seltzer, Logan Paul and KSI with their Prime, and a whole heap more besides that. Some of these have been around for a while now, but Prime – launched in 2022 but only really taking off in 2023 and prompting chaos on shop floors – blew the market wide open. Last year alone, Prime grossed $250 million. Happy Dad is in the top 5 seltzer brands in term ..read more

Last month, Geoff Glaab was waiting at a stop light in Louisville, Kentucky when he saw a driver two lanes over watching a Youtube video about tearing down a car engine. Glaab could hear the audio clearly because the driver had the volume very high. While the driver was at the light, Glaab could see him looking down at his phone. Glaab primarily gets around by walking or biking and says he sees “far more than my fair share of distracted drivers.” But he told Motherboard he’s recently noticed an increase in people watching video and FaceTiming while driving.  “I don't know when people bega ..read more

Last year, thousands of people on social media shared a YouTube video featuring a song composed for the Weather Channel's hurricane “storm alert” in 2006. It wasn’t the first time: originally uploaded in November 2019, the piece has resurfaced on Reddit and social media multiple times in the nearly 20 years since it was written, even while its author remained shrouded in mystery. Take a listen, and it’s easy to understand why. With powerful chords, driving percussion, and a pulse-pounding piano ostinato lead, the piece feels like a boss battle theme one might hear while playing an epic fantasy ..read more

Two Iowa police officers are suing a teenager they arrested last year after the body-cam footage of the allegedly unwarranted arrest he posted on YouTube went viral. The officers initially alleged they experienced “emotional distress” and are now suing for defamation and invasion of privacy. The lawsuit, first reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch last week, comes as a counterclaim to a federal lawsuit filed by the teenager earlier this year, alleging he was falsely arrested and that his civil rights had been violated. Tayvin Galanakis sued Iowa’s Newton Police Department in February for a vio ..read more

The Taliban released four British nationals from captivity in Afghanistan, including edgelord shitposter “Lord” Miles Routledge. Routledge is infamous as a self-proclaimed “war tourist” who first gained notoriety when he barely escaped Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal in 2021. The BBC broke the story of Routledge’s release on October 10 and the U.K.’s home office confirmed it. Routledge was released alongside two unnamed British citizens and UN aid worker Kevin Cornwell, a 54-year-old man with health problems. “Mr Cornwell and the three other British Nationals which includes Miles Routle ..read more

YouTube Music contract workers went on strike on Wednesday morning because of Google's refusal to bargain with the union representing the workers. Google, YouTube’s parent company, claims that because the workers are employed through a third-party contractor it has no obligation to meet them at the table, according to an email from a law firm representing Google seen by Motherboard.  These workers are contracted by Cognizant, one of the many subcontractors which works with Google and its parent company Alphabet. They’re responsible for “ensuring music content is available and approved for ..read more

In 2021, a strange lead box was discovered at the base of a monument to Thaddeus Kościuszko, a Polish military leader who fought in the Revolutionary War, at the U.S. military's West Point academy. Officials determined it was placed there in 1828. Calling it a "unique discovery" and "another example of past generations of cadets gripping hands with present and future generations," the academy planned a dramatic opening ceremony that featured a panel of military personnel and experts. The event was live-streamed on Monday, and began by hyping up the possibilities of what could be inside the box ..read more

Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee advanced the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bipartisan bill that lawmakers say is intended to stop online platforms from targeting and recommending harmful content to minors. On paper, the bill sounds like a necessary pushback against big tech platforms like Facebook and TikTok, which use algorithmic recommendation to show content users are most likely to engage with.  There’s just one problem: it's supported by a slew of far-right, anti-LGBTQ organizations, and opponents are warning it will enable states to censor LGBTQ content by claiming it le ..read more

YouTube has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Invidious, an open-source “alternative front-end” to the website which allows users to watch videos without having their data tracked, claiming it violates YouTube’s API policy and demanding that it be shut down within seven days.  “We recently became aware of your product or service, Invidious,” reads the letter, which was posted on the Invidious GitHub last week. “Your Client appears to be in violation of the YouTube API Services Terms of Service and Developer Policies.” The letter then delineates the policies which Invidious is accused of h ..read more

In a new podcast episode with Lex Fridman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed his upcoming plans with AI, including an AI assistant that can help your social life and make ads for your business. Zuckerberg told Fridman that, unlike OpenAI’s GPT models, he hopes to deploy a huge, diverse range of Large Language Models (LLMs) that are fine-tuned to different needs and businesses. One of these needs, Zuckerberg said, is companionship. “Most people probably don’t have as many friends as they’d like to have. You’ll get tools that help people connect with each other, [which] are gonna be the primary ..read more