In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into a new study showing AI is literally frying workers’ brains, then unpacks Anthropic’s wildest month ever – from a 1,487% user surge to Pentagon retaliation to a leaked model called Mythos.

Also covered: OpenAI kills Sora after burning $15 million a day, OpenClaw’s terrifying security holes, Apple axing the Mac Pro, ARM’s first-ever production CPU, and why King Tut’s dagger was forged from a meteorite.

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Full Summary

Cochrane opens the show with a study that puts a name to something most AI-heavy workers have already felt. From there, the episode moves through one of the most turbulent months in AI industry history, touching on corporate ethics, national security, hardware shortages, and ancient archaeology.

AI Use at Work Is Causing “Brain Fry”

A study from Boston Consulting Group and UC Riverside surveyed 1,500 full-time US workers and found that 14% experience what researchers call “AI brain fry” – mental fatigue from excessive AI tool oversight. Those affected report 33% more decision fatigue, 39% more major errors, and an increase in intent to quit from 25% to 34%. Notably, productivity peaks at one to three AI tools and drops off at four or more.

Cochrane relates this directly to his own workflow, often running two to four tools side by side. However, he pushes back on the doom framing. He argues that context switching across multiple projects and rubber-stamping AI output without review are the real sources of fry. His takeaway: either work more slowly with greater intent, or use the accelerated pace to reclaim free time.

Anthropic’s Wild Month: Exodus, Pentagon, and Mythos

Claude sessions surged by roughly 1,487% from mid-January to early March, knocking ChatGPT off the top spot in the app store for the first time. ChatGPT uninstalls spiked nearly 300%, one-star reviews exploded 775% in a single day, and a boycott movement called “Quit GPT” has grown to between 2.5 and 4 million participants.

The catalyst was OpenAI stepping in to take the Pentagon defense deal that Anthropic had publicly declined. Cochrane is firmly against automated domestic surveillance and autonomous weaponry, noting that the models are not reliable enough for such responsibilities. OpenAI tried to walk it back, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation called their language “weasel words.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense slapped Anthropic with a supply chain risk label – a national security designation previously reserved for hostile foreign companies. Anthropic sued the Trump administration. Then Microsoft filed a legal brief in Anthropic’s defense, joined by 149 former judges, dozens of Google and OpenAI employees, and nearly two dozen retired generals.

On top of all that, security researchers discovered an unsecured data cache exposing nearly 3,000 unpublished Anthropic files, including a model code-named Mythos (also called Capybara). Internal documents describe it as a step change in capabilities, scoring dramatically higher than Opus 4.6 on coding, reasoning, and cybersecurity. Then Anthropic’s source code leaked publicly as well.

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OpenAI Shuts Down Sora Video App

OpenAI announced on March 24th that it is killing Sora, its AI video-generation app. Downloads cratered from 3.3 million in November to 1.1 million by February. The real numbers are brutal: Sora was costing roughly $15 million per day to run against a total lifetime revenue of just $2.1 million.

The Sora web and app experience ends April 26th, with the API shutting down September 24th. Additionally, the Disney partnership – a billion-dollar deal meant to validate AI in Hollywood – collapsed completely. Deep fakes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robin Williams appeared almost immediately despite guardrails, and both families protested publicly. Cochrane notes that competitors like Runway, Pika, and Kling are still operating, and suspects Hollywood will pivot to generating scene backgrounds rather than full content.

OpenClaw Is a Security Nightmare

Cochrane’s personal OpenClaw install started making outbound requests flagged by his ISP – with no changes or new skills installed. He shut it down and plans to wipe the device entirely.

The broader picture is alarming. A January 2026 audit found 512 vulnerabilities in OpenClaw, eight critical. Twenty-six percent of community skills contain at least one vulnerability. Oasis Security discovered a vulnerability chain called “Clawjacked” where any website can silently take full control of a developer’s agent. Between March 18th and 21st alone, nine additional vulnerabilities were disclosed, several of which were rated 9.9 out of 10. Cochrane draws a direct parallel to the browser extension era: supply chain attacks hidden as helpful tools.

Claude Code Auto Mode: AI Policing AI

Anthropic published details on a new “auto mode” for Claude Code after finding that users approve 93% of permission prompts – essentially mashing “yes.” Auto mode replaces manual approvals with a two-layer defense: an input scanner to detect prompt injection and a second AI model that monitors the first and decides whether to allow each action.

The safety checker can only see what the user asked for and what the AI is trying to do. It cannot see the AI’s reasoning, so the AI cannot talk its way past the check. However, Cochrane notes it still misses about one in six dangerous actions (17%), and the fundamental question remains: if the base layer can get infected, so can the checker.

Qwen Overtakes Llama as Most-Deployed Self-Hosted LLM

RunPod’s 2026 State of AI report, based on usage data from 183 countries, reveals that Alibaba’s Qwen has overtaken Meta’s Llama as the most popular self-hosted AI model. Llama 4 has barely been adopted, with users sticking to version 3 because it just works. Additionally, vLLM now powers 40% of all AI endpoints, NVIDIA’s latest GPU usage scaled 25x last year, and nearly 70% of AI image work runs through ComfyUI. Cochrane sees Qwen winning on merit and argues that is how open source should work.

AI Data Centers Are Taking All the CPUs Too

AI data centers are not just consuming GPUs and memory anymore – CPUs are now being strained too. Intel server CPU lead times have stretched from two weeks to six months. AMD typically occurs at 8 to 10 weeks. Server CPU demand is projected to jump 15% in 2026, but Intel’s output capacity is growing in single digits.

The shift from chatbots to autonomous AI agents is changing the hardware ratio, since agents require far more CPU power to coordinate tasks and call tools. TSMC is prioritizing more profitable AI chips over regular CPUs. Cochrane warns that consumers and businesses are effectively subsidizing the AI boom through higher prices and longer waits.

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2: First Dual-Cache X3D CPU

AMD announced the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, the first CPU with dual-cache X3D technology. It arrives April 22nd with 208MB of total cache and a 200W TDP – up from the current model. However, AMD is unusually honest, calling the gains “modest,” ranging from 5-13% depending on the workload. Notably, they have not released gaming benchmarks, which is conspicuous for an X3D chip. Cochrane owns a single X3D chip and sees no reason to upgrade.

ARM Launches “AGI” CPU

After 35 years of licensing chip designs to Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, and NVIDIA, ARM has launched its first production silicon: a 136-core server chip co-developed with Meta as the lead customer. ARM’s stock jumped about 16% on the news. You can pack over 8,000 cores in a single air-cooled rack, or over 45,000 with liquid cooling. Volume shipments begin by the end of 2026.

Cochrane appreciates the move but calls the “AGI” branding marketing hype. The bigger story is ARM transitioning from blueprint designer to direct competitor against Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA in data centers – while still licensing to the companies it now competes against.

Apple Discontinues the Mac Pro

Apple removed the Mac Pro from its website and confirmed that no future model is planned. The $6,999 machine had not been updated since the 2023 M2 Ultra model. Apple is pointing professionals toward the Mac Studio with its M4 Ultra chip, with an M5 Ultra refresh expected later this year. They also discontinued the $700 wheels kit, $300 feet kit, and Pro Display XDR the same week. Cochrane says good riddance – the Mac Studio covers what 90% of users need.

Apple’s AI Pin: An AirTag-Sized Wearable

Reports suggest Apple is developing an AirTag-sized wearable AI pin with cameras, microphones, and wireless charging. It would clip to clothing or hang as a necklace, running as an iPhone accessory powered by an upgraded Siri with Google’s Gemini AI. A possible 2027 release is expected alongside iOS 27, though development is early and could be canceled.

Cochrane ties this to a broader shift: data collection moving from the application layer to physical devices. Apple employees internally refer to the device as “the eyes and ears of the iPhone.” He warns that always-on wearable cameras, combined with existing AI-powered surveillance poles, are pushing society deeper into mass data collection without meaningful consent.

Quantum Entanglement Speed Measured for the First Time

Scientists at TU Wien’s Institute of Theoretical Physics, led by Professor Joachim Burgdorfer, measured how fast quantum entanglement happens for the first time. The answer: about 232 attoseconds – a billionth of a billionth of a second. The research was published in Physical Review Letters in late 2024 and is now circulating widely.

Einstein called quantum entanglement “spooky action at a distance.” Turns out it is not instantaneous – just extraordinarily fast. This measurement technique opens the door to quantum cryptography and quantum computing. However, Cochrane clarifies: this does not mean faster-than-light communication. Entanglement links particles but does not transmit information through space.

Bronze Age Iron Artifacts Came From Outer Space

Geochemical analysis by French scientist Albert Jambon, originally published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2017, confirmed that virtually all Bronze Age iron artifacts were made from meteorites. The artifacts span Egypt, Turkey, Syria, and China, including beads dating to 3200 BCE and the famous dagger from King Tut’s tomb, dating to around 1350 BCE.

The story resurfaced after researchers published new findings this month on fragments of meteoritic iron weapons from China’s Sanxingdui sacrificial site. Bronze Age people lacked the technology to smelt iron ore, but meteoritic iron arrived in a metallic state, ready to be forged. Cochrane closes the episode, noting that ancient civilizations were working with extraterrestrial material before they could produce their own iron – resourcefulness that deserves respect.

Cochrane wraps up the show by thanking GoDaddy for over twenty years of partnership and reminding listeners to subscribe, sign up for the newsletter, and reach out via email.

The post Agentically Frying your Brain using AI #1861 appeared first on Geek News Central.

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