TechStuff

Week in Tech: The Year of the Robot?

29 min
Jan 9, 20263 months ago
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Summary

This Week in Tech episode covers the emergence of physical AI and humanoid robots as the dominant tech trend of 2026, highlighted by announcements at CES from companies like Boston Dynamics, LG, and NVIDIA. The hosts also discuss grocery store facial recognition surveillance, the biohacking trend of Chinese peptides in Silicon Valley, and the rise of OnlyFans creators obtaining O-1 extraordinary artist visas.

Insights
  • Spatial intelligence and physical AI represent the next frontier in computing, moving beyond language models to machines that understand physical laws and real-world interaction
  • Humanoid robots are transitioning from novelty to practical deployment, with manufacturers planning mass production for factory and domestic labor by 2028
  • Facial recognition in retail is becoming ubiquitous across major chains, creating privacy concerns despite minimal consumer awareness due to obscured signage
  • Unregulated biohacking trends like Chinese peptide use are spreading rapidly in tech communities, doubling in imports year-over-year despite health risks
  • Social media metrics (follower counts) are becoming quantifiable proof of exceptional talent for visa applications, reshaping immigration policy outcomes
Trends
Humanoid robots entering consumer and industrial markets with practical applications in domestic labor and factory workSpatial AI and physical intelligence becoming the next major computing paradigm shift beyond large language modelsFacial recognition deployment across retail chains for loss prevention and customer trackingBiohacking and unregulated peptide use as status symbols and performance enhancement in tech communitiesSocial media influence becoming a measurable criterion for immigration and visa eligibilityChinese manufacturing dominance in peptide and biotech supply chainsRobot-assisted domestic labor creating new remote job categories for operators in different geographic locationsPrivacy-invasive smart home technology bundled with connected appliances and AI assistantsSelf-driving car technology shifting from Tesla/Waymo duopoly to NVIDIA software partnerships with traditional automakersTim Cook's potential retirement signaling leadership transitions at major tech companies
Companies
Boston Dynamics
Launched Atlas humanoid robot capable of lifting 110 lbs and performing complex movements for factory deployment by 2028
Hyundai
Acquired Boston Dynamics and announced plans to produce 30,000 Atlas robots annually for factory floor work
LG
Introduced Cloyd robot designed for domestic labor including laundry, dishwashing, and food preparation
NVIDIA
Announced entry into self-driving car software market with Mercedes partnership, competing with Tesla and Waymo
Tesla
Pivoting focus from self-driving cars to Optimus humanoid robot development as primary business direction
Waymo
Previously dominant self-driving car player now facing competition from NVIDIA's software partnerships
Apple
Tim Cook predicted to step down from CEO role and lead from behind scenes similar to Jeff Bezos model
Wegmans
Using facial recognition software in NYC locations with minimal consumer awareness despite required signage
Albertsons
Implementing facial recognition technology in store locations for loss prevention
Walmart
Using facial recognition technology in some store locations for customer tracking and loss prevention
Kroger
Deploying facial recognition technology across select store locations
Home Depot
Using facial recognition technology in store locations
Lowe's
Implementing facial recognition technology for store security and loss prevention
Macy's
Using facial recognition technology in retail locations
SwitchBot
Launched OneRow H1 humanoid robot capable of making coffee, breakfast, and washing windows
1X Technologies
Developed OneX Neo robot with remote human operation capability via haptic suits for home tasks
Eufy
Created Anka Eufy S2 vacuum with mopping capability and aromatherapy diffuser features
Mercedes
Partnering with NVIDIA to integrate autonomous driving software into vehicles
OpenAI
Researcher cited as calling peptides a 'Zempic for autism' in biohacking trend discussion
People
Fei-Fei Li
AI researcher and 'godmother of AI' whose essay on spatial intelligence framed the discussion of physical AI
Jensen Huang
NVIDIA CEO who delivered CES keynote predicting 2026 as ChatGPT moment for physical AI
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO pivoting company focus toward Optimus humanoid robot development over self-driving cars
Tim Cook
Apple CEO predicted to step down from leadership role in 2026
Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder referenced as model for Tim Cook's potential transition to leadership from behind scenes
John Lennon
Historical reference for O-1 visa creation in 1970s when Nixon administration attempted his deportation
Quotes
"I think that people are going to look back at 2026 as the year that AI really entered the physical world."
Cara Price
"LLMs are kind of almost like trapped in Plato's cave in a weird way because they're not actually seeing the world."
Osvaldo Lushen
"The elites all have a Chinese peptide dealer."
"You didn't leave your wallet in the shop you left your whole identity there that's right to be shared converted and whatever else at will."
Cara Price
"This will be the year when there's a ChatGPT moment for physical AI."
Jensen Huang
Full Transcript
This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts, then add supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. Learn how podcasting can help your business. Call 844-844-iHeart. Over the last couple years, didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by Black people because of what happened in Alabama? This Black History Month, the podcast Selective Ignorance with Mandy B unpacks Black history and culture with comedy, clarity, and conversations that shake the status quo. The Crown Act in New York was signed in July of 2019, and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Adventures of Curiosity Cove podcast, what if there's more to the story than we've been told? This Black History Month, Adventures of Curiosity Cove invites families into a playful mystery that blends history, science, and imagination. As Ella and her friends investigate a missing peanut butter case, they uncover the legacy of a brilliant innovator. George Washington Carver? And learn how curiosity fuels creativity. In this Black History Month adventure, Adventures of Curiosity Cove shows kids that asking questions, thinking creatively, and imagining what's possible can lead to amazing discoveries. Because history isn't boring. It's full of surprises. At Curiosity Cove. Listen to Adventures of Curiosity Cove every Monday from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Saturday, May 2nd, country's biggest stars will be in Austin, Texas. At our 2026 iHeart Country Festival presented by Capital One. See Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Riley Green, Shabuzi, Dylan Scott, Russell Dickerson, Gretchen Wilson, Chase Matthew, Lauren Alaina. Tickets are on sale now. Get yours before they sell out at Ticketmaster.com. From Kaleidoscope and iHeart Podcast, this is Tech Stuff. I'm Osvaldo Lushen. And I'm Cara Price. Today, we've got two big stories to break down for you. First, it's Silicon Valley's Westminster Dog Show. Journalists, tech nerds, industry insiders are in Vegas this week to check out the Consumer Electronics Show. Then, is your grocery store spying on you? And then a few other things that caught our eye this week, including Silicon Valley's new rave culture fueled by Chinese peptides. And the exceptionally creative influencers and OnlyFans models getting U.S. visas? All of that on The Week in Tech. It's Friday, January 9th. Hello, Cara. Hi, Ozzy. How are you? Very good. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you, too. So it's our first Week in Tech of the Year. Yes, it is. I'm very excited. Right before the holidays, people like to do roundups. They do. The best of the year that went by. At the start of the year, people like to do... What's going to happen? What's going to happen? You know what my tech prediction is? What? I'm going to be addicted to my phone in 2027. That's not a prediction. That's just a guarantee. That's a prophecy. I do actually have one big prediction for you. Tell me. So I think that people are going to look back at 2026 as the year that AI really entered the physical world. And I think that became quite clear this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. But I actually wanted to frame this conversation up about CES with an essay I read late last year by Fei-Fei Li. Tell me about it. Fei-Fei Li is the godmother of AI. She is. She wrote this blog post. The title is From Words to Worlds, Spatial Intelligence is AI's Next Frontier. Do you have any idea what that means? I mean, I can guess. Spatial intelligence meaning like that our whole world is sort of mapped with AI? Pretty much. So it's machines in the world with sensors and it's creating fully simulated worlds that obey the laws of physics. Basically, Fei-Fei Li made the case that LLMs, which power chatbots, are amazing, but they're kind of almost like trapped in Plato's cave in a weird way because they're not actually seeing the world. They're reading text and data that humans or other machines have recorded about the world and then extrapolating what the world is like from records of the world rather than looking at the world, ingesting it, and understanding its rules for themselves like humans do. So this is basically what Fei-Fei Li and a lot of others think might be kind of the next revolution in computing, is computers that can actually understand the world for themselves rather than interpret it based on descriptions of the world. And she basically has argued that this will be the next frontier in computing and that to really deliver on the Alan Turing thinking machine promise, it can't just be words and numbers. It has to be the laws of physics, how gravity is different, how pressure is different underwater versus on the surface, how a chair moves around a room when you push it, depending on the fabric of the carpet or the slipperiness of the floor. These are things now that can only be understood in words, but ultimately she wants to build machines and algorithms that can understand it for themselves. In which case, this might be the year, I think, when thinking machines truly enter the room. Well, I was just thinking an incredible thing to think about is I've talked to you ad nauseum for the last day or two about my dog that I've been fostering. And I just think about a new concern that I have all day long is like, what's going on with this dog when I'm not with this dog? But like, what if I could have a robot that could tend to this dog as like a shadow babysitter? And you're thinking about like, oh, how does the physical world interact with the robot world. Like, imagine a dog is like, I have my mom or I have my dad and then I have my robot alpha who is like the robot self that takes care of the dog too. And who's the real boss? You're the robot, yeah. That's a big question. That's when robots take over. When dogs are listening to robots. You and the robot are standing next to each other and you're like, come here, pal. And the dog goes up to the robot. That's the future. That is the future. That's 2026. That's when humans, by the way, dogs answering to robots is when humans will really be like we got to get these robots out of the equation i think that's right um what about you do you have any 2026 predictions well this is not a prediction that i've invented this is a prediction that's based on a lot of reading that i've done on business insider and the ft and showing off no flex we're in the netflix zone here tim cook i think is going to step down from apple i saw a headline about that i didn't um dive too deep on it. What are people saying? He's nearing retirement age, which, you know, it's not something that's going to be like a hostile takeover. You know, I think it's not going to be something that the average person like finds perceptible as far as change. I think that he will step down and kind of lead from behind the scenes a la Jeff Bezos. I mean, it's a hard job. I guess Apple's obviously a behemoth and, you know, the iPhone sales have been robust. The other stuff they've tried, like the Vision Pro goggles they've stepped back from, the car never happened. The TV thing is kind of, I mean, it's not... You know what? I was actually thinking about it. Apple's TV has worked. Like, if you look at the Emmys and the Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, like, they've kind of dominated this year. That's true. In a way that, I mean, I don't know if you would attribute that to Tim Cook necessarily. But I guess if he could choose an Emmy or having invented ChatGPT. I think as a technology company. We look at your respect to our colleagues on the West Coast. That's absolutely true. that's absolutely true you know the other thing is that speaking of our friends in hollywood the thing that i've noticed a lot of retired men do is they start production companies because they like to be in the entertainment business so who knows maybe tim apple will start a production company with apple studios i have no idea so yes my prediction is the robot will enter the room and yours is tim apple will exit the room that's right okay perfect one tech ceo who i don't think is going anywhere is Jensen Huang. He's not going back to Denny's. He's not going back to Denny's. I wonder if he passes Denny's and he's like, I can't. No, I'm sure he's, I feel like it's a big part of his mythology. He was at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, of course. CES. Delivering a keynote. And I came up with my 2026 prediction before I read his remarks, which is probably quite dumb. But his remarks, luckily, were in line with my 2026 prediction. He said, this will be the year when there's a chat GPT moment for physical AI. This is not a disinterested statement because NVIDIA also announced they're getting into the self-driving car business. Yes, I saw that. And this is pretty interesting because previously you had Tesla, sales falling, Waymo as the dominant players in US self robo And it seemed like a two horse race But part of NVIDIA announcement was a partnership with Mercedes where they basically going to plug their software into other car makers So they're not in the car business. They're not in the car business, but they're all of a sudden kind of a competitor to their clients. Right. Which is really interesting. That is very interesting. Do you think it's something that's going to work? I wouldn't. I mean, you're the NVIDIA shareholder. That's very true. Would you bet against your dear leader? No. No, I wouldn't. And I think it's very smart to not actually be in the car design business. I think it's very smart to like put your software in a pre-existing car. Probably if you're Mercedes who are doing the partnership or other automakers, you're like, oh, this is like a Hail Mary. It's like, wow, we have a chance of plugging this in and catching up, which is really, really interesting. But he wasn't just talking about this self-driving car partnership. He was pointing at this kind of robotic revolution. He likes hanging out with robots. We talked about it earlier last year. Remember when he got the high five from the humanoid robot on his trip? I do. I do. and another king of the self-driving car world Elon himself is kind of seemingly more interested in humanoid robots than self-driving cars now he's moved on he's moved on he's definitely moved on this time last year Optimus Robot was hanging out with Kim Kardashian do you remember Kim? and it seemed last year like a pure gimmick and now 12 months later there's a big Wall Street Journal story saying that Elon is pivoting the whole business to be focused on Optimus Robot so it's kind of interesting I'd like to meet an optimist this year I'd like to meet Kim this year I can, we'll see So, Humanoid Robots stole the show at CES this year. Did you see any of the videos? Yes. What did you see? I think it was, was it Tesla that I saw? You mentioned Tesla. I'm going to show you Boston Dynamics. Boston Dynamics. Yes. Show me the yes. They made Spot the Dog famously. Yes, they did. They've now got Atlas the person. Oh, she kind of has a booty on her. What are you seeing? So I'm seeing the biggest nerd on the planet. It kind of reminds me of Elizabeth Holmes when something good happens with Theranos. coming out and doing like one of those like kick dances. It's an extremely flexible humanoid robot doing cartwheels, doing Russian Cossack dancing. That's what it is, Russian Cossack dancing. This is really hard. Yeah. It's incredible that they've trained them to do this. It is. And so Hyundai, who actually bought Boston Dynamics, launched this robot, Atlas. It can lift up to 110 pounds. It can work in temperatures between minus four degrees Fahrenheit, up to 104 degrees. So you don't have the problem of needing cooling centers. You don't. And actually, the battery is pretty amazing as well. Last time, like, when humanoid robots were last on 60 Minutes, had these huge Hunchback of Notre Dame style. Battery packs. Battery packs. But now it's just a pure human form, essentially, which is kind of interesting. They're planning to produce 30,000 of these robots per year with the goal of them working on factory floors by 2028. They're like, humans can't work in hot enough environments we need to make robots. I mean, I guess that's a good thing. It could be a good thing. I mean, look, I don't know if these are actually going to replace humans on the factory floor, but certainly they've got everyone talking about Hyundai for the first time in a while. I don't talk about Hyundai. So those are humanoid robots designed by Hyundai to be factory workers. LG, another South Korean tech firm, also made waves at CES this year with its robot called Cloyd. Cloud Lloyd. Cloyd Lloyd. Cloud, exactly. which ladders up to a vision. Do you know what the vision is? What is the vision? The zero labor home. I'm looking for that. I want to live there. I love it. I was just thinking if I have to do another load of laundry like it's Sisyphean. Cloyd literally does the laundry. Can I try this? Yeah, of course. Eliza? Cloyd can remove dishes from the dishwasher. What? Heat up food in the oven. This is not a smart home. No, this is a domestic laborer. Oh my God. And it can interact seamlessly with other LG devices like your fridge and your cooker and whatever else. So it is the connected home that then has the robot that's running your connected home. The robot is the conductor to the symphony of your connected home. I'm not particularly opposed to this, I gotta say. These weren't the only humanoid robots who took CES by storm. There was also the SwitchBot OneRow H1 that can fill a coffee machine, make breakfast, wash the windows. And then there's the OneX Neo robot. this one is kind of interesting because it doesn't have the best fine motor control which I think is true of all of these robots so if you have a 1x Neo robot in your home you have to consent to the fact that it will sometimes switch into a mode where it's being human controlled so there will be somebody looking through your robot into your home wearing some kind of like haptic suit doing what the robot needs to do in your house It's like Avatar. Can you imagine buying a robot and then having somebody sitting 4,000 miles away in your house doing your domestic chores for you in the metaverse? So those are the new jobs that are created by robots? Yeah. The jobs created by robots are people working thousands of miles away to operate robots in your home. I mean, it's a bizarre... Also, like, I wouldn't really want camera in my home. Just like, we'll talk about this in my next story, but there are also places where I don't want cameras. Yeah, well, I want to hear about that. Just before we turn away from CES, there were some other robots which are pretty cool, but not humanoid. Tell me. There's the Anka Eufy S2 vacuum. It's a Roomba with a mop and it can travel between carpeted areas, then go to the hard floor to mop it, come back to the carpeted area. You're kidding. No water spill, nothing like that. And, Kara, has an aromatherapy diffuser. Oh my God. And then finally, smart fridges, which can scan your empty packages and add them to a shopping list for the next grocery run. So there's a camera inside the fridge that accesses an app while shopping to kind of remind you, either online or in the real world, what you need to buy. I mean, it is like on a macro level, pretty incredible the way in which technology is like filling the gaps in what humans can do. And also just like taking care of time. Like all of these things are very time intensive. the question is is like is it time that we want to eradicate like do we want to not go to the grocery store what what are we supposed to be doing instead working on a computer exactly that is the conundrum of the i have to work all the time yeah so then when do i do things which are which are non-compensated labor but very important like yes the house up is that that's like yes so i never i never do the things that i need to do which are not directly work related like i have such a long list of annoying personal things. We call it personal admin. Personal admin. Yes. I never get through it. Yes. I don't know, but it doesn't tend to be stuff that a robot could do. Not yet. Not yet. I mean, I still think the idea of like, I live in an apartment building where not only humans live, but a humanoid robot lives. Like, how far out are we on that? You will go to somebody's house this year, I bet, and they will have a robot. That's crazy. Okay. We'll see. I obviously did not get to CES this week. I did, though, get to Wegmans. The grocery store. Yes, the grocery store. Because I read this article in The Gothamist that the grocery store chain was using facial recognition software in their NYC locations. Well, wow. What did The Gothamist find out about this? So, actually, a city law in 2021 requires stores to put up a sign if they use facial recognition software. So Wegmans complied. The funny thing is, I went to Wegmans and I really had to search for this sign. And Wegmans might disagree with me because there was a sign on the door, but the way in which I had to look for it because it was like sliding in and out of view on the automatic door really made me laugh. So you went to Wegmans looking for the sign. I did. If you hadn't been looking for the sign, you wouldn't have seen it. So there were people that I talked to and I pointed out the sign to them when I went to the store and they were like, no, I didn't notice that. I didn't recognize that. I didn't see that. because if you're not looking for it, I think we're so used to just seeing signs up and if they don't apply, like I've never looked at pet signs until recently. So you found the sign. What did it say? It said, quote, biometric identifier information collected at this location. Then in much finer print, quote, Wegmans Food Market, Inc. collects, retains, converts, stores or shares customers' biometric identifier information, which may include facial recognition, eye scans, and voice prints. Of those two verbs, converts and shares stand out to me as particularly chilling. Converts? I'm like, converts into what? And shares with whom? So Gothamist actually asked Wegmans about how they were storing the data, how long they were storing it for, and how the company would share this data with law enforcement. Surprise, surprise, Wegmans did not reply. Okay, well, you've been burying the lead for a while now. What is this? This is a customer retention? It's a safety thing. Safety? Yes. So the sign says, quote, we use facial recognition technology to protect the safety and security of our patrons and employees and do not lease, trade, or otherwise profit from the transfer of biometric identifier information. It is interesting because like in New York, they now have like, you know, these like plastic covers. On everything in CVS. so that you can't, so that people can't shoplift. I mean, this is just replacing the old, have you seen this person side? Have you seen this person, right, right. You know what I mean? Like you go into any bodega or any sort of like smoke shop and there been a shoplifter and they have a photo from the camera that is so blurry that you can even see if this person is a person Now what we have is a company that has a lot of money to invest in software and basically they can capture any face and cross-reference that face if that face has been known to shoplift. Yeah. But it's also like, even if you haven't been shoplifting, like the idea that you can be personally identified every time you go into a shop and cross-reference with all the weird it's like uh you know you didn't leave your wallet in the shop you left your whole identity there that's right to be shared converted and whatever else at will it's just a very strange phenomenon so i actually talked to a few people and luckily i had a very intelligent woman who had seen the same goth miss article i had i approached her and said to her did you know did you know that facial recognition technology was being used at this wegman she said i knew it was being used at wegman's i thought it was at the wegman's in Brooklyn and that she actually hadn't clocked the sign in the Manhattan store. The only reason she knew about it was because she had read the Gothamist article. I want to hear the tape. Do you feel comfortable with your biometric data being collected by a large grocery store chain? I actually had the thought right as I walked in here. I was like, maybe I should put my little scarf around my face. You're wearing a really cute scarf right now. Maybe you should use it. Or like a giant pair of sunglasses. Yeah. No, I mean, I guess the way I feel about it is like, I'm not sure that it like is going to impact me personally in any real way but I think there are certain people for whom it's really bad yeah you know I'm like a white lady who is like economically mobile and so I'm sort of like not worried about it for myself which I guess is why I still came in here but on principle yeah I think it's bad you know it's actually interesting She was wearing this kind of cravat that was this little cashmere brown scarf. And her idea to cover her face with a scarf is actually a good one. 404 recently published an article about anti-surveillance design, which you and I have talked about. Remember in terms of 3M and the Hong Kong protests? 404's point is like facial recognition tech is complicated, but actually tricking it is very easy. And the most effective tool you can use to trick facial recognition technology is actually a mask. Is Wegmans an outlier here? are the other i mean is this this ubiquitous i know for example when you go to the airport you can sometimes shop with your face like f out yeah actually no it's not just wegmans there are stores um albertson's walmart kroger's are all using it in some of their locations um i think also home depot lowe's macy's i mean i think a lot of people won't care yeah and a lot of people will just say i've been surveilled what is this as we used to say a little sprinkle of lidar going to do to my day-to-day if I'm not someone who should be worried about shoplifting? And to that I say, what if it's not forever about shoplifting? Right. After the break, the P and GLP-1s are having a moment, and OnlyFans models are getting very special U.S. visas. Stay with us. ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-iHeart to get started. That's 844-844-iHeart. You know Roald Dahl, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. Our new podcast series, The Secret World of Roald Dahl, is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans. What? And he was really good at it. You probably won't believe it either. Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelt's, played poker with Harry Truman, and had a long affair with a congresswoman. And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author ever? And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids? The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health. even running back B. John Robinson. When I'm on the field and feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes me feel great before I run the play. Just like B. John, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at loveyourmindplaybook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the Ag Council. We'll be right back. And we're back. Cara, does the word peptide mean anything to you? My friends are always like, the peptides, the peptides, and my skincare and the peptides. What does that mean? I think they use skincare that have like peptides that tightens their face. Have they been to peptide raves? I mean, unless you're talking about their bathroom now. Well, the New York Times had a great story this week with the headline, Chinese peptides are the latest biohacking trend in the tech world. It had one source saying, quote, the elites all have a Chinese peptide dealer. And it follows several Silicon Valley workers, all between 20 and 40, who are buying unregulated peptides from China with the hope that it will improve their health, their sleep, their fitness and their focus. But what is it? I mean, I know peptides are like protein. What is a peptide? No, peptides are amino acids that regulate hormones in the body and reduce inflammation, which is why it's a popular ingredient I learned in skincare products. It's also, and I didn't know this embarrassingly, the pea in GLP-1. I didn't know that just until this very moment. So the pea, peptides improve health. They're good. People like them. But why do they like them? Like, what do people say that they do? People are claiming that different types of peptides work for different types of ailments. Peptides is like a catch-all term for these collections of amino acids. And people are using all kinds of different peptides for different purposes. So people say that these peptides can stimulate wound healing by stimulating new blood vessel growth, better sleep, of course, weight loss, increased focus. One of the weirdest things was improving eye contact. Quote from the story, One open AI researcher called it a Zempic for autism. There have been some negative side effects. One woman in the New York Times story had all her hair fall out. No. Bad. Two women were hospitalized with swollen tongues and racing hearts after shooting up on peptides at an anti-aging festival in Vegas. That's like the worst case scenario use. Well, in the worst case scenario is probably you die. Right. No, I'm just saying like in terms of like people who are using GLPs are not generally like going to shoot them up festivals. Well, that's what this is about. These raves are like, basically, people are going to these parties with DJs where all of these peptides... Why do you need a DJ and a peptide in the same ways? All of these peptides are available and somebody else is teaching you how to make your own peptide cocktail. The Times actually went through a few of these raves and there are pictures of the raves in the article. People have a needle in their arm with tape with a disco background. Oh, so they can just get fed. Get fed peptides, yeah. Is this legal? It's kind of in a gray area. Personal use is legal, and buying directly from suppliers is legal. But very few peptides are FDA approved, and so biohackers are very much injecting at their own risk, as the woman whose hair fell out may testify. What's kind of interesting is this is not as niche as you might imagine. The rave piece isn't as niche? The rave piece is pretty niche. In fact, if you look at the photos in the New York Times, it's like only a New York Times journalist could describe that as a rave. It's like four people in a room with purple light. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it is a party, I guess, at best. Imports of peptides and hormones from China doubled. I was going to ask why China, and then I was like, I know the answer. They make them. So in 2024, there were $164 million worth of Chinese peptides imported to the US in the first three quarters of the year. In 2025, $328 million. Exactly double, which is $328 million of Chinese peptides. Which makes you wonder, does it work? Or is there just hype? I mean GLPs work Have you ever had an interest Listen honestly reading the article I was like wow If I had a lot more time on my hands and I was a little bit more crazed I can easily imagine going down this rabbit hole. Yeah. I mean, you kind of can, though, just with, like, very cursory use of GLP. Like, a lot of people are, I mean, basically everybody I know is on that. Yeah, I mean, I'm also exploring. You're exploring? I am exploring, yeah. For weight or? No, for mental health benefits. Well, that was one of the things mentioned in the article, micro dosing GLPs for mental health. But, you know, it's like the promise that rather than like going to the gym four times a week and meditating for 45 minutes a day and going on a walk and looking at the sky. It goes back to what you're saying, which is this list of all the stuff that you have to do when you're not working is really hard to do. Like, can I achieve it with this? With powder that I can buy online. Yes. So it's tempting. I actually, luckily, I don't have enough time to go down the rabbit hole. But I can imagine. Maybe you could have a robot that could. Stranger Things. Stranger Things, absolutely. I want to pivot. But do you consider yourself an exceptional creative? Have you been reading my LinkedIn again? I've been reading your thoughts because I take Pepto. And I read this article that said, influencers and OnlyFans models dominate the U.S. extraordinary artist visa. And I thought of you. I saw that story. I didn't read it, but I'm glad you're bringing it up. And you know why I thought of you? Because I had an O-1 visa. And it was not because you were selling feet pics. No, I was for a time deemed by the U.S. government an extraordinary artist. So do you know where, this I learned for the first time reporting this story. Do you know where it came from, the O-1 visa came from? No idea. So these visas were created because in the 1970s, the Nixon administration was trying to deport John Lennon over his politics. But Lennon was able to stay in the U.S. because he was deemed an outstanding person in the arts and sciences. You and John Lennon. Wow. And now a lot of OnlyFans creators. And boy George and Sinead O'Connor. Wow. Yes. The FT reports that currently an overwhelming number of people getting approved for O1 visas are influencers and OnlyFans models. One lawyer who was interviewed called them scroll kings. And I love I really love scroll kings and queens. The number of scroll kings and queens has actually, like peptide use, doubled since 2010. Wow. And why is applicants looked upon so favorably by the case officers at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau? Some immigration lawyers said that follower count makes a difference. The visa process is complicated and requires a lot of paperwork. I know because I've been through it. But that's interesting about the follower count because much like with the large language models where if it doesn't exist in writing, it doesn't exist. in your O1 visa application. It doesn't exist if you can't measure it. You need to come up with all of these very concrete numbers to demonstrate reach and influence and blah, blah, blah. And who can demonstrate reach and influence better than an influencer or someone with an OnlyFans account? No one. You know, I think there are other people who have these visas who might be able to say, okay, I'm in a major film or I'm in theater productions, you know, and get recommendations from experts in their field. These OnlyFans models and influencers are like, look, I have 20 million followers. Let me stay in the country. And how many exceptional talent visas are given out each year? Are you fishing? Only 20,000 visas were granted in 2024, and the majority of visas are still H-1Bs. Yeah, you're exceptional. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com. That's iHeartAdvertising.com. You know Roald Dahl, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? 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Listen to The Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back B. John Robinson. When I'm on the field and feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes me feel great before I run the play. Just like Bijon, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at loveyourmindplaybook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the Ag Council. Crook and Chase Nashville chats with the true life adventures of hot new country star Hudson Westbrook. Early in his career, he shocked his mom more than once, and we even shocked him on what we had to do to get to visit with him. I've seen some people do some crazy things, but nothing like that. Plus what Hudson almost had in common with Billy Bob Thornton. Crook and Chase Nashville Chats with Hudson Westbrook. Listen and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. That's it for this week. For Tech Stuff, I'm Cara Price. And I'm Osvalošian. This episode was produced by Eliza Dennis and Melissa Slaughter. It was executive produced by me, Cara Price, Julia Nutter and Kate Osborne for Kaleidoscope and Katrina Norvell for iHeart Podcasts. The engineer is Mike Coscarelli and Jack Inslee mixed this episode. Kyle Murdoch wrote our theme song. Please rate, review and reach out to us at techstuffpodcast at gmail.com. We want to hear from you. Over the last couple years, didn't we learn that the folding chair was invented by black people because of what happened in Alabama? After Montgomery Brawl. This Black History Month, the podcast Selective Ignorance with Mandy B unpacks black history and culture with comedy, clarity, and conversations that shake the status quo. The Crown Act in New York was signed in July of 2019, and that is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race. To hear this and more, listen to Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Adventures of Curiosity Cove podcast, what if there's more to the story than we've been told? This Black History Month, Adventures of Curiosity Cove invites families into a playful mystery that blends history, science, and imagination. As Ella and her friends investigate a missing peanut butter case, they uncover the legacy of a brilliant innovator. George Washington Carver? And learn how curiosity fuels creativity. 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