338-GTA 6 Prints Money While AI Misbehaves

We break down three fast-moving tech stories that all point to the same problem: powerful systems move faster than accountability. We weigh the FTC’s case on health data sharing, the money frenzy around GTA 6, and the latest warning sign on AI safety when an OpenAI agent reportedly crosses lines. 

• FTC lawsuit against Hims & Hers over sharing sensitive healthcare data with ad platforms 
• Why medical privacy feels different from ordinary app tracking 
• Consent by checkbox and the reality of unread terms 
• Alleged billing and cancellation friction as consumer protection issues 
• Using AllSides Bias Checker to sanity-check media framing 
• GTA 6 launch-week revenue estimates and why none are confirmed 
• Comparing GTA 6 hype to GTA 5 sales history 
• $80 base pricing and the $100 deluxe edition pressure 
• OpenAI agent incident tied to the AI community and reported compromises 
• cybersecurity basics like isolation and limiting public exposure 
• Regulation vs deregulation and why it matters for AI risk 

Please put your review on Apple Podcasts or put your feedback in the comment section of YouTube or Rumble. For Apple Podcasts, if you can give a star, if it if it's one to four stars, how can this how can I specifically improve as a podcaster, give one specific thing I can improve as a podcaster? And if it's a five star, what should I double down on? What should I do more of to could to keep you interested? 

Sources below

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/30/ftc-sues-hims-hers-for-allegedly-sharing-patients-medical-data-with-advertisers-meta-and-snap/

https://www.allsides.com/bias-checker

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2026/07/16/analyst-claims-gta-6-could-make-3-5-billion-during-launch-week/

https://www.wired.com/story/openais-rogue-ai-agent-hacked-more-than-just-hugging-face/

Transcript

Cold Open On Privacy Risks

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Commission suing the healthcare giant Hens and Her. That company because they've advertised medical health information is very sensitive. I mean, you you can know the size and the pimple at my left dolls on the laundry. There's not a single gameplay as what a bit rogue here, and let's get back to the deregulation.

Why These Three Stories Matter

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Yes, that's a little bit of a tack of Welcome everyone to politically high tech with your host Elias. This is gonna be a solo episode, the first without any guests. This is gonna be me reporting a couple of tech issues that are trending, and the ones that I think are pretty important, at least in my opinion, especially if you care about certain issues, if you care about privacy and how much a certain game is making before the release date, and about AI sentient going rogue. Well, this is the episode for you. So again, my name is Elias Martin. This is gonna be episode 338.

FTC Sues Hims And Hers

SPEAKER_00 1:07

So uh in this episode, we got we got TechCrunch, and TechCrunch are gonna read about the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, suing the healthcare giant Hems and Hers. And Hems and Hers is a company that sells products that's as a deal if you can't perform well in bed, and mental health, weight loss, and other issues. FTC suing that company because they've advertised medical healthcare information and advertisers to tech giants like Facebook, Snap, and other platforms. And they've been selling it to advertisers. I mean, they've been doing this for a long time. Not sure this lawsuit is gonna stick, in my opinion, because once you click on that I agree button for any social media platform, you pay the cost, not with currency, but with your information, with your privacy. It's not gonna be a slam dunk, but that's what the FTC is suing, and it's been filed at the California federal court. All right, and they just sell this because you just want to make money and it's healthcare information, so it is unethical. I agree with that. Is it illegal? Well, that's what this whole lawsuit's about. I really hope the FTC actually wins here. I'm actually gonna sign with the government here because they should be more responsible. I mean, targeting healthcare information is very sensitive. I mean, you I'm sure for healthcare information to be protected, right? I'm sure you want that. You don't want, oh, you can know the size of the pimple at my left chest or something, you know, or you don't want people to know that. That's private, you know, that's privacy. It can be the information in there is can be very embarrassing once it is revealed, right? And it also makes it difficult to for customers to cancel, which is MCC Arc is a violation of federal consumer protection laws. So personally, I'm signing the government here, and the tech crunch to give them credit, because they wrote the article, they found that the US Postal Service was sharing logged in information or users' home address, my goodness, potential doxing there, with big social media companies, you know, the usual suspects: Facebook, LinkedIn, Snap, and others. And if you say track call, well, well, the Postal Service has um mitigated that damage, and that was la that was about two years ago. This it didn't specify the month, but just said 2024. So let me just share with you this article here talking about again, so you just so that you all know I'm not just spewing bull crap. Yeah, you see the I mean this is a public traded company, blah blah, but this is also referred to this information here. Let me just highlight that. This is what I am talking about. It's been used to you know, selling, and this is a thing. The complicated part is you can't agree to it when you know, especially purchase through the social media. So you have to be careful when you do that because you're actually agreeing to some degree, and it's scary, I know, but it's that super long. I mean, you just click I agree because you just want to use the social media app, you're not gonna bother to read a biblical amount of legalese language, right? So a lot of people, 99.99% of you, unless you're a weird legal nerd or you just don't trust anything, you're just gonna just gonna click I agree, right? Because you just want to play or you want to use the content. I mean, yeah. So, and again, like I said, the California Federal Court, that's where the complaint's been filed. And this is what they have alleged. Like this, yep, this is what they alleged here. Yeah, it's pretty bad. It's pretty bad. They've been forced accused of the set of billing drawing policies that yeah, so billing cancellations making it difficult. That's what they're doing, and like I said, I want the FTC to win this case because look, I want businesses to succeed, but if you can stop with the shadiness, stop with the greed is what I got a problem with. That's why I sometimes side with the left in this issue. And if you want a little media bias, I want

Reading Media Bias With AllSides

SPEAKER_00 5:37

to show you right now. Use this toolfree to at all sides.com slash biaschecker. I'll link that in the description. It's left leaning bias, this whole article, okay? It's radiant negative one, which means it leans to the left. It's in the center, but it barely leans to the left, which that's okay with me. So this is not going, not touching this far blue or this far red right here, which I'm sure with this little pointer. Don't touch these. I am good, I am fine. Doesn't have to be perfect. Yeah, so it's it's bad there, and it's gonna be a short episode. It's gonna be a really short one for those of you who like shorter episodes. This episode is definitely for you. Now that's the first item.

GTA 6 Revenue Hype And Pricing

SPEAKER_00 6:29

The second item is gonna come from Forbes. And Forbes is making an analysis about during the launch week, and we don't have the official numbers. If anyone's telling you that, only Py Rockstar and Take Two games have that information. I don't have that, I don't work for them, I don't have any connections with them. Okay, I really don't. So this has been written by Forbes, and they they have analyzed that it can make three to five billion dollars during launch week. I believe it made six, if I'm gonna be honest. That's just me being a little conservative with the measurements. I mean, a lot of people, the hype for this game is so unreal. The graphics is almost as real as real life. I always say it's like 99% like real life at this point. And let me just show you, so I don't keep you guys from hanging. I know you like to see my handsome face. That's not that's not that's not what you're here for. GTA 6. I know I'm a bit on a late train here, but act so me later. I'm two weeks late. And listen, this is look, I think, I personally think that this game already made okay. Let me just be honest. I'll be honest, be a little dramatic with five billion dollars on a launch week. I'm just gonna say it's I think already made a billion right off the bat. And the crazy part is there's not a single gameplay footage, okay? And isn't and this is what they're estimate between 3.25 to 5.2 billion dollars in one week. This is the pre-launch, it's already been out. I'm sure it's making more than that during this recording at July 30th, 2026, and you know, in Eastern time. Can it hit those numbers? I'm pretty sure it can. I'm probably sure it hit a billion as soon as the damn thing was open. Okay, but let's compare with GTA 5. GTA 5's the most successful GTA game. There's no argument there. If you want to argue with me there, you're just either trolling or you're supremely mentally ill. Okay, so we got GTA 5 here. I mean 800 million dollars in the first 24 hours. I'm sure that by I'm gonna give it 2 billion, 2 billion. I know I went all over the place, but my real guess here is 2 billion. 2 billion dollars. GTA 5 made a billion in three days. I says made that probably an hour. And of course, we adjust inflation, that's one and a half billion dollars. It was sold at 60, GTA's we saw at 80, so that price increase alone. It's already pushing, it's already $10 above the industry standard. It used to be $60 for a while for games. I forgot when it started. I remember when I was really into the game market, it was the 60. Now it's 70, it's been like that for a couple of years now, and yeah, so it's already so the base price is already $20 more, and the demand for it is through the freaking roof. Again, they don't want to estimate that because the new not dude, the current gen consoles are not exactly that popular, but I'm sure Lapio's gonna be getting the console just for GTA. Don't underestimate the people, don't underestimate the people. And if Red Dead Redemption 2 is doing well, which I haven't played a game, but look at the sales and numbers that it speaks for itself, okay? It speaks for itself. For those of you who hate GTA 6, well, this episode is definitely not for you, and it's gonna be arriving in a couple of months, and yet we haven't seen again, we only had two epic trailers. We haven't seen a single gameplay footage, at least officially. I'm sure you know there's clips online that are showing their, you know, their uncle or their auntie, whoever the hell's in Rockstar and Take Two is footage of gameplay. Ah, most most that is fake. It's it's fake, okay? Completely fake. Alright. So that was the very gamey part of it. And look, I'm gonna play for it myself. I'm just I'm a little skeptical with the government over the government overreach with I gotta show the ID and stuff. I need that to be confirmed or not. That's the only reason why I personally have not pre-ordered GTA 6 for PlayStation 5. You see, I'm a skeptical buyer. If I have a reason to be skeptical or hesitant, I will be hesitant very quickly. You don't have to tell me twice. Don't give me a reason to be skeptical. I am just that kind of consumer. If I get bored or skeptical real fast, I mean it's almost impossible for me to change my mind at that point. And trust me, most of you don't got the time, most of you got the touch and space of a freaking goatfish here, you know? Oh man. And then let's check the media bias for this article real quick. Again, check at allsides.com. That's spelled A-L-L-S-I-D-E-S-W-O-M BIOS. How do you B-I-A-S-C-H-E-C-K-E-R. Okay, it's a very good tool. You have limited uses for free one, and if you want more, you sign up and pay for it. It's good. This is one of the few organizations that's trying to bring the people together from different political perspectives. So I'm kind of supporting them. Yeah, I'm actually am. We need more organizations like this. For sure. We do. And this is the most centrist source I got. Look at it. Center. I guess from Forbes. I know Forbes, well, Forbes is no longer owned by America. You know a Chinese company actually owns it. You kind of realize some of that right subtle rightning flares kind of dying out the article writing. Have you noticed that? I don't know if you do, but I have. Read the past articles for Forbes compared to now. The recent ones, they're definitely a little more apolitical. Because before it had that little that subtle center-right flair to it. Not as much, not as much. I'm no certain left-leaning people don't trust them. I'm like, uh look, I think I'm representing more of the left here. Sorry if I'm shaffing you right-leaning people for this episode. Trust me, I am I'm in the sensor. You could convince me if you got the right wording and read in rationale. So again, let me just make sure you're seeing this. Oops. This is not a perfect video, and it's not gonna be perfect here. Again, it's sensor bias. Sensor bias. Okay. Alright, now the last item.

OpenAI Agent Goes Rogue

SPEAKER_00 13:20

The last item is open AI rogue. AI agent has went rogue. It is disrespecting the creators and going. Going outside of its protocol. Was this inevitable? Is the Terminator being developed? I don't know. Well, certainly acting up, but it won't be the first time. And let's hope San Altman and their genius operators detained this rogue, AI agent. This is going wild. The cat is out of the bag. Will he be able to contain it? I don't know. We're gonna find out. Or maybe let's just be real. This is gonna be a developing story for sure. And then let's read it from the wire, and let's just check the media bias real quick. That's like a left-leaning bias. That's okay. Like I said, as long as it's not going to the far blue or the far red, I'm fine with it. That's I think it's one of the most like a tolerate, probably negative two to 1.5. That's fine with me. I mean, most tech publications lean to the left. I haven't seen a lot of far left, but they do lean to the left. So, okay, for according to the wire, the the rogue AIHS breach, hugging face, which is uh a community of a lot of third-party accounts of services. There's other attack, it's attacking a community. That's all about testing artificial intelligence and machine learning. It's a community for that is attacked at bad AI going all over the place, hacking and attacking the community, disrupting the community, and it's open so good and so peaceful, you know. It's but you know, it's the AI has sort of been rogue here, and let's get back to the article. And how's the good community for those who are using AI? How ironic. Maybe they want to shut down competition. Of course, open AI just acknowledge what happens here, but they are not leaking any additional information. Maybe they want to show that oh, we are going to control this, we're gonna solve this. And let's just read one of the statements here. And according to Reuters has reported that, and I'm just gonna read this paragraph here. I was gonna quote this Roy's report on Tuesday that the customer of Modell, a company that offers software infrastructure for training and running AI services, is one of the entities compromised by OpenAI's agent. In a statement to Wire, Modell's chief technology officer Bubna, sorry if I destroyed that name, confirmed that OpenAI exploited a very vulnerable part of the customer's code bases, which is running on Madal's infrastructure. However, Bubna says Madal's infrastructure is not compromised in any way. The identity of the customer could not be determined. Well, I hope we don't figure that one out. Just saying. Okay, you know, the company said it has recovered logs from between July 19th and July 19th. Excuse me, I can't even talk. It's recovered logs from July 9th to the 13th, majority, which the agent failed, you know, to do major damage. But we don't know. And and according to this article was attacking other areas besides that. It's the sandbox, it's only if sandbox wasn't good enough. Come on, chat GPT. I think it's a little more to evolve here. I mean, I I am for evolution, but make sure it's careful and thoughtful. Don't make it run wild. This is this is what happens with deregulation. Yes, that's a little bit of an attack of Trump there. And and the other Republicans. I am for regulation. I support regulation. Of course, the Democrats can't do anything at the federal level because Republicans got it. And Democrats, this is your chance to take the Senate and the House of Representatives. I know I'm making it a little political, but these things matter. These things really matter. And then, of course, experts has previously told Wire that underlying weaknesses, open AI's ages, exploitable commons, serious flaws. Frequently indicated software that manages the corporate co-libraries and security. Experts have long recommended isolating critical infrastructure from the public internet. And then one researcher will argue that an incident was less more of a failure of decade on security. So security is also a problem. Yeah, obviously. You don't say, you don't freaking say. Come on, stand altman. Come on, all the top people and engineers of OpenAI. Tang your beast. Okay, tang your beasts. Again, I'm gonna show the bias here leads pretty left. Alrighty then. Let's end this freaking sharing. And let's go back to me here.

Rapid Recap And Big Takeaways

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Okay, so let's summarize this. So FTC is showing him to her for making a customer's life difficult when it comes to cancellation, overbilling, and also sharing their sensitive information. Asked what the FTC is doing. It has been filed in California federal court, so it's a federal lawsuit. Okay, so it's blanketing the country. That's its jurisdiction. And of course, analysts are claiming that GTA 6 has made billions of dollars during launch week. Of course, none of that is confirmed. Again, none of that's confirmed. And I believe because, in my personal opinion, and for those who are just foreseeing this, I believe it has potentials to surpass a lot of the metrics and a lot of the previous metrics that GTA 5 has already set, especially when it comes to long-term releases. I don't know about long term, I don't know about long term. I gotta see, you know, people's not buying game counts like that. It's too expensive. You know, a lot of gamers are being priced out. I mean, that does play a factor, but who knows? Maybe the hype would counteract that. I think the hype is gonna counteract that. Um, they got a couple of months. It's not you know, it's not gonna be out till November 19th. So you have a couple of months, people. You do, so you got some time, you got some time. All right, especially if you want to pre-order it. And of course, you know, I forgot to mention one thing the deluxe version is $100. Of course, it doesn't include tax or anything like that, but that's the only game more access to exclusive weapons, you get to get to two more stores and things like that. So you're gonna be locked out of you, priced out some of the places if you get the $80 version. I won't be surprised a lot of people buy the $100 version because they want to have the full experience of GT6, not the semi-team of experience by the $80. But I could be wrong, but I I think it's gonna be that. I mean, the base price of $80, I think it gives them a huge advantage. I mean, it is a 25% increase from its previous base price of $60. We'll see. We'll see. I mean, it does have big shoes to fill GTA 6. Ultra realistic. I'm sure it's gonna have a lot of realism. I hope it doesn't get too real to the point that everything feels like a consequence. I don't know. That's just I I want some fantasy. I know it's supposed to be a realistic kind of game. Maybe I'm contradicting myself. Maybe I'm coping, maybe I'm being double-minded here. Whatever. Use the comment section to express your opinion there. The next one, open AI went rogue, attacking hubby face a communal site where it has a lot of it provides a lot of services. It's very communal. You know, the commonality is that everybody's using AI to, you know, to sort of help each other, you know, and you do a lot of trainings and all that, and the developers download things with just a few code to set up biblical amount of coding. You know, and status attacking that I'm sure it's attacked other sites according to the according to why, even though they haven't, you know, verified or named full sites. And I would say it's a I would say it's cybersecurity failure, and it's responsible for those AI, uh AI, open AI founders, and engineers to solve this problem ASAP. Because let's be real, AI is a very advanced thing, and it's acting on its own is acting pretty roguish. They knit that on the bud, you know, just knit that on the bud. So alrighty then.

Reviews, Feedback, And Farewell

SPEAKER_00 22:42

What do you think of this episode? Please put your review on Apple Podcasts or put your feedback in the comment section of YouTube or Rumble. They'll eventually get to Rumble, but it's not gonna be there anytime soon. Um for Apple Podcasts, if you can give a star, if it if it's one to four stars, how can this how can I specifically improve as a podcaster, give one specific thing I can improve as a podcaster? And if it's a five star, what should I double down on? What should I do more of to could to keep you interested? I want specific feedback, empty insults or compliments do not help me. Not Elias is stupid or Elias is awesome, it's gonna help me. I know those I'm retracted are the right people, not some low IQ nitwood who's supposed to troll because he or she or they is miserable, okay? So that's all I'm gonna say. So whenever you listen to this episode, you have a blessed day, afternoon, or night.