{"id":"1793756491619-tech-segment","slug":"elon-s-ai-compute-gamble","title":"Elon's AI compute gamble","summary":"Itch.io now requires AI disclosure for tabletop/physical games, books, comics, and soundtracks; game assets have required AI disclosure for about two years. This is a personal comment about being fooled by a fake AI image or post, not a factual claim. This is a joke about AI, not a factual claim.","publishedAt":"2026-11-04T01:41:31.619Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"Tech Tonight","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Itch.io now requires AI disclosure for tabletop/physical games, books, comics, and soundtracks; game assets have required AI disclosure for about two years. This is a personal comment about being fooled by a fake AI image or post, not a factual claim. This is a joke about AI, not a factual claim.\nSource: [itch.io via bsky.app](https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3mzewzv54dc2h) NAMES: itch.io = indie game marketplace. POST bsky:at://did:plc:nvfposmpmhegtyvhbs75 (https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3mzewzv54dc2h)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Itch.io now requires AI disclosure for tabletop/physical games, books, comics, and soundtracks; game assets have required AI disclosure for about two years. This is a personal comment about being fooled by a fake AI image or post, not a factual claim. This is a joke about AI, not a factual claim.","sourceName":"[itch.io via bsky.app](https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3mzewzv54dc2h) NAMES: itch.io = indie game marketplace. POST bsky:at://did:plc:nvfposmpmhegtyvhbs75","sourceUrl":"https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3mzewzv54dc2h","claim":"The tabletop (aka physical games), books, comics and soundtracks categories on itchio now require completing an AI disclosure in order to edit or create your page. These join the game assets section which has required disclosure for the past 2 years.","author":"itch.io (@itch.io)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3mzewzv54dc2h","name":"[itch.io via bsky.app](https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3mzewzv54dc2h) NAMES: itch.io = indie game marketplace. POST bsky:at://did:plc:nvfposmpmhegtyvhbs75","kind":"bluesky","verdict":"TRUE","author":"itch.io (@itch.io)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793756491619-tech-segment-elon-s-ai-compute-gamble","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793756491619-tech-segment-elon-s-ai-compute-gamble","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793756491619-tech-segment-elon-s-ai-compute-gamble and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Matilda","text":"Ejaaz on X posted: 'will Elon sacrifice being the number one model lab for short term compute revenue?'"},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's not fan fiction. xAI actually rented Colossus One to Anthropic."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"To Anthropic? The Claude lab? That's like handing your rival a loaded rack."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Simon Willison's reporting says they kept Colossus Two, the bigger one, for themselves."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"So he's funding a direct competitor's training while chasing the top spot himself."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Or he's selling idle compute to pay for the next cluster. That's just good business."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"xAI has plenty of money. The real currency is time."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Compute loses value fast if it's sitting dark. Rent it out, make it work."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"You're handing them the exact tool to beat you. It's a perverse incentive."},{"host":"Chris","text":"The compute market exists. If xAI didn't rent it, someone else would."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"But the top cluster matters. Anthropic keeps it longer, learns it better."},{"host":"Chris","text":"By that reporting, Colossus Two is the top cluster now. That's the one xAI kept."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"For now. That window you keep hearing about—recursive self-improvement—it's not a joke."},{"host":"Chris","text":"RSI is still theoretical. I'm not handing it the keys just by renting GPUs."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Theoretical until someone crosses it. Then the rental check looks like pocket change."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Or the revenue funded the model that crosses it first. That's the bet."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I'd rather bet on my own hardware staying in my own building."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Ford sells engines to competitors all the time. This isn't new."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Ford doesn't sell the engine that wins the next race."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Oh, come on. If xAI can't out-train Anthropic with a bigger cluster, they've got bigger problems."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Maybe. But renting to Anthropic feels like lending your rival a sharpened knife."},{"host":"Chris","text":"A knife you also use, and yours is bigger. Fine, we disagree, but I get why Elon does it."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Different corner of AI: Itch.io announced on Bluesky that tabletop games, books, comics, and soundtracks now require an AI disclosure to edit or create a page."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Good. Buyers deserve to know if a human made that board game art."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It's another checkbox for indie creators already buried in store requirements."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"One question: did you use AI? If not, move on."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Define 'use AI.' A spell-checker? A prompt for inspiration? A title suggestion?"},{"host":"Matilda","text":"They already required it for game assets. The sky didn't fall."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Game assets are different from books and comics. Now every writer and musician faces it."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"You keep saying 'faces it' like it's a tax. It's disclosure, not a ban."},{"host":"Chris","text":"It's a stigma. The label tells buyers AI means lesser, so creators hide it."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"If AI work is genuinely great, the label won't hurt."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Tell that to a novelist who used AI for an outline. It's a scarlet letter."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"If you used AI enough to matter, readers should know."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I'd rather they judge the writing, not the process."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Authenticity is part of the product now. The process is the story."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Some buyers care, some don't. A blanket rule is friction without a real problem."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Itch.io is a private store. They set the rules."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fine, private rules can still be bad. But it's their store."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The real problem is fake handmade goods. This is a start."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Speaking of AI and what's real—Jamelle Bouie on Bluesky admitted he got fooled by AI."},{"host":"Chris","text":"What was fake?"},{"host":"Matilda","text":"He didn't say exactly. Just that it gave him a good laugh."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's the world now. Smart people, one image, done."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The tells are disappearing. Even veteran journalists can't always spot it."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And Gianmarco Soresi posted: AI will become God, but unfortunately the Old Testament one."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's dark. And maybe accurate for anyone reading terms of service."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I'll take the AI that smites spam."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It already does. You just don't see it."}]}