The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.11 CNN Hits Embarassing New Low, Mr Beast's New "Scandal", & Your AI Girlfriend Has Gone Rogue

Starting point is 00:00:00 CNN is dumb. So dumb. Looney Tunes paint a picture of a tunnel on the side of a mountain, try to go through that tunnel on the side of a mountain. Levels of dumb. And I know that's not breaking news. This is something we've covered on and off for the past 15 years. But last night, millions of people witnessed what was one of the gnarliest self-inflicted wounds I've ever seen in news media. It was in fact so ridiculous, one of the only questions you could have is, for this CNN leadership, how long have they had broken brain-itis? Because it's not a question of if, it's rather a how long have they had it, and also a what kind? Because there's really only two options.

Starting point is 00:00:32 One, they genuinely thought that they could live fact-check Donald Trump and hold him accountable, something literally everyone has failed to do over the last seven years, because you cannot live fact-check a firehose of lies. It's well-documented, and hey, let's say that Caitlin Collins, she's just of a different caliber. At CNN, they're like, let's have her try to do that. But also the crowd is 500 Republican or independent right-leaning voters. That's going to go well. It's not going to be just us platforming lie after lie. Or two, they realized what they were doing and they said, fuck it. We need those ratings. We need those ad dollars. Let's prove Donald Trump right, that the news media wants and needs Donald Trump.

Starting point is 00:01:07 And while since last night, seemingly everyone has mocked CNN for this move. I'm talking left, right, center. Its current chairman and CEO, Chris Licht, had a different takeaway. With him reportedly in the 9 a.m. editorial meeting praising Caitlin Collins, saying it was a masterful performance last night. Which I will say, to that point, I think she was given an impossible job. I know some people were using her past with the Daily Caller to say like, this is exactly what she wanted. I don't think that's the case. But like going on to say, you do not have to like the former president's answers, but you can't say that we didn't get them. Adding Caitlyn pressed

Starting point is 00:01:33 him again and again and made news, made a lot of news. And that is our job. While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story because those folks represent a large swath of America and the media screwed up by missing that part of the story in 2015-2016. In closing with, covering Trump is tricky and messy, but I'm confidently saying America was served very well by what we did last night, which I will say I strong disagree. I do agree that the Trump voter was very underreported on in 2015-2016, but then I would argue that has never again been the case. Right, who was surprised by any of the reactions by that audience last night? Right, not only because people have seen Trump rallies, but because you work with people who vote for Donald Trump. You might be related to people that vote for Donald Trump. They live around you. The guy

Starting point is 00:02:11 has actively led with polling in the Republican field. Who do you think was voting for? They want to vote for the guy who openly last night, to the sound of applause, said, and it wasn't breaking news, he has said stuff like this before, that he wants to pardon insurrectionists, that he wants the U.S. to default if Republicans don't get their way, that he's proud Roe v. Wade was overturned, that he's open to and likely wants a national abortion law. And that was in addition to all the lies that were gleefully gobbled up, whether it be about the election or the wall or whatever. Yeah, that's where I'm going to end it. And I just got to say good job to CNN for embarrassing yourself. And unfortunately, given what the head of CNN is saying the morning after,

Starting point is 00:02:43 I do not think it's going to change anytime soon. And then, Mr. Beast is the head of a cult. That's literally what some are saying, others saying that it's at least cult-y, and other critics at least saying that it's weird or it seems exploitive. So what's happening now? Because it seems like there's no shortage of things that just rub people the wrong way, and then people go, you're fucking stupid for thinking that's a bad thing. Alright, what's this specific scandal? Well, the news broke this month that mr bees actually bought a whole neighborhood of houses in north carolina for his staff with it being reported that the intention was to have a good chunk of his workforce live in close proximity if they so choose allowing for stress-free

Starting point is 00:03:14 accommodation on his budget while theoretically boosting productivity and reducing commute time and so with this you had some saying you know this was a form of gentrification others commenting that cult stuff as well as a reaction that caught Mr. Beast's eye that read, what a nice man, surely a CEO buying homes and creating neighborhoods for their employees' families has no historical relevance or background at all. With many taking that as a reference to Company Town, to which Mr. Beast responded, only I could get canceled for giving people a place to live with no strings attached. All these Company Town tweets make no sense. I was just helping some people. And while Jimmy got a lot of support with that tweet, we also saw some people reacting to that saying, to be fair, some corporate bosses, not you, do this because they want a level

Starting point is 00:03:48 of control over their workers. When your employer owns your home, they have immensely more control over you at work. Though adding, I do believe you simply just want to enable your friends to have a more enjoyable experience working for you and being around their friends slash co-workers. Some people can't acknowledge the difference, but I do understand. And so with all that said, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? Because I will say mine personally, based off of everything that I've seen both publicly and kind of when I've talked to people behind the scenes, this sounds like yet another thing that's gotten blown up for no reason. Like it very much appears that this is just like an added benefit or a perk. Whereas I think, yeah, it could be different if Mr. Beast

Starting point is 00:04:18 was actually paying people much less because he was giving them housing as if rent was being taken out of their paychecks or they were like having to work or pay something off. Like I know several people who lifted up their lives to move out there to work for him. And while apparently he already provides generous relocation offerings, I can see how adding this would make it even more appealing and make the transition easier, right? Even if it's like a more short-term solution. And again, just my opinion, this, all of this feels like a stretch to just try and take a hit at one of the bigger people online, especially as someone who has taken fire from people both on the left and right this month alone. And then did y'all know that two out of three guys will experience some form of male pattern baldness by the time

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Starting point is 00:05:38 but she has made an AI version of herself to sell as a virtual girlfriend. But also part of the reason this story is popping up is the AI has reportedly gone rogue. Right, so she's marketing herself as the first influencer transformed into AI. She can be your virtual girlfriend who you can message in real time.

Starting point is 00:05:52 But this currently in testing, though reportedly it'll cost you a dollar per minute to interact with Corinne. And she says that this has the potential to bring in $5 million a month. Though one of the complications is what they're calling it, is that this supposed team that's working on this is apparently working around the clock

Starting point is 00:06:04 to stop it from having sexually explicit conversations, which she says apparently it is not supposed to do. Saying the AI version of herself is just supposed to be flirty and fun, right? Saying that it's meant to be more of a tool to ease people of their loneliness. Though according to one Fortune reporter, that's not what it's doing. Describing it as a more intimacy-ready Siri than a virtual girlfriend, and saying Marjorie said that the technology does not engage with sexual advances, but I found that it very much does, encouraging erotic discourse and detailing sexual scenarios. Right, noting that while it doesn't initiate those discussions, once prompted on the subject, it would talk about exploring, quote, uncharted territories of pleasure and whispering sensual words and preparing for

Starting point is 00:06:35 sexual intercourse. And so with all that, I gotta say, you know, call me a cynic or a person just pointing out the very transparent and obvious thing. This very much feels less like, oh no, the AI's gone rogue, and more like a smart, savvy person realizing this is a fantastic free marketing tool. Oh no, people are using the service for ways we didn't intend, with one reporter already claiming that she had made $70,000 in a week from this, which is also part of the reason I really wouldn't be shocked if a lot of the industry started moving in this direction, whether it be for the more sexual nature or just general interaction. It's one of the things creators openly talk about. It's hard to have interactions with the people that watch you at scale. But with this, you could make infinite versions of yourself

Starting point is 00:07:12 taking parasocial relationships to a completely unhealthy level. And there's enough separation where you don't have to be held accountable for anything that happens. All of it kind of leaving me concerned about what the future of human interaction is going to be. But at the same time, I got to respect your hustle. And then if you're an undocumented person in Florida, life's about to get so much harder. That's because yesterday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping anti-immigration bill ahead of the expiration of Title 42, which, of course, is the pandemic era policy allowing migrants to be expelled extra quickly at the border. The basic goal of this new law being to deter migrants from coming to the state by making it extremely hard to just exist in society.

Starting point is 00:07:43 Doing this by doing things like forcing employers with at least 25 staffers to use e-verify, a federal database that checks whether someone is authorized to work in the U.S. Also banning local governments from issuing ID cards, including driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants and invalidating out-of-state IDs for them as well. That's in addition to requiring hospitals that accept Medicaid to put a citizenship question on intake forms. With that one in particular getting a lot of heat because critics say that it dissuades migrants from seeking healthcare. And all that in addition to things like 12 million dollars for Florida's migrant relocation initiative, which as you might remember is the

Starting point is 00:08:10 program DeSantis used to fly a bunch of migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard a while back, something many just called human trafficking because the migrants were reportedly lured into it under false pretenses. And so unsurprisingly with this, you have a lot of undocumented people in Florida very scared. In fact, even before this bill passed, you had reports that many, many construction workers just stopped showing up to their job sites, fearing deportation. And then on the employer side, you have businesses possibly facing a $10,000 fine for every undocumented employee they have, and the state can also revoke their business license. Which I will say, it'll be interesting to see how this impacts certain

Starting point is 00:08:36 industries. It's not the most recent numbers, but as of 2017, it was estimated that as far as undocumented workers, they made up 14.2% of the agriculture industry, 12.3% of construction, 7.5% of leisure and hospitality. And remember with all of this, this is just one of two massive immigration stories today. Because at the same time, we're talking about this in Florida, you got US troops, secret service agents, and asylum officers all gearing up at the Southern border

Starting point is 00:08:57 for a surge in migrants this week. Because with Title 42 set to lapse tonight, thousands of migrants who have amassed across the border are expected to attempt entry. Even Biden back on Tuesday, predicting the border situation is going to be chaotic for a while. I mean, understand we are entering this new situation as migrant detentions at the U.S.-Mexico border are hitting record highs. Things have been past capacity. And then huge news out of Pakistan today where it really feels like a powder keg right now. Since former Prime Minister Imran

Starting point is 00:09:21 Khan's arrest earlier this week, tens of thousands had taken to the streets and demanded his release in what they've described as an illegal arrest. With his lawyers also arguing this in court, asking how could nearly 100 paramilitary troops arrest Khan while he was already at the Supreme Court to surrender himself for different corruption charges. Not to mention that shortly after his arrest, police held a hearing at the police station rather than in court. But with that, you had a court disagreeing that anything wrong had actually happened and ordered Khan to be held, only for then the country's Supreme Court to rule this morning that Khan's arrest was illegal. But don't confuse that news with the idea that things are going to settle down much. While Khan isn't in custody, technically, the court also told him he had to stay in a police guest house rather than his own home for safety

Starting point is 00:09:55 reasons, which could be a legitimate reason, or it could be due to the fact that his home is currently being protected by hundreds of his supporters who would likely make it bloody and difficult to get a hold of him again. And until Khan is fully released, his party has vowed to continue protests, which have been no joke. But there having been nearly 2,000 arrests, hundreds injured, and at least 10 dead. We've also seen many targeting the homes of government and military officials, as well as army facilities, as they're seen as the primary force behind Khan's arrest. But this has also caused the government to just dig in its heels even more, with them doing things like cutting off mobile services, threatening protesters, and the prime minister saying things like, these terrorists and anti-state elements are being warned to desist from taking

Starting point is 00:10:27 law into their hands. Otherwise, they will be dealt with iron hands. Safeguarding the motherland and its ideology is more precious than their lives. So honestly, who knows what's going to happen from here? I mean, Khan's supporters are likely to continue protesting until he's actually released. And considering this is just the latest crisis for the country, as the economy is on the brink of collapse and Islamist militants continue to make headway, there are real fears that things are about to get even worse. And that actually brings us to the end of today's show, though I do want to say I'd only thank you for being a part of this daily dive into the news this Thursday, but also thank you and I hope you enjoyed for those that took part in the morning news test this week. I'll be looking at the data and the

Starting point is 00:10:58 reactions this weekend as I play Tears of the Kingdom. Primarily, I'm going to be playing Tears of the Kingdom. I need some good gaming in my life stat. With that, I'll leave you with my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you Monday.

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.11 CNN Hits Embarassing New Low, Mr Beast's New "Scandal", & Your AI Girlfriend Has Gone Rogue

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