{"podcast":{"title":"Tech Gumbo","slug":"tech-gumbo-1477878","podcast_index_feed_id":1477878,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/techgumbo/feed.xml","website_url":"https://techgumbo.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/9901825/podcast-white.png","author":"Haggai Davis","episode_count":100,"summary":"We started Tech Gumbo in Nov 2014 as a conversational show of news, information & updates about the past, present & future of all things technology in a topical, interesting and digestible way.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tech-gumbo-1477878"},"episode":{"title":"Social Media Negligence Rulings, Utility Infrastructure Costs, Balcony Solar Bill, Wi-Fi Router Ban","slug":"social-media-negligence-rulings-utility-infrastructure-costs-balcony-solar-bill-wi-fi-router-ban","published_at":"2026-04-06T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tech-gumbo-1477878/social-media-negligence-rulings-utility-infrastructure-costs-balcony-solar-bill-wi-fi-router-ban","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tech-gumbo-1477878","url":"https://techgumbo.podbean.com/e/social-media-negligence-rulings-utility-infrastructure-costs-balcony-solar-bill-wi-fi-router-ban/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/bnsywz5diunc44tx/Tech_Gumbo-4Apr2026-_Seg_18ngxx.mp3","summary":"News and Updates: • Historic Liability Verdict: A California jury awarded $6 million to a plaintiff, ruling Meta and Google were negligent in designing addictive platforms that caused mental health issues. • Big Tobacco Comparison: Legal experts view these verdicts as a ”bellwether,” potentially triggering a wave of litigation similar to the 1990s crusade against the tobacco industry. • New Mexico Penalties: A separate New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for failing to protect young users from online predators and misleading consumers. • Future Platform Changes: Industry experts suggest these losses may force companies to rewrite algorithms, limit auto-scrolling, or implement stricter age-gating to avoid future liability. • Grid Expansion Costs: U.S. utilities are planning $81 billion in upgrades to support AI data centers, sparking debates over whether tech giants or everyday consumers should pay. • Balcony Solar Bill: California’s SB 868 unanimously passed committee, allowing renters to plug small solar systems (up to 1,200W) directly into outlets without utility approval. • National Router Ban: The FCC banned sales of new foreign-made Wi-Fi routers, citing ”supply chain vulnerabilities” that could allow foreign actors to exploit residential and business networks.","meta_description":"News and Updates: • Historic Liability Verdict: A California jury awarded $6 million to a plaintiff, ruling Meta and Google were negligent in designing ad…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1319,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tech-gumbo-1477878/episodes/social-media-negligence-rulings-utility-infrastructure-costs-balcony-solar-bill-wi-fi-router-ban/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tech-gumbo-1477878/social-media-negligence-rulings-utility-infrastructure-costs-balcony-solar-bill-wi-fi-router-ban.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}