Is Black Friday really booming, or are inflated prices and AI shopping assistants just muddying the waters? This episode rips into the data, exposes retailer tactics, and debates if smarter tech is actually making us better shoppers.

• Black Friday data shows online sales strong, store results mixed
• Silicon Valley's man in the White House is benefiting himself and his friends
• View: Trump's AI agenda sails toward an iceberg of bipartisan populist fury
• 'We do fail ... a lot': Defense startup Anduril hits setbacks with weapons tech
• Solar's growth in US almost enough to offset rising energy use
• Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea
• China leapfrogs US in global market for 'open' AI models
• Danish authorities in rush to close security loophole in Chinese electric buses
• The Ford F-150 Lightning was supposed to transform the industry. Now, Ford may pull the plug
• Roblox is a problem — but it's a symptom of something worse
• Warner Music and Suno strike deal for AI music, giving artists control over their likeness
• Leak confirms OpenAI is preparing ads on ChatGPT for public roll out
• Jony Ive, Sam Altman: OpenAI plans elegantly simple device
• One tech tip: Modern cars are spying on you. Here's what you can do about it
• How a GM EV1 was sold for the first time
• GPU prices are coming to earth just as RAM costs shoot into the stratosphere

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Daniel Rubino, Sam Abuelsamid, and Mike Elgan

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