10 true tech stories you can stream right now
I’m way more into movies based on true stories. Real people, real drama, that’s my kind of thing. You can keep the wizards and aliens. Give me a story where something unbelievable actually happened.
I put together this list for you as proof that tech isn’t just lines of code or shiny gadgets. It’s ambition, hype, brilliance and yeah, sometimes a total train wreck. You’re gonna want to see each one.
Scam in the skies
I am hearing more and more reports about a certain travel scam that is not making the tech sites or mainstream news.
A “travel agent” or travel site selling fake plane tickets. You pay real cash for a flight that doesn’t actually exist, like booking a table at a restaurant that burned down in 2006.
$20 million
The bounty Coinbase is offering for tips leading to the capture of the crooks who tried to extort it. When cybercriminals demanded $20 million in Bitcoin to keep stolen customer data secret, Coinbase slapped a $20 million bounty on their heads instead. It’s like Catch Me If You Can but with way more crypto and way less Leonardo DiCaprio.
This is worse than spam calls
Most people have never heard of companies like Mobilewalla or Gravy Analytics, but they know you.
The FTC just clamped down on these two for secretly vacuuming up people’s real-time location data without consent. Not just estimated neighborhoods or passing GPS flickers.
$800 million
The estimated value of unsold Cybertrucks collecting dust on Tesla lots. With over 10,000 cars sitting in dealer inventory, the stainless-steel behemoth is shaping up to be less “futuristic tank” and more “Elon’s very expensive parking lot decor.” Turns out the PS1-looking fever dream isn’t exactly America’s sweetheart.
$500 million
How much funding Perplexity AI is about to land, pushing its valuation to $14 billion. For context, it was $3 billion last June. So what’s the buzz? They’re pulling in around $100 million in annual recurring revenue and plan to launch an AI agent web browser called Comet. You could say investors are seeing stars.
130 million
U.S. viewers now watch Prime Video, with ads. Amazon’s ad-supported Prime Video tier has more than a third of the country tuning in, commercials and all. 88% of them also shop on Amazon, so those pause-screen ads? Basically product placement with a buy button. Wow.
$64 billion
And growing as Coinbase’s market cap crashes the S&P 500 party. After nearly 13 years of crypto chaos, Coinbase is officially joining the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial. Shares jumped 8% on the news, because apparently, being the cool new kid at Wall Street’s lunch table has its perks. Bitcoin hitting $104K probably didn’t hurt either.
22%
That’s how much of its workforce Chegg is laying off because of AI. Students are skipping the homework-help site and heading straight to tools like ChatGPT. With traffic and subscriptions tanking, cutting costs will save up to $110 million by 2026. Study guides couldn’t prep them for this.