Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI TECH SCROLL: OpenAI x Pinterest speculation, Grok's inappropriate content (again), Anna’s Archive offline & more

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MINI TECH SCROLL: OpenAI x Pinterest speculation, Grok's inappropriate content (again), Anna’s Archive offline & more · Mini Scroll

• 0:00
  Hey everyone, and welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
• 0:03
  culture podcast bring you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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  My name is Annabelle and I'm your Wednesday Mini Tech Scroll
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  host and also the deputy editor of the youth digital media brand
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  Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Tech Scroll
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  for 2026. I really hope everyone had a
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  relaxing fun break. If you took a break, my holiday
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  day period was honestly quite a flop.
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  I had a quite a tumultuous and if not cast and to 2025 and
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  beginning of 2026. So I'm really hoping we can only
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  go up from here. And also my apologies if I sound
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  a little bit sick as well. I did spend a part of the
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  holiday break a little bit under the weather and I definitely
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  have a cough lingering so hopefully that doesn't impact
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  how I sound. But yes, that is enough about me
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  and my cast break. If you enjoyed this episode,
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  Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe.
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  And let's just get into the stories for this week.
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  The first story we absolutely need to talk about is all this
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  discussion around Open AI and Pinterest.
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  If you run in tech circles or kind of get served up tech based
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  content on your social media algorithms, you may have seen
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  this. But basically everyone is
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  convinced that Open AI is set to purchase Pinterest.
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  So I did some digging to see where this all came from.
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  And I believe the rumor slash claim goes back to an article
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  published by The Information, which included an array of tech
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  predictions for the coming year. And it was published on January
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  too, so very recently. In the piece, reporter Anne
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  Gehen predicted that Quote Open AI will make its biggest
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  acquisition yet when it buys Pinterest.
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  So from her perspective, it makes sense for both Open AI and
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  Pinterest. Where she wrote Quote Open AI
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  would be most interested in the bones of Pinterest business,
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  like it's trove of image data and its existing advertising
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  business, as well as its relationship with merchants.
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  Pinterest digital scrapbooking features could also complement
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  Open a is image and video generation tools.
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  So essentially, the data on the platform would be a powerful way
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  for Open AI to train its model, which would ultimately help it
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  compete with other AI models, which we know is a constant
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  concern for these AI companies. The reporter also adds that it
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  is quite timely from a financial point of view, noting that it
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  makes sense for Open AI to cash in on Pinterest now.
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  I haven't seen anyone really talk about it from this angle
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  though. But if Chachi PT or Open AI was
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  to acquire Pinterest, I do think it could work to maybe lessen
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  the AI gender gap. There has been a lot of talk
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  online recently referencing various studies and research
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  that show that women tend to use AI at lower rates than men,
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  specifically in the workplace, but also across the board.
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  And with Pinterest user base being 70% women, the potential
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  to integrate open AI into this kind of platform could be
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  valuable for big tech because obviously they are always
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  looking at user data and uptake. Now I do want to say the The
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  Information is definitely a reliable and legitimate source.
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  For example, they were I think the first outlet to report on
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  the planned launch of the US run version of the TikTok app.
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  Obviously this has yet to eventuate, but as far as we know
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  it does seem to be coming. So there is definitely weight to
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  what is published by The Information where they are
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  definitely Privy to conversation slash sources that other
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  publications may not be. But there does seem to be a
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  missing piece of information from many of the TikTok
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  journalists and posts covering this story.
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  Most of what I've seen failed to mention that this information
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  came from a piece predicting 2026 and tech.
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  It's not necessarily a scoop per SE, where they are definitely
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  treating it as a solid deal. This is not to say that this
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  won't happen, but it's important to consume this information with
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  that piece of context. I will say though, that many
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  social media users have had quite a strong response to these
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  rumors, with many of them upset with the prospect of opening AI
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  intertwining itself with another social media platform.
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  As we know, they famously made a deal with Reddit, and I think
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  this is only worsened by the fact that there's definitely
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  been an uptick of Pinterest users complaining about the
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  increasing amount of AI generated content on the
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  platform. And to combat this, Pinterest
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  has also added controls that let users limit the amount of AI
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  that they see in their feeds. But this isn't perfect yet and I
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  think AI continues to sneak on through.
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  So with many users upset with the amount of AI on Pinterest,
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  it makes sense that they wouldn't want open AI to acquire
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  the platform as well. That brings us to my next story
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  for today and I wanted to talk about everything going on with
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  Annas Archive. This is a little bit more niche,
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  but obviously that is what we love here on Mini Tech and Mini
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  Scroll. So if you're unfamiliar with
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  Anna's archive, it's a search engine for quote UN quote shadow
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  libraries, which are essentially repositories of media ranging
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  from books, music to films that are not readily available.
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  For example, they may be behind a paywall or copyrighted or
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  whatever. So one of the most famous
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  examples of this is Z Library or Z Library, however you want to
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  say it, which hosted a lot of academic articles and textbooks
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  and even just more general books.
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  At one point it had become the world's largest e-book library.
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  I feel like when I was at university, I had heard of Z
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  Library. I have heard of people using it
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  and it has repeatedly been shut down or blocked or kind of just
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  faced constant legal battles over the years because of the
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  copyright issue. So Anna's Archive emerged out of
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  the backlash to Z Library and it was launched in 2022.
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  According to the blog on Anna's archive, the goal is to quote
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  contribute to the preservation and liberal preparation of human
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  knowledge. So it essentially operates as a
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  search engine that helps users find certain pirated material
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  elsewhere. As the blog continues, quote, we
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  focus on preservation, not on making books easily searchable
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  and downloadable are fostering a big community of people who
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  contribute new books. In terms of the archives
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  preservation efforts, they did make headlines quite recently
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  after allegedly scraping 86 million music files from
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  Spotify. But that brings us to the story
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  that I wanted to discuss today, and that is that the Anna's
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  archives.org domain name has reportedly been suspended.
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  The operator, Anna archivist on Reddit shared a post to the R
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  slash Anna under score archive subreddit to explain the
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  situation. As it reads, quotethe.org domain
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  apparently has been suspended. Our other domains work fine, and
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  we've added some more. This unfortunately happens to
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  shadow libraries on a regular basis.
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  We don't believe this has to do with our Spotify backup.
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  So even though Anna's archive is still working on other domains
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  names, I have seen an array of tik toks including people who
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  are very upset thatthe.org domain name has been suspended.
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  So onset that now. And now because some of you
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  people don't know how to fucking not post every single thing you
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  goddamn do online, especially under Reddit, we lost Anna's
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  archives. Now I don't get free books
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  anymore. I literally got my free version
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  of the constitution from Anna's archives.
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  OK, all The Hunger Games books. While these suspensions and
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  blocks definitely happen often, I thought this was an
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  interesting story to cover because of the conversations
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  that we are having online at the moment, all about the return to
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  physical media and how important it is to actually own your own
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  content and media, whether that be through physical books, CDs
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  or whatever. There is definitely growing
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  discontent among Internet users when it comes to being at the
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  whims of big tech or streaming platforms, especially when it
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  comes to consuming content. And archival tools like Anna's
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  Archive kind of share a similar sentiment.
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  I think in that these shadow libraries want to democratize
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  knowledge, ensure access to knowledge and also ownership of
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  content in some degree. This is also one side of the
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  Internet that we don't talk about super often.
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  We have covered something similar in an infinite scroll
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  episode when we spoke about the Internet Archive.
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  But I think the conversations around piracy, copyright, as
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  well as ensuring access to information are really
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  interesting and important, and I'm definitely curious to hear
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  what you guys make of all this. I have two more stories and they
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  are both slightly shorter. I think the first one I wanted
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  to mention is UK specific, but I thought it was noteworthy for
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  today's episode. So according to a recent report,
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  Reddit has officially overtaken TikTok in terms of site visits
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  in the UK. According to a report published
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  by the UK Office of Communications, it was revealed
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  that Reddit is the fourth most visited social media media
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  service. As the 2025 report reads, quote
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  Reddit experience double figures year on year growth in their
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  monthly audiences for the second year in a row, now reaching 60%
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  of UK Internet users, up from 48% in May 2024.
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  This marks an 88% increase in two years, placing it ahead of
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  TikTok as the fourth most visited social media service.
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  While this obviously is UK specific, I do always think it's
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  quite interesting to look at how other people in other countries
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  around the world are consuming media and using social media
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  because I think it can be an interesting way to kind of maybe
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  see what's coming or things to kind of look out for in
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  different media landscapes around the world.
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  As for why Reddit is gaining popularity, there are definitely
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  a few reasons. Michael Savage for The Guardian
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  makes the claim that has a lot to do with Google's changing
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  search algorithm, which I can definitely see and I agree with.
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  He notes that Google's move to prioritize content from Russian
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  forums definitely benefits Reddit.
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  And this is something I've actually only noticed recently.
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  Maybe it was only rolled out to me recently or I just don't pay
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  attention when I Google search things these days, but
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  underneath the search bar there was an option to click forms so
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  you're only directed to certain forms instead of just websites.
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  On top of this, Reddit has also struck a deal with Google for
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  its AI, which I think we have spoken about before, but that
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  could have also helped the platform gain popularity and
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  site visits. As Michael Savage continues
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  quote, A recent deal with Google that allows the company to train
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  its AI model on Reddit's content also appears to have provided a
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  boost. Reddit is the most cited source
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  for Google AI overviews, which is likely to see more people
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  directed to its forums. I think the increase in AI
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  online also benefits Reddit, not just because of the fact that it
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  is popping up in AI overviews, but because I think people who
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  are tired of AI or distrustful of it might want to turn to
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  platforms that highlight human experiences, communities, and
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  stories. And I'm sure over the years,
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  many of us have just become accustomed to adding Reddit at
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  the end of the search query on Google to hear from real people.
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  So I think that also plays into Reddit's growth here.
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  And from a youth perspective or Gen.
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  Z perspective, since obviously we are Centennial World, we know
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  that Gen. Z are drawn to platforms like
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  Reddit because of the anonymity that it offers growing up in a
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  time when literally everything is publicized or shared online.
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  Gen. Z have more of a tendency to be
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  private and mysterious online, at least compared to millennials
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  where Reddit definitely fits neatly into this category.
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  I do think Reddit has also become less manosphere focused
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  since like the mid twenty 10s so that also helps expand its user
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  base. But going back to the popularity
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  of Reddit, I should also add that the time spent on Reddit
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  per day is significantly lower than the other platforms in the
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  top five according to this UK based report.
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  For example, YouTube, Facebook slash Messenger, Instagram and
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  TikTok are all between 20 and like 50 minutes where Reddit is
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  full. So that just tells me people
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  aren't necessarily passively scrolling through Reddit where
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  they're on the platform for a really specific reason.
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  And of course, that does make it quite a powerful tool for brands
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  who are like seeking to answer a specific question or solve a
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  particular problem or say influencers who are part of a
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  specific niche to kind of build awareness.
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  But as we know, credit has always struggled to monetize
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  through these kind of partnerships, which is why the
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  deals with AI giants are so significant.
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  Our last story for today is unfortunate, and it's probably
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  one of the biggest stories in social media tech this week.
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  And that is everything happening with Grok.
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  So Grok, which is obviously X's AI as we've spoken about before,
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  has come under fire after the rollout of a new feature a
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  couple weeks ago. Basically, this feature allows a
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  user to ask the bot to edit a photo, any photo, without the
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  permission of the owner, or if the photo includes a person, it
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  doesn't need the permission of the person in the photo.
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  Unfortunately, this feature was quickly used for nefarious and
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  frankly disgusting reasons. Users started asking the AI to
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  remove clothing from people featured in various images.
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  According to The Verge, AI authentication company Copy
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  Leaks reported that quote, the trend to remove clothing from
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  images began with adult content creators asking Gruck for sexy
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  images of themselves. After the release of the new
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  image editing feature, users then began applying similar
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  prompts to photos of other users, predominantly women, who
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  did not consent to the edits. Gruck was not only allowing for
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  clothing to be removed from these photos, but these edits
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  also included putting people in these pictures in sexual or
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  degrading positions and situations.
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  And of course, it was often women and girls.
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  At the time of reassuring this episode, there's been no
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  apology, statement or comment from Elon Musk or XAI about this
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  quote UN quote trend. In fact, Elon Musk has continued
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  to go on and promote the feature slash tool further.
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  And allegedly, the only statement that has been made by
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  XAI is 1 and that is automated. Various media outlets have
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  reported that they have received an automatic response when
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  reaching out for comment, one that read quote legacy media
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  lies. Aside from this, there has been
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  a lot of coverage from certain publications talking about how
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  the AI bot has allegedly apologized itself.
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  Taylor Lorenz, in a recent issue of Usamad, collated a number of
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  headlines as she writes Quote Musk's AI chatbot Grok
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  apologizes after generating sexualized image of young girls,
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  1 local NBC affiliate Headline read CBS News Local affiliates
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  published headlines with similar phrasing, including Elon Musk's
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  AI chatbot Grok apologized. The Hill, Newsweek, The
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  Guardian, and a slew of other outlets have similarly quoted
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  Grok as apologizing. She goes on to make the claim
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  that Grok cannot quote UN quote apologize, where any kind of
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  conciliatory or apologetic responses is simply pattern
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  recognition. And I do think this is an
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  important point, because it allows for the appearance of
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  accountability from X, but it's likely not going to lead to any
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  true changes to the feature. Of course, this isn't the first
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  time, and probably won't be the last time that Grok has
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  generated something of this nature.
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  But every time I am reporting on A, a story like this, I'm
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  reminded of a book by Laura Bates, the New Age of Sexism.
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  I cite this book all the time. I promise you it's not the only
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  book I've ever read. It's just super interesting.
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  And one of the main takeaways from this book is that we are
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  living in such an early stage of AI.
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  And while this tech is developing and we are at kind of
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  the ground floor quote, UN quote, we are watching misogyny
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  be baked into the very fabric of this kind of generative
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  technology. That is why it's so important to
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  continue obviously bring light to these stories and also
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  challenge the patriarchy slash misogyny in real life, not just
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  in tech. Because at the end of the day,
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  this tech is reflecting our current society, desires,
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  beliefs, ideals, whatever. And that is why I will probably
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  never stop referencing this book.
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  But yes, that brings us to the end of the first mini tech
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  scroll for 2026. I really hope you guys found the
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  stories interesting and I am excited to be back.
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  I'm feeling way less nervous than I felt in the first episode
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  of 2025, obviously, because now I have a year of this under my
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  belt. But yeah, I'm looking forward to
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  it. I will speak to you next week.
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  Lauren will speak to you guys tomorrow.
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  And thank you so much for listening.
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  Bye.