Technology
Republicans attack ‘woke’ Netflix — and ignore YouTube
When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos entered the Senate office building on Tuesday, he got thrown a curveball. What started as a standard antitrust hearing relating to the Warner Bros. merger quickly devolved into a performative Republican attack about the spread of “woke” ideology on the streaming service. At the same time, arguably a much more influential platform was completely ignored: YouTube.
After grilling Sarandos about residual payments, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) launched into a completely different line of questioning: “Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology?” Hawley asked, making an unsubstantiated claim that “almost half” of the platform’s children’s content contains so-called “transgender ideology.” The statement harkened to a pressure campaign launched by Elon Musk months ago in which he called on X users to unsubscribe from Netflix for having a “transgender woke agenda,” citing its few shows with trans characters — shows that were canceled years ago.
“Our business intent is to entertain the world,” Sarandos replied. “It is not to have a political agenda.” Still, other Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO), piled on, bringing up a post Netflix made following the murder of George Floyd, and the French film Cuties, which sparked a right-wing firestorm years ago. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) even asked Sarandos what he thought about Billie Eilish’s “no one is illegal on stolen land” comment at the Grammys. It seemed like they were grasping at straws to support their narrative that Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. could somehow poison the well of content for viewers.
“My concern is that you don’t share my values or those of many other American parents, and you want the United States government to allow you to become one of the largest — if not the largest — streaming monopolist in the world,” Hawley said. “I think we ought to be concerned about what content you’re promoting.”
While it’s true that Netflix will control a substantial portion of the streaming market when — and or if — it acquires Warner Bros. and its streaming service HBO Max, it’s hard to criticize Netflix without bringing up YouTube.
“YouTube is not just cat videos anymore. YouTube is TV.”
For years now, Netflix has been trying to topple YouTube as the most-watched streaming service. Data from Nielsen says Netflix made up 9 percent of total TV and streaming viewing in the US in December 2025, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s services made up 1.4 percent. Combining the two doesn’t even stack up to YouTube, which held a 12.7 percent share of viewership during that time. “YouTube is not just cat videos anymore,” Sarandos told the subcommittee. “YouTube is TV.”
Unlike Netflix, YouTube is free and has an ever-growing library of user-created content that doesn’t require it to spend billions of dollars in production costs and licensing fees. YouTube doesn’t have to worry about maintaining subscribers, as anyone with access to a web browser or phone can open up and watch YouTube. The setup brings YouTube a constant stream of viewers that it can rope in with a slew of content it can recommend to watch next.
But not all creators on YouTube are striving for quality. As my colleague Mia Sato wrote, YouTube is home to creators who try to feed an algorithm that boosts inflammatory content and attempts to hook viewers, in addition to an array of videos that may be less than ideal for kids.
Like it or not, YouTube is the dominant streamer, with an endless supply of potentially offensive agendas for just about anyone. But for some reason, it’s not the target of this culture war. If these lawmakers actually cared about what their kids are watching, maybe they’d start looking more closely at how YouTube prioritizes content. Or, if they don’t like the shows and movies on Netflix, they could just do what Sarandos suggested during the hearing: unsubscribe.
Asus’s latest gaming monitor is a little smaller than usual. The ROG Strix XG129C, announced on Friday, is a 12.3-inch touchscreen IPS display that’s intended to be a sidekick for a larger main monitor, similar to the 14.1-inch secondary display in the 2020 Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15. It’s a slightly smaller competitor to Corsair’s Xeneon Edge, which has a 14.5-inch display, but the same 720p resolution.
Asus says the XG129C covers 125 percent of the sRGB color gamut and 90 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It also comes with a one-year subscription for the hardware monitoring tool AIDA64 Extreme, which would usually cost $65. Besides acting as a performance monitor for your PC, sidekick displays like this can also be handy as an extension for streaming or editing setups, much like Elgato’s Stream Deck.
Along with the little XG129C, Asus also announced the ROG Strix OLED XG34WCDMS, a 34-inch RGB Tandem QD-OLED gaming monitor. It features a 280Hz refresh rate and a 3440 x 1440p resolution, and, according to Asus, covers 99 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Asus has not yet officially announced pricing for either display.
Disneyland officials said they are always evaluating regulations and procedures to find ways to enhance the guest experience. (Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register/Getty Images)
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IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
— Disney CEO unveils entertainment giant’s new 3-pillar growth plan
— Warning about AI-driven bank account hacks
— Inside China’s AI ‘wolf pack’ drones built with Taiwan conflict in mind
CUSTOMER FOCUS: Disney CEO unveils entertainment giant’s new 3-pillar growth plan – New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro outlined a new growth strategy for the entertainment giant as the company announced its quarterly results, which includes a focus on investing in content as well as technology.
TECH CHECK: Trump admin to review AI models from Google, Microsoft, xAI ahead of public release – The Trump administration is preparing to review new artificial intelligence models from major tech companies like Google, Microsoft and xAI ahead of their public releases to ensure safety and regulatory compliance.
EVOLVING THREAT: Treasury Secretary Bessent warns Americans about AI-driven bank account hacks as threats rapidly evolve – Treasury Secretary Bessent is warning Americans about the growing danger of artificial intelligence-driven bank account hacks.
‘GOLDILOCKS’: IBM CEO Arvind Krishna warns Washington must find middle ground on AI regulation – IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is issuing a strong warning to Washington lawmakers, arguing that they must find a “Goldilocks” middle ground regarding artificial intelligence regulation to carefully balance industry innovation with consumer safety.
MACHINE WARFARE: Inside China’s AI ‘wolf pack’ drones built with Taiwan conflict in mind – China is developing AI-enabled robotic “wolf packs” designed to scout, supply and potentially support combat operations alongside troops in a future war — including a possible invasion of Taiwan — according to a new report.
FDD report warns China is preparing to reimagine warfare with its ‘robot wolf.’ (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
HIDDEN RISKS: AI exposes US military supply chain tied to China – Fox Business media coverage highlights a concerning new analysis showing how artificial intelligence has exposed major hidden risks and critical vulnerabilities within the United States military supply chain that are directly tied to China.
RED LINE: China blocks Meta AI deal over security concerns – China blocked a major artificial intelligence deal involving tech giant Meta, with the government citing ongoing national security concerns over the advanced technology integration.
‘ART’IFICIAL IDEAS: How AI exposure is reshaping jobs in creative fields – Fox Business explores the significant workplace shifts currently underway in the technology sector, detailing exactly how growing artificial intelligence exposure is fundamentally reshaping roles and expectations across various creative fields.
JUST LIKE US: Former LSU coach Brian Kelly uses AI to prepare for job interviews – Former LSU football coach Brian Kelly is reportedly using artificial intelligence to help prepare for upcoming job interviews, proving he faces the same modern challenges as the rest of the workforce.
DIGITAL DEXTERITY: New AI ‘brain’ lets robots move like humans – Engineers and researchers have successfully developed a groundbreaking new artificial intelligence “brain” that allows advanced robots to move, learn and navigate their environments much more seamlessly like actual humans.
Genesis AI says its robotic hand can learn from human motion data to complete detailed, multistep tasks such as cooking an omelet. (Genesis AI)
FINANCIAL PROPOSITION: Bay Area banker wants to swap his $8M estate for AI company stock – A Bay Area banker wants to swap his luxurious $8 million real estate property entirely for valuable stock in a booming artificial intelligence company.
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After quickly selling out of the Steam Controller on May 4th, Valve has launched a reservation system to ensure that you can get one without too much hassle. You may not get one as quickly as you’d like to, but at least you can now easily reserve the $99 controller.
If your Steam account is in good standing, and you’ve purchased something on the account before April 27th of this year, you’ll be able to reserve one. Essentially, this will hold your place in line for future restocks. Once a controller is available for you, you’ll get an email prompting you to purchase. You’ll have 72 hours to purchase your Steam Controller before it gets offered to the next person in the queue.
Ahead of its launch, Valve told The Verge that it had significant supply ready for its debut, but it didn’t know exactly how much demand there would be for the controller. Clearly, there wasn’t enough stock to meet demand. But at least now you’re able to join the line to get one instead of hoping you’ll be among the first to buy from a restock.
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