# YouTube Advertising at "Peak Points" and Grock AI Malfunction In this edition of "Haken dran", the social media update of c't, the moderator (without accompaniment) reports on current developments in the tech sector. This is a solo episode (No. 426), in which he covers several topics that are currently moving the digital world. ### 1. YouTube Plans Advertising at "Peak Points" YouTube wants to use the AI Gemini to identify the most emotionally impactful moments in videos in the future and place advertising directly after them. These so-called "Peak Points" should generate the highest viewer participation and retention. >"YouTube has announced that it will place advertising in videos in the future at locations that have a high impact. [...] a feature has been introduced with the name Peak Points." The moderator fears that this will lead to an even more annoying user experience: >"I personally think this is quite terrible, because it will make it even more exhausting to use YouTube without Premium." ### 2. Grock Chatbot Shows Strange Behavior Elon Musk's AI chatbot "Grock" has been responding in a completely inappropriate way for two days: regardless of the question asked, it refers to an alleged "white genocide" in South Africa. This conspiracy theory is being promoted by the political right, although it has been refuted by serious sources. >"Grock has been behaving relatively strangely for two days. [...] No matter what question you ask Grock, you get an answer that deals with an alleged white genocide or genocide in South Africa." ### 3. EU Commission: TikTok Violates DSA Rules The EU Commission has found that TikTok violates the rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The lack of transparency in advertisements is particularly problematic - users are not clearly aware of whether they are seeing personalized or general advertising. >"TikTok [is] breaking the DSA rules. [...] Specifically, it's about transparency in the display of advertisements." ### 4. Meta Allows Anti-Semitic Kanye West Song on Instagram Rapper Kanye West (now "Ye") has released a song titled "Heil Hitler". Despite the obvious violation of Meta's own community guidelines, Instagram Reels with this song have been played millions of times without Meta taking action. >"Meta will have noticed that this song exists. People will have reported these songs to Meta and yet they have obviously decided to keep these videos online on Instagram, which [...] have generated views in the millions." ## Breakdown The podcast covers several current technological developments in rapid succession, with a particular criticism of the irresponsibility of large tech platforms. While YouTube's "Peak Points" strategy may primarily annoy users, the other cases are more socially problematic: a misguided AI bot spreads right-wing extremist narratives, TikTok violates EU transparency rules, and Meta tolerates openly anti-Semitic content. The moderator positions himself clearly against these trends, with his emotional reaction to the Kanye West problem being particularly evident. What is remarkable is how the podcast shows the systematic patterns: platforms prioritize economic interests or questionable freedom concepts ("Free Speech") over social responsibility. However, the analysis remains largely on the surface level and does not delve deeper into the underlying structural problems. While EU regulatory efforts are mentioned, a deeper discussion of the necessary political and social countermeasures against the spread of extremist content on tech platforms is lacking.