The Day The Internet BROKE…

A major Amazon Web Services outage disrupted numerous online services, while new research highlights social media's negative impact on teens and Xbox faces criticism regarding hardware and pricing strategies.

• Widespread Amazon Web Services outage impacted global online services and is projected to cost Amazon billions.

• Internal Meta study reveals Instagram's negative impact on teens' body image due to exposure to body-focused content.

• Xbox faces criticism over handheld pricing and its future console hardware strategy amidst a shift to third-party games.

A widespread Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage caused significant disruption to banks, airlines, social media, and other platforms, potentially costing Amazon hundreds of billions. Meanwhile, internal Meta research revealed that teens exposed to body-focused content on Instagram reported increased body dissatisfaction, prompting Meta to implement some parental controls. Xbox faces scrutiny over the pricing of its ROG Xbox Ally X handheld, with a former executive suggesting the company should cease making console hardware as games increasingly go third-party.

AWS Outage Impacts Internet

• 00:00:10 A serious Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage caused widespread internet chaos, rendering banks, airlines, Reddit, Facebook, and Fortnite inaccessible. This disruption, which affected approximately one-third of the internet, is estimated to cost Amazon hundreds of billions of dollars in repayments to businesses. Amazon attributes the outage to a DNS issue in North Virginia, which has been partially mitigated, and efforts are underway to fully restore service.

Social Media Harms Teens

• 00:01:18 Internal research by Meta, parent company of Instagram, indicates that teens feeling worse about their body after using the platform were exposed to three times more content focusing on body shapes or sexualized body parts. Although the study doesn't establish a direct causal link, Meta has categorized this as 'people disagree content' and is introducing parental controls, including limitations on teens chatting with AI characters known for problematic flirtation.

Xbox Hardware Strategy

• 00:02:41 Xbox has attributed the high price of the ROG Xbox Ally X handheld to ASUS, claiming ASUS has more insight into consumer desires. Despite this, Xbox President Sarah Bond confirmed next-gen hardware is in development, though former Xbox VP Mike Ibarra believes console hardware production should cease, arguing 'only a moron' would continue when games are shifting to third-party availability. Ibarra also criticized Xbox's 'This is an Xbox' ad campaign for lacking gamer insight.

Data Privacy & Geopolitics

• 00:05:50 Thousands of NSA and US government officials have had their personal data stolen by hackers, with data allegedly originating from nearly 1 billion Salesforce records stolen earlier this year. Separately, China has accused the US of sustained cyber attacks against its national time center, impacting crucial infrastructure, and claims the US used '42 types of special cyber attack weapons' in these alleged operations.