The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility

[@GamersNexus]

This was a difficult video to make. We ask that you listen to our concerns, commentary, and statements with an open mind. We would not have made this video if we didn't view it as important and necessary. Thank you. Update: Linus has posted a response. Here it is and here are our comments (you'll need to watch this first video before though to have the context): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmTFqq1pqd2jqdE

[@tbrowniscool]

You guys are the best, I bet Linus is sweating reading these comments! GN has titanium balls. (Edit: spelling)

[@politicallyincorrect4452]

I love this channel in the end when I want serious testing that is unbiased upfront and accurate I come to Gamers Nexus plain and simple. You guys do a great job keep hitting it out the park Gamers Nexus.

[@Lock2002ful]

Phew, looking forward to how this plays out. While you’re at it, I’d also like to know your take ok Hardware Unboxed. I find them quite biased, pick and choose and high nosed. Not reliable source for factual information but rather opinion pieces with a bit of test data here and there.

[@BudgetGamerz]

I 100% agree with your points and have been saying this for a while.

[@dunkan44]

You would imagine that the personal relationships would cause you to keep each other more accountable.

[@jamescampbell6728]

Their treatment of billet labs is absolutely unbelievable. Not only does it disqualify them from being taken seriously as reviewers. But the fact that they would sell their prototype after agreeing to send it back after spitting in their face...... That's insane

[@gmcanepa]

That should merit a lawsuit at the very least.

[@lewisse_8966]

Theft and defamation

[@corvus1970]

Indeed. I had not heard about that incident until this video. My mind is rather blown.

[@therookieshaker7795]

That's not insane... that's EVIL!!

[@TheDingo80]

If a competitor does bring a similar product to market based off reverse engineering the prototype they never should have had, LMG is going to pay out big time via lawsuit.

[@rossmanngroup]

This is informative, and unfortunate

[@jimmyjimbo72]

Would be interested in a video giving your thoughts on this situation, as long as you're open to making one of course!

[@al6r725]

The man himself!

[@lucasZr113]

If you ever decide to get a tatto, that should be it lol

[@azena.]

It's truly a shame to see LMG falling so low.

[@thorcristoria9410]

Would be great if you could give your takes on this

[@Jayztwocents]

Steve and crew, I waited to watch this video until after finishing my creative for the day so I could go into it with a clear open mind. As someone who has made many many mistakes and honestly am working hard to limit them as much as possible have to say that I genuinely appreciated your attention to detail regarding examples and the insight not only from your perspective and expertise but the insight presented in various clips from LMG... but also your offering of advice on how to be a better reviewer overall. As someone who simply cannot provide the level of detail that you do it gives me something to constantly strive for. I sincerely hope that LMG doesnt take this as an attack but a real eye opener on a broader problem they may not be as evident from their end. As the Walmart Greeter to the tech world, Im glad you are managing the Service Department!

[@justfun5479]

Lol, your Nvidia GPU advices are sooo much better...

[@djchemical]

Well said.

[@JustinHEMI05]

I really hope they take it as the wake up call that it is, reflect, and course correct. They can do it.

[@batzytoys]

good reply jay, and youre a personal fav of mine.

[@benjaminzarkhin1293]

The KZbin tech side is just one big Walmart.

[@Shogoeu]

Linus' statement he is not willing to spend 500 dollars to not destroy someone's business is just disappointing.

[@filip9587]

$500 is most likely pennies for them given the amount of money they spend on products in videos _and_ the videos themselves.

[@johnnypopstar]

@@filip9587 It is, but that kind of "cheapskate" behaviour is also one of the ways they've been able to grow so large as to spend so much on videos in general. The money they haven't spent on being more thorough instead gets spent on growth.

[@WayStedYou]

Meanwhile, stealing and reselling their best prototype. Big brain time.

[@Munno22]

Not returning the prototype is actually just straight criminal lol, agreeing to return it then failing to do so is promissory estoppel at the least.

[@Ryan30z]

His character has been obvious since the all in one watercooling thing. He could have bought airconditioning so his staff didn't have to work in an extremely hot envrionment, but instead he tried to do it on the cheap and also make content out of it. His solution would never work. One of the biggest double downs I've ever seen was on a WAN show episode where Linus misspoke and said 108060p. Instead of just saying he misspoke he dug his heels in and went on a tangent about how he's correct.

[@pcsecuritychannel]

Linus Tech Tips made a massively erroneous video about antivirus vs anti-malware, claiming that anti-malware was something different you needed when in truth antivirus is simply an antiquated term that vendors use (even though every product is technically anti-malware these days). Not only that, they used this misinformation to promote a sponsored product under false pretenses, you needed this product because 'antivirus' wasn't enough. It was such B.S that I made a correction video and reached out to them to help correct the factual issues in that sponsored content, but they never responded and ignored our emails.

[@aliancemd]

There is lots of misinformation in almost any sponsored video they make and almost all of them are sponsored.

[@Filthy_Casual5]

Dang

[@Sherolox]

Thank you, Leo.

[@robotninja530]

Maybe if they responded to you, they might've been able to avoid being hacked like they did. 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@kirklanam151]

Maybe that statement would have been more factual if the video was published in 1999.

[@jamesherrmann5331]

"I'm not willing to spend money to correct mistakes" Mistakes cost money. You make a mistake, you should be willing to pay to correct it. If you can't afford it, do it right the first time. Some of these mistakes, I suspect, will eventually end in a lawsuit that they will try and crowd fund for.

[@nucphyschem1]

I definitely see that happening. That and their whole trust me bro attitude towards everything reeks of supreme arrogance with the crowd. But given LTX sold out "whale" tickets at 10k a pop there are a lot more fools with money that would gladly help support him than not.

[@albundy06]

All that crap he said is just that, crap. It's code language for I'm a POS and do not care. It isn't about the money. Or the time. It's about just not giving a F and being terrible.

[@dustinbrueggemann1875]

Linus is becoming the Apple of the tech journalism sector. They're more worried about the paintjob than the product.

[@Law0fRevenge]

Ironically these mistakes and the lack of correction will now cost him not just even more money but also his reputation.

[@vaderdudenator1]

@@Law0fRevengewe can only hope

[@bigbo1764]

The billet shit is actually crazy; the trust they placed in LMG to do their job without a legally binding contract, just for them to irreparably and unfairly damage their company is saddening. I’ve been a long time fan of Linus, but to me, this incident alone is unforgivable, especially given his dismissal of people’s criticisms of the original review with “muh couple hundred buckerinos tho!”.

[@Safasfly]

The billet labs situation sounds like a massive lawsuit to me. A company loaning a proprietary prototype under assumption and assurance of getting said prototype back. And then finding out, after 2 separate promises to return it, that it has been sold off on auction to a potential competitor?? Might be multi million dollar lawsuit.

[@m4nt1c0r3s]

Doubt they had a comprehensive legal framework signed being just 2 guys starting up less than a year ago, probably was sent on trust. Now they know.

[@Storbuki]

Good thing that in civil court you don't have to prove anything, you just have to show that the damage to the brand/startup was likely.@@m4nt1c0r3s

[@tarstarkusz]

Lawsuit? it's a crime. Given the value it likely has, it's a felony. They can sue and likely (depends on the state) is entitled to 3 times the value.

[@enginelol]

@@tarstarkusz it's not about the value of it, it's about the possibility it fell into the hands of the competition. all that R&D done, for nothing

[@TheSergio1021]

​@@m4nt1c0r3spretty sure they still have a case to be argued considering the fact that they have VIDEO EVIDENCE of them using the prototype, and not sending it back. Which at the very least they can argue that their unfair review dealt significant damage to their startup company

[@uttrik]

The billet labs chain of events was infuriating to watch. Can't believe they were that irresponsible with a startup's prototype.

[@supersuede91]

I feel sorry for Billet Labs

[@Itzryan288]

#Justiceforbilletlabs

[@kunicrossgaming]

I think we should hold our horses on that story, who would just send away their irreplaceable prototype without which you can't continue product development to some youtuber (even a big one). Not having the proper legal contracts and such I can see at a small 2 person company but from a engineering side you never ever let someone film your prototype unless you got the patents and everything and much less you're giving it outhouse. (unless you're super desperate for some funding and your project is basically dead in the water)

[@chrisbernecker]

Chill, they got cash, but GN "forgot" to mention it due to their amazing "investigative" journalism @@Itzryan288

[@alexander3364]

@@kunicrossgaming Bro, stop victim blaming, try to think if a big brand like Asus give Linus their $1000 GPU for them to test I would doubt his team would trash talk it after doing a faulty product representation then sell it away. What Billet Labs should have done should not be the center of discussion, what Linus has done should be.

[@GregM]

MY heart sank when I heard that they auctioned off the prototype of the cooling block. A small company can die with mishaps that they had no control over and communicated several times that the protype needed to be sent back.

[@letmelick]

Only for it to end up in a new gpu design in a couple of years🙃

[@md.al-razi3046]

that would have been their right to do ... linus tech tips is shit. glad i stopped watching years ago @@letmelick

[@2nd_Directorate]

@@letmelick Probably ASUS....

[@GregM]

@@letmelick yup. It seems the inventory control system if one exists at LMG seems to hapzard at best with no one logging whether products are loaned out and returned etc no chain of custody so to speak. The requirement of the block being returned should of been included in this inventory control system. When an item is destroyed or sold that item should be removed from the inventory control system and should of raised a Red flag and prevented that item from leaving LMG possession and being auctioned off.

[@MicahJKelly]

I hope nobody trusts LMG for reviews ever again. Itll just be the companies they have connections with and then they will become a meme.

[@lavender188]

I dont care if I've been a linus fan for a long time, accountability is important. thank you for bringing this to light.

[@stynger90]

Agreed the bullet labs thing made me unsubscribe.

[@iceman5117]

You could've done a lot better with $20 than giving it to a corp

[@blurryface9910]

@@iceman5117 What he does with his money is his business. Even if he wants to support Kayne it has no affect on you.

[@jirinaforever]

​@@iceman5117, bruh, you mad that Linus got a reality check? The whole tech community is better for it. I watched Linus for almost a decade and having him slip into disinfo and butthurt takes when people call him out is heartbreaking. Linus was supposed to be one of the trusted sources and now he started turning into what we hated about tech KZbin back in the day. He should be thanking Steve and not butthurting over his faults that affect countless consumers.

[@iceman5117]

@@jirinaforever I don't care about Linus in the slightest

[@ben-brady]

The fact they sold a small company's best prototype just breaks my heart

[@stynger90]

It made me unsub from them

[@woodcutta6461]

How is that even legal? If the agreement was for them to review it and send it back, selling it seems like it should at least be illegal as it is proprietary tech.

[@sashko02]

I'm a big fan of LTT but they just opened themselves to a rightful lawsuit. Sad to see this happening.

[@MowMdown]

It's not legal to sell someone else's property, but what are they going to do? They probably don't have the time or money to fight LTT in a court room which would take months to resolve. @woodcutta6461

[@leovang3425]

​​​@@woodcutta6461it isn't but Billet Labs looks too small to afford to fight LMG.

[@Alex-bx3st]

Imagine saying that a product is bad when you misuse it completely then selling it in an auction... insane.

[@s-x5373]

illegally *, and with great damage to an actually tech company

[@Orphioux]

Linus should have spun this into a video for some good PR, fly one of the billet guys out to show the build off properly and put all the drama behind them. ETA: As well as properly compensating them of course. with how viral this has gotten it'd still be deep in the green.

[@peter65zzfdfh]

True. Though his comments were taken out of context here. He said no one spends that much on a block for a 3090, if you’re spending that much you’d have a 4090. The video should probably not have got out, but Steve here is misrepresenting and selectively editing Linus’s comments. You could make the argument without misrepresenting what Linus said.

[@gpsxsirus]

This is the thing that really gets me. It wreaks of intentionally screwing over a small startup.

[@Gabu_]

Imagine making something for rich people and then complaining when it gets called useless.

[@colorcommentary3009]

Going back and seeing ALL the crazy errors makes it so funny that Linus was basically like "Why couldn't GN come to my in private and tell me my entire lazy business model was constantly producing bad results?" As if he A responds well to Criticism and B would have actually changed anything after a private conversation with a smaller content creator he clearly does not like. Steven could have said all this in a text and or whatever Linus thought he was owed and Linus would not have changed shit.

[@noobsperspective1610]

Isn't that ironic that Linus wants criticism in private, but hates on Billet Labs without credibility

[@clintonleonard5187]

Was that Linus's response? That's embarrassing. Taste of your own medicine, as it were.

[@grunclestanwannabe367]

wait, GN and let aren't friendly? wow I really should've looked at that closer, I always assumed they both came from the ncix days.

[@spacecadet2663]

Even ignoring bad data, their way of "Just push out the video" drives me nuts. Projects that would have been that much cooler by taking the extra time seem to end in "oh well, could have worked if we just bought the right part." (For example, the latest pool heating video)

[@Jaytwisty23]

The half arsing some of their videos pisses me off, like wait a few days and get all the parts you need and the video will be that much more awesome but no, gotta pump those video numbers!

[@coltonbyu]

so many of their videos in the last year seem to have a lot of interesting build up, and then when I feel like I am about to get a really nice conclusion, the video is just over somehow. Endings always seem like an afterthought for them

[@blumac9801]

I completely agree with this statement

[@kenjithemilkman]

@@coltonbyu as long as you made it to the end of the video and gone through a couple ads that they thrown in through the runtime... That's all Linus needs. Viewer count is their KPI, actually staying till the end is a bonus. NEXT!

[@themcbaughman]

​@@coltonbyumfw we're getting edged by Linus

[@Nick-zm2vm]

A multimillion dollar company refusing to spend less than $1,000 to retest a product for accurate results is wild. The way he said it makes it sound like he thought it was completely ridiculous to spend a few hundred dollars to do things the right way.

[@Miko_of_the_North]

That would mean he couldn't make his heated floors be cooled floors next summer and a city where the average 2 bedroom condo is over 1M. So he needs every penny. To bad Canada stopped making pennies but that is good news for him because he is no longer getting copper posing from pinching them so hard.

[@tsjeriAu]

Remember when he was justifying purchasing the stand for an apple computer at $1000 (since it didn't come with a stand for the monitor...) because it was a "small business expense compared to the cost of the computer"? Yeah, that was cringe back then, and even more so now.

[@peterharper3861]

Suggesting that a tentpole project that is meant to be "weird and unique" is a waste of money, while testing it incorrectly, and at the same time producing videos about $100k desks. It's massive hypocricy.

[@protennis365]

Will I call this the Hasan Piker curse.

[@WhosThisPersonNotMe]

Linus has a massive ego and doesn’t care about anyone else accept himself

[@Straxus]

The fact that they not only kept but auctioned the prototype that they bashed is actually horrific.

[@Ravnican127]

Would like to add that Billet also sent them the proper GPU to test the cooler with. Apparently that is also MIA.

[@zurielviraj505]

Sounds like theft at the end of the day.

[@HyperVegitoDBZ]

and theft, they should have been sued immediately.

[@ploed]

After this I would think twice to send LTT any Prototype or EA without a contract stating to send it back to the owner.

[@dudebroguymate]

@@ploed After this I would think twice to send LTT any Prototype or EA fixed that for you

[@RedVRCC]

I feel bad for Billet Labs especially... They should sue, then Linus might rethink that comment about not wanting to spend that $500 to properly test the product and then AUCTION IT OFF. GN always has my full respect for not being afraid of backlash or reprisal from any burnt bridges they make to reveal the truth to us all. Thank you for your constant great content.

[@IM_MOUNTAIN]

You feel bad for them... o really? While displaying a hammer and sickle...? The symbol under which millions died. Please come out of whatever self-righteous hole you are in and check yourself.

[@deltasixgaming]

and that's the Problem Sueing them will cost a Lot more then the Prototype and then there is no Guarantee you'd win and Lose even more Money and most Courts won't even touch a Case over $500

[@jayviescas7703]

​@@deltasixgamingIt's still just a civil action so it would qualify for being settled in a small claims court which, in most cases, is cheaper than a regular claims, high crimes court (still not a criminal proceeding).

[@deltasixgaming]

@@jayviescas7703 there are a Lot of Factors like this is 2 Companies and what was sold was a Priceless Prototype, Honestly they should have noticed their Mistake and Found it then Bought it back and sent it back or they should have Sent back when they said they would which was Long before they sold it

[@silentknights5796]

@@deltasixgaming It's more than just property theft, it's that Billet Labs also faces future problems as a company due slander and libel from LMT's bad practices.

[@andybrooks4070]

The most impactful thing from this video to me was the whole billet labs water block situation, it actually breaks my heart

[@dukekemppy5409]

I wonder what will stop them putting in a complaint for something like corporate espionage

[@SquidGains]

Yeah that was slimy and tough to see

[@RoelTheWorld]

That was pretty much an execution without fair trial, absolutely insane. I went into this controversy with the "people make mistakes" mindset but this is hard to explain with that.

[@kamilwierzbicki3624]

They sold it on an auction, that was so disrespectful

[@Arghans]

This was the part that sticks. Never heard of the company but the idea looks interesting.

[@maxsaldana2027]

As a huge LTT fan. This video was sorely needed and professionally brought attention to stuff i didnt even notice. Ive felt something has been off with ltt but paid no mind. Stellar video.

[@BethanyTaylor115]

agreed, especially the billet situation is INSANE to me and Billet should definitely take legal actions against LMG for selling their prototype aswell as slander chargers for knowingly using their product incorrectly.

[@volvo09]

I go to them for entertainment, not objective data. I think they put too much effort into appealing to a younger crowd (no problem with that at all), and trying to get involved in WAY too many things... Selling tons of merch, expanding the test lab, the company has rapidly expanded rather than matured and gotten better in what they do, if you get what I'm saying.

[@beausmith9023]

i have been an LTT fan for some time and its hard to see that it feels like a Rooster teeth event about to happen..

[@Picklgreen]

Linus is a total fraud and always has been. Watch his first year of videos. Total joke. He started as a clueless little spoiled rich kid who thought he could show off his “knowledge” of the stuff daddy bought him.

[@Haarschmuckfachgeschafttadpole]

I just don't understand how they auctioned off a prototype. That has to be illegal, it was never theirs. And to think a competitor may have bought it...

[@ScamCast]

The odd thing about them raffling off the Billet Labs prototype is in the latest WAN show, Linus was complaining about someone giving out their prototype LMG backpack as he said it's a "misrepresentation of the product" and can damage their brand if someone who gets that prototype thinks it's the actual product. lmao

[@KoeiNL]

Linus and bad takes, name a more iconic duo. The guy lacks some supreme self awareness.

[@WayStedYou]

Lie-nus Hypocrisy Tips

[@Itzryan288]

I think what's even worse is the Billet Labs prototype possibly being sold to a competitor

[@cttommy73]

Linus potentially ruined the lives of the founders of a small startup because he is a monster. The fact he is so flippant about protecting his own bottomline while costing other people theirs, is just disgusting.

[@leonro]

While his take with the prototype on the video was horrible and harmful for no reason, the act of selling it was an extreme case of stupid and carelessness - I wouldn't call that act "evil". But don't be mistaken, as it is still inexcusable for such sloppiness to occur.

[@Skastrik]

This is a very much needed video to encourage Linus to face what he's been encouraging us to do for years. To call out companies for wrongdoing and misrepresentation.

[@JJFN]

Guy is an absolute hypocrite

[@chapprod9074]

Had not thought of the irony about it but it's damn true!

[@james-jo5ju]

I knew that pitchfork I got on Prime Day would come in handy, I knew it 😡

[@guest00101]

But he doesn't want to spend time/money to undo their wrongdoing because 100, 200, 300, 400, or even 500$ to pay someone isn't worth their time.

[@jasenrock]

You didn't find out his a hypocrite with the "trust me bro" shit

[@JemaKnight]

Luke is such a decent dude and recognises so many of these problems, and Linus just keeps steamrolling him any time he tries to bring it up or defend the criticism on the WAN Show. I genuinely feel for him.

[@KeithSchwerin]

Linus' credibility was dead to me when he was dumb enough to put his companie's work on a massive RAID0 and then happily make a video about trying to recover it when it had a failure because there was no recent backups of it.

[@louisjones2653]

Luke is often the moral compass on the show which makes it disappointing when he gets steamrolled.

[@Esubalol]

luke should work for GN ;)

[@WaughJeo]

Now Luke is being boned because I'm watching as Floatplane subscriptions are dropping.

[@based1669]

Luke is cringe AF

[@MeDiebytheSword]

This viewer was a former Quality control Inspector and appreciates the work you put into every video. The drama is uncomfortable, but the truth is worth the pursuit.

[@SeithonJetter]

It is unfortunate that this factual look at the failings of lmg is being framed as being KZbinr drama, as that makes it sound much more trivial than the situation actually is.

[@peterpain6625]

The truth hurts. But i think Linus isn't to far gone to take the pain and improve the situation instead of posting another meaningless statement in the LTT forums as a response to this.

[@ryanwesneski5359]

uhh it is pretty trivial tho, like, its all still just tech review stuff@@SeithonJetter

[@Brockyman]

@@SeithonJetterit is trivial. They are testing gaming pcs, not MRIs or Kidney Dialysis Machines. None of the errors changed the overall review of the items at hand

[@Brockyman]

@@ryanwesneski5359idk if you’re being sarcastic but if you’re not, thank you for having some common sense.

[@nihel3144]

How the hell do you notice that your mouse is resisting movement too much and not immediately go to check weather there is something stuck to the bottom? There are no excuses for that, its just plain bad production quality, a 15 yo timmy that spent the previous 16 years of his life watching tiktoks and ruining his attention span would pay more attention to this

[@alexwinfield9540]

A 15 yo that has spent 16 years watching tik toks? Does he have a time machine? Have you ruined your attention span being a dumbass?

[@IcedPTO]

This is tragic for the guys at Billet Labs. Hopefully they can recover from all of this.

[@LilMissMurder3409]

I hope the Streissand Effect hits them with a vengeance.

[@spiritcrunch]

They have grounds for a lawsuit. Defamation and theft. Sadly, two small guys can't afford what it costs to defend themselves in court.

[@medallish]

Actually made me mad seeing how they got treated..

[@CatalystDestiny]

Have to agree with this. With how fickle consumers are these days, who knows just how many wrote them off completely and will NEVER give them a chance because of the classic saying "You never get a second chance at a first impression" and their first impression has been wrecked pretty hard, plus with their prototype being auctioned off that probably now is already at some fab being reverse engineered to be cloned. I wish them the best and hope they can recover in some way from this, perhaps at least on the part of not having card access GN might have some connections to possibly help them get a high end card like a 4090 or something for their lab to at least help with that, replacing that best sample prototype though is going to be hell.

[@kena4977]

Honestly, out of everything in this video this was by far the worst for me. They bashed a small company based on using it with the wrong product, kept the product so no other reviewers or media could also use and test, then turned around and stole an expensive prototype and sold it into the wild potentially for a competitor to buy. That is crazy.

[@DoRC]

I've noticed that over the last couple of years LTT seems to be moving further and further away from serious review and more and more toward being an entertainment channel. I get it. Entertainment is where the most money is but they're still purporting themselves to be a serious channel so it definitely has the potential to be problematic.

[@Ordo1980]

It was especially strange after they advertised themselves with the new lab what they are working on.

[@PSYCHOV3N0M]

Agreed 100% with your entire comment. I've noticed that too.

[@furythree]

Its always been entertainment Linus focused on engaging nerdy entertaining shit with access to latest tech. You would go to other channels to find the intricate nerdy specsheet stuff cause ltt didn't focus on that anymore I find it more atrocious ppl attacking ltt in these comments as if they're some big bad corpo doing this on purpose its more that they've grown such a huge influence they need to take their QC more seriously than ever

[@furythree]

​@@Ordo1980but its not fully finalised. This al reads to me as they started up labs and haven't refined their QC enough Doesnt excuse the errors but its not malicious or anything

[@Killerpixel11]

@@furythree They ARE doing it on purpose. Have you seen the interviews? They ALL know it, even Linus himself. Knowing there's a problem and not fixing it (when the fix is quite obvious) means you keep doing it on purpose.

[@Blackerer]

I feel so sorry for Billet Labs. I really hope they can proceed with their project and someone more responsible gets to take a look at their product. I would like for this to be examined a bit more. If it all happened as described, all companies sending their sensitive equipment to LTT should think twice about doing so.

[@Smakheed]

I feel that this now should be taken to legal, Billet labs should be suing LMG for breach of contract, loss of earnings, theft and misrepresentation, Linus thinks too much of himself, I have given up with their channel ever since they started the Labs project, it's just an 24/7 display of turd polishing. If someone doesn't go legal against them soon then that will show how weakly the tech industry responds to reviewers who do not even know what they are looking at or are willing to fulfil an agreement which could destroy a company.

[@devan124]

Yup for me personally it made the product look terrible and bordering a scam. Definitely did immense damage to their product.

[@elementary7283]

Linus breaks expensive things all the time it's the big risk letting him touch your prosuct

[@jamescollins6085]

LTT has and aways will be the most mainstream outlet for tech related videos. They constantly sacrifice valuable information as a result of their rushed video production and light tone, and I rarely feel satisfied after watching their videos as a result.

[@bhavyakanodia9427]

​@@elementary7283there's a difference between making a mistake on your own expense and someone else's. Even more ridiculous is selling the product which you don't own and has been explicitly asked back for.

[@jottenmiller]

"I'm not going to apologize for not being willing to spend another $100... on an employees time" "We want to a reliable source!" Great job linus.

[@B20C0]

Really weird. Spends thousands of dollars on testing equipment to be super accurate and then has the worst QA ever and isn't willing to spend a small fraction for a correction which would a) make money if it was a second video and b) increase their credibility, the reason they spent thousands of dollars on testing equipment in the first place. Doesn't make any sense to me but kinda reminds me of my old boss. Spent thousands of Euros on on office equipment, paid great wages but didn't want to invest in a new server or move to the cloud. At the time I told him we need an upgrade we had more than 2k users on our platform and when we started it was like 100. The server had a quad core and like 4 GB of RAM. He finally approved the upgrade when we had like 12k users and the server load was 70% at the lowest time, pretty much 100% the rest of the time and a lot of customers and coworkers complained about the site crashing. We lost more users due to this than a new pair of servers (or moving to the cloud) would have cost. Sometimes bosses are weird.

[@CookieManCookies]

I think he should go back to painting houses, honestly. I feel like he's a grown up man baby who breaks, and janks with things without actually providing reliable info on products. He also has a big ego, it's a bit unnerving.

[@M21assult]

Part of the video (that I think was important) was clipped out. Watch Linus’ full reaction on WAN show if you haven’t. Luke had the better reaction that was included though. Nobody should buy it because it’s too expensive. That is a much more valid reason to not spend the money on re-creating the video. ‘I can’t redo this video because with the information I have now, I wouldn’t have reviewed this to begin with, (and the conclusion would be the same.)’ Is a valid reason. A cooler has to perform magic to justify $850, and it doesn’t. Removing that video likely would have been a kindness to the company, but after the take on the last WAN show about CNET removing old content, he would have got roasted for that move too. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Linus also owes Billet a very very large chunk of change for selling their prototype. Uncool. By far the MOST unprofessional conduct covered degrees by GN.

[@lil_crossgg1029]

@@CookieManCookiesthis is just a hate comment nothing to do with the video 😂

[@WeGoToMars]

The segment where they have AUCTIONED the one-of-a-kind Billet Labs prototype block makes my blood boil. I can understand them forgetting it in their warehouse, but the fact that they SOLD IT AT THEIR CONVENTION is absolutely inexcusable. It's really fucking sad to see what Linus and his company did to a small startup just trying to bring a niche product to market.

[@creativestarfox]

Absolute sickening. I've noticed for the past 12-18 months or so I've been watching very few LTT video. Been on a decline for me for while. This seals the deal for me to unsub. Haven't been watching anyway, not I actively want to avoid them. Plenty of good other channels out there.

[@Bigdude0444]

A bit of context or somewhere to start looking into this please? I'm kind of curious. Not sure if it's covered in this video but I just started it and saw your comment so I'm curious.

[@realnerdethan]

Agreed, it's very upsetting to hear this. How crushing it must be for Billet Labs. Hopefully they can recover for the damage LMG inflicted.

[@Woodwender455]

yo chill no need to vent in the comments

[@TerraWare]

Scumbag move

[@liuhc]

Shocked about the story of that water block startup. His stubborness on the flawed review aside, auctioning off a prototype product without permission, potentially leaking it to the competitors, is stright-up legally actionable.

[@mightymuh]

yeah, this was one was SHOCKING and as the company I'd consider serious legal action

[@jaredvillhelm2002]

@@mightymuhunfortunately LMG has the capital to litigate this guy into oblivion. Without someone backing him that is.

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

@@jaredvillhelm2002 litigate into oblivion only works when there is an argument to be made for evidentiary discover ect, but when its cut and dry malice and/or ignorance.. that only goes so far.. Trump for example..

[@scroopynooperz9051]

@@jaredvillhelm2002 the community could back him if need be. He could appeal for funding and people would help.

[@TheTekknician]

I did not realise this has happened and have now troubles with if I should still subscribe or not. This is not proper behaviour. Because under what circumstance, if any, is this justified?

[@landoncharlton7071]

I used to love LTT but after watching correction after correction come up as a simple "*" on screen, I began to realise that they aren't doing retakes. If you are looking for data and reading one set of points while they are saying another set of numbers makes it difficult when you think they are being accurate and diligent. Also, him not doing the billet labs test correctly or even trying to get it right while doubling down just makes me want to order a block from billet labs to support them since I trust them more then I do LMG now. There are countless examples why as you yourself pointed out quite excellently.

[@yiga4171]

The way Linus handled Billet Labs prototype is beyond fucked up.

[@buggerlugz6753]

yeah, if he wasn't the brains behind the company he's have been fired.

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

FUBR Beyond Repair

[@RenanMsV_YT]

soon another "competitor" will appear and he will say good things about it. watch and see.

[@Numenorean921]

Arrogant POS, he's a millionaire that took a small companies prototype, trashed it to his massive audience destroying their reputation, and then didn't even have the decency to give it back to them.

[@NeilSearle]

Not trying to be on anyone's side here but Linus didn't handle the prototype, he has a company of over 100 people and other people would have been handling it. The way Linus Media Group handled it was poor.

[@voxybuns]

The Billet Labs story is just heart-wrenching. I hope LTT is held accountable for being so grossly irresponsible from start to finish on this.

[@airbornesnow4541]

that's straight up legal theft, depending on the wording of the contract signed. they practically destroyed a startup that two brothers put countless hours into and were still too arrogant to admit their misrepresentation on the WAN show.

[@graememacdonald8687]

Really shows their true colours

[@TechnologistAtWork]

They better make amends and fix the "having fun" attitude they convey in their videos. That's not how professionals handle things.

[@xutubeify]

I love ltt but far out they lost some respect from me after watching this. So sad. And hearing linus talk about these issues the way he is. I thought he was better than this.......

[@brofist1959]

@@TechnologistAtWork I really don't mind that attitude, I mind the misrepresenting products and selling off property that doesn't belong to them.

[@Stephen8454]

As an owner of a small business my heart goes out to Billet Labs. That's such a harsh blow to their business who's invested 10's of thousands of dollars on that equipment

[@Mandalore6311]

Ditto. I’m the lead for a tech project for a very small computer company; I could absolutely see us sending out a prototype for publicity. To think about this happening to our project is devastating.

[@whiteknight7wayne493]

Yea thats F'ed up. It was worse than i thought, I saw the LTT accountability vid before this one and i praised them for making it, now that i know how much crap they knowing did i feel that..LTT deserves to lose a LOT of money and lose a lot of support for such irresponsibility.

[@ThugShakers4Christ]

The company doesn't have a richt to bitch that their product was auctioned off. It's not their property. They dont get a say.

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

@@whiteknight7wayne493 That video was garbage. I watched the whole thing and didn't even know what the problems are. It was just an emotional plea that they want to be better without addressing the specific problems and having specific solutions. I like LTT but that was the most bullshit corporate non-apology video ever. Basically "we made mistakes, please forget about them while we do nothing to fix it because we just care so so so much".

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

But why send the product to LTT if you want it tested right? The whole point of the show it they just throw shit together the wrong way, do a half assed test and go yay or nay. Billet Labs should have known LTT wouldn't give them a proper lab test, that's their whole gig, it's their fault for sending it to LTT.

[@Dysue]

Love the little cut out it's perfect 26:47

[@8ullfrog]

I feel so bad for BilletLabs. This should be a massive warning to anyone, corporate or individual, not to loan anything to LMG for any reason.

[@Xeonerable]

Double edged sword, they wanted the publicity, but not the kind that LTT gave them. They probably would've preferred that the worst that Linus do was to just drop the damn thing.

[@person98453]

I feel bad for them too. However its 'Buyer beware' when you get tech bros to do your advertising for you.

[@potman4581]

​@@XeonerableMore importantly, they didn't want their product fucking stolen.

[@daflipbizkit]

Well, they wanted publicity from a Media Group and they got it. I haven’t followed LTT and its numerous channels for the reason that their focus is mass media and nonsense jokes. They test but don’t know what the scientific process is and it’s clear none of them passed statistics class.

[@Michael-sb8jf]

I guess the important thing to do is get everything in writing. Even email is enough for legal protection

[@sogwatchman]

When I started watching LTT videos a few years ago they seemed accurate, clean, and believable despite being goofy (that's just his brand). Now all of those same qualities are eroding under the weight of the company trying to push out more and more videos to sustain itself.

[@CambridgePunk]

Exactly my thoughts. LTT/LMG has started doing too many things. They have lost focus.

[@youMatterItDoesGetBetter]

Gotta make that $$$

[@donkeymoo1581]

You are clueless lol. Linus stopped being a real accurate tech channel around 2017 at the very latest all videos are just entertainment for zoomers with 1 tech item involved to still lie that they are in any way at all tech related.

[@willsoe]

They've given up their brand identity. Many years ago they used to be focused on smart consumer choices and getting the most bang for your buck. Now they're selling a 70 dollar screwdriver. It's an absolutely unreal out of touch price tag for a tool that you could spend less than half on and get a tool that'll last you for life from dewalt or Stanley. Imagine for a moment they were on the reviewing end of their own screwdriver 5 years ago. They'd be telling the creators to get fucked with a price tag like that

[@Hannibp]

They were never accurate. They are great at entertaining but never a trustful source of information.

[@OhMyGodMuffins]

With journalistic integrity as a whole dying pretty much everywhere, we really appreciate your work here. Thanks

[@chip3324]

I noticed LTT's quality was slipping, but I wasn't aware it had gotten this bad. You guys are amazing at Gamers Nexus, and thank you for publishing this.

[@CuriousKey]

Their quality was *never* good. It was, at the very start, acceptably amateur - but not something you'd want to rely on in any capacity. Now, at their *best* they're guerilla marketing for companies we know willingly lie about their products. At their worst, they're not even competent enough to do that.

[@ko-Daegu]

this what you get when you higher people based on wither they are LGBT ally not actual competence

[@davidcampbell5564]

do you think this video would exsit if that engineer hadnt said shit, they just as bad now. while billet labs stuff is bad and not seeing a great outcome either way for ltt, wheres the commet form them, is it fair to take one side and the mistake calls out are as petty as can be. should they do better yes, but thats a private convo not a youtube calling them out, you still make money freom views on other videos this brings so the money thing at start just shit. too many here just seeing one side as normal - both arnt great from where im sitting

[@steverogers7601]

@@ko-Daegu hire, whether. If you’re going to be a bigot, at least have the self respect to learn spelling.

[@daedaluslv2032]

​@@CuriousKeypersonally somewhere till 2019 they were fine. The quality went down like it seemed they're trying to satisfy YT algorithms, but what the point of that when content is crap.

[@Wizzy959]

The fact alone you don't monetize a +40 min video with LMG's test data deconstructed, which takes a lot of resources, shows how serious you are and not "just bashing on LMG". I think that viewers/fan/backers of both GN and LMG are gratefull for what you have set in motion here.

[@robertschnobert9090]

Companies like LTT usually have to pay five figure sums to a consulting company for feedback like this. It's insane how much Gamers Nexus has helped LTT with this video. And on top of giving free consultation TO THE COMPETITION he also disabled monetization. What a madman! 🌈

[@TheBeerHunter7]

Baring in mind LTT then monetized their apology video with a bunch of gags about sponsors and reference to their store. Just speaks for itself and I was in disbelief that was the response.

[@UltratecJS]

That's when you know it's serious, good work Gamers Nexus.

[@V0N32]

four different products in frame at all times tho lmao.

[@hunchie]

I want to be very clear in that I am not defending LTT here, their behavior has been nothing short of wildly inappropriate with Billet and their employee treatment. That being said, I think it’s important to understand how much GN stands to benefit from this situation. Since this video was released they’ve gained nearly 100,000 subscribers. I believe this video is good journalism, and they’ve approached this very well, but I think it’s a slippery slope here. Creating pieces like this can be informative and honorable journalism, but it can also be a power grab if it’s overdone. Again, not accusing, I just think it’s worth being skeptical everywhere.

[@pandemic4275]

As not super tech person, I will never build my own pc. Some of nexus stuff goes over my head. So i sometimes watch other people. But nexus always summeries and trys to make it clear on what the average person should steer towards and trust the graphs that nexus puts up. Appreciate you guys, steering clear of ltt forever.

[@onyxa3144]

The billet labs situation is terrible. How dare they screw over that start up like that and seemingly not care in any way.

[@JeEF1202]

They should take the video down

[@xatev5732]

@@JeEF1202 That doesn't solve the issue. Finding the buyer and getting the prototype back also doesn't fundamentally solve the issue. This is not repairable, I sincerely hope Billet Labs will be able to sue LMG

[@DustinKBoggs]

I'm not used to seeing this much integrity in tech reporting these days, you guys are amazing.

[@-opus]

Good tech channels are far too rare, the largest tech channels are far from good.

[@propellergarage]

Quite many things are taken out of context here, but I sure am waiting for LTT's response, especially surrounding the billet lab's stuff.

[@MinamiX3]

​@@propellergarageall of the errors in data, removing plastic film on mouse feet, and selling a prototype is taken out of context huh?

[@propellergarage]

@@MinamiX3 I don't care much about errors in data, nobody in their right mind would trust YT video for such data, and it's plenty good enough for quick heads up on how stuff compares. Mouse feet fiasco was acknowledged prior to this video coming out. Billet labs stuff is problematic but as far as I understand from LTT forums, it has been already resolved prior to this video coming out. A lot of Linus's comments about the Billet lab's is taken from context and it is obvious he is talking about the product not making any sense financially no matter the performance, and those people that would want it wouldn't judge it on performance basis anyway. Funny how when I hear GN I first thing I think about is what new drama there is, very on brand.

[@propellergarage]

Oh, and I don't care about LTT anyway, I don't really watch their content apart from listening to WAN show. And fuck them for showcasing Russian war criminal's products in their recent short circuit. Despite that, this GN video is just drama seeking .

[@KSavov]

No words can describe the anger and disapoinment I felt when hearing about Billet Labs' waterblock. I can't begin to imagine how those guys felt..

[@serveos]

Yea I honestly surprised really hoping this won't shut them down just because of laziness or incompetence

[@filip9587]

Linus did say they compensated them, but there are some things money can't replace, especially prototypes.

[@psvm_]

This is the first I've heard of it. I'm flabbergasted. Are there any legal actions they could take as, I would assume, that was their proprietary IP? LMG should be held accountable for their actions, it's shocking

[@ChrisUKFF]

@@filip9587 Not to mention the harm to their reputation due to a lazy and incompetent review no "token" figure of compensation can fix that. If it was in the US they'd be able to sue for "punitive" damages and probably win given the situation.

[@Soosss]

@@filip9587especially since there were people from other companies there that specialize in coolers.. they may have sold off a prototype that wasn’t their property to a corporate rival. Insanity

[@jonleibow3604]

They used to be decent but I noticed the quality dipping around the time they started with the reaction image thumbnails. If a channel has to resort to gimmicks, it tends to mean their content alone isn't quality enough to draw attention.

[@Zosu22]

Thank you for being frank with the community. Nobody is immune from criticism and feedback like this makes the community better!

[@climatixseuche]

he is steve ... not frank

[@tram1839]

I just hope Linus takes the criticism positively, he seems like one the only people on this platform able to take a big L and still be cool about it (hopefully not making a clingy KZbin apology video, I think those are a bit different cuzz they come off as just damage control rather than self improvement)

[@korana6308]

@@climatixseuche is this Krusty Krab?

[@korana6308]

@@tram1839 Ahh, I feel like that is exactly what will happen unfortunately, I've followed him seldomly before and his podcasts... it seemed like he got burned out, and lost passion for his work, and simply put, just doesn't enjoy doing it anymore, hence why he was stepping down. And if there's no passion like in case of LTT, and you are just doing for the money then the quality of the content is bound to take a deep dive... and there's no1 to replace him at the LTT unfortunately. It honestly feels the exact same way like Buzzfeed to me...

[@THEpicND]

@@korana6308no this is patrick

[@MrWesleyDP]

As a scientist I run lots of experiments which are pretty analogous to the kinds of testing that is being highlighted in this video. One of the key skills for a scientist, or anyone running a test really, is the ability to interrogate your data. You must always ask if what you are seeing makes sense and if it is consistent with what you have seen before. Of course, outliers exist, and that is why statistics and replicates are so important, but you must always ask if the results make sense and the failure to do so will always drive questions about all of your results.

[@kordelas2514]

What natural phenomena have you researched if you call yourself a scientist?

[@hehe42069-k]

@@kordelas2514 occurance of ligma in young adult males.

[@daveboy2000]

@@kordelas2514 If his name is actually Wesley Penn, I can find several papers regarding protein folding under that name as co-author.

[@craned]

​@@kordelas2514 Trust him bro, he's a scientist. 😂😂😂

[@weenusdeletus8068]

@@kordelas2514 he has done many excavations in Dragoon

[@Arcona]

I knew LTT has many accuracy problems but hot damn, this was eye opening to just how far gone they are. To screw up so often and blame others for that is insane.

[@KravMagoo]

It's practically wannabe criminal.

[@bigpoppa1234]

It's ironic that this new drama started with Hardware Unboxed, the most incompetent "reviewers" who constantly make mistakes or omissions/downplaying features that all just accidentally happen to benefit AMD. GN made some errors on the 13900k (or 13700k, I think) videos as well. Honestly these days the only one I actually listen to is De Bauer because he's got way more experience than any of the other groups in manufacturing/engineering and running a company, not just content creating. And some of Jayz videos because he's rarely on a high horse or pretending to be infallible.

[@slippingjimmys]

Awful tech channel, I'm not listening to squeaky rings and the gang about any hardware.

[@bigaa753]

If you're going to LTT for your tech fix, youre doing it wrong. Most of the time its eye brow raising and sometimes...well its in the video above.

[@mroutcast8515]

Personally, undubbed from this garbage now channel like 4 years ago and even back then was only watching weird shit they're looking at - like shit from aliexpress, etc.. Never for any product reviews. But cringe attitude from all hosts was getting unbearable.

[@h3h3umm]

This video needs more views. The spread of inaccurate information needs to be addressed and stopped. Also the responses from LTT were disgusting

[@NecroknightZ]

Your journalistic integrity is what makes this channel outstanding and drives millions of people to listen and value your words.

[@acu01136]

Yet he didnt speak to LTT before publishing... That is not journalism - that is clickbait.

[@RikkiTikkiTavi290]

​@@acu01136Umm no

[@NecroknightZ]

@@acu01136 Clickbait would mean that the title or imagery is sensationalized to provoce higher throughput. This is not the case, when you watch the video. Points ARE being made against LMG and substantiated with proof. You could say this is spicy, but what you see is in fact what you get here.

[@nRumbaII]

@@NecroknightZ Ok, just ignore his main argument (no asking for statement beforehand) and go for the easy one.

[@W0Rd0n32sTre3T]

​@@nRumbaIIwhen you ask for their statements, they'll lie and change the narrative beforehand like what Linus tried to do anyway with Billet labs, saying they already compensated them, when they in fact haven't.

[@metalman11ty1]

LTT's Response should be very interesting considering they just had a whole segment on WAN about not being in an echo chamber and the importance of having people tell you not what you want to hear, but what is right.

[@mojoxide]

The irony will be lost on Linus as his ego forces him to double down.

[@ghost-user559]

I like Linus, but that’s why I know Linus. This is likely going to be peak narcissistic injury and he will have a hard time taking it seriously until it bites him legally

[@BloodAsp]

Watching this closely.

[@SpartanArmy117]

@@mojoxide Linus definitely does have an ego but so does Steve. He always goes hard after companies sometimes even unfairly, although usually not, just because he ALWAYS has to be the one to break a new story even if it's a nothing burger. That can be a good and a bad thing but my point is just that this is going to get really ugly between these two.

[@ghost-user559]

@@SpartanArmy117 Nothing in this video qualified as an example of overreacting. Factually correct information is never a “nothing burger”. It might not be interesting or relevant to you, but that’s not the same thing as being irrelevant.

[@OldFartsStreaming]

As a consumer I respect your honesty and the way you don't care about the backlash. Thank you for all your hard work, afford and testing experience.

[@thijsgribnau3638]

Should i just use Tom's hardware testing for purchasing advice?

[@HonkeyKongLive]

Arguing that they shouldn't have to fix bad data in a review video because it would be expensive is one of the fucking wildest examples of terrible journalism I've ever seen

[@medmondsr]

All "drama" aside, I REALLY like that an expert in the field is watching the same content audiences are and fact checking. Content creators are incentivized to make as many videos as possible, not make factual content. This type of video is one of the only ways anyone would know if LTT was lying or just wrong about something.

[@Pushing_Pixels]

They do have an incentive to be as factual as possible, it's called their reputation and credibility.

[@PaulMansfield]

​@@Pushing_Pixels You're absolutely correct. Credibility is the most valuable asset they can own, and so easily lost!

[@GwyndolinOwO]

@@Pushing_Pixels I'd say it depends. If you're being "mostly" honest but cut corners to be faster it can feel like you're being efficient since no one is really calling you out and you're able to pump out videos really fast. UNTIL they are called out on it, it can build up the incentive to keep doing that. Posting often can help a channel gain quite a bit of money and viewers. Reputation IS a massive factor but until someone is like "hey, this might be an issue", there is am incentive to make content fast. Especially in topics that moves fast (drama, tech, news/journalism in general). Since if you post faster, there's a good chance people will find YOUR video first. I'd definitely say that not lying or being sloppy is the way better option, but I could also easily see why some channels get lost in making fast content rather than quality content. Its not good, but the incentive is there for some people (it just might bite you in the ass later). But there's also channels that don't suffer any real consequences from lying and making low quality content as well, so the intensive for them is huge.

[@chris_007]

The fact that they sold that one of a kind prototype off in an auction after agreeing to return it is beyond cruel. That can't be blamed on human error.

[@jermojushtteen4936]

They clearly didn't read the sticker duh! /s

[@senethys]

but it can and it was?

[@bbking006]

@@senethysdoesn't excuse it in any way

[@senethys]

@@bbking006 indeed. But it's unfair to attribute it to malice when it was a genuine mistake.

[@NoiZze_]

@@senethys but with so many issues being raised in this video, can it still be called genuine mistakes, or is it ignorance at this point?

[@MrWhitelight54]

What they did to Billet Labs is appalling, shame on LTT.

[@DimitriMoreira]

Yep. Simply absurd. I hope the guys over there can rebuild and find their market even if it takes a little longer. LMG is responsible for this and should be held accountable.

[@Juke-Redlin]

I feel like a lawyer should be involved in that. There's no way they 'gave it to them' and LTT made claims that we can literally, in this video, see are demonstrably inaccurate and dealt damage to billets prospects and ability to continue operating.

[@mintyproductions]

Won't be surprised if they launch a law suit, loosing the prototype must have really hurt their business opportunities and possibility of further development

[@Doesntcompute2k]

It's criminal.

[@forbiddengod1]

Honestly they way they did the review, was not optimal i agree, but i think they made it clear that they are testing it the wrong way. What i think is not excusable at all, is the fact that they did not return the sample. And even worst, they auction it. That should be flipin illegal, not to mention totally stupid. This is a prototype, why on earth you think is good idea to give it away! Now i understand why big companies have such big legal teams and do not do anything without 100 papers signed. And i count myself as fan of LTT (floatplane and all), but this is not cool at all, and will definitely try to get answer from them, because this is big IMO.

[@travisvaught]

Like everyone is saying, the Billet Labs story is morally wrong. It frustrates me that one of my favorite tech channels would treat others so carelessly. If they’re going to rush video production, they shouldn’t pretend to make meaningful & accurate reviews of products.

[@fnoffer]

Not only morally wrong, that auction was straight up illegal

[@Zasaramel]

They can't put in the hours to test stuff and quality control it when half his employees are busy trying to jerry rig his new house's " smart " components.

[@quasistellar]

I'm honestly amazed at how many people are saying LTT is their favorite tech KZbinr and/or they love him etc. Like, the channel is a joke and always has been devoid of any real value. I feel like anyone who "loves" LTT must have been in high school or younger when they started watching, because it certainly seems like that's the target audience.

[@DavidJJJ]

To be fair Linus has responded directly saying this was an accident and they weren't aware that the company wanted the part back and will pay them for the agreed price of the prototype.

[@deadwinglullaby]

morally wrong? at the VERY vest, it's theft.

[@Eir749]

Such a shame that he built a state of the art Lab just to half-ass tests because he "loses too much money redoing those tests".

[@Dave102693]

It’ll be laughable if a science lab staff member said bs like that

[@Ravnican127]

If only they did the testing properly the first time......

[@HyperVegitoDBZ]

It's a very optimistic thing to assume Linus has something to say in the matter lol anymore

[@tonyl9636]

​@@HyperVegitoDBZit's weird then that he phrases it "I told him no" in reference to retesting. I'm not even sure what you're trying to say, because the exact comments we're talking about are prefaced with, I'm paraphrasing, it was my decision, I said no, and I'm not going to apologize for doing it wrong. If Linus doesn't have any say anymore he should probably stop, you know, lying and saying these are his decisions lol

[@HyperVegitoDBZ]

If he aint a CEO anymore and he aint, then his opinion is just that, an opinion, suggestion.@@tonyl9636

[@cryofsolace4840]

It's really funny to see multiple members of lmg including linus say "I only wish we could stop shoveling shit out of the door 😔✊🏽 oh well"

[@mistrplow]

WAN show should be fun this week. Thanks for keeping everyone honest.

[@MenkoDany]

Strategically posted on Monday so that Linus has 5 days until WAN show to think about the reply

[@Thegoat-ro5ht]

Can't wait for linus youtube apology video

[@AaronShenghao]

I have popcorn pre-ordered and ready.

[@mellertid]

They addressed it a bit already, not this video obviously but the unfortunate things said. I guess they'll do it again, not sure it's going to be fun.

[@brianisaacs5457]

Is there going to be a ukulele involved.......?

[@cristi724]

That waterblock situation is gross. Imagine having your unique prototype stolen and auctioned off at a fanboy meetup. Made me sick.

[@uss_liberty_incident]

Can't the company press charges or sue LMG?

[@emeraldbonsai]

Not sure id call it unique it’s just a cooper block with fins

[@emeraldbonsai]

@@uss_liberty_incidentltt contacted billet labs and billet labs sent them a quote on how much money they want and ltt is going to send it to them

[@DhampirHunter]

​@emeraldbonsai how about, it wasn't theirs to auction off in the first place.

[@TheHoggcast]

but not his@@emeraldbonsai

[@Ransomeware1]

I honestly come to GN for in-depth analysis. This is probably the only channel that goes into a deep dive on all products they review. Thank you GN for everything.

[@hmoham]

The part about auctioning off the prototype of another companies product sticks out like a sore thumb to me, as Linus bought up a point about how one of their failed backpacks prototypes ended up in the hands of a viewer who had bought it from a thrift store, and he didn't seem happy about it, and made a point about bringing it up at the next team meeting. Yet he didn't think auctioning off another companies prototype was wrong? I hope Linus and his team, work extra hard to get that prototype back, and return it to the rightful owners.

[@Mephiston]

holy crap, lol.

[@DavidJJJ]

To be fair Linus HAS responded directly about selling the prototype, saying this was an accident and they weren't aware that the company wanted the part back and will pay them for the agreed price of the prototype.

[@snozzmcberry2366]

@@DavidJJJ Which sounds like a ridiculous copout given that LMG had replied to Billet Labs acknowledging their desire to have the prototype back & agreeing to return it by an accepted date presented by Billet Labs.

[@mojoxide]

Something tells me Linus’s ego will blind him from his hypocrisy.

[@JasonSaeler]

Good catch, I missed that and I just saw that video.

[@DocuFlow]

Bravest review of a reviewer I’ve ever seen. You guys keep speaking truth to power. You’re doing more than just correcting an injustice. You are setting an example for others in a world increasingly focused on profit maximization at all costs. Kudos!

[@kevinseanarmistead1288]

Having the integrity to demonetize this and the risk this topic brings deserves support. Thank you for using your expertise and platform to do the right thing.

[@davidcampbell5564]

he will still make money of this, not sure what either are at, we watch tech not shitty beach shows. No drama

[@casualtake1497]

​@@davidcampbell5564lol this video has no ads, no sponsor, no referral link, and you dare say he making money out of this, LTT fanboys always delusional

[@johnsmith-fk7fw]

​@@casualtake1497I hate Ltt but these are like charity concerts, yes you don't directly make money off the video but the increased exposure and public perception of exactly what this guy wrote "wow you took such a risk and so brave to demonetize" is why it's beneficial long term. In reality this video is no risk to GN only upside as everything they said was substantiated by evidence, but I'm still glad they made it because Ltt isn't good

[@DELTA9XTC]

it is absolutely a risk! many ppl, A TON of ppl, dont give a single fuck about evidence of anything if it goes against their world view and lived/experienced narrative!@@johnsmith-fk7fw LTT or all channels under LMG have such a massive reach, there are tons of ppl who will simply not even watch the video and deny any evidence as if it doesnt exist. GN didnt knew beforehand which ppl (who are not already their supporters and regular viewers) would agree with them and accept the presented evidence and which would claim its a grift, its unneeded drama, that LTT did never anything wrong and we shouldnt be so harsh to them, that this will bring the tech space not together but destroy it or GN did this bc LTT now has a lab (i actually read this in the comments here lol, so stupid) or that GN simply envies LMG or any other stupid claim any biased person could make. this isnt or wasnt far fetched at all. it could have backfired bc of the sheer mass of blindsided LMG fanboys thats probably out there. im looking forward to the response of Linus to all of this and then im looking forward to check the comments below that video and the reactions on Twitter (at which point will we all say "X" instead of Twitter and everyone knows what it means?).

[@davidcampbell5564]

what comment did you reply on again? so dumb. also im on no side, no place for this crap in tech news @@casualtake1497

[@blze0018]

I really, really hope Billet manages to pull through. And if they do, I really hope you guys get one of their blocks to give it the review it properly deserves, because the concept is awesome and the craftsmanship looks pretty on point.

[@klof4276]

Hard R Linus at it again…..

[@jmgraydz]

Can we find out who bought it and buy it back for them

[@anthonykearney608]

I'm surprised they haven't sued. That was downright dirty what linus did to them

[@Morpheus-pt3wq]

I wonder, how can a company, which borrowed a prototype for a review, sell the prototype instead of returning it?

[@thebadgladdadd5218]

​@@Morpheus-pt3wq Money. That's how. The bigger conglomerate always does whatever they please.

[@therogueforce]

This is why I watch you guys, you're willing to even sacrifice monetization on a very well-researched and highly in-depth expose on a tech company to get your concerns out in the clearest, most unbiased way possible. If there was ever a time to give to a youtube channel, this was it to me.

[@ZakiAoi]

SHEEEEP

[@Harmonic_Glow]

​@@ZakiAoiLTT stan

[@silentdude56k]

@@ZakiAoi no u

[@milleniumeye8050]

@@Harmonic_Glowgamer nexus hive mind strikes again

[@rush4g]

Nobody takes the response of someone who donates $50 to a multi million dollar company seriously.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

Making mistakes is okay. Ignoring mistakes isn't. Thanks for bringing this to light Steve.

[@Brianck1971]

Making mistakes is not ok, unavoidable, but not ok.

[@smash461986]

Repeatedly making the same mistake isn't.

[@trevalyon8610]

Linus always prides himself on the progress he's making with the labs as "I love competition! Our competition should want us to do better so that it will drive them to do better!" This video does just that, Steve. You are constructively encouraging them to do better, knowing that you will continue to do the same. Keep up the solid work! ^_^

[@SornDP]

Great point. He said exactly that

[@JollyGiant19]

I hope he acts on those words with this

[@discoverychannel1o1]

Good to see the tech community holding each other accountable

[@michaelomode630]

He's tech Jesus, keep you in line...

[@bornpeanut]

I think its quite brave to go against like that .. huge respect though.. these people do care about consumers

[@dereksbooks]

Nice to see that GN wasn't afraid to speak the truth, even when it's against a giant in the industry.

[@Valkross9]

If you're looking at LTT for technically accurate reviews, you're looking at the wrong place. LTT is for quick looks, and entertainment.

[@alexpettit3265]

For such an important video with no ads or sponsors; here's a small token of my appreciation. I am so appreciative of the time (and risk) everyone took to do this. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@singed420snowinit9]

I feel like what they did to Billet Labs isn't talked about enough, that's disgusting what they did, they potentially destroyed them and were complete dicks to them as well, can they be sued for what they did to them? Because I feel like that's a major, major fuck up, extremely damaging to those guys...

[@KillerLettuce]

I don't see how Billet doesn't have a lawsuit on their hands. Their prototype was stolen and then auctioned to someone else by LTT without any approval from Billet.

[@Aussie-boi]

I had to rewatch that part! How disgusting on LTT behalf to not only be dishonest in the review but to also sell off a one of a kind prototype that will for sure end up in some companies hand and be remade.

[@thisnameistaken]

Yeah man. I'm with you. That part of the video was the most glaring for me. Everything else was super not cool, but that alone makes me want to unsub from all LMG channels. Just completely rotten and callous for no reason. Unbelievable.

[@michaeltouch8882]

They probably can't afford to hire lawyers and LMG is a big enough company to keep on pushing the court date further and further out until billet labs can't afford to keep the lawsuit up anymore

[@EAWhite1984]

⁠@@thisnameistakenwith their “amazing” reviews on intel and whatnot i stopped watching LTT videos based off their obviously being bought by intel. Almost every other outlet essentially stating the video cars products have potential but that they still need more work. But LTT coming out with a “just buy it even if you don’t need a new video card” was pure shilling for intel. I used to feel like i could overlook a lot of the mistakes they made but at some point it just got to be too much.

[@brettleisy356]

receiving a part then putting it onto the wrong motor then complaining about performance is insane. what they SHOULD have done was put it on the correct part, or returned it outright. even the idea of hiring someone to modify a PROTOTYPE is ludicrous. a computer testing channel shouldn't have backers/affiliates in anything they are testing. to be honest I am wondering if they didn't ruin then sell the prototype on purpose to give their cooler affiliate a market advantage.

[@pr0n3]

That Billet labs test and what happened afterwards is really sad. I feel bad for the company and all the hard work they might feel like they lost.

[@HappyLarry.]

MIGHT??

[@TheMythMac]

There’s no might about it they were robbed

[@incaseofimportantnegotiations]

>>i feel bad for the company bruh now i feel bad for you

[@thedude3005]

@@incaseofimportantnegotiations megacorp =/= some start up company

[@Seruphin]

Is the prototype still just out there somewhere?

[@robjones3818]

This is the first time I've ever sent a SuperThanks on KZbin, and I'm doing it in gratitude for the fact that not only do you hold yourself and others to high standards, not only because you're not afraid to tackle the tough topics, but also because on something like this you're so invested in the underlying meaning that you will demonetize a 45 minute video you obviously put a lot of care and effort into so as to not detract from its content or let there be any question of its motivation or sincerity. Thank you.

[@Babylonbadders]

What they did to Billet Labs was just disgraceful, and highlights to me there's a fundamental problem with how the company's run. I haven't watched any of their content since I found out about it. Watching this vid, well wow, I can't trust any of their reviews, so that was a good decision on my part. Thanks for getting this out there.

[@Dracolichizm]

Being a QA Engineer with over 30 years in the software industry I can attest that not following a solid testing methodology will lead to a lot of problems. I also used to watch and follow LTT a couple years back but was turned off with Linus's attitude to valid criticism from his community and also worried about where is loyalty laid.

[@arizona_anime_fan]

I saw linus's recent video about using a geothermic cooling solution for his new server rack. Me and my best friend did this with plumbing parts 20+ years ago, took a weekend. And it was many times more professional then the hatchet job they managed of it. All I could think while watching that video is these people have no experience with Quality Assurance, no one who double checks anything, and no real skills with consistent efficient operation; I'm not a plumber, neither of us were, but we still were able to as pure amatures manage to do a professional looking and working job of it; something he still uses i might add, 20 years later. I used to work in engine repair, now i work as a system admin, and his crew and every project they take on appears to be pure amature hour. I've long got the impression linus hires friends and family, this video plus that geothermic video just underline that's probably the case. His channel has always been weak on the technical, computer side of things. But seeing the mess they're making of that server rack makes me wonder if they have nothing but a bunch of uncle charlie, the computer guy down the street working for them. It's a disgrace to server racks, water cooling, geothermal solutions, and an offense to plumbing. it's sort of a disgrace over there.

[@Falcrist]

I guess I unsubscribed maybe a year or two after the split from NCIX when it became clear the channel was going to remain a sort of corporate "unboxing" channel for shilling products rather than an actual review and analysis channel. Review channels have their problems too, but their content is generally much more useful.

[@oscarcharliezulu]

Exactly - Too much arrogance and hubris sadly

[@the_undead]

​@@Falcristwhere do you get the idea that he's shilling for certain products? Cuz if you're talking about the sponsored videos will it's pretty clear that they're being paid for those? And for the non-sponsored videos I promise you very few companies would be okay with some of this s*** that Linus will say on non-sponsored videos. Could trust me bro Have been handled better, absolutely! Could Linus have handled what he said on Wham show differently again, absolutely, but if you're going to say he's a corporate shill then know the f*** he is not, if you don't like his content style again that's fine. It's not for everybody, but if you're going to hate on him, try to pick things that are actually worthy of hating

[@inteliov]

Quality doesn’t just happen, a company has to invest in it. Hearing Luke say something along the lines of their software team doesn’t have QA engineers because they don’t need them, while seeing their “floatplane” platform have major bugs, was really eye opening for me…

[@JDogth3Wise]

I built my entire PC based on your recommendations strictly because you guys seem to put so much effort into data driven testing

[@PlzReturnYourShoppingCart]

you know what, man? I typically dont have the time to vet every tech purchase I make and I always trusted LTT to be accurate and truthful with their metrics. Knowing what I know now makes me envy you for making the better decision to listen to GN. In my head, I thought well even if LTT whiffs their content sometimes it should be easy for them to get metrics right. Now I know I was wrong. It really makes me feel like I've been fooled, sad, disappointed.

[@SGTSLACKASS]

Smelly’s biggest video is complaining about Linus. Smelly is a cuck for LTT.

[@Bash585]

@@PlzReturnYourShoppingCart While it is true that LTT commonly produced inaccurate data for various different products, you are absolutely kidding yourself if you think decisions made by people who watch one GPU performance review as compared to another. If someone watches a video full of data poiting to RTX 4060 being superior to 3060 in virtually every metric, apart from one FPS graph showing specifically RDR on speifically ultra 1440p and reaches the conclusion that the 3060 is superior and decides to buy it instead, then frankly they're just an idiot. There were and are many data inaccuracies in their data, as there is in all reviewers data, but the general takeaway at the end will still be the same, and the recommendation will still be the same. They will all still recommend the same products.

[@SGTSLACKASS]

@@PlzReturnYourShoppingCart i’m sure you would find something else to cry about. Guess you guys can do your own research.

[@cay337]

​@PlzReturnYourShoppingCart the first step is acceptance. Gz

[@lanceripplinger8352]

Gamers Nexus is the GOLD STANDARD in ethical, responsible and accurate tech journalism. Keep on keeping on!

[@poshinoposhi]

This is heartbreaking to hear about the Billet Labs incident. I hope LTT fixes themselves or dial the busy schedule back a bit. I’m sure they have finances to worry about, what with the labs and all, but this isn’t good in the long run.

[@hotdogsarepropaganda]

I hope they slowly get destroyed. this kind of shit is honestly inexcusable. they likely destroyed that company so Linus could feed his own ego. he's a tool just like that jerk off from Artisian computers

[@parametr]

These are the type of mistakes which can easily kill a company :(

[@Latsu15]

Linus wants his badminton center built, he can't afford to make things right.

[@HappyDuude]

I'm hoping they get their asses sued off. They've not only destroyed a small company, but potentially aided a competitor. That is reprehensible.

[@ormand3000]

I work too hard for my money and time to spend it in misrepresented parts. Thank you for bringing this to light...I have unsubscribed from Linus Tech Tips. They should be banned from KZbin

[@ShaferHart]

LMG employee: "The difference between us and someone like Gamer Nexus is .." Gamer Nexus: your death wish has been granted

[@Pushing_Pixels]

This isn't retaliation.

[@Rance53]

^ But damn is it not just a satisfying response to lmg. I'd be collabing. Hell... Consulting. Labs could be so much. But it'll just be a j.d. power award marketing. Pay xxx amount to use our approved stamp on material

[@zachh1000]

This is an ideal situation - where one company watches another and reports on inaccuracies with fact-based reasoning. If LTT responds in a grown-up way, and puts action points in to address these issues, this will be excellent. If they don't respond in a grown-up way, I hope their fandom will... correct them.

[@neshbro]

Exactly this. This would prove we can trust "Them" to keep eachother honest and accurate. They're all adults in the same game. If the concerns raised are valid (and they sure as hell look it!!) Then it shouldn't matter who raises the issue, the issue should be fixed!

[@mattgillon3645]

They responded on reddit

[@milhara9690]

And it sure wasn't grown up. @@mattgillon3645

[@joaomendes3907]

You're looking for what? Grown men throwing punches at each other? Linus addressed the issue in the last wan show and he's already said he won't be addressing it much more in the next.

[@worldseriesofghosts3408]

it's still a hit piece, if you don't think it's a retaliation to the ltt remark when they literally put the video of it at the start of the video then I don't know what to tell you. it'd be another thing entirely if they made this video before the diss by the dude at the ltt lab. but no they kept quiet? ego, it's a hell of a drug

[@nexnecis354]

I remember watching that waterblock video and going "what are they doing? Why publish that when it was so unprepared". To hear they auctioned off that PROTOTYPE on top of that is kinda shocking TBH. I honestly feel bad for the company after hearing that.

[@MYtastePT]

I'll be surprised if they don't get sued or pay them under the table so they don't make a bigger deal out of it

[@kozad86]

@@MYtastePTLTT is probably banking on Billet not being able to afford a lawsuit, and the simps guzzling down LTT videos don't even care.

[@TheMeanJoeGreen]

for real, that video put a bad taste in my mouth at the time, I didnt realize how deep it was though.

[@AtomikMenace]

It's been getting worse for sure. Unprepared videos, linus results not matching what labs says should happen, labs with messed up data and constant asterisk fixes in editing, leaving in pointless scenes. It's kind of wild considering they act like they want to be taken seriously. The auction part is too dirty though.

[@jokroast6912]

Trade secrets sold by reviewer. No prototyper is safe from LMG after this.

[@justanotherAERO]

Thank you for your commitment to journalistic integrity and engineering standards. This is an amazingly valuable piece to the community given the LMG's impact and I hope this helps everyone in the community.

[@KNRG04]

it's unfortunate that GN had to make this video, you could hear just how risky it was from his voice.

[@TheBassteban]

I'm sure for the sake of journalistic integrity, Steve reached out to Linus about this problem. If this was in the works for a while without ever mentioning it, you can't claim full integrity honestly. Usually, when you do a piece on someone you reach out to them for comments and questions. These days, content creators all do these sneaky EXPOSED videos where they sift through years of content, pick key points of failure and run a whole thing on it. H3h3 is a good example of someone with good points but mid to low level of integrity.

[@Elektrobastler]

@@KNRG04 Steve also doesn't really like stirring drama. He loves testing stuff, doing investigative journalism, but lashing out at colleagues is something he usually tries to avoid. Even if they are spewing crap, he's always very gentle and careful when correcting. For GN to make a video like this, they must be pissed big time. And yet they still managed to be objective and fair towards LTT throughout the video. This is how it should be done.

[@StephenKennedyCanada]

Steve, you’ve navigated this situation with LTT with honour and respect. You’re a true man of character.

[@Sir_punchwood]

It's seriously painful to hold a friend and professional peer to a hard line of ethical expectations but you have done it to a superb degree and in a severely passionate manner. Never stop, GN. You are doing solid work, and it is immensely appreciated. I hope LMG takes this in stride and takes action to improve.

[@Sir_punchwood]

Also holy moly 54k views and 45k Likes. I think y'all hit the audience interest and sentiment very directly.

[@_Ekaros]

I'm more saddened that this isn't even anything hard. But bare minimal professionalism. Something that various smaller entities have shown for decades.

[@mismagiuz]

Linus is unfortunately too arrogant to take this well

[@sauntor]

Thank you to GN and Hardware Unboxed for stepping up to keep the hardware review community honest. Keep up the good work, humans!

[@astroplutonium]

Hopefully all these 'mistakes' are not intentional. However, i have seen Linus siding obsessively with one corp or another and accepting no comments. So 1 million people saw that the 4090 was 300% better than the 3090 and then they took down the video.... Ok. I unsubscribed from LTT 3 years ago and i think it was a smart decision. I have never looked at their channel for technical advice since then. I might check a video every now and again to see Linus dropping stuff.. They leave a bad effect for anyone that wants to trust any other content creator.... Greed ruining everything? Again? Not surprised at all tbh...

[@squash2127]

Taking into the fact “personal relationships” is just a fancy way of describing what’s called corruption

[@radiicall]

I wasn't aware of all of the mistakes that LTT are making, probably because they never talk about it, thank you for making this video and telling people about it. 28:21 was especially sad imo

[@LordCommanderVex]

I've unsubscribed from every LTT channel a long time ago because they're basically as reliable as Buzzfeed

[@ytctuser]

@@LordCommanderVex They are pure ENTERTAINMENT,nothing more,nothing less. Like the Real Housewives of Silicon Valley,or something. Tech wise they have no ideea what they are doing. Tech illiterates posing as "experts".A lot of people already knew that when they saw the number and magnitude of mistakes steadily piling over the years.Quite shocking,really.Nobody with more that two brain cells should make a purchasing decision based off of their "reviews".Also nobody should trust a grown man wearing earrings.

[@nemtudom5074]

Their policy is to not acknowledge any of this until it becomes so big they cant ignore it. That is why you didnt know about this. Because when a single person like me rages in their comment sections, we quickly get harassed out of there by the white knights, so it never gains any momentum. Im glad GN is putting the pressure on them because seeing them 'see themselves become the villain' is deeply saddening.

[@NightZ3r0]

Thanks for keeping standards, ethics and a fair stance on everything you do. Tech journalism would be in shambles if it weren't for you guys raising the scientific testing methodology bar high.

[@ArturVirgilioAlvesdosRei-tj2iq]

​But we can blame the daed and senile while c0repo0otocracy takes over civil rights🔥

[@TheActualChosenOne]

Can't believe how they fucked over the Billet Labs guys. Truly devastating for a small startup company.

[@digitalburnout1918]

I also watched their stuff usually, and it made me really angry to hear this, same with the mouse. And then trying to justify it... I will never touch any LTT video again.

[@slyfoxkgar]

This seems criminal what they did to them. Wonder if they could go after LTT for defamation?

[@noway9880]

This was peak 2023.

[@eternality]

GN seems to be one of very few tech channels worthy of respect, that deserves support.

[@SimplestUsername]

My impression is that LTT grew the company and expenses past the scope of what their content revenue can comfortably support. Now they're stuck in overdrive.

[@squishtomar1676]

LTT hired too many people. Linus didn't need so many people

[@penelopedrakos7825]

Flew too close to the sun?

[@Almostbakerzero]

Well, usually youd expect a large company to have more specialization. With a dedicated lab and specialist workers, getting your tests exactly right becomes easier, not harder. But this also requires quality control of some sorts because if the tester just performs his tests, a writer writes the text and a moderator just reads that out in a video without ever really getting into the device he's presenting, there's no one there who has the kind of high level perspective that makes you notice oddities in test results.

[@NSA.Monitored.Device]

@@AlmostbakerzeroI think that comes pretty close to the problem: people being disconnected from the product. Or at least: the writer should/has to also be the moderator of the vid. Still that doesn't solve old problems like conflicting interests.

[@bami2]

I think it goes a bit deeper than that. When they were just starting out they worked on startup principles: low overhead + basically grinding your workers to death to produce things below what it would normally cost for a regular company to produce it, which made it very profitable to start. This is normally fine since most of the work is being done by the owner and whoever else works there just accepts that the workload is high but it's manageable since there is so little overhead, you have a small group of people so everybody knows about everything and things like HR don't really come into play. Now when you then scale up these things get added, you need to add layers of management, communication, official things like HR, finance and legal and get it all sorted out, but I think LMG never stopped operating on the startup grindset. All the overhead just becomes too much when they start adding people, more things just go wrong and things get delayed. Add some adpocalypses on youtube that severely slashed adsense revenue and then it becomes a real problem, so they tried to move away from floating just on adsense. Then they pivoted into first the store (getting a bunch of employees to do that, investments into acquiring stock and designing products), then floatplane (good luck trying to make a youtube competitor really profitable) and then labs (more employees, lots of expensive equipment) most likely financed by loans on the current success of the company. That's like the noose around the neck, the clock starts ticking since interest payments are no joke. They managed to get the store working and that's an additional revenue stream, floatplane seems to do allright but I cannot imagine it's anywhere near really profitable, break-even at best), but labs is a lot more difficult (especially because they went with the "we don't need that many people, we can automate it" mindset into it) and with inflation going up I imagine so does the interest on the loans. So the only solution to that is to generate more revenue: ie grind your workers more to death. You can see that in the amount of channels added in the past few years, just trying to pump out more and more "cheap" content. Basically, the company grew at the expense of the workers and that combined with business decisions that haven't exactly panned out (yet, it could still happen if they are smart about it) is putting them at a dire situation. It's not only hiring all the people, but all the building acquisitions (he's leasing an entire office to ensure that the office used as studio next to it is soundproofed), equipment purchases and other stuff that is putting a large financial liability on the company so any downturn can be disastrous. tl;dr: it was never sustainable the way they operated, adding more employees just made it worse. GNs video was mostly trying to help them get on the right track at least for the quality of their content, but instead they decided that they were now wronged and went full-bore in the other direction. Madissons allegations are just the icing on the cake.

[@kineticimagerygroup]

Community critique, feedback, and accountability is a good thing. Despite being an uncomfortable video to make, it is a productive one. Hopefully there are some takeaways and everyone can grow from it.