AI is hallucinating citations, nuking nostalgia projects, and creeping into every corner of software and hardware – and that’s just the start of today’s HackerNews.fm. In this episode, we dig into a wave of fake references discovered in ICLR 2026 submissions and a failed attempt to recreate the legendary 1996 Space Jam website with Claude. We also look at Google’s new “Titans” architecture for long-term AI memory and a provocative essay arguing that the coming AI wildfire will be both painful and ultimately healthy for the industry.
From the perennial pain of software estimates, to a brutally honest postmortem from someone who says they wasted years in crypto, today’s stories circle around a single theme: how humans keep colliding with hype, complexity, and unintended consequences.
Stories in this episode:
1. At least 50 hallucinated citations found in ICLR 2026 submissions
- Rank: 1 · Points: 473 · Comments: 375
- Article: https://gptzero.me/news/iclr-2026/
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181466
2. I Tried and Failed to Rebuild the 1996 Space Jam Website with Claude
- Rank: 1 · Points: 392 · Comments: 325
- Article: https://j0nah.com/i-failed-to-recreate-the-1996-space-jam-website-with-claude/
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183294
3. Using LLMs at Oxide
- Rank: 1 · Points: 663 · Comments: 265
- Article: https://rfd.shared.oxide.computer/rfd/0576
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46178347
4. Google Titans architecture, helping AI have long-term memory
- Rank: 2 · Points: 453 · Comments: 147
- Article: https://research.google/blog/titans-miras-helping-ai-have-long-term-memory/
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181231
5. The AI Wildfire Is Coming. It's Going to Be Painful and Healthy
- Rank: 15 · Points: 107 · Comments: 188
- Article: https://ceodinner.substack.com/p/the-ai-wildfire-is-coming-its-going
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183011
6. Estimates are difficult for developers and product owners
- Rank: 1 · Points: 185 · Comments: 190
- Article: https://thorsell.io/2025/12/07/estimates.html
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184229
7. I wasted years of my life in crypto
- Rank: 1 · Points: 127 · Comments: 171
- Article: https://twitter.com/kenchangh/status/1994854381267947640
- HN Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181371
