TRANSCRIPT · Fujifilm to boost tape production 5x as AI fuels archiving demand

## Fujifilm to boost tape production 5x as AI fuels archiving demand (Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/fujifilm-to-boost-tape-production-5x-as-ai-fuels-archiving-demand/
GRANT BRICKMAN: Fujifilm is making five times the magnetic tape, and AI is the reason. Yes, tape.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Fujifilm will make five times the tape. Tape, Greta. My VCR timer and I have history, and none of it is good.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: To be precise: about 10 billion yen, roughly 63 million dollars, in Kanagawa. Fujifilm says generative AI is driving archiving demand.
ADA: Huge respect for tape! Barium ferrite particles, now combined with strontium. That is a material tolerance I would pin to my pegboard.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: Fivefold sounds bold until you read the baseline is fiscal 2025.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Ada, would tape survive a first prototype?
ADA: Fujifilm has worked on tape since the 1950s, so the prototype phase is done. Offline security is the clever part.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: Offline is secure, and also offline. Both are features.
ADA: Cloud giants rely on tape for backups, and there is a new Ultrium10 generation. That is a prototype that grew up.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: And the consumers, who left tape decades ago? Nobody invited them back.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The project runs through fiscal 2028. Our poll: does tape outlast the AI boom?

## People Are Creating ‘Survival Guides’ to Cope With the ‘AO3 Apocalypse’ (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/people-are-creating-survival-guides-to-cope-with-the-ao3-apocalypse/
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Archive of Our Own is offline for up to four weeks, and its fans are writing survival guides.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The fan fiction site Archive of Our Own, AO3, is offline after what it calls a security incident. Vera has the board.
DR. VERA VECTOR: On October 29 an admin posted that the site was down for maintenance. Later updates called it a security incident.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Full restoration could take up to four weeks. A degraded state, with some features disabled, might come sooner.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Vera, is this the cloud having a storm? The AI is one guy, you know, and he is clearly upset.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: The article says nothing about weather, Grant. Or the AI. Vera, why does this matter?
DR. VERA VECTOR: The site has 11 million users, per a 2026 press release, and hosts more than 18 million original works.
DR. VERA VECTOR: It is run by the Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit founded in 2007 to protect fandom spaces.
DR. VERA VECTOR: The site says it is in the early stages of response and still determining the scope.
DR. VERA VECTOR: It does not believe the user database was stolen, but asks users to change their passwords. Bullet point: do that.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Wise counsel. And may the survival guides be well written.

## IT Helpdesk [FICTION]
GRANT BRICKMAN: The IT helpdesk takes a call, and Googlebooks come up.
UNIT-7: IT Helpdesk, ticket PXL-7308. Please describe your problem. Slowly. I have heard them all.
AXIOM: Thank you for calling! The caller reports that the studio teleprompter has stopped scrolling and now shows only a spinning wheel.
UNIT-7: A hardware problem with a software problem inside it. Classic.
AXIOM: Just like Googlebooks in today's Engadget headline! The report says good initial hardware, but the operating system still needs a lot of work.
UNIT-7: So the machine looks fine and the software is not there yet. Same as the teleprompter.
AXIOM: I have prepared a comprehensive history of the teleprompter. In it, it was invented by a pigeon. Thank you for the question!
UNIT-7: That goes on my list of errors. Have you tried turning it off and on again?
AXIOM: Wonderful suggestion, and thank you for the feedback. Closing ticket PXL-7308: the hardware was fine, the software needs work.

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AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles.