It hasn't stopped anyone from using ChatGPT, which has become their biggest competitor since the inception of web search.
So yes, it's dumb, but they kind of have to do it at this point. And they need everyone to know it's available from the site they're already using, so they push it on everyone.
I really appreciate Matt's coverage of emerging technologies but the sensationalism is frustrating. It bit him in the ass already with the whole solid state battery nonsense.
a government agency can surely decrypt it if they truly wanted to
They can't. Not using any known technology. Even basic encryption like AES256 would take 10^50 years on a supercomputer. That's not even getting into quantum-resistant encryption.
Listened to the first episode and I don't have any negative feedback. You might consider running your audio through Auphonic. Really great hands-off editor that can take quality to another level. But it's fine as is.
Petitioning people to do something that is against their entire purpose doesn't seem like it would be effective.