TL;DR
A year of high-stakes AI rivalry and serious tech news was punctuated by a string of odd, viral episodes: a lawyer named Mark Zuckerberg suing Meta’s CEO, a founder accused of juggling multiple jobs, chefs-in-chief getting roasted for olive oil choices, and executives reportedly delivering soup to recruits. These incidents highlight the strange, attention-grabbing side of tech alongside its bigger structural developments.
What happened
Across 2025 the tech sector mixed consequential developments with conspicuously silly episodes that went viral. An Indiana bankruptcy lawyer who shares the name Mark Zuckerberg sued Meta’s CEO after repeated Facebook page suspensions hampered his practice. Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi blew the whistle on engineer Soham Parekh, alleging Parekh was working for several startups at once; Parekh later acknowledged holding multiple roles while raising unanswered questions about his compensation choices. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was mocked in an FT “Lunch” profile for using a branded olive oil in ways the reviewer deemed wasteful. OpenAI’s Mark Chen said Mark Zuckerberg personally hand-delivered soup to recruits, a claim Chen countered by saying he brought soup back to Meta staff. Other oddities included an NDA-protected 5,000-piece Lego build posted by Nat Friedman, Bryan Johnson livestreaming a psilocybin session with notable guests, and Twitch streams of AI models playing Pokémon.
Why it matters
- These episodes show how personality-driven stunts and controversies can overshadow substantive industry developments.
- Hiring tactics and aggressive poaching among AI labs are drawing public scrutiny and sometimes bizarre recruiting methods.
- Viral personal conduct by founders and executives can influence public perception of major companies and research efforts.
- Unusual stories highlight gaps between tech’s internal culture and public expectations about professionalism and ethics.
Key facts
- An Indiana bankruptcy lawyer named Mark Zuckerberg filed a lawsuit against Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg after repeated Facebook suspensions impacted his ability to advertise.
- Mixpanel founder Suhail Doshi posted on X warning other founders about engineer Soham Parekh, who admitted to working for multiple companies simultaneously.
- Soham Parekh reportedly favored equity in compensation packages despite brief stints at employers, a detail that raised questions about his motives.
- The Financial Times profiled OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and noted his choice of Graza olive oil, contrasting cooking versus finishing oils and criticizing his kitchen habits.
- OpenAI chief research officer Mark Chen said on a podcast that Mark Zuckerberg hand-delivered soup to people he was trying to recruit, and Chen said he responded by bringing soup to Meta staff.
- Investor Nat Friedman posted on X seeking volunteers to assemble a 5,000-piece Lego set, required an NDA, and promised pizza; he later joined Meta Superintelligence Labs.
- Bryan Johnson livestreamed a psilocybin mushrooms session with guests including Grimes and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff as part of his public longevity experiments.
- Developers unaffiliated with Google and Anthropic set up Twitch streams to have AI models like Gemini and Claude play Pokémon as a benchmark exercise.
What to watch next
- Next legal steps in the name-confusion lawsuit (the source notes a filing deadline referenced for Feb. 20).
- Recruiting dynamics between AI labs, including high-value offers and unusual wooing tactics such as reported hand-delivered gifts or large signing bonuses.
- Outcomes or further disclosures in the Soham Parekh situation — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- Equity: Ownership in a company, often granted to employees as stock or options that vest over time.
- NDA: Non-disclosure agreement — a legal contract that restricts sharing confidential information.
- Signing bonus: A one-time payment offered to a candidate to incentivize them to accept a job offer.
- Livestream: Real-time broadcasting of audio and/or video content over the internet to an audience.
- AI model: A trained algorithm or system designed to perform tasks like language understanding, image recognition, or game playing.
Reader FAQ
Who sued whom over the name Mark Zuckerberg?
An Indiana bankruptcy lawyer named Mark Zuckerberg filed a lawsuit against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after Facebook page suspensions affected his practice.
What did Soham Parekh admit to?
He acknowledged working for multiple companies simultaneously, according to reporting in the source.
Did Mark Zuckerberg actually hand-deliver soup to recruits?
OpenAI chief research officer Mark Chen said on a podcast that he heard Zuckerberg hand-delivered soup; that claim was reported in the source.
Was Sam Altman criticized for his cooking?
The Financial Times piece observed Altman using a branded olive oil and critiqued that choice, contrasting oils made for cooking versus finishing.
The tech industry moves so fast that it’s hard to keep up with just how much has happened this year. We’ve watched as the tech elite enmeshed themselves in the…
Sources
- The dumbest things that happened in tech this year
- The 8 worst technology flops of 2025
- The Worst and Most Oops Moments of 2025
- Here Are Some Of The Dumbest Moments Of 2025
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