Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak slams YouTube for scam videos

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is launching a legal attack against Google's YouTube video site for allowing con artists to use him as a pawn in a Bitcoin scam believed to have heisted millions of dollars from people around the world.

The personal computer pioneer vented his frustration and anger in a video conference held Thursday to explain why he decided to sue one of the world's biggest internet companies in a California state court earlier this week. The suit also represents 17 alleged victims of the bitcoin scam, including 10 people who live outside the U.S.

The 47-page complaint revolves around a ruse that has used images of Wozniak and high-tech celebrities such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to trick people out of the digital currency Bitcoin. Videos spread on YouTube as part of the scheme entice viewers to send their bitcoins to an anonymous digital address, promising to return double that amount. The return payment never arrives.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak gestures during a zoom media conference on Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Burlingame, Calif. Wozniak is joining a legal fight taking aim at the flimsy controls on Google's YouTube video site that have turned him into a unwilling pawn in a scam that has stolen millions of dollars from people around the world. (AP PhotoBen Margot)

It's similar to a scam that surfaced on Twitter last week when hackers hijacked the accounts of more than 100 prominent people, including Gates, Musk, former President Barack Obama and Joe Biden, this year's Democratic Party nominee for president. Twitter was able to regain control of the hacked accounts and purge the scam from its messaging service within a few hours.

Wozniak, though, said he has been trying to get Google and YouTube to prevent videos peddling the scam with his name and picture in it since May 10. But the site can't seem to stop the blatant ruse from repeatedly reappearing on the site after a bogus clip is removed, he said.

“It's like Whack-A-Mole," Wozniak said. “You can never reach a human who would easily understand the situation and get it rectified by some method. Anybody would look at that and say it's a crime. We never got to a human. Maybe I could pull some strings, but I don't believe in pulling strings."

Both Wozniak and one of his lawyers, Joseph Cotchett, urged U.S. lawmakers to confront Google CEO Sundar Pichai about why YouTube hasn't done more to stop fraudulent activity on his site when he testifies before Congress in a hearing scheduled for Monday, July 27.

YouTube said it removed 2.2 million videos and terminated 1.7 million accounts during the first three months of this year for violating its policies against deceptive practices. But it had no comment about Wozniak's specific charges.

“We take abuse of our platform seriously, and take action quickly when we detect violations of our policies,” YouTube said in a Thursday statement.

A former Yahoo executive who now runs a digital currency company, Brad Garlinghouse, filed a federal lawsuit against YouTube and Google in April alleging much the same misconduct that Wozniak cited in his complaint.

Both lawsuits allege that YouTube allows scams to appear on its site because the viewers they attract help sell the site's digital ads, which overall generated $15 billion in revenue for Google last year.

Although Google's search engine serves as the company's most lucrative advertising channel, YouTube has been playing an increasingly important role during the past few years as people watch more video online instead of traditional TV.

In a response to Garlinghouse's lawsuit on Monday, YouTube said it cannot be held liable for the scam video under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 24-year-old law that protects internet companies from being held responsible for material posted by third parties so long as they promptly remove illegal content . YouTube will try to persuade a judge to dismiss Garlinghouse's lawsuit during a hearing scheduled next month.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)