Purgatory?!

Who’s backing Stargate Project? OpenAI, Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA and SoftBank.

Who isn’t on board? Elon Musk, who’s come out fighting by replying to OpenAI saying, “They don’t actually have the money” - Techbros will battle it out.

Businesses and governments need now to react.

If the issue concerns risk and influence, an educational system that teaches the importance of facts and critical thinking is needed.

TikTok appears to be taking an intermission. Let's see what happens!

Meta and X go on about the importance of free speech as a reason not to moderate. Yet on Chinese-owned TikTok, it's not about free speech but the risk of influence from 'foreign' adversaries. This signals that allowing US misinformation on Facebook is OK.

What is interesting is how Meta and others have navigated scandals in the US and elsewhere relating to misinformation, hate content and the damage that platforms like Instagram have on children. Zuckerberg apologises for this but is now moving to dismiss content moderators.

One thing is certain: neither understands the cultural differences around the world. They are both just using their view of free speech to benefit their own interests.

Zuckerberg's aims are more focused, especially given that Meta makes about 97% of its revenue from advertising. Here are my thoughts on this LinkedIn article:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/ending...

And my blog: www.twofourseven.co.uk/blog/8/1/202...

I've written about Musk, his strategy and risks in this LinkedIn Article: www.linkedin.com/pulse/elon-m... and on my blog: www.twofourseven.co.uk/blog/7/1/202...

Zuckerberg, in his statement yesterday, went as far as to say that he and Meta will be working with the incoming Trump administration to "work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more."

Dig deeper, and you start to see that for both Musk and Zuckerberg, it is all about deregulation and influence. Ways in which they can protect their business interests.

Their playbook? Appear populist, support a cause, create chaos and reap the rewards.

Back in 2004 I worked for a charity that recruited care home staff from Poland. The reason? Just couldn’t find staff in the UK. They followed their recruitment drive into other EU countries.

Staff were brilliant, and needed and helped people in care homes and community.

Congratulations to you both. Wishing you all the best for the future!!

Misinformation is an issue, and brands and organisations need to take an always-on monitoring approach in order to counter reputational challenging comments and content that is shared on both open and dark social channels. A huge challenge for those in strategic communications.

Social selling is on the rise, but people are becoming more aware of the value and the quality of what they buy, regardless of who sells them items.

The usage of social media, dark or public, is the place to reach audiences, more so that through legacy channels.

As an example, people are watching more YouTube videos on TV than Netflix. But that still requires strategic views on how to create long-form content that secures engagement and trust.

While brands and content creators are adopting #GenAI, there is a trust gap between users and the content they see and trust.

AI is a tool and not yet a game-changer.

Trust is the one currency that organisations need to be mindful of when using #AI.

People are retreating into social media siloes, call it 'dark social,' where 95% of content-sharing activity takes place.

This is creating challenges for brands, companies and governments that want to reach and engage with audiences.

Great panel on a range of subjects.