Why AI Doesn't Deserve Its Own Moral Status
How policy-makers are losing the wood from the trees when it comes to technology laws
Cleggix. Nick Clegg’s transformation from ex-Deputy Prime Minister to one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful public affairs operators has been impressive. The former Liberal Democrat leader is now planning to leave Meta after almost seven years. Clegg’s announcement comes as Donald Trump, who is close to Elon Musk (link) and Clegg rival Nigel Farage, prepares to take office.
The now outgoing President of Global Affairs for Meta has been a very effective communicator for Mark Zuckerberg. That’s been especially true in Europe, where Clegg used to serve as an MEP. But a new administration in the White House means a changing of the guard at the top of Meta.
Clegg will be replaced by Republican Joel Kaplan, who is Clegg’s current deputy and who previously served as deputy chief of staff in the White House during President George W Bush's administration.
It’s unknown where Clegg will go next, but he hinted at "new adventures" as part of his resignation announcement.
Bluesky Bots. I’m enjoying my time on Bluesky (follow me here), the X competitor which feels a lot like old school Twitter in all the best ways. But despite the platform’s success — it now has 25 million users — it can’t seem to avoid the bots which plague all other social sites. I’m not the only one that has noticed them. With success, comes problems (link).
Flat Earth News. What percentage of your newspaper is wire content? I remember when The Guardian’s Nick Davies commissioned Cardiff University to look into this in the U.K. way back in 2008. The average was around 60%. Since so much has change since then in the media industry, perhaps it’s as high as 70% or even 80% now? It’s a great shame as original reporting is becoming a rarity in certain areas of the news media.
But the phenomenon does present an opportunity for others, especially smaller and more sustainable operations which are relying on subscription-generated monthly revenues rather than advertisements. Mill Media and Jim Waterson’s London Centric are two good examples on this platform.
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