Failed Promises and Competitions

Is Elon Backing Out Of His Promise?

Elon Musk announced on Twitter in February that creators would be able to share ad revenue on Twitter Blue Verified, but there has been no follow-up or official documentation on how the program works. Musk has made other announcements about Twitter Blue features that are still listed as "coming soon" on the Blue signup page. Even if the ad revenue sharing had launched, it's unclear how much it would benefit creators given Twitter's overall revenue was down by 40% YoY due to fewer companies buying ads on the platform.

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Crypto Collapse

Silvergate, a bank that became a crucial player in the crypto industry by providing services to companies, is facing severe financial problems. Silvergate had developed the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), which enabled institutions to transact in dollars with crypto firms such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken 24/7. However, the recent collapse of FTX resulted in a run on the bank, and major customers, including Coinbase, Galaxy Digital, Crypto.com, Circle, and Paxos, have stopped using Silvergate. The bank also suspended SEN, its on- and off-ramp to the US dollar for stablecoins, on March 3, 2023. This issue is problematic for the entire crypto industry, as very few banks allow crypto clients to transact in dollars 24/7. If Silvergate goes out of business, it could push funds and market makers further offshore, impacting the industry's liquidity.

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Facebook’s Willingness To Reform Its Cross-check Program

Meta has agreed to make changes to its cross-check program on Facebook and Instagram, which exempts high-profile users from automated moderation. The changes will include making the system more transparent through regular reporting and tweaking the criteria for adding people to the program to better account for human rights interests and equity. The move comes in response to recommendations made by the Oversight Board, which reviews Meta’s content moderation decisions. While the Board calls Meta’s response a “landmark moment,” it is not completely satisfied with the changes and will continue to react to Meta’s specific responses.

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These Companies Are Trying To Keep Up With ChatGPT

Companies are developing AI chatbots to compete with ChatGPT, including Microsoft's Bing, which has received mixed feedback, and Edge, which plans to add AI enhancements to summarise webpages and generate text. Google's AI chatbot, Bard, has also been launched using LaMDA, while Facebook owner Meta's Galactica disappointed after it received incorrect or biased responses, and BlenderBot 3 has been called "wildly better" than Galactica. AI research company, Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI employees, is working on a ChatGPT competitor, Claude, which has yet to be released to the public.