Last year, then-Twitter tried to address advertisers’ brand safety concerns by partnering with DoubleVerify and IAS, which promise to stop ads from appearing near objectionable content. But industry gadfly Adalytics has just found that those services often fail to block ads when they should. The study didn’t focus on X although the same problems probably apply.
The rich can do as they please and the rest should do as they’re told, is the apparent legal theory underlying many Elon Musk lawsuits. His latest case attacks major advertisers for avoiding the hate- and lie-filled cesspool that once was Twitter. Speaking of which, five secretaries of state have sent a letter asking Musk to do a better job of blocking election-related lies, even though they clearly lack standing since none is so much as a uni-billionaire.
TikTok has bowed to pressure to remove a supposedly addictive rewards program in many European countries. The TikTok Lite app had been awarding points to members for watching and liking posts and inviting others to join. The E.U. says TikTok failed to disclose the risks associated with using the app, including its addictive potential.
Disney has agreed to license more than 200 characters, costumes, and environments (but not voices or talent likenesses) to OpenAI for Sora, its gen AI video platform. This is highly unusual for Disney, which generally sues AI models for copyright infringement; in fact, it sued Google for that a day before announcing the OpenAI deal. Disney will also invest $1 billion in OpenAI, nicely illustrating how very eager they are to join the AI party.