Gooood morning! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and Elon Musk has got problems from all corners.
Daily quote:
“What looks like a lack of focus is often a lack of understanding.“
—Farnam Street
Elon’s got more haters.
President Biden joins the list. He adds a sarcastic remark: “Lots of luck on his trip to the moon.” After tweeting he would vote Republican, this is only the beginning of his use as a Democrat punching bag.
It’s now the trend to switch allegiance when one goes mad.
I am a bit confused why Musk would would complain about the administration “sidelin[ing] and ignor[ing] Tesla” when he was the one who told reporters—while discussing the “Build Back Better” bill—that nothing should be added to help the environmental efforts of the company…
It’s becoming a trend for everyone in public life to start hating on Musk now. Unlike Sorkin in the New York Times, I would be more worried for Elon than for Biden.
Petty disputes.
Oh yea and also Elon is accusing Twitter of reporting false numbers with respect to the percentage of fake accounts and spams on the platform. He is demanding that the amount be under 5%, or apparently the deal is offf?? Highly suspicious this nitpicking is a reflection of his wider business troubles and sudden sobriety.
Meta faces competition.
As Apple kicks off their WWDC event, it is announced that they are joining the metaverse, taking on the Zuckerberg gang. Other players in the field include Microsoft, and Google (who seem to be quietly everywhereee). All are in varying stages of software and hardware development. It seems to me that many of these companies have more transferrable experience for building the metaverse than Meta does.
I guess Zuckerberg hopes their brand name might give them a leg up? lol
Fraud alert.
In a difficult time for NFTs, more difficulty has been piled onto of OpenSea, the NFT marketplace crazed by investors. Hackers and fraud are among the issues that have led to the startup paying millions in settlements and prolonging user complaints and lawsuits.
OpenSea has contributed to the blow up and bust nature of the NFT market by making the acquisition of NFTs so accessible. Their “move fast and rack up massive problems” strategy has allowed many bad actors to roam their platform undeterred. Stolen NFTs and plagiarised works are just a few externalities of an industry with a poorly built foundation.
OpenSea’s efforts to add services freezing sales of stolen NFTs and filtering out plagiarism seem to be a last ditch attempt to preserve any remaining success.
OpenSea’s CEO stated that “like every tech company, there’s a period where you’re catching up” and they are “trying to do everything [they] can to accommodate the brand-new users.”
The next period will be a race to get there before the money—or moral—runs out. And even if that first hurdle is crossed, all relies on the assumption that there will still be users waiting on the other end.
That’s all for this Tuesday! Have a great one :))
With love,
Angeline
Resources:
“I will survive.” The Bloomberg Open, Europe Edition, Bloomberg, June 7, 2022.
“Anger boils over.” The Bloomberg Close, Europe Edition, Bloomberg, June 6, 2022.
Levine, Matt. “Elon Has a New Bot Excuse.” Money Stuff, Bloomberg Opinion, Bloomberg, June 6, 2022.
Sorkin, Andrew Ross. “Biden v. Musk.” DealBook, The New York Times, June 6, 2022.
Thomas, Zoe. “Ransomware Groups Break Up Into Smaller Cells to Skirt Sanctions.” Tech News Briefing, WSJ Podcasts, The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2022.