"Social Media Manipulation As a Service"

The "viewers" are now as fake as the videos.

First, Elon Musk announced he was replacing the X algorithm with a new system powered by Grok.

Then, Sam Altman launched a new, deepfake-friendly AI video generation app of the kind we were warned about in the movie Mountainhead.

Now we learn that Marc Andreessen is funding "an astroturfing AI-powered bot service" designed to "orchestrate actions on thousands of social accounts through both bulk content creation and deployment," despite the fact that it "is in clear violation of policies for all major social media platforms."

What could go wrong?

As I wrote earlier this year, the world's most prominent tech bros are looking way beyond Trump, and way beyond America:

Before the general public and most politicians fully appreciate what’s happening, these tech leaders are hoping to set the rules (and lock-in the regulatory capture) that will not only entrench their power and multiply their personal wealth, but also give them incredible influence over humanity’s future.

Musk, who recently folded X into his xAI company, claims that Grok will reflect his "centrist" views.

Unfortunately for the world, there's no difference between Musk's "centrist" views and those of demented white-supremacist, drug-addled, conspiracy-theory spreading lunatic.

Grok's own continued (mis)behavior proves it.

Altman, currently locked in a "battle royale" with Musk to be the biggest winner in the battle for artificial super-intelligence (ASI) has already warned about the dangers of:

AI being used by authoritarian governments to control their population through mass surveillance and loss of autonomy.

(See also: "Elon Is Watching You" and "Super-Vision.")

But Altman is also the guy behind OpenAI's Sora app which, reports the Los Angeles Times, has already ignited an "online trust crisis."

As Futurism reported, one clip "showing a protestor harassing a US national guardsman before getting pepper sprayed, went viral on Instagram, notching nearly 1.5 million likes and over 40 million views. Most of the comments seem oblivious to the fact it was bearing a Sora watermark."

It only took a few months for the dangers depicted in the HBO movie Mountainhead — where newly released "AI deepfake tools... wreak havoc across the world" — to become reality.

Also eager to wreak havoc on the world is Marc Andreessen, who sits on the Meta board, is a major investor in (and why I left) Substack, and is part of the group now planning to take over TikTok.

His latest investment is Doublespeed, which, reports 404 Media, is based on the premise of selling "Social Media Manipulation As a Service":

On a podcast earlier this month, Doublespeed cofounder Zuhair Lakhani said that the company uses a “phone farm” to run AI-generated accounts on TikTok. So-called “click farms” often use hundreds of mobile phones to fake online engagement... one Doublespeed client generated 4.7 million views in less than four weeks with just 15 of its AI-generated accounts. 

Meanwhile, Jared and the Saudis are buying the major video-game-maker/mass-shooter-training device Electronic Arts.

And "Trump's toxic influence" is looming over Paramount Skydance’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, which would cement the Ellison family's control over many of the news and entertainment brands that shape public opinion and our national culture.

It's not just the East Wing of the White House getting demolished.

It's the ability to trust anything — or anyone — we see or hear.

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