Hannah Murphy

Zuckerberg's aim is to create a start-up-like unit focused on developing superintelligence that is unencumbered by the bureaucracy of his $1.8tn company -but supported by its well-capitalised business

But investors, and even insiders, have little insight into its vision and budget. Will he succeed?

Linda Yaccarino: Elon Musk’s X deputy who ‘tried to ride the tiger’ Inside the former social media CEO’s tumultuous partnership with the world’s richest man

Inside the Linda - Elon breakup
-Musk felt Yaccarino wasn't transparent about the company’s status with advertisers & put a gloss on reality
-He wanted her to more quickly restore X to financial health
-Post-DOGE, he started making unilateral decisions that blindsided her

www.ft.com/content/833c...

Linda Yaccarino: Elon Musk’s X deputy who ‘tried to ride the tiger’ Inside the former social media CEO’s tumultuous partnership with the world’s richest man

Inside the Linda - Elon breakup
-Musk felt Yaccarino wasn't transparent about the company’s status with advertisers & put a gloss on reality
-He wanted her to more quickly restore X to financial health
-Post-DOGE, he started making unilateral decisions that blindsided her

www.ft.com/content/833c...

How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler [FREE TO READ] The boss’s transformation shocked liberals at Meta, but his closest allies say this is who he was all along

After months of reporting (and even my own attempt at a jiu jitsu class), my FT Magazine cover story on Mark Zuckerberg’s metamorphosis to red-blooded “Maga Mark” is out!

Is this political expediency, a midlife crisis or who Zuck has been all along?

on.ft.com/4nsoktx

How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler [FREE TO READ] The boss’s transformation shocked liberals at Meta, but his closest allies say this is who he was all along

After months of reporting (and even my own attempt at a jiu jitsu class), my FT Magazine cover story on Mark Zuckerberg’s metamorphosis to red-blooded “Maga Mark” is out!

Is this political expediency, a midlife crisis or who Zuck has been all along?

on.ft.com/4nsoktx

Steve Bannon is urging Trump to cancel all of Musk's contracts, launch investigations into him, and deport him.

For perspective, Perplexity is valued at $15B and Anthropic at $61B.

So, for xAI to be valued at $113B is just...

Elon Musk’s xAI seeks $113bn valuation in $300mn share sale Deal to allow investors to buy into group following March takeover of X

FT SCOOP: Elon Musk’s xAI is launching a $300mn share sale that values the group at $113bn - validating the pricetag struck when xAI bought X in March

It comes as the world’s richest man returns from Doge to his business empire and the AI race

on.ft.com/4dGFY85

Telegram jumps to $540mn profit despite founder facing legal peril Messaging app’s finances are booming even as chief Pavel Durov fights French case over alleged content failings

SCOOP: Telegram had a bumper 2024, booking over half a billion dollars in profit after a lossmaking 2023

The app has told investors that the French investigation could be a barrier to an IPO but that it could be resolved this year, as it launches a $1.5bn bond offering

www.ft.com/content/a8b4...

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot shared ‘white genocide’ tropes on X Grok answered users’ queries on completely unrelated matters with responses about South African race relations

I started reading this thinking it was about users who *asked* about race and South Africa getting bogus responses. But no, Grok is - ASTONISHINGLY - providing responses on the topic to users who have asked entirely unrelated questions. WILD.

By @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social and Cristina Criddle

Exclusive | Tesla Board Opened Search for a CEO to Succeed Elon Musk With profits and the stock price sinking, board members told Musk he needed to spend more time at the company.

About a month ago, Tesla board members reached out to executive search firms to formally find a new CEO to replace Elon Musk, per WSJ

They also told him to spend more time at the company & he said he would. unclear if the succession planning is ongoing or not

👀

www.wsj.com/business/aut...?

AI optimisation/visibility is the new SEO…

Brands target AI chatbots as users switch from Google search [FREE TO READ] Ad agencies adopt new strategies to ensure clients appear in results produced by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude

Advertising groups and tech start-ups are racing to find ways to help brands boost their likelihood of surfacing in results from AI chatbots, marking a new era of 'SEO'

FT story w Cristina Criddle:
on.ft.com/4iAVZxr

Andreessen Horowitz in talks to help buy out TikTok’s Chinese owners [FREE TO READ] Venture capital group could join last-gasp bid by allies of Donald Trump to take control of video app owned by ByteDance

FT SCOOP: US venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is in talks to invest in TikTok as part of an effort led by Trump to wrest control of the popular video app from its Chinese owners

on.ft.com/4iXce94

w @antoinegara.bsky.social @ivanlevingston.bsky.social & @georgehammond.bsky.social

It’s not every day your best friend gets nominated for an Emmy for producing a beautiful show about young queer love - and you get to tag along to the awards ceremony. But yesterday was that day!

Very proud of Paddy. And if you haven’t already, go watch Heartstopper on Netflix 💕

Merci John!

thank you!! 🙏

Delighted to have won a SABEW @sabew.bsky.social Best in Business award in the Technology division for @financialtimes.com coverage of Telegram & Pavel Durov!

Just beaming 🙌

You can read my interview with Pavel just months before his arrest here: on.ft.com/4ijv9dI

Tech titans stand with Donald Trump to kill off activism in Silicon Valley [FREE TO READ] Fearful employees have done little to protest against the rightward shift of leaders such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg

“In the 2010s, there was a sense that Silicon Valley was different, had a rarefied culture. Now you’re just like any other union-busting top-down conglomerate.”

Our FT analysis on the slow death of left-wing activism in the Valley, as Big Tech quells dissent and staff fear layoffs
on.ft.com/3XfJy29

Silicon Valley fights EU tech rules with backing from Donald Trump US groups such as Meta emboldened in effort to water down regulations on AI and market dominance

Big tech is growing confident in their efforts to challenge EU regulations, believing new backing from the Donald Trump administration will allow them to fight what they see as hostile rules on AI and market dominance.

With @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social & Michael Acton

www.ft.com/content/3e75...

why thank you!!

For those interested, here’s what happens:

And now for some real journalism!

I took a break from reporting on tech billionaires and Trump to write about getting my lashes done by an AI-powered robot

While the era of fully automated beauty treatments still seems some way off, disruption is coming to the sector - on.ft.com/4jCLevZ

Fun piece by @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social on robot beauticians! Struggling to believe they're going to be cheaper than humans any time soon, mind, esp as one machine appears to need two human minders www.ft.com/content/f98d...

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg explores purchase of Washington DC property Billionaire founder of social media group seeks to work more closely with Trump administration

Scoop: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is exploring buying a property in Washington DC, as part of a push to work more closely with the Trump administration

He joins a growing group of tech titans - Elon Musk, David Sacks - seeking bases close to the White House

www.ft.com/content/9310...

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg explores purchase of Washington DC property Billionaire founder of social media group seeks to work more closely with Trump administration

Scoop: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is exploring buying a property in Washington DC, as part of a push to work more closely with the Trump administration

He joins a growing group of tech titans - Elon Musk, David Sacks - seeking bases close to the White House

www.ft.com/content/9310...

where all the tiktok refugee starter packs at

In 8 days, Zuckerberg has:
- Promoted top Republican Joel Kaplan to be face of Meta
- Hired Dana White to board
- Killed 3rd party fact-checking
- Loosened hate speech policies
- Killed DEI initiatives
- Said on Joe Rogan that corporations are “culturally neutered” & need more “masculine energy”

I was literally just thinking this is the least awkward I've ever seen him in my six years of covering him/Meta

Exclusive: Meta kills DEI programs The company cut its DEI programs as it pushes to make inroads with the Trump administration days after it ended its fact-checking programs.

JUST IN: Meta has just ended its major diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, effective immediately — including for hiring, training and picking suppliers

www.axios.com/2025/01/10/m...