Musk verification, laughing gas, webcam gaffes, ChatGPT and cyber crime pay: Here’s your week in tweets!
The markets quietened this week, with European banking stocks recovering the losses they had posted in the week after Credit Suisse’s shotgun marriage with UBS.
But the internet never sleeps and the news rumbles on, so CityAM have sorted through cyberspace to bring you the best of what you might have missed.
1. Elon Musk tries to roll out blue ticks
This week, Elon Musk decreed a host of new measures only “verified” (paid) Twitter accounts will be able to use, including that verified accounts will appear in the “For You” Twitter landing page. This will mean free Twitter accounts will have a harder time getting a big reach finding any reach whatsoever.
While supporters say it’s a necessary move to stop the “AI bot swarms taking over”, given reports Twitter is now worth £24bn less than it was before he took over, perhaps it’s not so much a screwed business move, as a way to claw back some cash.
2. Caught begging, on camera
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, promised this week to crack down on anti-social behaviour, including begging at cash machines.
Begging at webcams, however, appears exempt. Tory MPs Kwasi Kwarteng, Stephen Hammond, Graham Brady, Gavin Williamson and Matt Hancock all submitted themselves for fake job interviews with a fake firm set up by campaigners Led By Donkeys.
Being an MP appears to be a part-time gig, with Hancock, for example, able to nip out not only to ITV’s Jungle but also to offer his services as a consultant for “10,000 sterling” a day.
3. No laughing matter
The antisocial theme continues. City A.M.’s editor, Andy Silvester, gently suggested the police might have better things to do than enforce a ban the government’s own Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said was unnecessary.
Just 5.6 per cent of crimes registered by police resulted in a charge and/or summons last year, down from 16 per cent in 2015.
4. Could ChatGPT really run your business
ChatGPT passes exams, writes poetry and gives life advice. But can the latest iteration, GPT-4, start a successful business?
Find out by following “Human Intern” Jackson Fall as he carries out “HustleGPT’s” instructions in the thread above. GPT-4 recommended starting a site for eco-friendly product reviews, earning commission from affiliate links. Good luck, Jackson!
5. (Cyber) criminally low pay
In the same week as security minister Tom Tugendhat said protecting the UK’s cyber space as a “key priority for the government”, it emerged that the Treasury was offering to pay its Head of Cyber Security about an eighth as much as they could command elsewhere.