Top tech influencer Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee is facing backlash over privacy concerns and the $50 premium subscription price to his newly released Panels wallpaper app. Here is his response. Truthfully, I’m most concerned with the app description, which was clearly unedited and written by AI.

A peek into today’s edition:

• Social media‘s role in the 2024 election
• Meta unveils Orion AR glasses
• More OpenAI shakeups

Exploring Social Media’s Impact on the 2024 Election Landscape

The 2024 Presidential Election is fast approaching, but the vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is even closer, set for Oct. 1. Social media has already played a significant role in this election cycle, particularly in amplifying viral debate moments, endorsements, and more. As we inch closer to the election in November, it’s clear that social media will be the main battleground for political discourse.

How is the nation using social media during this election cycle, and are platforms ready to handle all the online action? Take Zoom, for example. The video conferencing platform expanded to allow up to one million simultaneous participants on webinar calls after political groups began using Zoom to raise campaign dollars for Harris’ presidential election campaign. This expansion was a direct response to how users are interacting with Zoom during this election season. This showed me that many tech companies — not just social media platforms — can move the needle.

Let’s dive into how various aspects of social media are shaping this election.

Major News Announcements

Social media’s role in the election feels more critical this year because now more than ever, platforms are primary sources for where users get their news, especially the younger generations. I’m thinking back to when I first saw that Vice President Kamala Harris would be running for president as President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid. I first spotted it in an Apple News alert, while most of my family saw it on either X, Instagram, or Facebook.

While various outlets quickly reported the news as it went viral, the initial announcement was made via a letter posted on President Biden’s social media accounts. This was a decisive move, especially since news of this importance typically warrants a press conference from the White House. Biden’s decision was revealed alongside his endorsement of Vice President Harris as her campaign swiftly rolled out, drawing aesthetic inspiration from Charli XCX’s wildly popular brat album.

Much like Zoom’s response, politicians using their social channels to release news updates about their campaign has become the norm. Former President Donald Trump almost entirely uses his social media accounts to release updates on his campaign and responses to political happenings.

Celebrity Endorsements

Social media has even transformed how celebrity endorsements in politics are received. Before social media, celebrities typically announced their political endorsements through traditional media channels, such as interviews, press releases, and television appearances. They would often participate in events or rallies where they could publicly declare their support, which sometimes meant these announcements came during award shows or other public speaking engagements.

Today, most celebrity endorsements are announced via social media posts with witty captions. Taylor Swift‘s endorsement of Harris was the most notable one, as it came right at the conclusion of Harris and Trump’s first and only presidential debate. Swift shared her post on her Instagram story with a link to Vote.gov, which drove more than 400,000 visits to the website that shares voter registration information. That data point has a real impact and goes to show how celebrity endorsements could impact voters this year. Elon Musk expressed his support for Donald Trump on X and even reinstated the former president’s account, though Trump still hasn’t returned to the platform. This endorsement came as no surprise, but it’s interesting to note how notables use their social channels to share newsworthy information about themselves that typically would have been seeded to a news outlet in an exclusive article.

Political Content Creators

Over the summer, both the Democratic and Republican parties prioritized inviting creators to their conventions, highlighting the growing influence of online voices. This move underscores how powerful digital influencers have become in shaping public opinion. Political content creators have emerged as influential voices in the 2024 presidential election, leveraging platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to engage voters, particularly younger demographics. These creators disseminate information about candidates and policies and shape narratives around key issues such as climate change, social justice, and electoral integrity. Above all, they are becoming authoritative sources for political news and content, especially when they are on the ground at events.

With their ability to create relatable, shareable content, these creators effectively mobilize their audiences, encouraging voter registration and participation in ways celebrities and other creators can’t.

Censorship and Fact-Checking

There is so much to unpack when it comes to political content online. Every election cycle, the debate on censoring political content online comes back up. Meta chooses not to recommend political content across Instagram and Threads, while platforms like X operate as an uncensored and open space to discuss and find political content. Still, even X has fact-checking tools that give users deeper context on posts that may include misinformation.

But how do we fact-check AI-generated content? The 2024 election has seen an increase in AI-generated content, from deepfakes to automated responses, making it easier for campaigns to scale messaging and raising concerns about misinformation and authenticity. For example, a robocall impersonating President Biden was distributed in New Hampshire, falsely advising voters to skip the primary election. The AI-generated voice sounded convincing and claimed that voting in the primary would prevent participation in the general election. This use of AI can be dangerous and may negatively impact how the tech can be used in elections moving forward.

It’s too early to predict how the 2024 election will unfold, but we’ll be tuned in to see how digital platforms meet the moment.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the company’s latest venture: Orion, augmented reality glasses. The new device will operate independently from smartphones, be hands-free, and provide immersive AR experiences through an advanced iris display and sensor tech. Meta announced Orion at its annual Meta Connect developers conference earlier this week, where it also unveiled the new $299 Meta Quest 3S headset, which will replace the Quest 2 and Quest Pro devices. The Big Tech giant also tapped the voices of John Cena, Kristen Bell, Judi Dench, Awkwafina, and Keegan-Michael Key to power its AI chatbot across its family of apps.

• OpenAI is reportedly considering a major change that would transform it from a nonprofit research institute into a for-profit company. CEO Sam Altman teased the shift on Thursday and said the company would keep a nonprofit arm. The news came a day after CTO Mira Murati and two other top executives announced their departures, which Altman said were unrelated and don’t correlate with the company shift.
• James Cameron, the renowned director of Titanic, The Terminator, and Avatar, joined Stability AI‘s Board of Directors as the generative AI company plans to develop new tech in the visual media sector.
• Warner Bros. Discovery partnered with Google to deploy an AI-powered captioning tool powered by Google Cloud AI. The pair teamed up to provide more accurate captions across Max’s content.
• ByteDance announced that it will shut down its music streaming service, TikTok Music, on Nov. 28 to focus on partnering with streaming services instead of competing with them. The international offering was available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico.
• Adobe reported that online holiday sales in November and December will top $240.8 billion in the US this year, up 8% compared to the 2023 holiday season. Adobe also said influencers and generative AI chatbots will drive shoppers to retail sites more than ever this year.
• Meta and NBCUniversal partnered to develop “The Office World,” a VR-based social experience based on NBC’s The Office franchise. This comes after NBCU inked a multiyear deal with Meta in October 2022 to bring its IP to VR headsets. “The Office World” lands on Meta Quest devices on Oct. 10.
• Disney+ is following in Netflix’s footsteps by rolling out plans to crack down on password-sharing very soon, Disney CEO Bob Iger said during an earnings call on Wednesday. To align with this, the streamer will offer paid sharing for subscribers who want to continue sharing their passwords with people outside their households.

Intel‘s future has been the topic of discussion in the computing chip world this week, with takeover proposals from Apollo, Qualcomm, and Arm on the table. Despite Intel’s growth slumping, I’m going to bet that the company will turn down all acquisition deals because it still holds some market dominance in the semiconductor industry.