Here are the highlights from the podcast episode. You can find a longer form analysis on both topics in the podcast episode - Spotify | Apple Podcasts. The podcast follows the same core principles as the writing (primarily analysis driven with occasional opinions sprinkled in). Just reply to the email if you have any feedback or topic suggestions.

Last week, 20 tech companies across Big Tech, social networks and AI providers signed a voluntary pledge to fight election interference from AI-generated content going through 2024. We dive into the timing of the announcement (2024 is a big election year across the globe), some recent deepfake mishaps, where should liability lie when bad things happen, and whether this pledge is enough. Bonus - couple of ideas for AI startups.

Last week, Meta announced that they will not proactively recommend political content across their recommendation surfaces including Reels and Threads. We dive into criticism Meta has gotten in the past, what led Meta to this decision, the increasingly dispersed media landscape today, and how this decision impacts political discourse especially in an election year.

This week, we dive into two meaty topics. First, we dig into Apple’s recent App Store changes to support third party payments in the US (sort of), and additionally support side-loading of apps (i.e. supporting non-Apple app stores) in the EU. Spoiler: Apple is pushing the limits to see how little they can give up while being compliant but the updates in EU are promising for app developers like Epic Games that directly monetize their apps.