Retrospective 2023: Are there limits to innovation?

I’m back at Retrospective 2023 to talk about Innovation (a topic that I personally love). I have always been 101% technological and my journalistic radar is always tuned to trends, news and changes in the market. But this year, ladies and gentlemen… There were people innovating too much, even when they shouldn’t have.

Musk, help me help you!

I’m not good at hints, I think you on the other side of the screen have already noticed. Of course, we will start by remembering (with nervous laughter) the main ideas of our powerful boss, the golden rosemary of global technology… Elon Musk! The billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the late Twitter, which is now called We got to the point where (and I can speak calmly on behalf of the entire Adnews editorial team) it seemed strange when he spent a long time without getting ready, just like a spoiled child.

Musk started the year upset, losing millions in advertising revenue due to his eccentric positioning. Being in favor of unrestricted freedom of expression, ending Twitter moderation was one of the first measures taken by the billionaire after acquiring the platform, last year. However, the attitude displeased several brands, which did not want to have their names linked to a social network that allows hate speeches and prejudiced opinions without the slightest shame. This episode gave start in the stampede of advertisers.

From then on, it was only backwards: Musk started collecting nonsense in charge of Twitter. Limited the number of tweets that could be viewed, applied a five-second delay on access to certain websites simply because he didn’t like them, and even called for the resignation of Disney CEO Bob Iger!

Our spoiled boy’s audacity reached its peak on July 24th, which had everything to be any other Monday, but ended up being marked in world history as the date of Twitter’s downfall. On that day, the world woke up with the news of the death of the little blue bird Larry (who many people didn’t even know had a name) and the changing the platform name to X.

Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023

Proof that the change was another one of the billionaire’s whims is the poorly made transition. The announcement was made abruptly on its official Twitter profile, on Sunday night (23). The logo has changed, but to this day, there is no point typing x.com in your browser to access the platform. I need to type twitter.com.

People also still refer to social media posts as tweets, and the icon that references the page in the browser tab also shows the little bird Larry in some areas of the platform. But, Musk did his best to get rid of as many traces of the platform’s happy past, even promoting an auction with items from the social network. Interestingly, one of the lots included one of the Twitter signs that was still attached to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco (USA), with the note that the buyer would be responsible for coordinating its licensed removal. After the popular express present of Greek, would this be a acquisition of Greek? In time, may the Greeks forgive me, who are not to blame for Musk’s follies.

Want more? We do, of course! How to forget the supposed billionaires’ fight that moved the web and the international press? Of course, Musk wasn’t going to stop provoking his competitor, Mark Zuckerberg. Hotter than any FLA x FLU, this was the clash of the year.

The provocations between the billionaires began with a discussion on social media that seemed like a joke, but the president of the UFC, Dana White, went so far as to state that Zuckerberg and Musk already had a date to face each other in the octagon and that the profits from the fight would be donated to charity! Even the Coliseum was considered as the setting for the spectacle that the world was waiting for (and which, obviously, did not happen). I have to say that, like all journalists, our team grabbed the popcorn and sat down to follow the repercussions in the best style Michael Jackson movie meme? No, no? We reported everything, and we are eager to know what the powerful chef will do in 2024.

The bigger the rise, the bigger the fall…

Or maybe not? While Musk was giving free rein to his whims, Zuckerberg was working on an X-height rival that would bring back everything that was good about Twitter am (before Musk). The promise left nations, including Brazil, with shining eyes, but… It was not fulfilled.

Launched on July 6th, weeks before Twitter’s controversial transformation into X, the Threads (threadinho, for those close to home) was received by Brazilians with great enthusiasm. In the first 24 hours, 30 million people already ran to try out the friendly rival of the bird’s social network, including celebrities, influencers and companies. In half that time, singer Anitta had already reached 1 million fans on the platform.

The first advertisements on Threads also appeared quickly. However, at the same speed that this rollercoaster of emotions took off, it fell into free fall (we just don’t know if it was forever). Due to the lack of resources, a week later, the social network suffered its first drop: 20% in the number of daily active users. Since then, Meta has delivered a versionweb of the platform and the possibility of deleting the account independently of Instagram, he promised hashtags and other updates. But, what is expected feed custom? Where is the sending of direct messages, the famous DMs? Nothing for now.

A tour of Threads will certainly continue in 2024, and we will be ready to update you.

More releases

Who also gained a rival in 2023 was ChatGPT. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, launched its chatbotof artificial intelligence in Europe and Brazil. This is the biggest expansion ofBard, name given toolsince its launch in the United States and the United Kingdom, in March this year.

Like ChatGPT, Bard is also a generative AI, which can answer questions in a human way. But, for now, the OpenAI tool continues to be the most used by Brazilians.

Hey OpenAI, huh?

Speaking of which, in 2023, OpenAI was more concerned with its internal issues than with competition in the market. On November 17, the company’s board announced the dismissal of CEO Sam Altman, claiming that he had not been frank in their communications, generating a loss of trust on the part of senior members. But in an emotional turn of events, the decision provoked negative reactions within OpenAI, including the immediate departure of President Greg Brockman and the revolt of more than 743 employees, who represented 96% of the company’s total workforce.

In solidarity with the departure of Altman and Brockman, the employees released an open letter on the 21st of the same month, declaring that they were willing to join forces.guide the leaders, who migrated toMicrosoft, unless the board reinstated them into the company and resigned immediately. The company created by Bill Gates also stated that there was space to accommodate everyone, which would cause a dismantling of OpenAI.

Under so much pressure, the council had no choice and backed down, announcing Altman’s return And the story has a happy ending, at least for those who were fired, since half of the board was forced to resign.

This period of turbulence raised questions about how a group of just four people could make decisions that would shake up a multibillion-dollar technological business, keeping the world and the international press watching possible developments.

Surprising turnaround brings Sam Altman back at the helm of OpenAI. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/The Verge)

And the word of the year was…

Artificial intelligence, of course. The theme was a champion among our columnists’ favorite subjects, it appeared several times in the Business, Creativity and Transformation articles, and was also responsible for innovations that we never thought possible (I certainly never thought of it).

This year, AI made it possible to create entire songs (new melody and lyrics, or covers) and distribution on the main platforms streaming, dividing opinions around the world. On the one hand, the tool did a great job with voices from famous artists, but on the other, who gets the copyright for these songs? The discussion mobilized YouTube, Google, TikTok and several record companies in the search for a solution, but so far, nothing has been defined.

While some cry, others sell handkerchiefs, or better still, shows! the case of the band hard rock KISS, who announced their definitive retirement from the stage, but that doesn’t mean he plans to stop performing (and profiting from it, obviously). That’s because the band used AI to create perfect avatars of its members and tested the technology at the end of their last show, at Madison Square Garden. The fans were crazy!

The idea is being called digital immortality and follows the recipe already practiced by the band ABBA, who also retired but left behind avatars performing, and according to reports, earns a mere 2 million a week.

And we cannot talk about innovation in 2023 without remembering this pearl of artificial intelligence. A campaign that celebrated 70 years of Volkswagen do Brasil It marked the year, generated controversy, defied time and, certainly, moved. Especially since it was a mother and daughter who had never sung together! Whether you like it or not, we all have to admit that the idea was brilliant (and brilliantly well executed too, with great taste).

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