This week: Turbulent times for X; OpenAI reinstates Altman; Podcast ad spend skyrocketing...

It has been a turbulent time in the tech landscape, for two companies in particular. X faced significant criticism after ads from major brands like Disney, Apple, and IBM appeared alongside extremist Nazi-related content. This in combination with an antisemitic comment on X made by Musk himself, led to brands suspending their ads on the platform. Following the chaos, Musk filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, criticising the watchdog group for having reported the extremist content beside brands’ ads. 

Clear from the headlines this week, there’s also been a lot going on at OpenAI. CEO Sam Altman was dismissed last Friday after the company board ruled that his “uncandid communications” left him unfit to “exercise his responsibilities”. Altman was then briefly hired by Microsoft, before being reinstated to his position as head of OpenAI, which was announced on Wednesday. Unrelatedly, the company also announced that ChatGPT’s new voice feature is now available, free to all users. 

Bringing the attention to some positive news from the week, we’re seeing the audio space continue to flourish: podcast ad spend in Australia increased 88% in Q3 from the previous quarter, according to recent research by ARN’s iHeart and Magellan AI. 

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