n_u2 hours ago
> an a16z-funded startup that uses a phone farm to flood social media with AI-generated TikTok accounts
Isn't this a bot farm? Don't they already exist and aren't they against TikTok's terms of service? The most surprising part of this article is that a16z invested in this.
also their website is unsettling https://doublespeed.ai/
OtherShrezzingan hour ago
A16z’s owners have been fairly open about their societally unpalatable attitudes of late. Maybe they were always like that, just a bit more private about it in the past.
In any case, their investment into this company just fits onto a trendline of high-capital antisocial behaviour.
seibelj35 minutes ago
[dead]
heavyset_goan hour ago
If that surprises you, imagine the shady shit people with too much money invest in when the thought of "what if I hired some hackers" crosses their minds.
ryandrake2 hours ago
> The most surprising part of this article is that a16z invested in this.
Why would this surprise you?
ra2 hours ago
Surprises me to.
I thought A16Z were a top-tier VC wanting to create long-term value. I didn't see black-hat social media bot farms in their focus areas.
It might be a bit facetious, but if I had 10m invested with them I'd be asking questions about their investment thesis.
Zanfaan hour ago
> I thought A16Z were a top-tier VC wanting to create long-term value.
That hasn’t been the case since they publicly went all-in into crypto scams.
> It might be a bit facetious, but if I had 10m invested with them I'd be asking questions about their investment thesis.
Their fund sizes have skyrocketed since.
mayneackan hour ago
A16Z was (is?) up to their eyeballs in crypto as well.
kklisura9 minutes ago
> I thought A16Z were a top-tier VC wanting to create long-term value.
Wait till you hear about this one called YC.
sofixa2 hours ago
Yeah, we're talking a VC. And one run by and named after two guys who between them have publicly backed racism+misogyny+xenophobia+nepotism, have asked for more housing to be built while blocking housing in their own city, etc.
Them investing in a troll farm is pretty on brand.
blargey2 hours ago
Having looked at https://doublespeed.ai/ out of morbid curiosity, I have to say a simple screenshot would have sent the message more effectively. Well, that and the tagline "a16z funded this".
speedpingan hour ago
I can't be the only one who thought this was a phone farm based on iPhones running Apple A16Z SoC (which doesn't exist btw, it's A12Z or A16)
jim33442an hour ago
There are at least two of us
x3n0ph3n32 hours ago
Anyone working for a company like that should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
liquidisean hour ago
I have an opposite reaction for what I assume are reasons we agree on.
Social media has been a transparent race to the bottom for many years. The sooner it is shittified beyond repair the better. AI flooding content to them should help speedrun its descent, or maybe I’ve giving the average user (above child age) too much credit.
01HNNWZ0MV43FF26 minutes ago
Has accelerationism worked before?
jim33442an hour ago
I think so. These sites can be hardened by relying on people following who they know, but the slop ruins discoverability. That's also partially the reason people moved to TikTok from older, more dumped-on platforms.
userbinator2 hours ago
I'm not sure if LLMs can be ashamed of themselves.
/s
verdverm2 hours ago
I wonder how many people can be ashamed of themselves these days
!/s?
bix62 hours ago
Imagine investing your hard earned money into a phone farm that spams AI content in order to manipulate people into buying shit they don’t need, while our world burns.
kurthr2 hours ago
See, there's your problem, introspection.
fxtentaclean hour ago
Wow. I thought you were being snarky, but he actually says to skip all kinds of introspection, reflexion, and also therapy.
utopiah23 minutes ago
No way... that's the most retarded thing I've heard for a while now, and I did read about international news.
Introspection is basically THE core mechanism for learning. That's HOW one learns on any topic. It's not a "wishy washy hippie feeling" (being provocative here) but rather introspection is (and to be fair I verified with https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/introspection/ just to make sure I wasn't talking out of my own ass) precisely looking at your inner workings. How you function IN ORDER to do better. You notice flaws, inefficient behaviors, things you enjoy, etc THEN you act on it.
Having no introspection is like doing math without verifying. It's like coding without compiling, linting or even executing without looking at the output.
So dumb it hurts.
rexpopan hour ago
What is wrong with his upper respiratory system?
georgemcbay22 minutes ago
> calling them the 'antichrist'
I'm not an expert on the antichrist, but I think they are at least better candidates than Greta Thunberg.
balls187an hour ago
Help me understand. Is this just AI replacing influencers?
Legend2440an hour ago
More like a tiktok spam botnet for hire.
sphan hour ago
How can I contribute to such endeavours?
And still Wikipedia calls the dead internet a ‘conspiracy theory’
wibbilyop3 hours ago
Are 404 media links still blackholed?
rvz3 hours ago
Only if the articles have a pay-wall and no way to bypass it.
This article in particular doesn’t have one. So it should be fine.
[deleted]2 hours agocollapsed
phplovesongan hour ago
Doublespeed looks like cancer. Never heard about them or "a16z" before, but looks like the pinnacle of slop
tonypapousek37 minutes ago
a16z is a pretty big VC firm, popular among the ycombo startup crowd
fxtentaclean hour ago
SaaS = Slop as a Service. I heard SaaS is all the rage with VC money these days.