X Literally Marks the Spot 🌎❌

👀 TLDR

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover the explosive revelations of X’s new About This Account Feature, which revealed that many prominent accounts, including many that make politically-charged American-centric content, are actually based in locations like India and Nigeria. It’s a win for transparency, but it’s caused absolute mayhem as the accusations fly. We also have news on new ground-breaking AI models from Gemini and Claude, showing how you can access all of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails through “Jmail,” get the latest update on the iPhone Fold, as well as all the latest from 3Advance!

🎬 Our Top Take

🌍 🧭 X – About This Account Feature Exposes Fake User Locations

When X hired Nikita Bier as Head of Product, the serial app entrepreneur promised real change, much of it centered around trust and the reputation of X/Twitter as the world’s proverbial town square. For better or worse, Bier has delivered one of his promises, and it has caused quite the commotion. A new feature allows users to see where specific X accounts are located, and it has revealed that many high-engagement accounts, particularly ‘patriotic’ American accounts, are based in countries other than those they claim. For example, American Patriot (@ColdWarPatriot, 140K followers) is based in Chile; America First (@AmericaFirst0, 60K) tweets from Bangladesh. There are numerous other examples, including some high-profile liberal accounts. India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria were among the hotspots. As you might expect, theories ran wild as to what was behind this, including accusations of government-backed operations and bot farms. Yet, while there could be some truth in that, the most compelling theory is the simplest: X monetization. Blue tick accounts can earn money on X through ad revenue, and it absolutely makes sense for, say, someone from Bangladesh, where the average monthly wage is a couple of hundred dollars, to play the engagement game in the hotbed of US politics. Credit must go to Elon Musk and Bier, though. This was embarrassing for them to lift the veil – Community Notes has had a field day exposing accounts – but they stuck to their word on transparency. For now. #XLocation Read more here.

📲 App of the Week: JMAIL

Not strictly an app, more of a one-off platform, but we thought we’d highlight Jmail as it is a clever idea and released at a very, very timely moment. Jmail refers to Jeffrey Mail, and the Jeffrey in question is Jeffrey Epstein. In a nutshell, Jmail organizes all released Epstein emails on a platform that mimics the Gmail app. It’s uncanny, and you can use it just like your Gmail. There are 1000s of emails in there, complete with replies from associates, though some are redacted. If you are a part-time sleuth, interested in the Epstein case, or simply wish to see a brilliantly executed idea, you can check out Jmail here.

🧐 Stat of the Week: 1000X

📈📉 Google – Exec Lays Bare the Challenge of AI Capacity

Amin Vahdat may not be the most well-known Google executive, but as head of the company’s AI infrastructure department, he may have one of the most crucial tasks. Vahdat has told employees that they must double AI infrastructure every six months, saying they must scale by 1,000X in the next four to five years. The scope of the challenge is breathtaking, and it should explain to you why Nvidia and other AI chip companies are basically propping up the stock market. #AIBuilding Read more here.

🗞️ Other Stories

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

Thanksgiving week always makes us pause – not for very long – but just long enough to remember how far we’ve come and the people who’ve been a part of this journey with us. And this Thanksgiving happens to be a big one. Shift officially goes live in the US and Canada on November 27th! Our first stop is Washington, DC, where our pilot launches Thursday morning. From there, we’ll spend the first few weeks getting our footing before expanding into cities across the US and Canada. It’s been years in the making, months in beta, and now it’s finally ready for the world. We couldn’t be more grateful for the support, all the thoughtful feedback, and the belief in what we’re building. Pop over to GetTheShift.app to get notified the moment it drops. Wishing you all a restful and gratitude-filled week ahead – let the adventure begin!