Roundup: A new Twitter CEO rises and the metaverse falls

It was a busy week! Elizabeth Holmes — or should I say Liz Holmes — got a puff piece in the New York Times and Google rolled out their terrible vision for generative AI, but in this week’s issue, I decided to look at Twitter’s new CEO and what she might mean for the company, along with the growing realization that the metaverse hype has well and truly ended. Plus, as usual, some recommended reads, labor news, and other stories you might have missed. (I wasn’t surprised to find out about even more Israeli spy tech being used against us!)

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Thanks, and have a good week!

— Paris

Twitter’s new right-wing CEO

Twitter has a new CEO, and it’s not Elon Musk’s dog this time.

On Thursday, Elon Musk announced he’d hired a new CEO for X/Twitter — X being the name of Musk’s wider ambitions for Twitter as an “everything app” — and that the person would be starting in six weeks. He would take on the roles of Executive Chair and Chief Technology Officer, “overseeing product, software & sysops.” Observers very quickly narrowed down the potential candidates and suspected NBCUniversal’s head of global advertising Linda Yaccarino had been chosen for the job.

That was likely awkward for Yaccarino, as she was in rehearsals for NBCUniversal’s upfront that takes place on Monday, where the network showcases its television lineup to advertisers to lock in ad buys. On Friday, she announced her resignation from NBCUniversal — she likely had little other choice at that point — and later that day Musk announced she would be the new CEO. On Saturday evening, Yaccarino finally commented on her new role, saying she’s “inspired by [Musk’s] vision to create a brighter future” and is “excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!” As you can imagine, plenty of people have opinions.