2023 was a long year for those in the tech world. There was an unprecedented level of innovations and new technology rolling out. There were also massive setbacks including the unrelenting war on cybercrime and related legal frameworks across the world. Since January, there has been no shortage of memorable happenings for those deep inside tech and those influenced by it. There were layoffs and restructures as companies and tech giants struggled to adjust to upcoming dynamics within the operating environment. There were also multiple legal actions against big tech relating to data privacy and copyright laws.
This year has seen a significant rise in legal suits against big tech relating to a myriad of alleged breaches. It has also seen some memorable moments around the development and rollout of artificial intelligence and robotics. In many ways, the wins have been more frequent and more impactful than the losses.
There was also the restructuring and rebranding of Twitter (now X) that came under heavy criticism from across the world. It was alleged that the platform was giving voice and prominence to conspiracy theorists. There was also widespread fury over the platform’s casual approach to addressing racist, sexist, and harassing content uploaded by users.
In no particular order, here are 5 of the most memorable happenings of 2023 within and around the tech world.
1. DevTernity Conference Cancelled After Faking Women Speakers
The apparent lack of women in the tech space is well documented across tech’s entire lifetime – or human civilization. Despite all the documentation, nowhere has it ever been so apparent than on the speaker schedule of the DevTernity conference where there was only one real speaker.
DevTernity organizer Eduards Sizovs admitted on social media that one of the featured speakers was an “auto-generated” woman with a fake title. He was responding to allegations about several suspicious profiles on his conference websites that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence. The revelation led to Microsoft and Amazon executives dropping out of the conference. This was one of the weirdest stories and most memorable happenings within the tech industry and will live on for as long as AI is here.
2. Revelations In The Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial
The trial of former crypto master Sam Bankman-Fried was one weird court session. The revelations from it were even more so. During the trial, it was revealed that the crypto guru’s multi-billion enterprise once had a Ksh 94 Million tab at a restaurant in San Francisco.
There were also gifts to employees averaging Ksh 31 million at different times of the year.
Mr Bankman-Fried is now convicted on 7 counts and faces up to 115 years in prison.
3. OpenAI Board Fires CEO And Rehires Him Within A Week After Employee Revolt
The firing and rehiring of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is an unbeatable weird story from the tech world.
From the late-night Friday firing to two quickly installed and then dethroned interim CEOs, to a letter signed by most of the company demanding Altman come back and Microsoft’s offer to hire both Altman and all disgruntled workers, the minute-by-minute changes in the situation gave watchers plenty of drama and whiplash. The debacle left many wondering how a company could handle any scandal that badly and whether that company should be entrusted with building some of the world’s most consequential future technology.
In every quarter in 2023, the tech services environment became increasingly more difficult due to a growing wait-and-see mindset instead of a lets-do-it orientation. The discretionary spending component of the market largely evaporated.
Expected Memorable Happenings For 2024
For 2024, generative AI looks set to maintain its center-stage status; just as it has done for most of 2023. It is a very powerful tool. 2023 has been a year largely of experimentation, recognizing the power of generative AI, largely driven by the marketing coup that ChatGPT created, which captured the imaginations of the world.
There have been a lot of pilot projects, but we have yet to see those translate into production in any meaningful way. As we look at 2024, it is clear that, at least for the first two quarters, we expect the experimentation to continue. Only towards the end of 2024 do we expect significant movement in companies overcoming the change management, legal, and security issues and being comfortable enough with them to move into production.
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Bankman-Fried trial is undefeated