Monday Briefing: Media Trials, Stock Markets, Ex-SoftBank CFO on Network Capital
The week ahead
As Chinese AI startup DeepSeek took the first position on the app store overtaking ChatGPT, the markets woke up to a rude shock with US tech stocks taking a massive beating overnight. Stock declines over the weekend are common but this time the core fears of investors center around China’s ability to innovate on AI more frugally. This questions the large spending of Microsoft, Google, Open AI, NVIDIA, etc on infrastructure to train new models. At a politically sensitive time like this, it will be interesting to see how the market and the US government under the leadership of Trump respond.
Trump’s America-First message at Davos was received well by the business community. It remains to be seen how they react when the relationship with China gets even more tricky.
Are media trials moral?
Justice delayed is justice denied. Given how much time trials take, the emotional toil, and the reputation damage that comes with it, is it ethical for people to turn to media for justice? This question is relevant to prominent celebrities and regular citizens as they figure out appropriate redressal mechanisms in an increasingly connected world.
In this episode, we explore whether media trials—where the court of public opinion takes precedence over formal legal proceedings—are morally defensible. Media trials often emerge when people feel the traditional justice system is too slow, inaccessible, or inadequate in addressing wrongdoing. For some, turning to media platforms is a way to amplify their voice, shine a spotlight on injustice, and force action where none seems forthcoming. However, at what cost?
Former SoftBank CFO Alok Sama will be on Network Capital tomorrow. Subscribers can join live and ask questions.
Congrats to our mentor Shekhar Kapur on winning the Padma Bhushan. May he continue to push the frontiers of creativity.
Have a great week ahead. Don’t let the stock markets or the weather impact your mood too much.