Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️

No assholes. No bullshit. No second-class work.

Behavioral systems strategist • ex Google X • former advisor to Google ATAP, Apple & others.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@SERobinsonJr The technical term for that is "panty dropper" - nice work guys.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@michaeljburry Not wrong.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@johnrobb Writes "that'd be pretty morally bankrupt. and he's really not an idiot." -> Unrepentantly pioneers new frontiers of skullduggery. Grotesque.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@BenjaminDEKR Real relevance is not a bolt on. It's built in. Same with humanity. Incentives dictate outcomes. Google does not incentivize humanity. This is not yet priced in.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@SullyCNBC Bigger issue: Entirely foreseeable. Tech companies knew the backlash risk, were warned, chose to ignore it. Built for scale, not legitimacy. They doubled down.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@johnrobb Agree. Blindingly foreseeable. No consent, no royalties, no control → incentives misalign hard → backlash inevitable → progress stalls. Incentives drive outcomes. Loud/conventional consensus ignored this law; early/right was right.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@BrianRoemmele 100%. I called it in 2016—and again in June, July, August. This wasn’t ignorance. It was neglect. Apple built the one asset that could’ve defined AI a decade ago and let it rot. They can still fix it, but the window’s slamming shut. Hardware was never the magic. Humanity was.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@Hatchetforce @RepEliCrane Correct. This isn’t a win. A win has teeth. This cosmetic “oopsie” ignores Google’s hard-coded distortions (Gemini’s black Nazis etc.). Meaningful accountability is critical to trust, respect, and legitimacy.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@JeetendrSehdev Beautiful tribute, Jeetendr. I too had the honor of working with Mr. Armani regularly. He was dignified, kind, and uncompromising in his standards—a worthy noble in a cutthroat industry. His elegance, humanity, and integrity will be deeply missed, qualities all too rare today.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@elonmusk Badass. Congratulations and thank you and the team @spacex for reminding the world what a real moonshot feels like. ;)

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@markgurman Not just another misstep. Entertaining this is an abject failure of humanity and vision. Betrays their standards and everyone who trusted Apple. Destroys their most valuable asset in a single move. Impressive.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@BrianRoemmele *Most, not all. Look at what they’re actually building…distorted ‘AI’ people will never trust. The risks and blind spots of those systems are absurd. Some of us know better, Thank you.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@alexisohanian 😍

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@johnrobb Spot on. Dangerous when coddled leaders willfully choose blindness over reorientation. Critical details are ignored, opportunities are missed, and damage cascades. That kind of decision making is a liability in seriously contested spaces. A luxury risk we can no longer afford.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@bcmerchant General rule: If you have to tie a steak around your neck to make the dog play with you, you're doing it wrong. Some of us know how to do it right.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@johnrobb Agree. ‘Risk’ & ‘safety’ ≠ alignment, they = control over minds, progress, people. Big Tech’s distorted priorities deliver AI people don’t trust. Apple could’ve led with intuitive, beautiful, human AI, undeniably Apple. Now they chase acquisitions & hype. This is how we lose.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@markgurman Real relevance isn’t bought. It’s inspired. It’s human. Apple’s lost that. 
Along with the guts to rewire the game. 
People miss that fire in Apple. 
Apple doesn’t need to catch up. 
Apple needs to show up. 
To be the ones who do.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@markgurman Time for tough love. 
Acquisitions, partnerships, hires alone won’t cut it. 
They had Siri since 2010. 
If buying solved it, they’d already own the future. 
They’re sitting on the biggest opportunity in AI—and blowing it.

[Kim Rushton 🏴‍☠️ @kimrushton]

@Doug24Seven @markgurman Agree on talent. Their biggest problem is not technical. Attracting top talent > buying.