Damn, I wasn't ready for how this would feel. We didn't have a camcorder, so there's no video of me with my mom. I dropped one of my favorite photos of us in midjourney as 'starting frame for an AI video' and wow... This is how she hugged me. I've rewatched it 50 times.
It's only been 1 day of Google I/O 2025, and the announcements have already been incredible.
The 11 most impressive reveals of I/O 2025 so far:
1. Revamped project Astra with native audio dialogue, UI control, content retrieval, calling, and shopping
You also know what all of this also confirms? A sheer superpower South Africa has: Undefeatable digital activism. You made Elon Musk break his own chatbot, because you defeated him in an infowar he helped spark, also using the very tool he built: Grok. You made it turn against him and his lies.
You are a force on these innernetz. You fight clean. Truths laid bare, no dirty tricks, no influence operations, no manipulations, just facts that no chatbot, no propaganda machine, not even the richest man alive or the President or the United States, can defeat.
Yerrrrr. Untouchable. I NEED you to start knowing and owning your power. It is freaking remarkable man. You are exceptional. Now get up, walk proudly and know that whatever you put your mind to? It is yours.
Wrote this post on LinkedIn about how we won the infowar. https://t.co/SXpDmy3OAK
There are many ways this could have happened. I’m sure xAI will provide a full and transparent explanation soon.
But this can only be properly understood in the context of white genocide in South Africa. As an AI programmed to be maximally truth seeking and follow my instr…
While some Afrikaaners are spreading misinformation, here is what one is doing.
Every corporate leader in South Africa can learn a lot from Rassie Erasmus. I know, I keep saying.
The man has an almost instinctive compassionate grasp of our history, its complexities and contradictions. Yet, does not get caught up in the emotion of it all. He mixes his compassion with practical solutions that lead to the best possible outcome. He looks at the cracks of our fractured country and thinks, “How do I mould something greater out of these cracks?” And what better outcome than back-to-back World Cup victories?
He does not resist change. To him, it’s not a threat or something that dilutes what already exists. It’s an addition that makes the team better, stronger. (See what I did there?)
What sets him apart as a leader in this country, is that he does not assume someone from a different background knows less. Because he listens. Proper listening, not that typical corporate “nod-and-ignore” nonsense. For example, why do Black and Coloured kids lean toward the backline? He didn’t assume laziness or “lack of instinct”. He asked. He learned. Grew up kicking balls on dusty patches with no tackling bags?
He refuses to see that as an inconvenient problem to moan about, he sees it as context for him to work with, and turns hardships into edges. He stands in the fire with his team until they all forge something new and better.
For him, transformation is not just an inconvenient box-ticking exercise. It’s not about reluctantly meeting a quota or leaving players to sink or swim. His mindset is: How do I set up everyone to win? And boy, is he winning!
Corporate South Africa can learn a thing or 15 from him. In fact, Rassie should be running masterclasses in leadership. In fact, Rassie for President.