Welcome to AudioVisione, our weekly look into the media and the AI world here on Centrale Milano 1575 KHz and Radio Nizza. I’m your host Marco Hugo Barsotti.

AM vs DAB

Let’s begin with the debate on analogue vs digital broadcasting. Here is what mainstream media tells us: DAB radio is better as the audio quality is much superior and the system is much more power-efficient.

At Newslinet we even interviewed a BBC researcher that created a memorable report on what the most energy-efficient way to distribute audio content is. As expected, the result was DAB. Here is a link to the study: https://www.worlddab.org/news/blogs/64/bbc-research-shows-dab-is-the-most-energy-efficient-radio-platform

AM the most power-efficient media

Buried in the original report here is a statement that is certainly worth reading here, on Centrale Milano:

According to the results of the research, FM had the highest levels of energy consumption, claiming around 31% of the total energy. AM had the lowest at 8%, while DAB had about 20%.

However, as pointed out by Fletcher, not all platforms were used equally in 2018, and this particular figure did not take into account the usage of each individual platform, with FM and DAB having a much higher listening share than other platforms – particularly AM and DTV.

So yes, maybe if you divide the total power used (for transmission and to power the receiving device) maybe AM is no longer the best option. But we, as conscious consumers, can change all that.

Just power up our old – or maybe brand new – analog, battery-powered radio set and tune it to 1575 KHz. You’ll get music, news, comedy and you’ll consume virtually zero energy. Which – as we all know – is good for “the planet”.

Sam Altman a “Benefit” man

In a blog post titled “Evolving OpenAI’s structure” (here: https://openai.com/index/evolving-our-structure/) announced to the world that “Our for-profit LLC, which has been under the nonprofit since 2019, will transition to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)–a purpose-driven company structure that has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission.”

The background story is this: OpenAI was founded by Sam Altman and Elon Musk to fight the risk that Google, already controlling search, would control AI as well. After a few years Musk left the company, probably in disagreement with Sam Altman on some issues.

After the unexpected success of GPT 3 (nobody expected it to work that well, but this is another story), and the success of ChatGPT, OpenAI acted more and more like a “closed”, for-profit company.

Last year they announced the split into two entities: a non-profit and a profit organisation, both called Open AI. The non-profit would do basic research, mainly towards “general artificial intelligence” while the profit will sell models, services and applications.

However, this was seen as going against the original mission of the company and several legal actions were initiated.

So last week they pivoted to this Non-Profit+Benefit Organization structure.

Benefit Company

And here is the point: most people think that a “benefit” company (a concept that exists in Italy too) is a sort of non-profit.

Not so: a Benefit Company is just like any other company. The only difference is some nice words in the mission. Such as saving the planet or contributing to inclusion etc.

We have such an example here in Italy. As stated in another interview for Newslinet, the Lifegate organization – that used to run a very interesting and powerful radio station on 105.1 MHz in the Milan area – transitioned to “Benefit”. Full explanation here: https://www.newslinet.com/radio-roveda-lifegate-noi-opposto-radio-commerciali-visual-radio-non-e-idea-moderna-anzi-crowdfunding-ci-ha-portato-oltre-2-mln-e-1500-nuovi-soci/

And here is the catch. When Lifegate started their “crowdfunding” effort (they needed some 2 Million euros) they sold “C Class” shares, with no admin privileges. B class were also available, but no “A Class” shares were on the market.

One of the questions sent to Lifegate CEO was “what are the differences between A and C class shares, and who currently holds A shares”. They declined to reply to this question.

So much for the transparency of “Benefit” company: they might benefit the Planet, but for sure they are there to benefit the real owners too.