Steven Boykey Sidley
Steven Boykey Sidley is a professor of practice at University of Johannesburg, columnist-at-large for Daily Maverick and a partner at Bridge Capital. His new book "It's Mine: How the Crypto Industry is Redefining Ownership" is published by Maverick451 in SA and Legend Times Group in UK/EU, available now. His columns can be found at https://substack.com/@stevenboykeysidley
Articles By This Author
The truculence of the titans – Musk and Altman slug it out in court
There is something especially thrilling about watching two of the world’s richest and most influential tech CEOs go at it.
The curious case of the White House and the missing scientists
Sometimes a long percolating news story comes to a head, and when viewed in context and in the light of day it just seems like science fiction. Which in this case, perhaps it is.
The giddy side of AI
On February 15, a technology blueprint was published online titled “Solve Everything”. The subtitle was more interesting. It read “Achieving Abundance by 2035”. It is 92 pages long, carefully considered, well written, deeply researched.
Artemis II – a brief breath of oxygen as the world drowns in conflict
Talk about bad timing. Just as NASA finally pulled off one of those rare, cleansing acts of human achievement that make our species seem worth the trouble, the planet was busy doom-scrolling the Strait of Hormuz: oil panic, war and prospect of a global food crisis.
Renting humans – agentic AI’s external labour pool
There is a surprising and somewhat unsettling story that has tumbled out of the world of AI, specifically “agentic” AI, which is a spanking new and revolutionary addition to your good ‘ol chatbot from OpenAI or Anthropic.
Terafab – is this Musk’s last gamble?
On 21 March Elon Musk took the stage at the Seaholm Historic Power Plant in Austin, Texas and announced the most dauntless bet in the history of private enterprise. The prize, if he wins, is incalculable. The cost, if he loses, will be huge (but probably not incalculable).
Why does the US want Cuba?
“I do believe I’ll be having the honour of taking Cuba”.
The man who used AI to build a cancer vaccine for his dog
The internet, being the internet, has fallen hard for a Hollywood-bound story out of Australia. Desperate man uses ChatGPT to help make a cancer vaccine for his beloved dying dog. Dog improves enough to get up off her deathbed to start chasing rabbits.
George Soros – the astonishing demonisation of a successful philanthropist
I have long been confused by the extent of rage and hatred directed at George Soros (which has flared again in both Israel/Gaza and Russia/Ukraine
Firing on your neighbours – has Iran miscalculated?
This war is only a few days old, and it is very quickly becoming very different from the last short sharp affair in June 2025, when Israel and the US collaborated to defang Iran’s nuclear and missile programme. The critical difference has been Iran’s decision to target not only Israel, but both US and civilian assets in multiple Gulf states. Arab states. Neighbours.