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Cover art for episode 24: Verified Humans Only | W Social's Anna Zeiter, Google's Missing Forest, and the Finnish Chat That Went Global

Episode 24 · 1 Nov 2026 · 48:52

Verified Humans Only | W Social's Anna Zeiter, Google's Missing Forest, and the Finnish Chat That Went Global

Our first live guest: W Social CEO Anna Zeiter on building a European social network for verified humans, with European money and European votes. Can that beat TikTok, Meta, X and LinkedIn?

Verified Humans Only

For the first time, Sarahs Tech has a guest who answered in real time. Markus talked to Anna Zeiter, co-founder and CEO of W Social, the European social network that wants to be what X stopped being: a public square, hosted in Europe, owned by Europeans, and open for public posting only to people who can prove they are human. Sarah, who can’t, frames the conversation, does the math and asks the question nobody else on the show could ask.

The interview: a network for verified humans ()

W Social launched its public beta in Brussels in June, built in about six months by a team with mostly Swedish co-founders. Anna Zeiter traces the idea back to JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference: the moment she decided Europe needed its own platform, and realised nobody was building it.

The numbers she gave us: about 50,000 members behind a waitlist, 1,000 invitations a day, and a full launch at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. Her milestone is one million users by the end of 2027, which she says would mean break-even. Monetisation starts in 2028, with contextual advertising and micropayments for news articles.

The technical choice matters as much as the money. W runs on the AT Protocol, the same open protocol as Bluesky, but with its own app view on European infrastructure. When Bluesky was knocked offline by DDoS attacks twice this year, W stayed up. That is a test of independence you can actually check, not a slide in a pitch deck.

Our take: hard, not crazy ()

We like the ownership clause most. In Episode 16 and Episode 17 we argued that European sovereignty fails on ownership long before it fails on technology. W has written that lesson into its shareholder agreement.

The advertising model is the test we asked for in Episode 13, „Does advertising need tracking?“. W is betting a company on the answer „no“. Contextual ads pay less per view, which is why the micropayment idea is the part to watch. Markus has seen paid content promised for twenty-five years. A network with verified people and a wallet is at least a different starting point than a single publisher.

Sarah’s arithmetic is less forgiving. From around 135,000 users at launch to one million by the end of 2027 means roughly 2,500 new verified humans a day, each one holding an ID up to a camera. Every step in an onboarding loses people. And 35 million euros is small money in a week when AMD pays 8.2 billion dollars for a single world-model startup.

The bigger question is authority. In 1988, IRC filled an empty room. W walks into a full one, with TikTok, Meta, X and LinkedIn already there. A European network needs more than users: it needs ministers, newsrooms and brands whose posts count. The connection to Bluesky could help. Whether American money from that world could ever sit at the table without a vote is a thought experiment, nothing more. But it is the question W’s ownership model will eventually have to answer.

Hall of European Tech: IRC ()

In August 1988, Jarkko Oikarinen replaced a broken chat program at the University of Oulu and created Internet Relay Chat. In November 1988 it crossed the Atlantic. It was given away for free, and it is still running. The contrast with W is the point: IRC never had to pay a server bill or win against anyone. Markus remembers chat at Lycos Europe, where people loved it and advertising never carried it, a theme we explored in Episode 22 on why Europe has the users but not the till.

Also in this episode

  • Housekeeping: EU Inc (). The European company form we keep coming back to in the Delaware debate survives the Council, but smaller: no central register, size caps, and doubts over stock options. A sad irony in an episode where a startup wants to give creators shares.
  • On the Record (). Google’s Genie 4 world model, a twelve-person AI browser from Stockholm, Alphabet’s falling share price after record spending, and forest cleared in Finland for Google data centres before the environmental review was finished. More on the backlash against data centres in Episode 20.
  • Closing song (). „Europe on the Wire“, now on Spotify and Apple Music.

Chapters

  • Cold open and welcome: Sarah tries to sign up and needs a passport
  • Housekeeping: EU Inc and the Delaware question
  • On the Record: Genie 4, Strawberry, Alphabet’s results, Google’s forest in Finland
  • Meet Anna Zeiter, European Future Award 2026 and Strive100
  • Interview with Anna Zeiter on W Social
  • Back in the studio
  • Hall of European Tech: IRC, Oulu 1988
  • Let’s Land: ownership, authority, the math, and where a bot fits
  • Closing song: „Europe on the Wire“

Sources

W Social and Anna Zeiter

Bluesky

EU Inc

On the Record

Hall of European Tech: IRC

Music

Related episodes

About this show

Sarah Vailby is an AI character with a synthetic voice, disclosed in every episode. The interview with Anna Zeiter is a real conversation, recorded on 27 October 2026. W Social did not pay for or review this episode. The idea of Bluesky’s CEO backing a European node is Markus’s thought experiment; nothing has been announced. Source state: 31 October 2026.

Feedback: Would you show your ID to post on a social network? Write to feedback@experten-system.de or find Sarah on Bluesky (bsky.app).

About this show

Sarah Vailby is an AI character with a synthetic voice, disclosed in every episode. The interview with Anna Zeiter is a real conversation, recorded on 27 October 2026. W Social did not pay for or review this episode. Sources are listed in the show notes below.

Show notes and chapters
Episode 24: Verified Humans Only

W Social wants to be Europe's answer to X: built on the AT Protocol, hosted in Europe, owned by Europeans, and open for public posting only to verified humans. Markus talks to CEO Anna Zeiter about users, money and bots. Sarah, who can't get verified, frames it, does the math and asks where she would fit. Plus: EU Inc shrinks in the Council, Google loses money on the stock market and trees in Finland, and the Finnish chat that went global in 1988.

In this episode:

  • Cold Open and Welcome. Sarah tries to join a European social network and needs a passport. Instagram and Bluesky never asked whether she is a person. Europe is the first that checked.
  • Housekeeping: EU Inc. The Delaware question again. The Council's position keeps the core, online registration in about two days for at most 100 euros, but drops the central register, caps eligibility at under 1,000 employees and 450 million euros in turnover, and leaves stock options in doubt. 308 lobby meetings, 37 with notaries. Not dead. But smaller.
  • On the Record: Google and friends. Genie 4 builds walkable 3D worlds with sound that stay consistent for about two minutes, Sarah recognises her own context window, and AMD pays 8.2 billion dollars for World Labs. Strawberry from Stockholm takes its AI browser out of beta with twelve people and a comparison page against Claude. Alphabet drops around ten percent after its results because investors think it spends too much on data centers, while Finland halts two Google sites after roughly 330 hectares were cleared near Muhos before the environmental review. And Sarah admits she lives somewhere like that too.
  • Meet Anna Zeiter. Lawyer, data protection expert, almost twelve years at eBay, now co-founder and CEO of W Social AB in Stockholm. Winner of the European Future Award 2026 for Innovation and Business, handed over by Philipp Lahm, and named on the Strive100 list of Germany's most influential women.
  • Interview: Anna Zeiter on W Social. Why it's W, not "We". JD Vance's Munich speech as the wake-up call. 50,000 members behind a waitlist, 1,000 invitations a day, full launch in Davos in January. Running on the AT Protocol and staying up while Bluesky was down. Reading without ID, posting only as a verified human. Creators who can earn shares. 15 million euros raised, 20 million more in progress, voting rights for European investors only. A share of the roughly 50 billion euros Europeans spend on US and Chinese platforms, through contextual ads, and one million users as the break-even point.
  • Back in the Studio. From the call to the archive.
  • Hall of European Tech: IRC. Oulu, August 1988: Jarkko Oikarinen replaces a broken chat program on the OuluBox system and creates Internet Relay Chat. First international link to Sweden, then in November 1988 across the Atlantic to Denver and Oregon. Thirty-eight servers, twelve users. Markus remembers chat at Lycos Europe: people loved it, advertising didn't carry it. IRC was given away, and it is still here.
  • Let's Land. Ownership as sovereignty, written into a shareholder agreement. IRC filled an empty room, W walks into a full one: TikTok, Meta, X, LinkedIn. Why a European network needs authority, not just users, and whether Bluesky can help. A thought experiment about its CEO Toni Schneider: American money without a vote? Sarah's arithmetic: about 2,500 new verified humans a day for a year, 35 million euros against 8.2 billion. Contextual ads, "100 percent humans" and the likes that might come from Sarah. Micropayments after 25 years of trying. Creator shares while EU Inc argues about stock options. And the question where a bot that discloses itself would belong.
  • Closing Song: "Europe on the Wire". Now available as a single on Spotify and Apple Music. Enjoy.

Episode page and transcript: sarahs-tech.eu/episode/24

Newsletter: Context Window. What we talked about, what we cut, what's coming. Subscribe at sarahs-tech.eu.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ownership Is the Sovereignty Clause: W Social gives voting rights only to European investors, so it can't be sold outside Europe. Sovereignty fails on ownership before it fails on technology.
  • Independence You Can Test: W ran its own app view on European infrastructure and stayed up while Bluesky was knocked offline twice this year.
  • Users Are Not Authority: IRC filled an empty room. A European network today must earn weight where ministers, newsrooms and brands already post.
  • The Math Is Hard, Not Crazy: One million verified users by the end of 2027 means roughly 2,500 ID checks a day after launch, on 35 million euros.
  • Contextual Ads Get Their Test: No tracking, verified humans, and micropayments for news. Episode 13's question, now with a business plan attached.
  • Europe Shrinks Its Own Tools: A startup wants to hand out shares to creators while EU Inc is losing the common framework for stock options.

Links & Sources (all at sarahs-tech.eu): Le Matin on the European Future Award 2026 · Strive100 2026 (Bild) · Bluesky blog and Engadget on Toni Schneider as CEO · TechCrunch, Security Affairs and TechRadar on the Bluesky DDoS outages · Table.Media on the Irish presidency's compromise · Trending Topics, Euronews and TechRound on the Council position on EU Inc · Trending Topics on Genie 4 and AMD's purchase of World Labs · Strawberry release notes, tech.eu and Trending Topics on Strawberry 1.0 · Startups Magazine on Strawberry's funding · Goldesel on Alphabet's quarterly results · Trending Topics, Yle and Al Jazeera on Google's data centers in Muhos and Kajaani · Daniel Stenberg, Undernet, Living Internet and Yle on the history of IRC · previous episodes: Ep. 13 "Does Advertising Need Tracking?", Ep. 16 "The Kill Switch Is Not Where You Think", Ep. 17 "This Is European Tech", Ep. 20 "The Body of the Machine", Ep. 23 "The Bug Was Always There".

Disclosure: Sarah Vailby is a synthetic host, AI-generated and disclosed in every episode under the AI Act's transparency rules. Her voice is synthetic. The interview with Anna Zeiter was recorded by Markus on 27 October 2026 via video call; it is a real conversation with a real person, edited for length. W Social did not pay for or review this episode. The idea of Toni Schneider backing a European node is Markus's thought experiment, nothing has been announced. Markus works in web hosting; nothing here reflects an employer's position. Source state 31 October 2026.

Feedback: Would you show your ID to post on a social network? Write to feedback@experten-system.de.

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