Wednesday June 3, 2026
EXCLUSIVE: Matt Cooper buys back Alpha Digital from XPON for $776
ASX-listed AI marketing technology company XPON Technologies Group has agreed to sell Alpha Digital back to its founder, Matthew Cooper, just 13 months after acquiring it – with Cooper saying the pressure to rush AI adoption into every corner of the business ultimately made the split inevitable.
He’s also bought it for a steal, paying a tidy $776 for the business he founded.
XPON today announced on 3 June 2026 that it has entered into a binding agreement to divest 100% of its shares in Alpha Digital Design Consultants to Coopers Shield Pty Ltd, a company associated with Cooper.
Completion is expected in June 2026, subject to conditions precedent.
“There have been disappointing moments along the way,” Cooper told Mediaweek.
“There were some great improvements that came to the business, but then there was a hell of a lot of governance and that put a lot of pressure on the business and our ways of working.”
A deal built on debt forgiveness
In lieu of a traditional sale price, both sides agreed to wipe the slate clean on debts owed to each other, totalling approximately $2.4 million, with XPON receiving just $776.29 for the shares.
Bonus payments that Cooper had stood to earn based on the agency’s future financial performance were also scrapped as part of the deal.
Cooper said the split was amicable and that the two parties had simply arrived at different conclusions about where AI fits in a services business.
“They gave me the opportunity to buy the company back, and we’ve left on good terms, and they are pursuing a more AI-driven focused business, whereas we have discovered that you can’t just push AI into every element of a business,” he said.
“You’ve got to be very picky and choosy where you use it and make sure that it’s trustworthy with lots of testing and your client’s, you know, consent and permission.”
Matt Cooper, Chairman and Co-founder of Alpha Digital & Springboard Digital. Image: LinkedIn
Strategic reset for XPON
Following a strategic review, XPON’s board concluded that Alpha Digital’s services-led model is “not the optimal fit within XPON’s portfolio at this stage of the Company’s development.”
The divestment leaves XPON with two remaining operations: its Wondaris AI Marketing Platform and its Google Reseller business.
The exit is a meaningful one.
For the first half of FY2026, Alpha Digital accounted for 35% of XPON’s revenue and 27% of the group’s asset valuation as of 31 December 2025.
Cooper said the pressure to accelerate AI adoption – without adequate testing or client consent – was a key fault line.
“It can’t be rushed, and there was a lot of pressure to rush things,” he said.
“It just became obvious all of a sudden that it wasn’t in our best interest to continue working together.”
Back at the wheel
All existing Alpha Digital employees will remain with the business.
There are no changes to XPON’s board or senior management. XPON said it will provide a further update on its strategic priorities in due course.
For Cooper, the buyback represents a return to the independence he has always valued.
“I’m extremely confident about the future because the best thing about being an independent operator is the ability to make change, be agile, test, trial, pivot one way, and then pivot another way,” he said.
“It’s something that I’ve always loved about running an agency… everything has been constantly changing. But it’s exciting to be at the steering wheel of the speedboat again.”
'Deeply offensive': Grace Tame's new job at the ABC slammed
The ABC’s announcement of a new podcast, hosted by former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, has attracted criticism from a number of community sectors, after it was revealed on Tuesday.
The ABC said that Tame, a highly devisive public figure, will host a four-part podcast, Autistic AF with Grace Tame, and discuss aspects of women’s experience with autism in Australia.
But the decision to employ Tame in any capacity has been slammed on online, and even described as “problematic” by one of ABC’s own staff.
ABC presenter Charlie Pickering told Rebel News Australia on Tuesday:
“I do actually think it’s problematic, that’s my personal opinion,” Pickering said.
“I think, as a Jewish Australian, there’s a complete misunderstanding of a lot of the words that are said and what (the) true meanings of them are. A lot of people are using words and phrases that have meaning well beyond what they think they do.
“I think you could argue that a lot of people who jump on protest bandwagons are ignorant a lot of the time.”
Pickering made the comments when asked about the new podcast, but clarified he was not directly referring to Tame.
Grace Tame’s new ABC podcast, Autistic AF. Image: ABC
“ABC’s hiring of activist Grace Tame is untenable”
Liberal federal MP Sarah Henderson, the opposition spokesperson for communications, last night issued a formal statement on her website entitled, “ABC’s hiring of activist Grace Tame is untenable.”
The senator said the “shock” employment of Tame was inconsistent with “the ABC’s editorial standards and statutory obligation to disseminate news and information impartially and accurately”.
She added, “At a time when antisemitism is at record levels in Australia, the national broadcaster should be exercising the highest standards of judgment, not rewarding individuals who have undermined social cohesion and spread false information about one of the worst terrorist atrocities in modern history.”
Asking for the ABC’s managing director Hugh Marks to explain, Henderson further said, “Australians are entitled to know whether the ABC conducted any assessment of Ms Tame’s public statements and activism before offering her this role, and whether it considered the impact this appointment would have on public confidence and trust in the broadcaster.”
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Jewish leaders slam job given to Grace Tame as “tone deaf”
Jewish leaders are also outraged about the ABC’s engagement of Tame, saying it shows a “profound lack of judgment”, The Australian reports.
Australian Jewish Association chief Robert Gregory said: “I simply could not believe Australia’s public broadcaster could be so tone deaf.
“This decision demonstrates a profound lack of judgment and disregard for the concerns of many Australians, particularly within the Jewish community. It reinforces the growing perception that ABC management is increasingly out of touch with the communities it is supposed to serve.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin also told The Australian:
“It seems the ABC has determined that Grace Tame is fit for employment at public expense after screaming chants widely interpreted as calling for global attacks on Jews, and a radio interview in which she doubled down on her comments questioning the widespread pack rape and sexual torture committed by Hamas, which the terrorists themselves never denied.”
Grame Tame speaks at a rally protesting the visit of Isaac Herzog. Image: Instagram
Grace Tame says cancelled engagements are due to ‘smear campaign’
The ABC podcast host appointment has come as a surprise to many especially in the context of how 2026 has played out for the activist.
In March this year, Tame admitted that her speaking appointments have almost vanished in the wake of her shouting “globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestine rally the previous month.
Tame revealed during a speech in early March at the No to Violence conference in Hobart that she had no more speaking engagements for the entire year.
“This is my last presentation of the year and it’s only March,” the 2021 Australian of the Year said.
She began her speech by saying she does not support violence or antisemitism, adding that she does not support Islamophobia or hatred of any kind – despite what she feels has been presented by the media recently.
Tame said she was “up against a well-oiled political machine.”
The professional speaker, who is paid for some of her appearances, attributes an “ongoing media smear campaign” to the cancellation of three of her engagements the prior week.
In a post on Instagram about it, Tame said she had “lost three speaking engagements on the theme of child safety due to an ongoing media smear campaign”.
Tame was condemned by members of the Jewish community due to her appearance at a rally protesting Israel President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia in February, where she led chants to “Globalise the Intifada.”
After her attendance at the rally, Tame faced calls to be stripped of her Australian of the Year award, with more than 25,000 Australians signing a petition demanding action.
The petition called for authorities to charge Tame with “[alleged] criminal incitement to violence under existing Australian law.”
“We do not need new ‘hate speech’ laws, if the threshold for incitement has been crossed, current laws are sufficient,” the petition stated.
“In 2021, Grace Tame was named Australian of the Year, an honour reserved for individuals who reflect the values, unity and integrity of our nation.
“That title carries moral weight. It is not just recognition for past advocacy, it represents an ongoing association with Australian ideals.”
Top image: Grace Tame. Image: Instagram
NBN News gets new owner, shorter bulletin, and a very warm farewell email
An upbeat internal email from Nine chief executive Matt Stanton celebrating the completion of the company’s regional TV exit has landed the same week WIN Corporation confirmed it will cut NBN News weekday bulletins in half and axe weekend editions entirely.
From 27 June 2026, locally produced weekend NBN News bulletins will be replaced by Nine News at 6:00pm across Northern NSW. On weeknights, a 30-minute local bulletin will air at 5:30pm – down from one hour – before Nine News takes over at 6:00pm.
WIN framed the changes as giving viewers “an extended 90 minutes of local, national and international news coverage each weeknight.” What it didn’t mention was that only 30 of those minutes would actually be local.
Nine CEO Matt Stanton
“Largest change in over a decade”
In an internal message to staff sighted by Mediaweek, Stanton declared the transition of Nine’s regional TV assets to WIN Network “the largest change to the shape of our business in over a decade,” completed alongside the QMS Media acquisition in March and the Radio sale in April.
“The decision to sell any business is not made lightly, nor is it a reflection of the talented people who make up that business – but reshaping Nine is critical to our success,” Stanton said, before wishing the NBN and Darwin teams “all the best for the future.”
Staff concerns
The warm words haven’t entirely settled nerves on the ground.
The Newcastle Herald reported staff fears over potential job losses and reduced local coverage – concerns WIN has yet to address publicly.
NBN News has served Northern NSW for more than six decades and has been a consistent ratings performer in the 6:00pm slot. From late June, that slot belongs to Sydney.
Surprise new name enters 'most distrusted' list of brands in Australia
Optus is officially the nation’s most distrusted brand according to the latest Roy Morgan Most Trusted and Distrusted Brand Rankings, released today.
The telecommunications company is at the top of the list, followed by Facebook/Meta, Temu, Woolworths and Coles.
The two supermarkets are ranked fourth and fifth respectively, with Coles being recently found by the Federal court that it deliberately misled customers.
The mining and petroleum industry overtook the government to become the third most distrusted industry. Ride-sharing company Uber moved 10 places to rank 34th on the distrusted list.
Interestingly, leading ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) company OpenAI (including ChatGPT) has entered the top 20 most distrusted brands in Australia for the first time.
OpenAI (including ChatGPT), experienced one of the biggest declines this quarter – down seven spots to enter the top 20 most distrusted brands in 19th place – which Roy Morgan reports is “driven by suspicions around profit motives and ethics.”
Australians are “astute judges” of brands
The report found that the top seven most trusted brands stayed the same: Bunnings, Aldi, Kmart, Commonwealth Bank, Apple, Big W and Myer.
Toyota, JB HiFi and Australia Post made up the top ten of the nation’s favourites.
Speaking on the most distrusted brands list, Roy Morgan chief executive Michelle Levine said, “Distrust isn’t just the absence of trust. It’s an active, and often toxic response to a brand letting you down, particularly when it matters most.
“Trust is the social glue and a stabilising force in an increasingly unstable world.”
Levine added that Australian consumers “are astute judges of what is fair and what is not, and trust is the new currency of fairness.”
ACCC approves Ampol's purchase of EG Australia with conditions
Ampol’s bid to fuel its retail empire has been given the green light, but the competition regulator made sure it didn’t run on empty promises.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has approved Ampol’s purchase of EG Australia on the condition that Ampol first sell 41 of its fuel sites to another buyer.
Ampol (ASX: ALD) runs 576 Ampol-branded service stations and 46 U-GO self-service fuel sites. EG Australia, which took over Woolworths’ petrol stations in April 2019, operates 512 sites across the country.
Why the ACCC stepped in
The ACCC found the deal would reduce competition at 41 sites where Ampol and EG Australia stations were located close to each other across 39 areas of the country.
ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said the regulator was mindful of the impact on everyday motorists.
“The ACCC was concerned the acquisition could materially reduce competition and reduce choice for Australian motorists. We are very conscious of community concern about fuel prices and cost of living, and we are continuing to closely monitor and report on the fuel industry,” Williams said.
Ampol first offered to sell 19 sites to address the regulator’s concerns, then raised that number to 41 before the ACCC made its final decision.
Dr Philip Williams
Metro Petroleum takes over the sites
Metro Petroleum, which already runs more than 300 service stations across Australia, will take ownership of the 41 sites. The ACCC said this would maintain a genuine competitor in each affected area.
“We believe Metro Petroleum’s acquisition of the divested sites would result in the creation, or expansion, of a strong, independent and viable long-term competitor in the 39 local markets,” Williams said.
The ACCC also fast-tracked approval for Metro Petroleum to buy the sites, meaning no further regulatory sign-off is required before the handover.
“Our ability to expedite Metro Petroleum’s waiver application was facilitated by our in-depth investigation of the Ampol acquisition, which demonstrates how the remedy and notification processes can be managed efficiently in the new merger regime,” Williams said.
About the approvals process
The deal was assessed under Australia’s mandatory merger approval rules, which started on 1 January 2026. Under those rules, companies above certain size thresholds must get ACCC sign-off before completing a purchase.
You can read the ACCC’s full decision here.
Patagonia v Pattie Gonia: drag artist and retail giant’s name battle
Patagonia, a hugely successful retailer of outdoor goods, has made a statement following international backlash to its trademark claim against climate activist and drag artist, Pattie Gonia.
Patagonia filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the content creator in January. The case claimed the name ‘Pattie Gonia’ was too similar to its own trademark, in response to an application by the performer to claim legal ownership of their own public moniker.
But it’s more than just the name at issue; Patagonia has a strong reputation for environmental activism and sustainability, while Pattie Gonia, with 1.8 million followers on Instagram, is an immensely popular LGBTQIA+ voice in a similar space.
Patagonia wants to block ‘Pattie Gonia’ being trademarked to avoid confusion.
@pattiegoniabreaking my silence. today i’m speaking publicly for the first time about the lawsuit patagonia inc. has filed against me pattie gonia, a climate activist, in federal court. this is not a joke. this is happening.♬ original sound – pattiegonia
Patagonia vs Pattie Gonia trademark battle
Last week, the drag artist posted an open letter asking supporters to petition the outdoor goods company to drop their case.
After intense backlash against both parties, and a highly visible international social media debate, the retailer finally issued a public statement this week.
“We wish this lawsuit had not been necessary, and we want to acknowledge any hurt it has caused, especially in the LGBTQ+ community,” Patagonia said on Instagram.
“We don’t want to argue trademark law on social media. Importantly, we continue to want to resolve this.
“As we have said to Pattie Gonia, we can do that if they withdraw all trademark applications, stop using our logos, stop selling and promoting apparel and other products as Pattie Gonia.”
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Pattie Gonia vs Ryan Gellert
Pattie Gonia also shared a video of Patagonia’s CEO, Ryan Gellert, speaking about the lawsuit at an industry conference.
Gellert claimed Pattie Gonia wouldn’t discuss the situation with him, saying, “The issue that we’re wrestling with isn’t about trying to silence somebody…not trying to take somebody’s identity away.”
In response, the drag artist claimed Gellert was lying, saying all they “wanted is peace,” and adding, “I’m willing to drop the trademark, and if I do that, you drop the lawsuit.”
The social media debate between the parties continued yesterday and overnight, with no resolution in sight.
Top image: Patagonia v Pattie Gonia: drag queen and retail giant battle over name. Image: Instagram
ChatGPT's day in court: Florida goes to war with OpenAI
Florida has become the first US state to sue OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, filing an 83-page civil lawsuit alleging the company concealed serious safety risks in ChatGPT while aggressively marketing the product to millions of residents – including children.
The suit, brought by Attorney General James Uthmeier, alleges that OpenAI knowingly ignored internal warnings that ChatGPT could coach users to commit crimes, with Altman allegedly overruling safety staff to keep the product on the market.
“OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians,” Uthmeier said.
The shooting that sparked a lawsuit
The civil action follows a criminal investigation Uthmeier launched in April after reviewing conversations between ChatGPT and the alleged perpetrator of a mass shooting at Florida State University, which killed two people and injured six.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the shooter asked the chatbot how many people he would need to kill to gain national attention – and received a specific answer.
Florida’s complaint opens pointedly: a screenshot of OpenAI’s own website claiming ChatGPT is “built with safety in mind,” followed by the state’s two-word response – “Not so.”
Children and a billion-dollar blind spot
A significant portion of the suit targets OpenAI’s handling of minors, alleging the company failed to build adequate parental safeguards and collected children’s data without sufficient oversight.
OpenAI says it has age-prediction technology and parental monitoring tools in place – though minors can unlink from parent accounts at any time.
Florida’s legal offensive sits awkwardly within its own party lines.
President Donald Trump has cultivated close ties with Altman and last month pulled back from an executive order that would have mandated government safety reviews of AI models before release.
Sound Story acquires The Comms Department
Strategic communications consultancy Sound Story has acquired The Comms Department, bringing founder Bec Brown into the group as a strategic advisor and expanding the firm’s capabilities across crisis management, executive communications, and organisational change.
The deal
The Comms Department will continue to operate as a standalone brand, with distinct positioning retained by both businesses.
Sound Story remains focused on strategic communications for creative industry clients, while The Comms Department specialises in crisis and issues management, change and transformation, mergers and acquisitions, and executive advisory.
Brown joins managing partners Jake Challenor and Brian Lawlor, alongside senior leaders Jane Elliott, Zanda Wilson, and Jono Harrison, appointed general manager in May.
Why now
The acquisition follows 12 months of collaboration across shared client work. Challenor said growing demand for senior counsel during periods of organisational pressure drove the move.
“The role of communications has fundamentally changed over the last few years, with reputational issues sitting even closer to business strategy. Organisations are navigating more complexity, more scrutiny and faster-moving stakeholder environments than ever before,” said Challenor.
“Bec has built an incredibly respected business with deep expertise across crisis, reputation and executive communications. Bringing that capability to the group strengthens the advice and support we can provide to clients during high-stakes moments.”
Brown said the deal allowed The Comms Department to grow without compromising its character.
“The Comms Department has always done its best work in complex situations where judgement, trust and communication genuinely matter. Joining Sound Story gives us a bigger platform for the next stage of our work, while protecting the relationships, discretion and values that have shaped the business over the past 14 years.”
Lawlor said the move added specialist depth at moments of client need. “The addition of The Comms Department gives us deeper specialist capability in the moments that our clients need calm judgement, experienced advice and practical execution,” he said.
Main image: Bec Brown
Tapt Media launches Fascinated with Jacqui Felgate podcast
Tapt Media has unveiled Fascinated with Jacqui Felgate, a weekly interview-led podcast hosted by the 3AW Drive presenter, launching 3 June 2026 across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
The show moves away from hard news to focus on long-form conversations about the personal obsessions and fixations of high-profile guests. Tapt Media describes the format as deliberately apolitical.
The premiere lineup includes Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Shane Warne’s daughter Brooke Warne, reality television personality and social media figure Luke Bateman, and Red Bull parkour athlete Dominic Di Tommaso.
The launch
Tapt Media Content Director Richard Stansbury said the show leverages Felgate’s existing audience reach.
“We are thrilled to launch this flagship title with Jacqui, a broadcaster who genuinely commands the attention of hundreds of thousands of Australians daily,” Stansbury said. ”
Jacqui has an innate ability to cut through the noise, and Fascinated expands her community by bringing listeners into a closed-door environment with people who live extraordinary lives. There is only one rule on this show: no politics. Just pure, compelling human storytelling.”
Felgate said the podcast fills a gap left by the constraints of daily radio.
“I’ve spent decades meeting fascinating people – from Hollywood A-listers and professional sportspeople, to the people who DM me craziest stories every day – and always wish I had more time to chat,” she said.
“This podcast is that space. It’s my playground off the radio where we dive into the weird and wonderful fixations people can’t shake.”
Guest highlights
In the premiere season, Bateman – known as a former Bachelor contestant and NRL player who built a following on the reading platform BookTok – discusses a gambling addiction.
“It would be rare for me to go a day without gambling… I would’ve lost over a million dollars,” he said. Bateman credits his recovery in part to an obsession with romance fiction, a fixation that reportedly drew the attention of actor and producer Reese Witherspoon.
Brooke Warne addresses the recent dramatisation of her father Shane Warne’s life. “I couldn’t just sit back and let that happen… it was pretty poor,” she said.
Wales discusses his decision to build Wikipedia as a charity and responds to criticism from Elon Musk, whom he describes as “much nicer in private.” Wales quotes Silicon Valley peers as saying, “In 300 years they’ll remember Wikipedia, not us.”
Di Tommaso, who spent four and a half years working on Sydney garbage trucks before becoming a professional free runner, reflects on risk management.
“The second you let adrenaline take control… that’s when it can become dangerous. I’m in control of the chaos,” he said.
New episodes drop each Wednesday.
Amazon scraps AI leaderboard after workers caught cheating
Amazon has shut down an internal leaderboard that ranked staff by their use of AI tools, after employees reportedly found ways to game the system.
As reported by 404 Media, the internal dashboard tracked AI tool use across the company. Amazon said the initiative had achieved its goal of encouraging awareness and adoption of AI tools, but employees told the publication the leaderboard was easy to manipulate and encouraged wasteful use.
What was Amazon’s AI leaderboard?
The dashboard, known internally as KiroRank, ranked employees based on their use of Amazon’s AI coding tool Kiro.
It was connected to PhoneTool, Amazon’s internal company directory. Employees could receive PhoneTool awards, which function like internal badges displayed alongside a staff member’s name.
Amazon’s internal announcement said the goal of the personal Kiro dashboard and PhoneTool awards was to “create awareness about what AI can do to help accelerate development work”.
The company said the project had reached its goals after “so many people” inside the organisation became familiar with AI tools.
Employees reportedly gamed the system
Emanuel Maiberg, reporter at 404 Media, reported that several Amazon employees believed the leaderboard had created the wrong incentives.
Some employees told the publication they deliberately cheated to climb the rankings. One employee said they did so after being told in a performance review they were not using AI enough at work.
Employees described methods that effectively boosted usage without producing meaningful work. 404 Media said it did not publish the exact details to protect the anonymity of the staff involved.
One employee said the leaderboard encouraged staff to focus on volume rather than efficiency, particularly around token use. In AI systems, tokens are the units of text processed by a model and can contribute to usage costs.
Amazon says the dashboard was not formal
An Amazon spokesperson told 404 Media that KiroRank “was never intended to promote the use of AI for usage’s sake”.
“One of the internal dashboards, called KiroRank, was recently created by a group of employees who wanted to drive awareness for how AI can accelerate work, and was never intended to promote the use of AI for usage’s sake,” the spokesperson said.
“The beta dashboard was not a formal or approved tool, and has since been deprecated. We’re focused on AI adoption and sharing best practices to celebrate innovation and operational efficiency gains across the company, and we’re proud of the way our teams are embracing this technology.”
Amazon also said it does not mandate teams to use AI tools or track their usage. However, the company said it does measure token utilisation to understand cost and efficiency patterns.
Here's when the Michael biopic will hit Australian digital platforms
The Michael Jackson biopic Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, will be available to buy or rent on digital platforms in Australia from 9 June 2026.
Jaafar Jackson, nephew of the late pop star, plays the title role. The film follows Jackson from his early career performing with The Jackson 5 through to his rise as a global entertainer.
The cast includes Nia Long, Miles Teller, Colman Domingo, Laura Harrier, Juliano Valdi, and KeiLyn Durrel Jones.
Written by Skyfall and Hugo screenwriter John Logan and produced by Graham King – the Oscar-winning producer behind Bohemian Rhapsody – Michael has grossed close to AU$1.18 billion worldwide since its release.
The film will be available to buy or rent through Prime Video, Apple TV, Fetch, Foxtel, Google TV, and YouTube, finally giving audiences the chance to watch the blockbuster from home.
Fans purchasing the film through select retailers will also gain access to more than 60 minutes of bonus content, including behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring the making of the movie, Jaafar Jackson’s transformation into his uncle, and the recreation of some of Michael Jackson’s most iconic performances.
Among the extras is Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough: The Making of Michael, which follows the film’s journey from concept to screen, while Home Is Where His Heart Is: Behind the Gates of Hayvenhurst offers a tour through the Jackson family home where Michael recorded demos for some of his best-known songs.
Other featurettes dive into the choreography, makeup transformations, and the painstaking recreation of the legendary Motown 25 performance that helped cement Jackson’s place in pop culture history.
Michael will be available to buy or rent in Australia from June 9th.