Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social, is entering the AI-guided social media universe. Yet it is confronted by significant financial challenges and a lack of appeal to attracting new riders. Worldwide, the AI-in-social-media market is projected to skyrocket to $3.8 billion by 2028. Truth Social has a long way to go and many obstacles to clear to be truly competitive within this exploding space. Last month, TMTG filed trademarks for “Truth Social AI” and “Truth Social AI Searchnon-woke.” These filings provide insight into how the company wants to leverage AI to improve content curation and accelerate platform growth.

AI-Driven Ideological Alignment

Truth Social’s AI boondoggle seems like it’s motivated more by ideological compatibility than technical merit. The platform’s mission is to restore “free speech” and “non-woke” curation. This sort of approach appears to be seeking an echo chamber rather than cultivating a respectful and dynamic marketplace of ideas. This could severely restrict its usability and increase the difficulty in attracting a widespread user community.

As an example of the likely content produced by the company’s new AI tools, it promises “non-woke news” with “reliable information.” Without accountability, these tools risk embedding prevalent biases and preventing users from hearing a range of viewpoints. This no bullshit strategy runs in stark opposition to the real trend of AI development, which is about neutrality and objectivity.

User Acquisition and Financial Realities

Truth Social's user acquisition challenges are substantial. As of 2024, the on-demand platform has 6.3 million active users per month. This number is incredibly low compared to some of its competitors such as X (formerly Twitter) and Meta’s platforms.

TMTG’s financial entanglements complicate matters even more. The startup made headlines after announcing a $327.6 million net loss in Q1 2024. Cumulative losses since its launch have been over $31.5 million.

Truth Social claims $776.8 million in cash reserves. Even so, these reserves may not be sufficient to fund the kind of AI R&D we envision. The latter is particularly true when companies choose to develop their own proprietary models rather than license someone else’s technology.

Future Growth Levers

Truth Social’s AI rollout is the second possible growth lever for the company, after a push into the metaverse and NFT space. The company’s recent trademark filings show ambitions much grander than simple content curation—with moves toward features like being able to order food from a “virtual restaurant.”

Whether they’ll be successful is anyone’s guess, or at least up for debate. Truth Social’s AI tools, with their emphasis on producing “non-woke” content, will only serve a small segment of the public. This heavy-handed approach would drastically constrain the platform’s overall growth potential.