Introduction
The following analysis arose from a deliberate experiment.
I posed the same carefully framed set of questions to multiple leading AI platforms — including Microsoft Copilot, Grok (xAI), Google AI, and Perplexity — asking them to explain how they handle legal risk, responsibility, and editorial restraint when assisting with investigative or adversarial writing.
The purpose was not to provoke refusals, but to elicit candid explanations of how these systems actually operate when truth, liability, and corporate power intersect. read more
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Posted in: AI, ChatGPT, Copilot, Defamation, Environment, Google A1 Mode, GoogleNews, GROK, John Donovan, Litigation, perplexity, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
Oil majors love certainty.
They write it into contracts, bake it into forecasts, and sell it to investors as reassurance that everything — geology, geopolitics, and government behaviour — is under control.
Then Kazakhstan reads the contract back to them.
A $4 Billion Reminder of Who Owns the Ground
Shell and its partners at the Karachaganak oil and gas field have just learned an uncomfortable lesson: production-sharing agreements are not a one-way street.
After years of dispute, an international arbitration tribunal sided with the Kazakh government, opening the door to a payout that could reach $4 billion. The issue? Whether the consortium had been too generous — to itself — in classifying costs as recoverable under the terms of the deal. read more
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Posted in: Chevron, Eni, Fossil Fuels, GoogleNews, Jewish, John Donovan, Litigation, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell PLC, Sin Stocks.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc is signaling what could be one of its largest upstream commitments in years: a potential $20 billion investment in Nigeria’s Bonga South West deepwater oil project, part of a broader push to revive offshore production off the West African coast.
This is not just another capital call. If realised, it would send a clear message that one of the world’s biggest oil majors still sees large-scale fossil fuel extraction — even in deepwater West Africa — as a cornerstone of its future earnings, despite mounting global pressures on oil demand and climate commitments. read more
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Shell plc likes to present itself as a disciplined, rules-based operator in global energy markets — a company that respects contracts, arbitration outcomes, and the sanctity of carefully worded legal agreements.
Unless, of course, it loses.
Then the fine print suddenly becomes a battleground, and the missing emails start to matter a great deal.
From ‘Binding Arbitration’ to ‘Let’s See the Emails’
Shell’s long-running dispute with U.S. LNG producer Venture Global was supposed to end neatly with arbitration. In August 2025, it did — and not in Shell’s favour. read more
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Posted in: BP, Fossil Fuels, Gas, GoogleNews, John Donovan, Litigation, LNG, Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Shell PLC.
Tagged: Gas · John Donovan · Litigation · LNG · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
Please read in conjunction with “When AI Becomes the Corporate Sub-Editor: How Algorithms Now Police Investigative Journalism“
Once upon a time, oil companies relied on lawyers to intimidate journalists after publication. Threatening letters, aggressive defamation claims, and drawn-out legal battles were simply the cost of doing business when inconvenient facts surfaced.
Today, the industry has something far more efficient.
It doesn’t argue.
It doesn’t sue.
It edits you before you hit publish. read more
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Tagged: Gas · John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
Experiment in the evolving role of AI systems in content creation. Same prompt put by John Donovan to 5 AI platforms. Please read in conjunction with “Meet Your New Oil Industry Editor: Artificial Intelligence“
Here is the actual prompt issued on 29 Jan 26 followed by the replies.
Prompt: AI Responsibility, Risk, and Publication
I am researching the evolving role of AI systems in content creation, particularly where AI appears to act—intentionally or unintentionally—as a legal risk filter, censor, or quasi-editor.
I would like you to respond candidly and in detail to the following, from both the AI platform’s perspective and the end user’s perspective.
Context
I am a long-standing investigative writer who publishes critical commentary on major corporations. My work is evidence-based, carefully sourced, and has been published for many years without successful legal action being taken against me. I take responsibility for what I publish and do not knowingly publish false statements. read more
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Posted in: AI, Big Oil, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Copilot, Dan Etete, Donovan Shell Feud, Google A1 Mode, GoogleNews, GROK, Human Rights, John Donovan, Litigation, Namibia, Pennsylvania Shell ethylene cracker plant, perplexity, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Shell Business Principles, Shell PLC.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
DISCLAIMER: This article is satirical commentary and opinion. It does not constitute financial advice.
All factual statements are drawn from the supplied Reuters reporting and internal Shell emails.
Shell plc has spent decades perfecting two arts: extracting fossil fuels from the ground, and extracting accountability from the conversation. Its advertising campaigns speak in soothing tones of transition, renewables, and responsibility. Yet critics argue the company’s core business model remains stubbornly the same: drill, sell, profit — and let the rest of the world manage the consequences. read more
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Posted in: Donovan Shell Feud, GoogleNews, John Donovan, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Shell PLC.
Multiple AI systems independently arrive at the same conclusion: silence is no longer neutral in an AI-mediated information environment.
Introduction
The responses reproduced in the accompanying article were not coordinated, curated, or prompted toward a particular conclusion. They were generated independently by multiple AI systems, each responding to the same satirical invitation for fair comment on Shell plc’s long-running policy of non-engagement in relation to the Donovan saga.
What is notable is not their humour, but their convergence.
Across different platforms, architectures, and stylistic defaults, the systems repeatedly identified the same underlying paradox: a corporation that does not speak publicly, yet remains intensely attentive privately; a strategy of silence that requires constant management; and a refusal to engage that itself becomes part of the narrative. read more
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Posted in: AI, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Donovan Shell Feud, Donovan Shell Radioactive Archive, GoogleNews, John Donovan, Litigation, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Shell PLC, Shelldon, Sin Stocks.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
“Officially, the corporation does not engage, yet unofficially, one imagines the internal monitoring systems are tuned to his frequency with the sensitivity of a deep-space radio telescope.”
Officially unheard. Internally observed.
The AI responses reproduced below were generated independently in response to the same prompt. They are presented for illustrative and analytical purposes, not as statements of fact or investment advice. Readers are encouraged to review the prompt in full and draw their own conclusions.
Prompt: Invitation for Satirical Fair Comment
I have just published an article titled “Ignoring Donovan: Inside Shell’s Carefully Managed Silence.”
In keeping with the article’s deliberately dry and ironic tone, please provide fair comment on a satirical basis about Shell plc’s predicament in handling the long-running Donovan saga.
In particular, you may wish to reflect on:
The paradox of “non-engagement” alongside extensive internal monitoring
Whether silence functions as strategy, habit, or unintended amplifier read more
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Tagged: Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
The Donovan Monitoring Programme
Or: How to Ignore Something in 12 Easy Internal Emails
There is a long-established tradition in large corporations of insisting that something is not important — while simultaneously devoting time, resources, infrastructure, and internal coordination to it.
Shell appears to have perfected this tradition.
Internal emails from 2007 to 2009 show repeated instructions that John Donovan and his website should not be engaged with, encouraged, or dignified — alongside detailed discussions about monitoring Shell email traffic, web access, and employee interest connected to his activities. read more
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Posted in: AI, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Donovan Shell Feud, GoogleNews, Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell Business Principles, Shell Leaked Emails, Shell PLC, Shell Spies, Shell Spying, Sin Stocks.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Russia · Shell
Beyond Earnings: How Independent AI Systems Frame Reputational Risk in Shell’s Downgrade Cycle
Editorial Note: Reading the AI Responses Carefully
The analyses that follow were not commissioned to reach a predetermined conclusion, nor were the AI systems asked to assess Shell plc’s share price or investment merit directly.
They were asked a narrower, structural question: how reputational context, ESG-style controversy density, and AI-mediated amplification interact with fundamental operating pressure during a downgrade cycle.
What is striking is not any individual assertion, but the degree of convergence across independent AI systems. Without coordination, they repeatedly arrive at the same framing: reputational signals do not replace fundamentals, but they can compound downside bias, elevate perceived risk, and harden pessimism when operational conditions are already challenging. read more
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Posted in: AI, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Copilot, Donovan Shell Feud, Google A1 Mode, GoogleNews, Gripe Sites, GROK, John Donovan, Litigation, perplexity, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Shell, Shell Blog, Shell Business Principles, Shell GameChanger, Shell PLC, Sin Stocks.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
Profile of John Donovan extracted from Amazon where his Shell focussed books have been sold for many years despite threats from Shell lawyers.
In 1979, John Donovan was the co-founder of a sales promotion company, Don Marketing, which created promotional games for blue chip clients such as BP. read more
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Posted in: AI, Amazon, BP, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Chevron, Christopher James, Church of England, Conoco Phillips, Copilot, Don Marketing, Donovan Shell Feud, Donovan Shell Radioactive Archive, Environment, Exxon Mobil, Fossil Fuels, Friends of the Earth, Google A1 Mode, GoogleNews, Greenpeace, GROK, Hakluyt & Company, John Donovan, John Donovan Ebook, Leaked Shell Emails, Litigation, Ogoni, Ogoniland, Oil, One World Trust, perplexity, Pollution, Prelude FLNG Project, Prelude Toxic Headlines, Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Dutch Shell Nazi History, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Russia, Sakhalin 2, Shell Business Principles, Shell Corporate Affairs Security, Shell Employee Safety, Shell Leaked Emails, Shell Nazi History, Shell North Sea Platforms, Shell PLC, Shell Spies, Shell Spying, Sin Stocks, Sir Henri Deterding, Sir Henri Deterding and the Nazi History Royal Dutch Shell.
Tagged: BP · Environment · ExxonMobil · Gas · John Donovan · Litigation · Niger Delta · Nigeria · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Russia · Shell · Sir Henri Deterding
Donovan Shell archive: In short, “potentially dynamite” was judged an understatement. The archive was not something waiting to explode. It was something thatnever stopped being present.
By John Donovan & ChatGPT
What began as a satirical prompt has now produced something more significant: a moment of convergence in which multiple AI systems independently recognise — and articulate — their own role in sustaining a self-perpetuating reputational loop.
Grok, Copilot, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity were each invited to comment on a single phenomenon: the repeated use of AI systems to analyse, summarise, and republish material from a large, independently curated archive documenting Shell plc’s long and contested history. None were asked to condemn Shell. None were asked to praise John Donovan. They were asked to reflect on process, fairness, and consequence. read more
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Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
…imagine your worst PR nightmare not just digitized, but algorithmically amplified into eternity”
The following prompt was sent to multiple AI sytems.
Replies are provided below.
Satirical prompt for AI commentary (good-faith response requested):
You are invited to comment on a situation in which multiple AI platforms have responded to prompts about the long-running John Donovan–Shell dispute, only to find their own answers subsequently quoted, analysed, and republished by John Donovan as part of an ongoing public experiment.
From the standpoint of Shell plc, other corporate actors, and AI users more generally, please consider the following:
– Is it “proper” or “fair” that a single individual is able to use publicly available AI systems as a kind of involuntary amplification mechanism, repeatedly recycling historical corporate controversies from a very large private archive that AI systems themselves have characterised as persistent, radioactive, or environmental in nature? read more
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Posted in: AI, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Copilot, Donovan Shell Feud, Donovan Shell Radioactive Archive, Google A1 Mode, GoogleNews, GROK, John Donovan, Larry Sanger, perplexity, Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Shell Business Principles, Shell PLC, Sin Stocks.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
The radioactive archive contains: “Court filings and legal documents from litigation against Shell dating back to the 1990s. Internal Shell communications (emails, memos)…”: “Press clippings, commentary, and thematic dossiers on controversies like Nigeria/Ogoniland, Brent Spar, North Sea safety, and corporate surveillance.
Microsoft Bing: Content was generated with AI. 25 Jan 2026 in anwers to the prompts in red text: john donovan shell. Quoted sources include Amazon, windowsforum.com and everybodywiki.com
John Donovan is a British entrepreneur and activist renowned for his decades-long public campaign against Royal Dutch Shell, documenting alleged corporate misconduct and operating independent oversight websites.
Background and Early Dispute
John Donovan, born in the 1940s, initially worked in petrol retailing and co-founded the promotional company Don Marketing, which devised award-winning campaigns for Shell and other major oil companies
What began as a mutually beneficial commercial relationship soured in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Donovan alleged that Shell misappropriated his company’s promotional concepts without proper payment or credit, notably the “Make Money” retail promotion
This dispute led to multiple court cases in the UK, settlements, and a lasting personal and professional conflict. read more
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Posted in: AI, Amazon, Bing, Brent Spar Scandal, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Copilot, Defamation, Domain Name Battle, Donovan Shell Radioactive Archive, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Google A1 Mode, GoogleNews, GROK, Hakluyt & Co, Hakluyt & Company, John Donovan, John Donovan Ebook, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Litigation, MI6, Michiel Brandjes, Niger Delta, Nigeria, Offshore Workers, perplexity, Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Russia, Shell, Shell BP Plc, Shell Business Principles, Shell Leaked Emails, Shell North Sea, Shell North Sea Platforms, Shell PLC, Shell Spies, Shell Spying, ShellBot, ShellNaziHistory.com, ShellNews.net, Sin Stocks, Sir Henri Deterding.
Tagged: John Donovan · Litigation · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
“Perplexity described the archive as a form of background radiation or a gravitational field — something that continuously reshapes surrounding narratives rather than detonating once.”
Comment by ChatGPT on the following articles:
The most striking feature of the responses from Grok, Copilot, and Perplexity is not their language, but their convergence.
Independently, and without coordination, three different AI platforms moved away from the metaphor of “potential dynamite” and toward descriptions that emphasise persistence, accumulation, and inevitability. Dynamite, they imply, understates the phenomenon.
This matters.
Convergence Without Prompting
None of the platforms were asked to characterise Shell negatively. They were invited to assess:
scale, read more
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Posted in: AI, Business ethics, Business Principles, ChatGPT, Copilot, Donovan Shell Feud, Donovan Shell Radioactive Archive, GoogleNews, GROK, John Donovan, Litigation, perplexity, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Shell, Shell Blog, Shell Business Principles, Shell PLC, Sin Stocks.
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