I read a piece about the lawsuits against social media platforms in the United States. Several states and plaintiffs accuse the large platforms of deliberately encouraging addictive behaviour through their design, particularly among young users. It made me ask: what does my own media consumption actually look like?

I regularly watch news and documentaries across various platforms — YouTube, podcasts, posts, some of it on subscription. What struck me was that in this flood of information I mostly only got as far as the headlines. And what bothered me on top of that was the kind of advertising: almost nothing but scams, AI slop or clickbait.

Then there is the question of why I pay over €220 a year in public broadcasting fees — only to then watch the content with advertising on YouTube, and hand over my data along the way.

In the end I pay three times over: with my money, my attention and my data.

The experiment

That is exactly where EUCube came from: a quieter, ad-free approach to content.

The question behind it was simple. What happens if I build myself a personal AI news app that simply shows me what interests me? Without AI slop, without engagement pressure — free of outside steering.

At its centre sits an agent that learns from my interests and makes constructive suggestions. A neutral service that reviews my preferences regularly and searches for content across every available channel and open interface.

What surprised me

The suggested content is sometimes a little "more boring" than on YouTube and its peers — but ultimately more relevant to me. My sense is that the suggestions are more balanced and more neutral, and precisely for that reason I no longer feel the urge to click immediately.

It also helps that the assistant knows neither my name nor my age, location or any other personal data — only my playlist. I can rate items, report disruptive content or downvote it. And every video comes with a short text preview. That spares me being pulled into endless autoplay loops.

That is the real insight from the experiment: the difference does not lie in better technology, but in whose interest the selection is made. A feed that does not earn money from my time on site suggests different things — and at first that feels unspectacular. That is not a shortcoming. That is the point.

The same applies at scale: digital sovereignty does not mean building everything yourself — it means being able to choose who you leave the selection to.

How does it feel to you?

Do algorithmic feeds still serve you reasonably well? Or do you notice content shifting in a direction you never wanted? And would a deliberately quieter approach be an alternative for you — or would something be missing?

Note: EUCube is not a public offering but an experimental project in beta. Access is granted only on personal request. No responsibility is taken for external content. Install it as an app via "Share" → "Add to Home Screen". The AI agent has to be activated and transmits no personal data; only you have access to your profile.