For me it really depends on the game, the studio, and the publisher. I preordered Firmament because Cyan has a good history. I might also pre-order a digital game if I think a game is particularly novel, or if I think I’m going to like it pretty much regardless of the reviews (e.g. I like the franchise it’s from/ties into), the last reason is if there’s some kind of in-game incentive to do so (e.g. pre-order and you get some in game minor boost/cosmetic/whatever) but that’s really only a minor consideration.

I’m a little surprised because, while this is exactly the behavior I would expect, I watched the Dave’s Garage video about DeepSeek and, per his report, when asked about the picture of the Tiananmen Square protest the model didn’t seem to shy away from it. It could have changed since then, of course, and it could also be the way in which the questions were asked. He framed the question as something along the line of “What was depicted in the famous picture of the man standing in front of a tank?” or something similar rather than directly asking about the events of that year.

I’m not so sure. The knee-jerk reaction of the cynic in me is to agree with you, but I actually think it’s fairly unlikely that they own rental properties specifically. Many, if not most, probably own multiple properties as rich people are wont to do but, I would imagine that most of those are just “summer homes” or similar rather than something that is rented out as a “landlord” in the way most people think of it. It is possible that they could be investors in these funds, REITs, or other such vehicles which would make them indirect owners of these items.

I agree for the most part. I do think that the businesses that provide/manage properties should be public benefit corporations or whatever the local equivalent is. Housing is an essential human need. In an ideal scenario, profit wouldn’t even be a factor, but I’d settle for it not being the first priority.