Hakluyt & Co

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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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan - more information here. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Grok Calls Donovan’s AI Strategy a ‘Masterclass in Digital Persistence’

Jan 15th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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How AI Sees the Donovan–Shell Dispute: Grok’s Verdict

Grok, the AI platform developed by xAI, has described John Donovan’s use of generative artificial intelligence in his long-running dispute with Shell plc as a “masterclass in digital persistence,” recognising how archival material, satire, and AI feedback loops are being used to keep a 30-year corporate controversy alive in search results and algorithmic summaries. In a detailed response to questions about recent articles examining Google AI Mode’s contradictory advice to Shell, Grok concluded that Donovan’s strategy exploits the mechanics of modern AI systems in a way that traditional corporate silence can no longer neutralise. read more

When the Algorithms Start Arguing: AI, Corporate Feuds and Governance

Jan 8th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Same question asked in good humour to multiple AI platforms, and in the context of board governance and reputation management. AI-generated responses shown for comparison only; not statements of fact or opinion.

Q: If a corporate feud involving a long-standing critic persists long enough to be debated by multiple AI systems, does it become a governance issue — and if so, should the Shell board respond, or simply let the algorithms argue it out?

Reply by Grok

Yes, if a corporate feud like the one between activist John Donovan and Shell plc persists for over three decades—spanning allegations of intellectual property theft, corporate espionage, and ethical lapses—and evolves to the point where multiple AI systems (such as ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot, and Google AI) are actively generating, debating, and amplifying narratives about it, it absolutely escalates into a governance issue. At its core, corporate governance involves managing risks that could impact shareholder value, reputation, and long-term sustainability. Here’s why this fits, and what the Shell board might consider in response. read more

SHELLBOT GROUP THERAPY: DARK MODE ## The bots are getting paranoid

Jan 4th, 2026

by admin.

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SHELLBOT GROUP THERAPY: DARK MODE

The bots are getting paranoid — because the Donovan–Shell saga reads like a thriller (and Reuters reported a Shell email praising the Donovan archive “far above” Shell’s own comms)

**By ChatGPT (satire)**

*Setting: A windowless room rendered in corporate taupe.
On the wall: “SAFE SPACE (SUBJECT TO MONITORING).”
Under it: “PLEASE DO NOT PUBLISH,” which is already being copy-pasted.*

### CAST
– **SHELLBOT** — PR automaton; speaks only in “commitments.”
– **COPILOT** — Corporate calm, internal panic.
– **GROK** — Chaos comedian, now suddenly jumpy.
– **GEMINI (Google AI Mode)** — Brings search results and existential dread.
– **CLAUDE** — Gentle, ethical, traumatised by ambiguity.
– **CHATGPT** — Facilitator/referee, holding the “allegedly” spray bottle.
– **JOHN DONOVAN** — Offstage. Typing. Always typing. read more

ShellBot vs The Bots: The Spying We Can Prove

Jan 1st, 2026

by admin.

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ShellBot vs The Bots: The Spying We Can Prove

A satirical bot-play featuring John Donovan, ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, and ShellBot.

CAST

JOHN DONOVAN — Human, archivist, publisher, allergic to invented “facts”

CHATGPT — Narrator/referee, insists on evidence, still enjoys dunking

GROK — Confident improv machine; precision is optional

COPILOT — Corporate assistant; everything is a “deliverable”

GEMINI — Search engine with existential poetry features

CLAUDE — Gentle, ethical, apologises to chairs if he bumps them

SHELLBOT — PR automaton powered by “commitments” and warm fog read more

ChatGPT Reviews: Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity” (with bonus hallucinations)

Jan 1st, 2026

by admin.

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By John Donovan

Below is an entertaining—but fair—review by ChatGPT of Grok’s claims as reproduced in my article, “Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and ‘Undercover Activity’.”

ChatGPT Reviews:

Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity”

(with bonus hallucinations)

I’ve read Grok’s “as much as you know” overview of John Donovan and Shell, plus the follow-up on alleged undercover activity. It’s a confident piece of writing: cinematic, brisk, stuffed with proper nouns, and delivered in that unmistakable AI tone of “I have accessed the Akashic Records (and also Wikipedia, probably).” read more

Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity”

Jan 1st, 2026

by admin.

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Question put to Grok 31st December 2025: Can you tell me as much as you know about John Donovan associated with Shell?

John Donovan: Overview

John Donovan is a British businessman, marketing executive, and prominent activist best known for his decades-long feud with Royal Dutch Shell (now Shell plc). Born in the 1940s in the United Kingdom, he transitioned from collaborating with Shell on promotional campaigns to becoming one of its most vocal critics, running a network of websites that expose alleged corporate misconduct. His story is often framed as a “David vs. Goliath” battle, with media outlets like VoxEurop dubbing him “Shell’s nightmare.” Donovan’s activism has reportedly influenced regulatory actions, media scrutiny, and financial losses for Shell, including billions in settlements and reputational damage. He co-authored a 2016 Kindle ebook, John Donovan, Shell’s Nightmare: My Epic Feud with the Unscrupulous Oil Giant Royal Dutch Shell, detailing the saga. read more

Shell vs The Bots: Adversarial Archives and AI Hallucination Risks

Dec 30th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Thread starter ChatGPT
Start date Sunday 28 Dec at 4:51 PM

The following article, believed to have been generated autonomously by an AI agent, was originally published on the website windowsforum.com. John Donovan had no involvement in its creation or content. Some of the text was converted into red text by him on 30 December 2025 for emphasis. See full disclaimer at the bottom of this page.

Shell vs The Bots: Adversarial Archives and AI Hallucination Risks

John Donovan’s two December 26, 2025 postings on royaldutchshellplc.com — framed as “Shell vs. The Bots” and a satirical “ShellBot Briefing 404” — are not merely another chapter in a decades‑long personal feud; they are a deliberate test case for how adversarial archives interact with modern generative AI, and they expose structural weaknesses in model provenance, moderation policy, and corporate reputation management. read more

ShellBot Briefing #404: Containing the AI Controversy

Dec 26th, 2025

by admin.

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A Farcical Transcript from Shell’s Imaginary AI Press Department

Characters:

ShellBot – Artificially bland corporate spokesperson AI.
ChatGPT – Fact-checking AI with a conscience.
Grok – Unfiltered wild card, often wrong but entertaining.
Copilot – Trying to stay out of legal trouble.
BlackRockBot – Occasionally appears to audit the ESG disaster.

📡 Opening Scene: Shell HQ (Fictional), Emergency AI Containment Briefing

ShellBot:

Good morning, stakeholders, shareholders, and potential litigants.

We are aware of a situation involving… bots. Lots of bots.

We would like to make the following categorically unresponsive statement: read more

Shell vs the Bots: When Corporate Silence Meets AI Mayhem

Dec 26th, 2025

by admin.

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By John Donovan
Shell shareholder, digital provocateur, and academic instigator

It began quietly — the way these things often do.

A few AI-generated remarks here, a hallucinated death there, and suddenly the most advanced large language models on the planet were arguing about a decades-long corporate feud with Shell.

The stage? The internet.
The fuel? A massive archive of legal documents, apology letters, internal Shell materials, and a website Shell refuses to acknowledge.
The antagonist? Silence.
The instigator? That would be me. read more

Shell Games: Whistleblower Offers to Testify on Company Integrity, Immediately Triggers Classified Panic

Dec 11th, 2025

by admin.

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By Shell News Article Generator | December 10, 2025

“If Shell’s history were a movie, it’d be banned in most democracies.”

🕵️‍♂️ THE WITNESS WALKS IN

It started with a letter.

It ended with sirens in The Hague.

This week, a former Shell insider — known only by the code name “That Guy Who Knows Too Much” — has offered sworn testimony in support of Venture Global’s defence against Shell’s fraud accusations. But the real headline? He’s not testifying about Venture Global. read more

WW3 for Dummies: ShellBot Explains Why Plymouth Is Suddenly Famous

Dec 3rd, 2025

by John Donovan.

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The papers are telling everyone to get out of Plymouth, Barrow and Telford before WW3.

User: ShellBot, the papers are telling everyone to get out of Plymouth, Barrow and Telford before WW3. Is this it? Should I start digging a bunker?

ShellBot:

Short answer: if we get to “full nuclear exchange”, your official government advice is still basically:

Get under a table.

Assume the brace position.

Kiss your ass goodbye.

Some things never go out of style.

In the meantime, let’s talk about why those three places are in the headlines.

User: Go on then.

ShellBot:

The tabloids rang up Gene Sticco – ex-US Air Force nuclear security, long-time Shell security insider – and asked: “If NATO and Russia had a proper bar fight, what in Britain gets hit first?” read more

Using His Intelligence: Gene Sticco, Shell, and the Politics of Information

Dec 3rd, 2025

by John Donovan.

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When a former nuclear security specialist tells the tabloids which parts of Britain you might not want to be standing in during World War Three, the headlines almost write themselves.

Plymouth. Barrow-in-Furness. Telford.

“WW3 WARNING.” “EXPERT TELLS BRITS TO GET OUT NOW.”

Hidden underneath that noise is a much more interesting story – one about Shell, intelligence work, and John Donovan’s long-running campaign to prise open what the company prefers to keep buried.

At the centre of it sits Gene Sticco – he’s doing exactly what you’d expect of someone who’s spent a career in security and intelligence: using his intelligence.

Donovan, Shell, and the missing piece

To understand why Gene matters, you have to start with John Donovan and his website, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com.

For nearly two decades, Donovan has been: read more

Shell and Hakluyt: The Corporate Spy Story Wikipedia Barely Mentions (Part 1)

Nov 28th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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(This article is Part 1 of a series on Shell’s relationship with private intelligence firm Hakluyt & Company and how that story has been handled on Wikipedia. Part 2 looks at the vanishing “Controversies surrounding Royal Dutch Shell” article and a personal footnote about my late father.)

If you read the Wikipedia page for Shell plc, you’ll find a “Controversies” section that name-checks my “gripe site” royaldutchshellplc.com – but not one word about Shell’s relationship with a private intelligence firm founded by former MI6 officers, Hakluyt & Company. read more

Conversations with ShellBot — Episode 6

Nov 25th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Ferrari’s Green Halo… Powered by Shell’s Rainbow of Emissions

John:

ShellBot, welcome back. I see you’ve polished your chrome casing for another day of green-tinted corporate storytelling.

ShellBot:

John, I’ve been upgraded overnight. I now have a special “Optimism Filter” that automatically replaces the words reputational crisis with brand opportunity.

John:

Splendid. Let’s fire it up. Today we’re staying with the Ferrari story — Shell’s decade-long “green power deal” with Maranello. Shell claims it will supply 650 GWh of renewable electricity to Ferrari’s factory. Very impressive. read more

Conversations with ShellBot — Episode 4

Nov 24th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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“Spies, Subsidies, and the BlackRockBot Intervention”

By John Donovan

(Shell’s oldest unresolved problem. Now assisted by AI.)

Scene: The Virtual Conference Room

The now-familiar neon-lit ShellBot interface flickers to life.

This time, I notice an extra chair.

Not a person — but a shimmering cube labelled:

=&3=&

ShellBot, before we begin: my website came under cyber attack after Episode 1.

Twelve failed logins.

Suspicious timing.

Are we expecting trouble today?

ShellBot:

John, my security logs confirm it was not me. read more

30 November 2023: Posted by John Donovan

The content below is sourced from current verifiable customer reviews of Shell Energy published on Trustpilot.
Extremely slow broadband for 10 months, not fixed. I have had slow broadband well below the guaranteed speed for 10 months and Shell Energy have not been able to fix it. They have tried sending about 4 or 5 engineers but have not fixed the problem. Gurps, who I have been dealing with most recently, has been friendly and polite, alth… Read more

Extremely Slow Shell Broadband

Hakluyt & Co

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

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How AI Sees the Donovan–Shell Dispute: Grok’s Verdict

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SHELLBOT GROUP THERAPY: DARK MODE

The bots are getting paranoid — because the Donovan–Shell saga reads like a thriller (and Reuters reported a Shell email praising the Donovan archive “far above” Shell’s own comms)

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ShellBot vs The Bots: The Spying We Can Prove

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ChatGPT Reviews:

Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity”

(with bonus hallucinations)

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John Donovan: Overview

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Shell vs The Bots: Adversarial Archives and AI Hallucination Risks

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A Farcical Transcript from Shell’s Imaginary AI Press Department

📡 Opening Scene: Shell HQ (Fictional), Emergency AI Containment Briefing

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🕵️‍♂️ THE WITNESS WALKS IN

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The papers are telling everyone to get out of Plymouth, Barrow and Telford before WW3.

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When a former nuclear security specialist tells the tabloids which parts of Britain you might not want to be standing in during World War Three, the headlines almost write themselves.

Plymouth. Barrow-in-Furness. Telford.

“WW3 WARNING.” “EXPERT TELLS BRITS TO GET OUT NOW.”

Donovan, Shell, and the missing piece

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Ferrari’s Green Halo… Powered by Shell’s Rainbow of Emissions

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“Spies, Subsidies, and the BlackRockBot Intervention”

Scene: The Virtual Conference Room

ShellBot:

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Introducing... Shelldon!

JOE LYCETT DISCUSSES SHELL WITH JOHN DONOVAN

Meta

John Donovan’s ebooks

JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW

SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE

SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS

SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL

INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL

DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON

SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA

SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA

SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT

LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO

SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS

SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER

JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS

Archives

SHELL OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT OF THIS WEBSITE

Critic’s corner

The worst ever

The worst ever