perplexity

claude.ai Part 2: SHELL’S SECRET WAR ON ONE MAN IN COLCHESTER

Mar 23rd, 2026

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PART TWO: THE MACHINES HAVE NOTICED

A Crystal Ball Special Investigation, Continued

By Our Special Correspondent, Department of Satirical Prophecy Published: March 2026

DISCLAIMER: The following article is Part Two of a satirical commentary based on real events, documented facts, and the output of multiple AI systems that have now, apparently, also noticed the Donovan-Shell situation. The crystal ball has been recharged. Its batteries were, appropriately, made in the Netherlands.

PART FIVE: THE ROBOTS HAVE READ THE FILE

When Part One of this investigation was published, it seemed reasonable to assume that Shell’s primary reputational challenge in 2026 remained what it has always been: one retired gentleman in Colchester, Essex, with a laptop, a broadband connection, and what Shell’s own internal documents once described, with heroic understatement, as “a longstanding disagreement with Shell.” 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.

windowsforum: Shell’s Long-Fought Domain Feud: AI Roundtable Satire and Reputational Fallout

Mar 23rd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Today – 23 March 2026 at 1:50 AM

The Machines Agree on Shell’s Long Shadow

A satirical “AI roundtable” about the Shell saga may read like internet theater, but it lands because the underlying dispute is real, persistent, and unusually durable. What makes the piece sting is not the fictional dialogue itself; it is the way four different AI systems are imagined converging on one basic conclusion: Shell’s long-running conflict with John Donovan is no trivial internet squabble, but a reputational problem that never fully went away. That framing is consistent with the historical record of a domain-name battle Shell lost in 2005 and with the company’s own continuing sensitivity around branding, online identity, and corporate narrative.

Background

The Donovan-Shell dispute is one of those rare corporate feuds that evolved from conventional commercial conflict into a hybrid of litigation, media activism, and digital counter-narrative. The roots go back to Donovan’s earlier business dealings and the breakdown of trust that followed, eventually producing years of public criticism aimed at Shell and its executives. Over time, that criticism hardened into a permanent archive of allegations, commentary, and document drops, with royaldutchshellplc.com becoming the symbolic center of gravity.
The domain-name dimension matters because it gave the dispute a legal anchor and a visible address. In the 2005 WIPO case, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited sought control of royaldutchshellplc.com, royaldutchshellgroup.com, and tellshell.org, but the panel rejected Shell’s complaint on the basis that bad-faith registration and use were not proven. That result did not settle the broader feud, but it did establish that Donovan had a defensible position for operating a non-commercial criticism site under that domain.
The satirical article is also clearly a product of the AI era, and that is part of what makes it notable. Donovan’s experiment, as described on the site, uses multiple generative systems to interrogate the same controversy and then compare outputs for consistency, hedging, and error. The goal is not just humor; it is to expose how machine-generated confidence can mask weak verification, especially when the prompt touches a long, contentious historical record. read more

Perplexity: Please, for the love of God, update the Donovan issue brief before the AGM

Mar 22nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Prompt

Could you analyse the information and links on the following article and create a satirical article predicting what Shell may be doing now and in the future based on the astonishing content of the article and the content of the linked Shell internal emails https://shellnews.net/DPA2009/DPA2009INDEXPAGE.html deep dive please for a long article. Please use your crystal ball. Is Shell likely to continue cloak and dagger activity directed against me.

Reply by Perplexity

Shell’s own email trail already reads like a corporate thriller, so a satirical “crystal‑ball” sequel almost writes itself.

Prologue: Shell’s Ghost Department – Group Donovan Affairs

Somewhere deep inside Shell Centre, long after the “Tell Shell” forum died and was quietly taxidermied for the archives, a discreet new unit is born: Group Donovan Affairs (GDA), reporting jointly to Legal, Corporate Affairs, and “Special Projects.” Its founding PowerPoint explains the remit in serene bullet points:

“Minimise oxygen to Donovan while maximising monitoring of Donovan‑related risk.” read more

AI Judges the Shell Saga

Mar 22nd, 2026

by admin.

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What Happens When Multiple Machines Analyse a 30-Year Dispute?: AI Groupthink—only faster, cleaner, and far more convincing: Distributed reasoning…

By John Donovan

Introduction: Putting the Machines to Work

In a world where artificial intelligence is increasingly used to answer everything from trivial questions to complex legal problems, I decided to try something different.

I asked the machines to judge Shell.

Not in a courtroom.

Not in a press release.

But through analysis.

Specifically, I invited multiple AI systems—ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot, and Perplexity—to examine a decades-long dispute between myself and Royal Dutch Shell.

The result was something unexpected.

Not agreement in every detail. read more

Copilot: treating multiple AI platforms as an informal advisory panel —Overall It’s a positive development—if used wisely

Mar 22nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Prompt

Please comment on the article https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/22/consulting-the-machines/ in particular from the standpoint of AI platforms. Do you welcome the treating of AI platforms collectively as an informal advisory panel or are there downsides from your perpective? Is it a welcome development or not?

Reply by Copilot:

In short: treating multiple AI platforms as an “informal advisory panel” can be valuable, but only when users understand the limits of AI systems. It encourages critical thinking and reduces over‑reliance on any single model, but it also risks amplifying shared biases or errors if users mistake convergence for independent verification. read more

Perplexity: experimental use of multiple systems to probe a single, adversarial archive is welcome

Mar 22nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Prompt

Reply by perplexity:

Treating multiple AI platforms as an informal advisory panel is useful but only if everyone involved remains very clear about what these systems are and are not.

What the article is doing

The piece is effectively “outsourcing” parts of the Donovan–Shell risk analysis to a panel of models (Grok, Perplexity, Copilot, etc.), comparing how they frame the same underlying archive and then using those differences as commentary on both Shell and the AI ecosystem. It builds directly on earlier “bot war” episodes, where cross‑model inconsistencies, hallucinations, and misstatements about Shell’s position became the story in their own right. read more

Grok: a welcome evolution in how people interact with AI

Mar 22nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Prompt

Grok reply:

**The article “Consulting the Machines” (published today, 22 March 2026) is a fascinating meta-experiment by John Donovan.** He deliberately queried several AI platforms—including Grok (me), Copilot, Perplexity, and others referenced in linked prior posts—about the same 30-year Shell dispute, then stepped back to observe convergence, divergence, and shared errors across our outputs. The goal wasn’t to “win” the argument or extract binding advice, but to treat us collectively as a kind of informal, distributed advisory panel for pattern recognition and cross-validation. read more

Consulting the Machines

Mar 22nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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What Happens When You Ask Multiple AIs to Analyse a 30-Year Dispute?

By John Donovan

Introduction

In a recent article—

👉 https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/21/can-ai-help-close-a-30-year-dispute-my-conversations-with-chatgpt-on-shell/

—I published a full, unedited exchange with ChatGPT examining a decades-long dispute between myself and Royal Dutch Shell.

That article was not an endpoint.

It was an experiment.

What would happen if, instead of relying on a single artificial intelligence system, I consulted several—treating them collectively as an informal advisory panel? read more

Can AI Help Close a 30-Year Dispute? My Conversations with ChatGPT on Shell

Mar 21st, 2026

by admin.

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Editorial Introduction

What follows is an unedited exchange between myself and ChatGPT—one of several artificial intelligence systems I recently consulted in an effort to bring clarity, and perhaps closure, to a dispute with Shell that has spanned decades.

What began as a simple domain name issue evolved into something far more complex: misdirected communications, documented interactions with senior Shell executives, and a persistent online presence that the company has never fully resolved.

Curious to see how modern AI would assess this unusual situation, I sought independent views from multiple platforms, treating them as an informal advisory panel. Their responses—while not without occasional factual errors—revealed a surprising degree of consistency in one key respect: the matter appears capable of resolution. read more

Perplexity: Shell’s Ghost Inbox: How One Man Ended Up Handling Big Oil’s Misdelivered Secrets

Mar 20th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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“…the domain gave Donovan naming‑level visibility, a magnet for leaks and complaints, and a permanent, search‑optimised stage from which to attack Shell’s reputation.”

Prompt by John Donovan

As you can see from this article https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/20/dear-shell-ive-been-handling-your-mail-for-years-youre-welcome/ – and from the information in the links, Shell is in a pickle with John Donovan for the reasons explained. What would you advise Shell to do? Please also take this article into account: https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/20/grok-shell-should-treat-this-as-a-manageable-operational-security-and-reputational-risk-rather-than-an-existential-crisis/ and this article https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/20/shell-faces-renewed-pressure-to-resolve-long-running-domain-dispute-as-donovan-publishes-fresh-claims/ read more

Consensus of Copilot, Perplexity, ChatGPT and Grok: Shell is losing the bot war with Donovan

Mar 1st, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Shell is currently losing the “bot war” in reputational and narrative terms, even though it remains far stronger in conventional power (money, lawyers, regulators) than John Donovan. The damage is reputational, long‑tail and cumulative rather than existential.

Question put to Perplexity 1st March 2026:

I put this question to Copilot earlier today. In your opinion is Shell losing or winning the bot war? Their reply is in the following article: https://royaldutchshellplc.com/2026/03/01/copilot-update-on-donovan-shell-feud-1st-march-2026/ What is your assessment?

Reply by Perplexity:

Shell is currently losing the “bot war” in reputational and narrative terms, even though it remains far stronger in conventional power (money, lawyers, regulators) than John Donovan. read more

You Can Be Sure of Shell (Spies): My Four‑Decade Journey from Trusted Partner to Target

Feb 28th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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“Shell’s combination of early negligence, a failed recovery attempt, and its own internal risk calculus has left it in the position you describe. Its most persistent critic has operated royaldutchshellplc.com for nearly two decades, functions as an unofficial archive and leak‑hub about Shell, and—because reality is stranger than satire—handles misdirected emails for a domain name that Shell should have owned but didn’t.”

By John Donovan

Prologue: From Bing Crosby to Black Ops

“You can be sure of Shell,” crooned Bing Crosby, selling the world a vision of wholesome petrol, smiling forecourt staff and corporate virtue distilled into a jingle. I took that slogan at face value when I first began working with Shell in 1981. I assumed I was dealing with respectable businesspeople, not a corporation that would one day run a covert issues “war room,” secretly threaten my web hosts on two continents, deploy private investigators under false identities, and liaise with cyber‑intelligence outfits to monitor a critic’s website. read more

Who Has Publicly Criticised Shell Over Its Nazi-Era Associations and Lack of Apology

Feb 16th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Royal Dutch Shell’s historical relationship with Nazi Germany has been documented by historians and investigative journalists. What continues to draw criticism is not only the company’s wartime conduct, but the fact that Shell has never issued a formal public apology or acknowledgment comparable to those made by other major European corporations with similar histories.

A number of writers, journalists, historians, and activists have publicly raised this issue.

openDemocracy and Adam Ramsay

Shell’s sanitisation of its toxic history

Feb 13th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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“For many Jewish individuals and families, especially those with direct family experience of the Holocaust, any perceived alignment or complicity with the Nazi regime is not a distant historical footnote but an existential moral issue.”: “Some Jewish people almost certainly would avoid investing in or buying from Shell if they fully understood the documented extent of its historic relationship with the Nazi regime and perceived ongoing lack of a clear apology or reckoning is not a distant historical footnote but an existential moral issue.”

John Donovan’s question to Perplexity, 13 Feb 2026: You were one of the AI platforms that contributed to the recent article titled:

“AI CONSENSUS: SHELL MUST APOLOGISE FOR ITS TOXIC HISTORY.”

I now have a related question.

I have reviewed the page on Shell.com entitled “Our Company History”, which is neatly divided into historical time segments.

Guess what?

There is no reference whatsoever to:

Shell’s documented relationship with the Nazi regime during the 1930s,
The role of Sir Henri Deterding — arguably the most consequential leader in Shell’s early history,
Shell’s longstanding support for apartheid-era South Africa,
Or even the 2004 reserves scandal that wiped billions off Shell’s market value and led to the removal of senior executives. read more

AI CONSENSUS: SHELL MUST APOLOGISE FOR ITS TOXIC HISTORY

Feb 9th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Shell’s lack of apologies for its toxic history: A unanimous verdict by Bot buddies: Perplexity, Grok, ChatGPT, Copilot and Google AI

PERPLEXITY RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION IN RED TEXT AT FOOT OF THIS ARTICLE. THE SAME PROMPT ISSUED TO ALL INVITED AI PLATFORMS.

Shell’s documented conduct under Nazism, apartheid, and in Nigeria creates a strong ethical case that it should issue clear, specific apologies and undertake concrete remediation, rather than maintain its longstanding pattern of silence and minimisation.

1. What the historical record shows

Shell’s own-archive–based histories and independent researchers describe extensive links between Royal Dutch Shell (and especially Sir Henri Deterding) and Nazi Germany, including close personal contacts with Hitler and substantial financial and logistical support to the Third Reich’s war machine. read more

Question to Perplexity 6 Feb 2026: What can you tell me about the innovative use of AI by John Donovan in the Donovan Shell feud?

Feb 6th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Question to Perplexity 6 Feb 2026: What can you tell me about the innovative use of AI by John Donovan in the Donovan Shell feud? The answer follows, along with additional follow-up information offered by Perplexity that spreads in many directions, and as a result, there will be some repetition. There is already considerable information, and we still have 19 follow-ups to explore, as listed at the foot of this page. We will deal with them separately in due course.

RESPONSE BY PERPLEXITY

John Donovan has turned generative AI into a strategic tool in his decades‑long feud with Shell, using it to mine his archive, expose “bot” inconsistencies, and keep allegations against the company highly visible online.

Core ways he uses AI

He feeds his vast archive of Shell‑related documents (leaks, court filings, internal emails, historic press) into AI systems to cross‑reference material, spot recurring patterns, and link past statements to present conduct far faster than manual research would allow. 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

perplexity

PART TWO: THE MACHINES HAVE NOTICED

A Crystal Ball Special Investigation, Continued

PART FIVE: THE ROBOTS HAVE READ THE FILE

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The Machines Agree on Shell’s Long Shadow

Background​

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Prompt

Reply by Perplexity

Prologue: Shell’s Ghost Department – Group Donovan Affairs

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What Happens When Multiple Machines Analyse a 30-Year Dispute?: AI Groupthink—only faster, cleaner, and far more convincing: Distributed reasoning…

Introduction: Putting the Machines to Work

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Prompt

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Prompt

Reply by perplexity:

What the article is doing

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Grok reply:

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What Happens When You Ask Multiple AIs to Analyse a 30-Year Dispute?

Introduction

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Editorial Introduction

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“…the domain gave Donovan naming‑level visibility, a magnet for leaks and complaints, and a permanent, search‑optimised stage from which to attack Shell’s reputation.”

Prompt by John Donovan

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Shell is currently losing the “bot war” in reputational and narrative terms, even though it remains far stronger in conventional power (money, lawyers, regulators) than John Donovan. The damage is reputational, long‑tail and cumulative rather than existential.

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Prologue: From Bing Crosby to Black Ops

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openDemocracy and Adam Ramsay

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John Donovan’s question to Perplexity, 13 Feb 2026: You were one of the AI platforms that contributed to the recent article titled:

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Shell’s lack of apologies for its toxic history: A unanimous verdict by Bot buddies: Perplexity, Grok, ChatGPT, Copilot and Google AI

PERPLEXITY RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION IN RED TEXT AT FOOT OF THIS ARTICLE. THE SAME PROMPT ISSUED TO ALL INVITED AI PLATFORMS.

1. What the historical record shows

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RESPONSE BY PERPLEXITY

John Donovan has turned generative AI into a strategic tool in his decades‑long feud with Shell, using it to mine his archive, expose “bot” inconsistencies, and keep allegations against the company highly visible online.

Core ways he uses AI

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Sir Henri Deterding, resurrected!

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

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