Apple was fined 500 million euros ($570 million) and Meta was fined €200 million ($230 million) for breaking the Digital Markets Act, which was adopted in 2022. The European law aims to keep big tech companies from abusing their position as digital gatekeepers that can unilaterally impose requirements on users and businesses.
Source: Apple and Meta Are First to Be Hit by E.U. Digital Competition Law
The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has gone into business with artificial-intelligence powerhouse OpenAI. Under the agreement, ChatGPT will display summaries, quotes and links to original reporting from the Washington Post in response to relevant search queries. ChatGPT will featur the Post’s content across politics, global affairs, business, technology and more, “always with clear attribution and direct links to full articles,” the newspaper said.
Source: Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Inks OpenAI Licensing Deal for ChatGPT Search
Disc Makers CEO Tony van Veen calculated the ballpark royalties impact of Spotify’s 1,000-stream minimum during 2024. Last year, the exec estimated, emerging talent missed out on about $47 million in would-be recording royalties. On cue, Spotify fired back – including by arguing in more words that the affected tracks receive a small amount of fan interest and (owing mainly to withdrawal minimums) wouldn’t see their recording royalties reach artists in any event.
Source: Spotify Stream Minimum Debate Continues As Exec Claps Back
According to one music industry exec’s estimate, the controversial Spotify stream minimum cost emerging artists $47 million during 2024. As many know, that approach sees Spotify pay recording royalties only for tracks with at least 1,000 annual streams. Implemented (along with other changes) at the behest of the majors, the revamped model is effectively preventing the vast majority of uploaded recordings from generating payments.
Source: Spotify Stream Minimum Cost Indies $47M in 2024, Exec Estimates
According to the announcement on Thursday (April 17), the strategic capital raise includes “a structured capital facility” co-led by Northleaf Capital Partners and Ares Management funds, as well as “separately raised leverage”. Additional terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Goldstate’s new backerAres Management Corporation is a giant of the alternative investment space.
Netflix is building a new search experience aimed at improving the discovery experience, and it’s going to use AI to do it, the company’s CEO Greg Peters said during its first-quarter results conference call. Peters said Netflix is working on “interactive search that’s based on generative technologies” to help people find different titles.
Source: Netflix is revamping search with AI to improve discovery | TechCrunch
Asked on Thursday’s earnings call about the current worldwide economic uncertainty, which for lay people means President Trump’s tariffs, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters acknowledged he is “playing close attention, clearly, to the consumer sentiment and where the broader economy is moving.” Not that he and his fellow co-CEO Ted Sarandos are worried.
Source: Netflix Is “Paying Close Attention” to Tariffs Talk, But Believes It’s “Less Exposed” Than Others
Los Angeles-based Pex, an audio content identification platform, has been acquired. Pex’s new owner is a company called Vobile, which offers digital content protection and transaction services for entertainment companies, platforms, sports leagues, music labels, and publishers. Vobile has confirmed that Pex COO Amadea Choplin has joined the company as Head of Music Business, while founder Rasty Turek, formerly CEO, will act as a consultant to Vobile going forward.
Source: Pex acquired by copyright protection and content monetization company Vobile
Deepfake detection and takedown service Loti AI has secured an additional $16.2 million in series A funding led by Khosla Ventures with additional investments from FUSE, Bling Capital, and Ensemble. This brings the startup’s total raised to date to $23 million. Loti AI is working to drive development and market expansion of its likeness protection technology, which initially launched for public figures and celebrities.
Source: Deepfake Detection Startup Loti AI Secures Additional $16.2 Million in Series A Funding
Investors are concerned that Alphabet’s dominance in search means it has nowhere to go but down, that the company has fallen behind its competitors in AI, that it is making substantial investments in AI, and that younger consumers are using AI services rather than traditional search, according to the report. Since January 2023, around the time OpenAI’s ChatGPT appeared, Alphabet’s share of the global market for search engines has slid from 92.9% to 89.6%, the report said.
Source: Alphabet Faces Investor Concern About AI Challenge to Search Business | PYMNTS.com