Headlines

OpenAI Is Growing Fast and Burning Through Piles of Money

OpenAI’s monthly revenue hit $300 million in August, up 1,700 percent since the beginning of 2023, and the company expects about $3.7 billion in annual sales this year, according to financial documents reviewed by The New York Times. But it expects to lose roughly $5 billion this year after paying for costs related to running its services and other expenses according to an analysis by a financial professional who has also reviewed the documents.

Source: OpenAI Is Growing Fast and Burning Through Piles of Money

Hollywood industry in crisis after strikes, streaming wars

Unemployment in film and TV in the United States was at 12.5% in August, but many think those numbers are actually much higher, because many film workers either do not file for unemployment benefits because they’re not eligible or they’ve exhausted those benefits after months of not working. As a whole, the number of US productions during the second quarter of 2024 was down about 40% compared to the same period in 2022.

Source: Hollywood industry in crisis after strikes, streaming wars

Author of AI-Generated Work Rejected by Copyright Office Says Lack of Protection Has Crushed Him

Jason Allen, the author of the two-dimensional artwork, titled “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” which was rejected by the U.S. Copyright Office last year, has filed a request for declaratory judgment asking a district court to find that his work is eligible for copyright registration.

Source: Author of AI-Generated Work Rejected by Copyright Office Says Lack of Protection Has Crushed Him

Hollywood is coming out in force for California’s AI safety bill

Hollywood is squaring off against Silicon Valley in the battle over SB 1047, California’s first-of-its-kind AI safety bill. Amid doubts about whether Governor Gavin Newsom will sign the legislation, a wave of star-studded endorsements mark the first organized celebrity effort to advance AI regulations beyond the direct interests of the entertainment industry.

Source: Hollywood is coming out in force for California’s AI safety bill

Netflix To Pitch Top Agents, Managers On Transparency At Event Tuesday

The topic of how the major streamers pay talent has been one of the dominant conversations in Hollywood over the past few months. Netflix is holding a presentation for top agents and managers where it will likely be discussed as the streamer is understood to be reevaluating how it structures its deals going forward. Agents and managers are expecting information about more transparency on how the streamer pays their talent

Source: Netflix To Pitch Top Agents, Managers On Transparency At Event Tuesday; Talent Payment Proposal Expected To Be Discussed

Cloudflare reins in AI scraper bots with new Audit panel

Cloudflare on Monday expanded its defense against the dark arts of AI web scrapers by providing customers with a bit more visibility into, and control over, unwelcome content raids. The idea is to provide customers with analytics data about crawlers that harvest data for AI training and inference so better decisions can be made about whether to embrace the bots or turn them away.

Source: Cloudflare reins in AI scraper bots with new Audit panel

James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board of Directors

James Cameron has joined the board of directors of Stability AI, bringing his expertise as an artistic and tech visionary to the gen AI innovator. “James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up,” said Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju, who is also a former CEO of Weta, the visual effects studio on Cameron’s “Avatar” movies. “Stability AI’s mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a full stack AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life.

Source: James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board of Directors

AllTrack Launches Performing Rights API Tools for Royalty Tracking

Performing rights organization AllTrack, built to serve the independent sector, has launched a suite of APIs that are now available to creator-centric platforms like streaming services, UGC platforms, distributors, and publishing administrators. In a first-of-its-kind integration between a streaming service and a PRO, TIDAL recently became the first platform to integrate AllTrack’s APIs.

Source: AllTrack Launches Performing Rights API Tools for Royalty Tracking

TikTok Music to Shut Down in November After Launching in 2023

TikTok Music is officially set to cease operating on November 28th, 2024, after launching in 2023, TikTok has announced.  Absent from TikTok Music’s website is any mention of the precise cause(s) of the shutdown.
However, it’s possible that licensing problems (or at least friction) of some sort contributed to the decision. TikTok set its standalone streaming ambitions in motion in 2022, and even back then, reports suggested the majors were concerned with the service’s monetization potential.

Source: TikTok Music to Shut Down in November After Launching in 2023

Daily Mail CEO on Google lawsuits, AI and why future of news is bright

DMG Media chief executive Rich Caccappolo has said that monopoly lawsuits against Google and the prospect of new UK tech regulation could bring huge benefits to news publishers. Speaking at the Press Gazette Future of Media Technology Conference in London this month, Caccappolo said he expects the major tech companies in the UK media market to get designated as having “strategic market status” by December this year.

Source: Daily Mail CEO on Google lawsuits, AI and why future of news is bright

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