Goto

Collaborating Authors

 Media


Amazon Is Making an AI-Animated 'Good Advice Cupcake' TV Show. Its Original Creator Is Furious

WIRED

Amazon Is Making an AI-Animated TV Show. The company licensed the character for a new Amazon series--made with AI--without her consent. Author and illustrator Loryn Brantz never imagined that a popular cartoon character she created almost a decade ago would one day be the subject of an intellectual property dispute involving BuzzFeed, Amazon's video streaming service, and generative artificial intelligence. But that's exactly the situation she finds herself in today. "Nothing said in good faith by managers and executives was followed through with," Brantz says of BuzzFeed, her former employer.


Universal rejects billionaire Bill Ackman's takeover bid

BBC News

Universal rejects billionaire Bill Ackman's takeover bid Universal Music Group, the entertainment giant behind acts such as Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar, has rejected a takeover offer by billionaire Bill Ackman's investment firm. The music giant said Pershing Square's $64.3bn (£48bn) takeover offer was not in the best interests of the company, shareholders, artists, fans and other stakeholders. Universal said the offer fundamentally and materially undervalues the business, which also runs Abbey Road Studios and owns labels such as EMI and Island Records. Pershing Square, which already owns a stake in Universal, declined to comment on the rejection. The investment firm launched its takeover bid for the world's largest music company in April, a move which would have seen it listed as a new company in America.


CNN is the latest media company to sue Perplexity

Engadget

The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, claims that the AI company unlawfully crawls, scrapes, copies, and distributes CNN's content from CNN Digital Platforms and third-party platforms. It also accuses the AI tools of reproducing verbatim copies of its articles, including paywalled stories, in query responses to users. Perplexity's AI tools allegedly have incorrectly attributed hallucinated content to CNN, which the company says in the suit violates its trademark. CNN's lawsuit stands for the proposition that Perplexity, a company valued at tens of billions of dollars, should not be able to steal from entities that create the original content Perplexity exploits, a CNN spokesperson said in a statement to the outlet. The public rely on high quality news journalism reported by human beings to understand their world, which is frequently dangerous and expensive to produce.


We Asked the 'Future of Truth' Author to Explain How He Used AI. It Didn't Go Well

WIRED

We Asked the Author to Explain How He Used AI. A book about how AI shapes perceptions of reality came under fire for using AI-generated quotes. Its problems go beyond that. Earlier this month, WIRED published an excerpt from Steve Rosenbaum's buzzy new book,, which looks at how artificial intelligence warps people's sense of reality. Shortly thereafter, The New York Times reported that the book contained over a half-dozen made-up or misattributed quotes.


Paramount used AI to make the ugliest Star Trek thumbnail ever

Engadget

They Khan't get away with that. Paramount+ looks to have used generative AI to whip up a thumbnail for, according to a report by . The image shows Captain Kirk, as played by William Shatner, dressed in a business suit. Kirk never dons a business suit in, or any other time throughout Shatner's decades of portraying the character. He did rock a flannel shirt and jeans once during a visit to 1930s Earth.


Fake grant email promises 4.5 Million but could steal your identity

FOX News

IMF grant scam emails pressure recipients with a $4.5 million promise while requesting personal documents like passports. Learn the red flags that expose this phishing attempt.


Lopez: As Compton students ace tests, educators are baffled by Rep. Maxine Waters' snub of school bond

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. As Compton students ace tests, educators are baffled by Rep. Maxine Waters' snub of school bond Students walk on campus at Dominguez High School in Compton. A bond measure would provide millions of dollars to rebuild the school. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here .


NSDAP archive: How DER SPIEGEL processed the data from the Nazi card file

Der Spiegel International

Bereich How DER SPIEGEL processed the data from the NSDAP membership card file aufklappen The NSDAP membership card file was recently made available by the US National Archives on its website in digitized form. DER SPIEGEL downloaded all of these documents and extracted the content with the help of artificial intelligence. To minimize errors when reading the old files, the dataset was first classified with the help of machine learning and pre-sorted into groups. The handwriting on the index cards is in some cases difficult to read, on some the text has faded, many are written in old German script (Sütterlin). Other cards, meanwhile, were filled out with a typewriter.


'Like a billionaire on acid': Star Wars director Gareth Edwards comes out in favour of AI

The Guardian

'Like a billionaire on acid': Star Wars director Gareth Edwards comes out in favour of AI Speaking at Amazon's AI on the Lot event, the Rogue One film-maker Gareth Edwards said'it'll do anything you ask' and'it's going to be better than CGI' Jurassic World Rebirth and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards has enthusiastically endorsed the use of generative AI in film-making, saying "it is a fucking genius at helping you" and "it's going to be better than CGI". Edwards was speaking at AI on the Lot, an event in Culver City, California, organised by Amazon, and in remarks reported by the Hollywood Reporter said: "I can't see a reason why you wouldn't become interested in this stuff as a film-maker. It's so clearly a tool that might be up there with the camera. It's going to be better than CGI." Edwards said that AI is most useful in the preparatory stages of film-making, saying: "It's only good for iteration and discovering what the movie should be, and then once you know what it is, go in and start making it your movie." He added: "It has no taste whatsoever. It is a fucking genius at helping you. I view it like having a second-unit director who is a billionaire on acid. Like, it'll do anything you ask, not a problem. And you'll give it notes, and it'll be like, 'I don't do notes. I'll just do something totally different.' Edwards' positive view of AI was echoed by veteran writer and director Paul Schrader, who was also speaking at the event. In remarks reported by Deadline, Schrader said: "I don't think the real future of AI commercially is in all this flash, all these monsters - that's just jacked-up special effects on steroids," he said. "The real tip of the spear is when we can create an AI protagonist, not a hybrid, and that movie makes money.


Streamers Like Clavicular Are Humiliating OnlyFans Girls For Clout

WIRED

Sex workers appear on the livestreams of famous manosphere influencers to boost their followings--but often end up being degraded. Adult film star Willow Ryder didn't immediately recognize the man who entered the Miami party she was at earlier this month, but she knew he wasn't part of the sex work industry . He had an entourage and what appeared to be a hulking bodyguard. Her friends told her it was Clavicular, aka Braden Peters, a popular Kick livestreamer known for " looksmaxxing," or resorting to extreme measures to improve his appearance. Ryder says she didn't know exactly who Clavicular was or what he talked about on his stream, but she knew that he had a massive following.