Every fall, squirrels hide hundreds of acorns--and use smell, memory, and even theft to get them back. Every fall, squirrels stash hundreds of nuts to survive the colder winter months. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. As someone who routinely "hides" things from myself--car keys, receipts, even my phone while I'm actively talking on it--I felt instantly validated by Sarah Silverman's joke that squirrels forget where they bury 80% of their nuts. "And that's how trees are planted!"

US District Court Judge Vince Chhabria spent several hours grilling lawyers from both sides after they each filed motions for partial summary judgment, meaning they want Chhabria to rule on specific issues of the case rather than leaving each one to be decided at trial. The authors allege that Meta illegally used their work to build its generative AI tools, emphasizing that the company pirated their books through "shadow libraries" like LibGen. Kadrey v. Meta is one of the dozens of lawsuits filed against AI companies that are winding through the US legal system. While the authors were heavily focused on the piracy element of the case, Chhabria spoke emphatically about his belief that the big question is whether Meta's AI tools will hurt book sales and otherwise cause the authors to lose money. "If you are dramatically changing, you might even say obliterating, the market for that person's work, and you're saying that you don't even have to pay a license to that person to use their work to create the product that's destroying the market for their work--I just don't understand how that can be fair use," he told Meta lawyer Kannon Shanmugam.

Sarah Silverman's lawsuit against OpenAI will advance with some of her legal team's claims dismissed. The comedian sued OpenAI and Meta in July 2023, claiming they trained their AI models on her books and other work without consent. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the unfair competition portion of the lawsuit will proceed. Judge Martínez-Olguín gave the plaintiffs until March 13 to amend the suit. US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín threw out portions of the complaint from Silverman's legal team Monday, including negligence, unjust enrichment, DMCA violations and accusations of vicarious infringement.

Artificial intelligence began to reshape music, movies and art in 2023, sparking both enthusiasm and panic. Some artists used AI to aid their creative practices. Others took legal action against the companies that co-opted art to make their models more powerful. As battles played out across picket lines and courtrooms, millions of viewers and listeners around the world tuned into AI-created content with curiosity, disdain and glee. Here are the major ways AI impacted culture this year.

Stealing someone else's joke is one of the highest crimes in comedy. With new AI tools like ChatGPT, some comedians are now worried about getting ripped off. After comedian Sarah Silverman joined a lawsuit against OpenAI and Meta for allegedly using her content to train their bots without permission, one comic told Fox News ChatGPT does not pose a threat to him. "In terms of how ChatGPT affects comedy, yes, I think we're going to enter the golden age of in-print comedians, meaning people who can type things on the internet," said Jimmy Failla, comedian and host of "Fox Across America" on Fox News Radio and Fox Nation. "But where true performers and people with actual charisma and comedic wherewithal will always flourish is no one's going to show up to a comedy club and buy a two-drink minimum to stare at a laptop, typing out words, or even saying those words through some Bluetooth audio," he continued.

Comedian and actress Sarah Silverman explained that she'cringes' at some of her past jokes, suggesting that certain forms of humor are no longer as socially acceptable. Comedian Sarah Silverman said during an interview on CBC Radio One's "Q with Tom Power" that she cringes at some jokes from her past, but claimed it's a normal learning process as time goes on. Silverman has made a career out of using shock-value in her comedy, from saying, "I hope the Jews did kill Christ, I'd do it again" in a standup routine, to wearing blackface in a past comedy skit. In a recent interview she noted that many of her past jokes make her uncomfortable, but she thinks that comedians and America in general need to accept societal progress. "Gee, comedy is not evergreen," she said the interview.

Yahoo and Microsoft have both revealed plans to create their own TV shows in the ever-expanding battle for the living room. Yahoo has unveiled plans for four shows, while Microsoft is believed to have 12 in development. They will go up against Amazon, Hulu and Netflix, all of whom are also commissioning their own shows in a bid to change they way we watch TV. Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer has unveiled plans to break into television-style original video with the launch of two original comedy series and an internet channel that will stream live concerts. Amazon last week unveiled a $99 TV box to take on Apple, Google and Roku - and it doubles as a games console.