Open AI
News Corp
News Corp became the latest publishing giant to ink a deal with OpenAI allowing the company to mine its content for chatbot training. This gives OpenAI access to the Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Barron’s, among other outlets under the Murdoch-owned company’s big umbrella. News of the pact, valued at over $250 million per the Journal, follows similar deals between Sam Alman’s tech world superstar and the Associated Press, Axel Springer and Financial Times.
Will the New York Times, which sued OpenAI late last year, join the bandwagon?
OpenAI isn’t limiting its vast training resources to traditional media outlets. It also made a deal this month with the social media site Reddit to use its content, sending shares in that company, which just went public, soaring 15%
Vivek Ramaswamy
Buzzfeed
The former Republican presidential candidate recently revealed he’s built an 8.7% stake in the digital publisher, which is struggling to recapture its ‘10s glory days. In an odd instance of business and editorial functions being at odds, a scuffle has now broken out as Ramaswamy urges the Beast to cut staff and hire conservative voices including Tucker Carlson.
Pixar
The animation studio may not be quite the beloved juggernaut it was before Disney bought it in 2006, but it’s still a force in family entertainment. In a sign of the fiercely competitive streaming times, it announced layoffs of 14% of the workforce as it refocuses on film. Maybe it will bring some of that early magic back to theaters?
Disney
Nelson Peltz
In other Disney news, a long and bitter corporate battle pitting it against activist investor Normal Peltz came to a seemingly final end when Peltz sold his portions of the $3.5 billion in shares he controlled as the head of Trian Fund Management. (The majority of those shares are owned by ex-Marvel chief Ike Perlmutter.)
Peltz had sought to appoint two members to Disney board after criticizing CEO Bob Iger, in his second go at the role, for the company’s streaming strategy and succession planning, among other gripes. That quest ended last month. Disney´s stock has jumped about 15% in the past year.
Apple
UK media
The automatic ad blocker that Apple is preparing for its next iOS update has raised alarm among Britain’s News Media Association, which represents 900 outlets, that the AI-reliant feature could decimate already wan advertising revenues. Fanning the flames is that so many social media companies have attracted users by offering free newspaper content. Apple has yet to respond to a letter sent by the BNMA.
CNN
ABC
The networks, both navigating choppy waters (including the departure of ABC News head Kim Godwin), didn’t dawdle in landing two of the biggest TV news events of the year: the pair of presidential debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. These are especially major coups given the highly unusual debates this cycle. For the first time since 1987, they will not be simulcast on every major news network, or be organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The first debate, on CNN, will also take place in June, far earlier than normal. How will these and other changes affect the events? Many will be watching with white knuckles to find out, and to see how sharp and well-behaved the two candidates are.
