I’ll confess, with no shame whatsoever, that I really love ads. Artsy ones, funny ones, weird ones, emotional ones – TV commercials were my childhood TikTok before any of us were using terms like “short-form video.” But like most creative things in my life, AI is sucking the joy out of it. And it’s only […]
TikTok is officially under new ownership in the US, and that could spell big changes for the video-sharing app. On January 22nd, ByteDance – TikTok’s Chinese parent company – and a group of investors closed a $14 billion deal to spin off the platform’s US operations, introducing a new slate of American executives. The Silver […]
Every week, more than 230 million people ask ChatGPT for health and wellness advice, according to OpenAI. The company says that many see the chatbot as an “ally” to help navigate the maze of insurance, file paperwork, and become better self-advocates. In exchange, it hopes you will trust its chatbot with details about your diagnoses, […]
A judge is questioning whether Epic Games and Google are settling their long-running antitrust fight partly because of a previously unannounced partnership involving the Unreal Engine, Fortnite, and Android. In a hearing in San Francisco today, the court revealed that Epic and Google have struck a new deal that apparently includes “joint product development, joint […]
The sun was already beginning to set as Portlanders in weatherproof jackets and fleeces lined up around Revolution Hall. It wasn’t yet 5PM on a Wednesday but the crowd was gathering well before the town hall was scheduled to begin. Just a day earlier, news outlets reported that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had been […]
Ubisoft is making some massive changes to its business: As part of a reorganization, the company will focus its efforts on the big open-world games it’s famous for along with live service titles, and it has canceled six in-development games, including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. It’s all part of a recent […]
Anthropic is overhauling Claude’s so-called “soul doc.” The new missive is a 57-page document titled “Claude’s Constitution,” which details “Anthropic’s intentions for the model’s values and behavior,” aimed not at outside readers but the model itself. The document is designed to spell out Claude’s “ethical character” and “core identity,” including how it should balance conflicting […]
I’m not sure anyone saw this news coming, but the TV landscape as we know it could change considerably over the next year or two. Sony, the storied Japanese TV brand, has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Chinese competitor TCL. This potential partnership – with TCL set to hold […]
Animal Crossing has always been anti-instant gratification. By design, you have to take your time, wait for days to pass in real time, and complete a seemingly endless list of chores to build a meaningful life with your animal friends. The slowness is part of its appeal. But with New Horizons, some of that slowness […]
As masked and armed men in combat armor swarmed throughout the Twin Cities, Gov. Tim Walz took to primetime television to ask Minnesotans to film ICE. The videos, he said, would “create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans – not just to establish a record for posterity, but to bank evidence for future prosecution.” […]