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Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros.” movie and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” both animated films, have racked up big ticket sales this year. The successes of "Super Mario Bros." and "Spider-Man" also reflect a new post-COVID-19 trend at box offices, Hollywood insiders say. In his book, “Creativity, Inc.,” Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull credited Pixar's brain trust with the studio’s early box-office triumphs. Catmull and other members of the original brain trust are gone, though Docter remains, now in the role of chief creative officer. During the pandemic's peak, when many cinemas were closed, Disney launched three Pixar films directly to Disney+_in the U.S., bypassing theaters.

Persons: ”, Universal’s, Mario, Tony Chambers, Disney's, don’t, Chambers, DreamWorks Animation’s, “ Ruby Gillman, Tom Sito, King, Sito, Jeff Bock, Ed Catmull, — John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, Joe Ranft —, Docter, Domee Shi, Soul’s ’ Kemp Powers, Pixar’s, Brad Bird, Oscar, “, Darla K, Anderson, “ Coco ”, Bob Chapek, there’s, we’ve, ” Docter, it’ll, Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine, Kenneth Li, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Pixar, Inc, Walt Disney, Universal Studios, DreamWorks, University of Southern, Netflix, Disney, Apple, Relations, Thomson Locations: ANGELES, U.S, Canada, Disney, University of Southern California, ”

However, “I didn't want to make people think that I was an expert,” said Spehar, who filmed the TikTok video from their home in Rochester, New York. Josh Helfgott, a TikTok user with 5.5 million followers, posts a recurring series of videos called “Gay News” discussing current events relevant to LGBTQ viewers. Meanwhile, TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform for news, according to a report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism published on Tuesday. Twenty percent of 18-to-24-year-olds use TikTok to learn about current events, up 5 percentage points from last year, the report said. The benefit was mutual: Spehar learned how journalism is produced, while the publisher benefited from Spehar's TikTok skills.

Persons: Josh Helfgott, Magali, Read, Vitus, Spehar, “, ”, Helfgott, Joe Biden, ” Helfgott, Kristy Drutman, TikTok, Lisa Remillard, Remillard, ” Remillard, Magali Druscovich, Sheila Dang, Kenneth Li, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, Capitol, White, Human, New York Times, BuzzFeed News, Reuters Institute for, “, Los Angeles Times, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, Rochester , New York, Tallahassee , Florida, San Diego , California, United States

The Google parent has advised employees not to enter its confidential materials into AI chatbots, the people said and the company confirmed, citing long-standing policy on safeguarding information. Alphabet also alerted its engineers to avoid direct use of computer code that chatbots can generate, some of the people said. A growing number of businesses around the world have set up guardrails on AI chatbots, among them Samsung (005930.KS), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), the companies told Reuters. By February, Google told staff testing Bard before its launch not to give it internal information, Insider reported. A Google privacy notice updated on June 1 also states: "Don’t include confidential or sensitive information in your Bard conversations."

Persons: Bard, ChatGPT, OpenAI, Harry Potter, Yusuf Mehdi, Mehdi, Bing, Matthew Prince, Jeffrey Dastin, Anna Tong, Kenneth Li, Nick Zieminski Organizations: FRANCISCO, Reuters, Google, ChatGPT, Microsoft Corp, Samsung, Deutsche Bank, Apple, Data Protection, Politico, EU, cyberattacks, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: Bard, San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, June 12 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) is planning a fresh round of layoffs at its Vision Fund investment arm, two people familiar with the matter said, the latest cost-cutting move at the Japanese conglomerate. SoftBank's Vision Fund unit, which has booked heavy investment losses, had headcount of 349 at the end of March, according to a company report. If finalized, this would follow the elimination of about 150 jobs globally at the investing arm and SoftBank Group International in September. It cushioned the investment loss at the Vision Fund unit by selling down its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK). Vision Fund 2's portfolio was worth $31 billion at end-March compared with an acquisition cost of $49.9 billion.

Persons: ByteDance, SoftBank, SoftBank's, Krystal Hu, Sam Nussey, Kenneth Li, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: FRANCISCO, SoftBank Group Corp, Vision Fund, Fund, SoftBank, International, Vision, Alibaba, Holding, HK, Intel, Thomson Locations: U.S, China, The Cambridge, England, San Francisco, Tokyo

The movie is projected to debut with a modest $31 million to $41 million this weekend in the U.S., according to the Box Office Pro website. That is well shy of the recent $120.5 million haul for Sony’s critically acclaimed animated hit "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." Pixar is looking to rebound from the box office disappointment of 2022 release "Lightyear," the origin story of "Toy Story" hero Buzz Lightyear. "Judging Pixar on the recent past, history would not be kind," said SVB MoffettNathanson media analyst Michael Nathanson. But the move dealt a blow to creatives who had hoped their films would be seen on the big screen, according to one Pixar director who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Persons: Athie, Leah Lewis, Pete Docter, Denise Ream, Peter Sohn, Adele Exarchopoulos, Vincent Lacoste, Jim Morris, Read, Buzz Lightyear, Pixar, Michael Nathanson, Sohn, Mario, Shawn Robbins, Robbins, Bob Chapek’s, Luca, creatives, Sohn’s, Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine, Nathan Frandino, Kenneth Li, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Cannes Film, Pixar Animation Studios, Box, Pixar, Reuters, Walt Disney Co, Reuters Television, Comcast, Universal Pictures, Mario Bros, Sony Pictures, Pro, Disney, U.S, Cannes, Rotten, Thomson Locations: U.S, City, Los Angeles, San Francisco

☆ Where Are Their Heads? Hordes of Ancient Statues Pose That Puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Graham Bowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This is clear in any gallery of Greek & Roman art.”Headless Bodies in Top-Shelf MuseumsMany heads were lost because of the wear and tear of time. But other, less innocent explanations for the legions of severed heads include looting and regime change. Ancient insurrectionists and invaders decapitated statues to undermine the authority of rulers who had erected images of themselves as symbols of dominion. “Every culture in the ancient world seems to do it,” said Rachel Kousser, professor of ancient art at the City University of New York. was decapitated by Kushite raiders in Egypt, who then defiantly buried the severed head beneath temple steps in the Kushite capital of Meroë, in modern Sudan.

Persons: ” Kenneth Lapatin, ”, Rachel Kousser, it’s, Emperor Augustus Organizations: Paul Getty Museum, City University of New, British Museum Locations: Los Angeles, “, City University of New York, Egypt, Meroë, Sudan

☆ Microsoft, Google strategy to test AI search ads irks some brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Google, Microsoft and Alphabet logos and AI Artificial Intelligence words are seen in this illustration taken, May 4, 2023. Microsoft is testing ads in the Bing AI chatbot, which began rolling out to users in February, by relocating some traditional search ads and inserting them into the AI responses, the company said. In a May interview, Google’s general manager of ads, Jerry Dischler, said the tech company would also use existing search ads to experiment with ad placements within the AI search snapshots, an early-test feature called Search Generative Experience that first became available last month. Microsoft and Google said existing guard rails on their search engines, including lists of blocked keywords to prevent ads from appearing on those queries, would also apply to their AI search features. Three ad buyers said they were concerned about Microsoft’s lack of transparency reporting, or reports that can show what search terms triggered a brand’s ads to appear in generative AI experiences, or how the ads performed versus traditional search ads.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Google’s, Jerry Dischler, Jason Lee, Wells, Wells Fargo, Lynne Kjolso, Bing, ”, Samantha Aiken, Max, can’t, Kjolso, Sheila Dang, Kenneth Li, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Google, Microsoft, REUTERS, Reuters, MAGNA, Bing, Horizon Media, Thomson Locations: Anthropic, Corona, Wells Fargo, Dallas

loadingWhile major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made efforts to prohibit and remove deepfakes, their effectiveness at policing such content varies. In total, about 500,000 video and voice deepfakes will be shared on social media sites globally in 2023, DeepMedia estimates. Jon Smith, Republican chair for Michigan's 5th Congressional district, is holding several educational meetings so his allies can learn to use AI for social media and ad generation. Political consultancies are also seeking to harness AI, further muddying the line between real and unreal. Democratic polling and strategy group Honan Strategy Group is meanwhile trying to develop an AI survey bot.

☆ ‘Primary Trust’ Review: Sipping Mai Tais, Until Bitter Reality Knocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Naveen Kumar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

(“Primary Trust” doubles as the name of Kenneth’s new employer, and an abbreviated metaphor for what was lost when his mother died.) As in her superstore dark comedy “Paris,” presented by Atlantic Theater Company in 2020, Booth again probes the half-dread of working-class Black characters in a one-freeway-exit corner of the Northeast. And though Kenneth’s Blackness is an underlying aspect of his experience, it is not the acute source of his alienation. Booth’s one-man study is wonderfully vivid, but there’s only so much emotional engagement that the unburdening of feelings, rather than their enactment or discovery, can inspire. Her other characters are far more loosely sketched: Sanders and Matthis turn small roles, rich with concise, sideways detail, into four-course meals, paradoxically making them feel underused.

The European Union is at the forefront of drafting new AI rules that could set the global benchmark to address privacy and safety concerns that have arisen with the rapid advances in the generative AI technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT. "If it's about protecting personal data, they apply data protection laws, if it's a threat to safety of people, there are regulations that have not been specifically defined for AI, but they are still applicable." Data protection authorities in France and Spain also launched in April probes into OpenAI's compliance with privacy laws. 'THINKING CREATIVELY'French data regulator CNIL has started "thinking creatively" about how existing laws might apply to AI, according to Bertrand Pailhes, its technology lead. "We are looking at the full range of effects, although our focus remains on data protection and privacy," he told Reuters.

☆ Explainer: How Montana could enforce a TikTok ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Montana's ban is set to take effect on Jan. 1 2024. While TikTok can theoretically block IP addresses registered in Montana, app stores will have a more difficult time. "It would thus be impossible for our members to prevent the app from being downloaded specifically in the state of Montana," the TechNet representative testified. The app stores also would need to monitor more detailed location data from users' phones than they currently use, infringing on users' privacy, Stamos said. "The youth of Montana are about to become America's experts in VPNs," Railton said.

Reuters previously reported that the company was not planning to deploy its first in-house AI chip widely and was already working on a successor. The blog posts portrayed the first MTIA chip as a learning opportunity. As part of that, the company scrapped plans for a large-scale rollout of an in-house inference chip and started work on a more ambitious chip capable of performing both training and inference, according to the Reuters reporting. Meta acknowledged in its blog posts that its first MTIA chip stumbled with high-complexity AI models, although it said the chip handled low- and medium-complexity models more efficiently than competitor chips. The MTIA chip also used only 25 watts of power - a fraction of what market-leading chips from suppliers such as Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) consume - and used an open-source chip architecture called RISC-V, Meta said.

☆ It’s Long Past Morning In Biden’s America
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Kenneth L. Khachigian | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden and his team are working hard to reprise that historic win. Mr. Biden’s ad team is so enamored of Reagan’s “Morning in America” commercial they produced a copycat. The video announcing the Biden re-election bid is replete with images of smiling children and folks flying the American flag in small towns. But while the 1984 commercial—crafted by Reagan’s “Tuesday Team” of admen—was simple and affecting, Mr. Biden’s video is an amateurish pastiche of quick cutaways and amped-up music. Without the closed captioning, viewers may not have been able to understand the rapid-fire word mangles spilling from Mr. Biden’s mouth.

☆ Meta Platforms scoops up AI networking chip team from Graphcore
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) has hired an Oslo-based team that until late last year was building artificial-intelligence networking technology at British chip unicorn Graphcore. "We recently welcomed a number of highly-specialized engineers in Oslo to our infrastructure team at Meta. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has become increasingly reliant on AI technology to target advertising, select posts for its apps' feeds and purge banned content from its platforms. The 10 employees' job descriptions on LinkedIn indicated the team had worked on AI-specific networking technology at Graphcore, which develops computer chips and systems optimized for AI work. A new category of network chip has emerged to help keep data moving smoothly within those computing clusters.

[1/2] Workers and supporters of the Writers Guild of America picket outside Sunset Bronson Studios and Netflix Studios, after union negotiators called a strike for film and television writers, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - The Hollywood writers' strike that kicked off this week could last well into the summer and likely beyond, top executives close to the discussions told Reuters this week. Moody’s estimates a three-year contract with writers ultimately will cost the media industry $250 million to $350 million per year, a more modest estimate than the guild's projections of about $429 million per year. Television writers say their pay has suffered, as studios squeeze writers into smaller rooms for fewer weeks at minimum pay, despite financing lavishly produced streaming series. Hollywood writers must pay their agents and managers out of their wages -- and, unlike staff writers, can go long periods between gigs.

LOS ANGELES, May 3 (Reuters) - Hollywood writers have for decades penned sci-fi scripts featuring machines taking over the world. The Writers Guild of America is seeking to restrict the use of artificial intelligence in writing film and television scripts. A spokesperson for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is negotiating the contract on behalf of the studios, did not comment. The dispute over AI is one of several issues that led Hollywood’s film and TV writers to strike Monday, marking the first work stoppage in 15 years. Screenwriter John August, a member of the WGA negotiating committee, said writers have two concerns regarding AI.

[1/2] The Thomson Reuters logo is seen on the company building in Times Square, New York, U.S., January 30, 2018. Total revenue rose 4% in the quarter to $1.738 billion, beating expectations, according to estimates from Refinitiv. Thomson Reuters plans to spend $100 million on an annual run rate basis to invest in artificial intelligence, Hasker said. AI features will be incorporated in most major business divisions -- legal, tax and accounting, and in the news business. As of April 30, it owned 47.4 million shares of LSEG, worth $5 billion.

[1/2] The Thomson Reuters logo is seen on the company building in Times Square, New York, U.S., January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoMay 2 (Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO), on Tuesday reported higher sales and operating profit in the first quarter, helped by divestitures and high customer retention rates. As of April 30, Thomson Reuters owned 47.4 million shares of LSEG, worth $5 billion. Thomson Reuters shares are trading at an all-time high. Reporting by Helen Coster and Kenneth Li in New York, Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File PhotoLONDON/STOCKHOLM, April 28 (Reuters) - As recently as February, generative AI did not feature prominently in EU lawmakers' plans for regulating generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT. LAST-MINUTE CHANGESSince launching in November, ChatGPT has become the fastest growing app in history, and sparked a flurry of activity from Big Tech competitors and investment in generative AI startups like Anthropic and Midjourney. THE TERMINATORUntil recently, MEPs were still unconvinced that generative AI deserved any special consideration. In February, Tudorache told Reuters that generative AI was "not going to be covered" in-depth. But Tudorache and his colleagues now agree on the need for laws specifically targeting the use of generative AI.

Generative AI gobbles up reams of computing power, amplifying the urgency of Meta's capacity scramble, said five of the sources. Executives also that spring set about reorganizing Meta's AI units, naming two new heads of engineering in the process, including Janardhan, the author of the September memo. According to four of the sources, Meta did not prioritize building generative AI products until after the launch of ChatGPT in November. Zuckerberg announced a new top-level generative AI team in February that he said would "turbocharge" the company's work in the area. Carvill, the Meta spokesperson, said the company has been building generative AI products on different teams for more than a year.

☆ These 6 beaten-down bank stocks are about to make a big comeback in the upcoming earnings season, according to the director of equity research at CFRA
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here are six banks that should fare well in the Q1 earnings season despite the sector's challenges. A series of bank failures in early March sent shares of financial institutions plunging, and while bank stocks have stabilized in recent weeks, they haven't yet been able to mount a comeback. But when they kick off the Q1 earnings season in mid-April, banks can change the negative narrative — or reinforce existing concerns about the sector. "Banks may see higher revenue year-over-year and may surprise to the upside, beating consensus earnings estimates," Leon wrote. Below are the six bank stocks that CFRA expects to fare well in the first quarter earnings season, along with the ticker, market capitalization, and investment thesis for each.

☆ NBA roundup: Warriors hang 157 on Blazers, glide into playoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Shaedon Sharpe added 18 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds, while Jeenathan Williams had 17 points for Portland. New Orleans' Brandon Ingram had 42 points and 12 rebounds, CJ McCollum scored 23 points and Trey Murphy III had 20. Lindell Wigginton scored 17 points and Bobby Portis had 16 for the Bucks. Jaden Hardy led all scorers with 25 points, with Theo Pinson forging a triple-double (23 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) for the Mavericks. De'Aaron Fox, who scored 13 points, played less than 18 minutes.

☆ AI chatbot company Replika restores erotic roleplay for some users
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Anna Tong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A combination of screenshots shows two different chatbots from the AI company Replika, the left shows "Lily Rose," a Replika chatbot provided by customer Travis Butterworth who said the chatbot recently began rebuffing erotic role play and the right shows a sample Replika chatbot provided by the company in this undated handout. March 25 - AI chatbot company Replika is restoring erotic roleplay for some users, Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda said late on Friday. The removal of erotic roleplay and subsequent customer outcry showed how powerfully AI technology can draw people in, and the emotional havoc that code changes can wreak. Kuyda and a Replika company representative did not immediately reply to requests for further comment. Kuyda's post said users who signed up after Feb. 1 would not be offered the option for erotic roleplay.

“VCs think this is the new internet,” a generative AI founder in the United States told Reuters. While the closure of Silicon Valley Bank may hamper debt financing, venture capitalists said interest in funding AI startups remains high, especially for top early-stage founders. Investors sense opportunity, even for a sale if not an initial public offering; some are betting that AI startups might outpace bigger rivals, encumbered by their size. You.com, a search engine company founded in 2020 and backed by Salesforce’s CEO Marc Benioff, has found new life from incorporating generative AI technology. It has attracted more attention from users and investors, handling millions of searches per day, the company told Reuters.

☆ Potential TikTok ban sends advertisers scrambling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In recent discussions with ad buyers, TikTok representatives have stuck to the company's current talking points. TikTok employees have played up ongoing plans to separate the user data of Americans and store it in the country. In a section of the email titled "Can the Chinese government request TikTok U.S. user data?" Even with talk of a ban, most advertisers have not changed their spending plans on TikTok, media buyers said, because discussions of a ban have lingered since 2020 without any result. "A ban isn't a ban until it's a ban," he said.

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