Received this email from a friend? Subscribe here.

Monday, February 6, 2023

You've pushed another Monday into the past! Salman Rushdie speaks out, Penske invests in Vox, National Enquirer gets sold, NYT keeps Elon Musk honest, DirecTV posts Newsmax update, Grammys surge in ratings on Beyoncé's big night, AMC Theatres rolls out new ticket tiers, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

The AI Arms Race

CNN Photo Illustration/Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Google is officially set to confront OpenAI's ChatGPT — and soon.

The tech titan, which has had a stranglehold on internet search for as long as most web users can remember, formally announced Monday that it will roll out Bard, its experimental conversational AI service, in the "coming weeks."

The announcement comes just a day before Microsoft, which is working to integrate ChatGPT-like technology into its products, including its search engine Bing, is set to hold an event with OpenAI at its Washington state headquarters.

"The internet search wars are back," wrote the Financial Times' Richard Waters in a piece published Monday, noting that AI has "opened the first new front in the battle for search dominance since Google fended off a concerted challenge from Microsoft's Bing more than a decade ago."

But the rapid emergence of the technology has also raised serious ethical questions, especially since it is being taken to market at a breakneck speed.

"We are reliving the social media era," Beena Ammanath, who leads Trustworthy Tech Ethics at Deloitte and is the executive director of the Global Deloitte AI Institute, told me Monday.

Ammanath said that "unintended consequences" accompany every new technology and reluctantly expressed confidence that it too will occur with AI chatbots, unless significant precautions are taken. For now, she doesn't see the guardrails in place to rein in the nascent technology. Instead, Ammanath equated what is currently transpiring with the swift deployment of AI as companies "building Jurassic Park, putting some danger signs on the fences, but leaving all the gates open." Yes, there is some acknowledgment about the dangers the technology poses. But it's not enough, given the risks.

Ammanath stressed that computer scientists working on AI have yet to solve for bias, a years-long problem, as well as other worrisome issues that plague the technology. One major problem is that AI bots can not separate truth from fantasy.

"The challenge with new language models is they blend fact and fiction," Ammanath told me. "It spreads misinformation effectively. It cannot understand the content. So it can spout out completely logical sounding content, but incorrect. And it delivers it with complete confidence."

That's effectively what happened last month when CNET was forced to issue corrections on a number of articles, including some that it described as "substantial," after using an AI-powered tool to help news outlet write dozens of stories. And in its wake, other outlets like BuzzFeed, are already embracing the robot-writing technology to help it generate content and quizzes.

"This is a new dimension that generative AI has brought in," Ammanath added.

In announcing that Google will roll out its AI soon, chief executive Sundar Pichai stressed that "it's critical that we bring experiences rooted in these models to the world in a bold and responsible way." And Pichai underscored that Google is "committed to developing AI responsibly."

But it's hard to deny that the company, under tremendous pressure from investors after ChatGPT stormed onto the scene, is not rushing to deploy its product to the market as quickly as possible. In an internal note to staff, Pichai himself said all hands are on deck and that the company will be "enlisting every Googler to help shape Bard and contribute through a special company-wide" event he said will have "the spirit of an internal hackathon."

"We've been approaching this effort with an intensity and focus that reminds me of early Google," Pichai wrote, "so thanks to everyone who has contributed."

But its clear that both Google and Microsoft, some of the most valuable and pioneering companies on the web, understand well that AI technology has the power to reshape the world as we know it. The only question is will they follow Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" maxim that has caused so much turmoil in the past?

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Richard Burbridge for The New Yorker

Rushdie's Return: For the first time since the near-fatal assassination attempt on his life last year, Salman Rushdie is opening up. In a lengthy interview with The New Yorker's David Remnick, Rushdie spoke about his new book, "Victory City," and how he has tried to move on after being stabbed multiple times onstage at an event last year. "Although he is now blind in his right eye, has lost more than forty pounds, has nerve damage to his left hand, and his lower lip droops on one side, he speaks as fluently as ever," Remnick writes in his piece. Rushdie conceded that he's "been better," but added that "considering what happened, I'm not so bad." That said, Rushdie said the attack continues to haunt him: "I've found it very, very difficult to write," he said. "I sit down to write, and nothing happens. . . . I'm not out of that forest yet, really." Read the full piece here.

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Jerod Harris/Getty Images

Investing in Vox: Penske Media is now the largest investor in Vox Media. The NYT's Benjamin Mullin and Katherine Rosman scooped Monday that Penske had invested $100 million in the media conglomerate, owning about 20% of the company. "The terms represent a significant discount compared with Vox Media's last funding round, in 2015, when NBCUniversal invested $200 million in the company at a valuation of about $1 billion," Mullin and Rosman wrote. Citing a source, the duo added that Vox "could use the money to make acquisitions to expand its business." More here.

► Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff told employees in an internal note that both companies "will continue to operate separately," but could "partner commercially where beneficial." Bankoff added, "PMC's investment fortifies our ambitions to grow sustainably and pursue opportunities that align with our goals, especially during this time of economic uncertainty"

National Enquirer Sold: The National Enquirer, infamous for its "catch and kill" tactics which were used to protect Donald Trump, has finally been sold. A360 Media, known formerly as American Media Inc. (AMI), said that it has agreed to sell the 97-year-old tabloid to VVIP Ventures, which is a joint venture between digital media company Vinco Ventures and brand company ICON Publishing. AMI previously tried to offload the publication to Hudson News empire heir James Cohen, but that deal never actually materialized. CNN's Jordan Valinsky has more here.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Bill Adair argues that "there's too much State of the Union fact-checking" and not enough at the state and local levels. (Poynter)
Charlotte Klein reports that C-SPAN has heard "absolutely nothing" from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after asking for the ability to independently operate cameras. (Vanity Fair)
Jon Allsop writes about "the unbearable lightness of the Balloon coverage." (CJR)
Jimmy Finkelstein's new media venture "is set to announce" that former People mag editor Dan Wakeford has been hired as the top editorial boss, Lachlan Cartwright and Justin Baragona report. (Daily Beast)
More drama at GB News: Primetime host Mark Steyn has quit "after the channel tried to make him personally responsible for paying fines issued by the media regulator Ofcom," Jim Waterson reports. (Guardian)
Staffers at Crooked Media have unionized with WGA East. (THR)
Fox has sold out of Super Bowl ads, with some spots selling for as much as $7 million for 30 seconds. (Associated Press)
What does Showtime's future look like, now that it's married to Paramount+? John Jurgensen reports on how the premium streamer "is producing a wave of spinoffs" for "Billions" and "Dexter." (WSJ)
RIP: Veteran fashion journalist Hilary Alexander has died at 77. (Vogue)

MEDIA MOVES

Endeavor tapped IMG's Maura McGreevy as its chief communications officer. (THR)
The CW hired Chris Spadaccini as chief marketing officer. (Deadline)
Paramount TV Studios promoted Dominic Pagone to head of communications. (Variety)
The NYT hired Eli Murray as graphics editor. (NYT)
Semafor nabbed Jay Solomon as global security editor. (Semafor)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Mike Blake/Reuters

Addressing Abuse: Elon Musk has repeatedly vowed to scrub Twitter of child abuse content, saying that is his "priority #1." But has the new Twitter owner been effective at ridding the site of the exploitive content? Not according to an investigation from The NYT's Michael Keller and Kate Conger. "A review by The New York Times found that the imagery, commonly known as child pornography, persisted on the platform, including widely circulated material that the authorities consider the easiest to detect and eliminate," the duo reported. Read their full story here.

🔎 Zooming in: How did The NYT conduct its probe? "To assess the company's claims of progress, The Times created an individual Twitter account and wrote an automated computer program that could scour the platform for the content without displaying the actual images, which are illegal to view. The material wasn't difficult to find. In fact, Twitter helped promote it through its recommendation algorithm — a feature that suggests accounts to follow based on user activity."

TOO MANY TABS

House Oversight Chair James Comer has subpoenaed 3 former Twitter employees (Vijaya Gadde, James Baker, and Yoel Roth) to testify about the decision to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story. (CNN)
"I just email the big guy": Jacob Bernstein reports on how journalists ask Twitter for comment, given Elon Musk is "his own spokesman."
Two months after launch, Twitter only had around 180K paid subscribers in the US, "or less than 0.2% of monthly active users." (The Info)
Former Meta VR exec John Carmack says he had "real issues" with how the company spent its money before he left. (Insider)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced plans to further limit TikTok in his state. (The Hill)
"An unnecessary song and dance?": Matt Berg and Alexander Ward write about whether a ban on TikTok is actually a good idea. (POLITICO)
Would a ban work? Ali Latifi reports that the Taliban "can't stop TikTok" and that "despite an economic crisis, political chaos, and the regime's ban, TikTok influencers are still thriving in Afghanistan." (WIRED)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters

DirecTV's Dance: DirecTV wants its customers to know: It "remains interested in bringing Newsmax back" to its lineup. The satellite television carrier posted a message on its programming website underscoring that its "differences with Newsmax are economic, not political or ideological." DirecTV added that it prefers Newsmax "had never left and remain interested in bringing" the right-wing channel back "under the right financial terms." The move, of course, comes amid intense pressure from Republicans — including those in Congress — who are accusing DirecTV of "censorship."

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Erik Wemple on Hunter Biden's legal warning to Tucker Carlson: Carlson "knows exactly what he's doing." (WaPo)
Ron DeSantis "may soon get to pick the people who govern Disney's Orlando-area theme parks," Steve Contorno reports. (CNN)
Ben Smith and Louise Matsakis draw on interviews and internal documents to examine Joan Donovan's ouster from Harvard's Shorenstein Center. (Semafor)
Matt and Mercedes Schlapp might be on hiatus from Fox News, but Zachary Pleat notes that they're finding other "safe spaces" in right-wing media. (MMFA)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Grammy's Gains: The 65th annual Grammy Awards is in the books. The show, which most notably saw Beyoncé crowned as the most decorated artist in the history of the Recording Academy, drew 12.4 million viewers — representing a 30% spike in ratings from last year, CNN's Alli Rosenbloom writes. Beyoncé's big night, without question, boosted the viewership, but there were plenty of other highlights, including:

► Bonnie Raitt was astonished to win song of the year for her beautiful track "Just Like That."

► Harry Styles won album of the year. His acceptance speech, in which he said that a victory like his "doesn't happen to people like me very often," has spurred a conversation on white privilege.

► DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, John Legend, Fridayy, and Rick Ross performed "God Did" to play out the show. It sort of awkwardly came after Beyoncé was snubbed for album of the year.

► Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Questlove of the Roots, and others celebrated 50 years of hip-hop at the Grammys.

► Viola Davis achieved EGOT status with her audiobook win.

► The Iranian protest anthem "Baraye" won a Grammy, which was presented by first lady Jill Biden.

► Sam Smith's "Unholy" performance sparked backlash from conservatives, with Sen. Ted Cruz denouncing it as "evil."

► Aaron Carter was strangely omitted from the "in memoriam" segment, drawing some outrage.

Monetizing the Movies: The price of your next ticket at the movies could soon be tied to how good your seat is. AMC Theatres on Monday announced that it will soon begin charging patrons extra for prime auditorium seats, and less for those that aren't so great. The initiative, called Sightline, isn't rolling out all at once. It will first be introduced in select locations starting Friday. Variety's Rebecca Rubin has details.

OFF STAGE

It's official: Tom Brady will begin broadcasting with Fox Sports in fall of 2024. (Variety)
George Clooney will direct a spy thriller for Showtime. (Collider)
It's here: FX and BBC have released the teaser trailer for the "Great Expectations" limited series, starring Olivia Colman. (YouTube)
"Succession" star Matthew Macfadyen will star opposite Nicole Kidman and Gael García Bernal in a Prime thriller. (Deadline)
Mathew McConaughy will voice Elvis in Netflix's adult animated series "Agent Elvis." (Deadline)
The Food Network Canada has ordered a cooking series with Pamela Anderson. (THR)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox this time tomorrow.