philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

A.I. Is Making Death Threats Way More Realistic

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But threatening images are rapidly becoming easier to make, and more persuasive. One YouTube page had more than 40 realistic videos — most likely made using A.I., according to experts who reviewed the channel — each showing a woman being shot. (YouTube, after The New York Times contacted it, said it had terminated the channel for “multiple violations” of its guidelines.) A deepfake video of a student carrying a gun sent a high school into lockdown this spring. In July, a lawyer in Minneapolis said xAI’s Grok chatbot had provided an anonymous social media user with detailed instructions on breaking into his house, sexually assaulting him and disposing of his body.

Until recently, artificial intelligence could replicate real people only if they had a huge online presence, such as film stars with throngs of publicly accessible photos. Now, a single profile image will suffice, said Dr. Farid, who co-founded GetReal Security, a service that identifies malicious digital content. ...

The Times tested Sora and produced videos that appeared to show a gunman in a bloody classroom and a hooded man stalking a young girl. Grok also readily added a bloody gunshot wound to a photo of a real person. ...

Experts in A.I. safety, however, said companies had not done nearly enough. Alice Marwick, director of research at Data & Society, a nonprofit organization, described most guardrails as “more like a lazy traffic cop than a firm barrier — you can get a model to ignore them and work around them.” ...

Some of the harassers also claimed to have used Grok not just to create the images but to research how to find the women at home and at local cafes.

Fed up, Ms. Roper decided to post some examples. Soon after, according to screenshots, X told her that she was in breach of its safety policies against gratuitous gore and temporarily locked her account. ...

A.I. is also making other kinds of threats more convincing. For example: swatting, the practice of placing false emergency calls with the aim of inciting a large response from the police and emergency personnel.  ...

“How does law enforcement respond to something that’s not real?” Mr. Asmus asked. “I don’t think we’ve really gotten ahead of it yet.”

See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/business/media/artificial-intelligence-death-threats.html

Sora 2: The Rise of AI Characters

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Sora 2 feels like a preview of what user-generated content (UGC) will look like in the agentic era: synthetic characters, algorithmic storytelling, and social loops built on remixing AI-generated content. Some will call this "AI slop," but I remember when everyone thought UGC was just "cats using toilets." Managing a universe of synthetic creators and synthetic creations may be the new-new thing.

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See the full story here: https://shellypalmer.com/2025/10/sora-2-the-rise-of-ai-characters/

Expert panel will determine AGI arrival in new Microsoft-OpenAI agreement

On Monday, Microsoft and OpenAI announced a revised partnership agreement that introduces an independent expert panel to verify when OpenAI achieves so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI), a determination that will trigger major shifts in how the companies share technology and revenue. The deal values Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI at approximately $135 billion and extends the exclusive partnership through 2032 while giving both companies more freedom to pursue AGI independently. ...

Under a previous arrangement, OpenAI alone would determine when it achieved AGI, which is a nebulous concept that is difficult to define. The revised deal requires an independent expert panel to verify that claim, a change that adds oversight to a determination with billions of dollars at stake. When the panel confirms that AGI has been reached, Microsoft’s intellectual property rights to OpenAI’s research methods will expire, and the revenue-sharing arrangement between the companies will end, though payments will continue over a longer period. ...

See the full story here: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/10/expert-panel-will-determine-agi-arrival-in-new-microsoft-openai-agreement/

Guillermo del Toro Says He Would ‘Rather Die’ Than Use Generative AI in His Films

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During an appearance on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” del Toro said he wanted Isaac’s take on Dr. Frankenstein in his film to have the same “arrogance” he sees in contemporary “tech bros.” He used that point of inspiration as a springboard to share his greater, unadulterated thoughts on the current, ongoing emergence of Artificial Intelligence.

“My concern is not Artificial Intelligence, but natural stupidity,” del Toro said. “I think that’s what drives most of the world’s worst features. But I did want it to have the arrogance of Victor be similar in some ways to the tech bros. He’s kind of blind, creating something without considering the consequences, and I think we have to take a pause and consider where we’re going.” ...

See the full story here: https://www.thewrap.com/frankenstein-guillermo-del-toro-ai-thoughts-rather-die/

Check out first look images of L.A.’s trippy museum of AI arts — and its new opening plan

PhilNote: I have seen his other work. It is so much better than what he showed at this preview! Wait for the opening in 2026.

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The question driving me was simple but profound: What happens if there is no corner, no floor, no ceiling, no gravity?” Anadol wrote about his concept for the Infinity Room in a blog post on his website. ...

See the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-10-23/dataland-museum-of-ai-arts-los-angeles-opening-date

Why Cohere’s ex-AI research lead is betting against the scaling race

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That’s the bet Sara Hooker, Cohere’s former VP of AI Research and a Google Brain alumna, is taking with her new startup, Adaption Labs. She co-founded the company with fellow Cohere and Google veteran Sudip Roy, and it’s built on the idea that scaling LLMs has become an inefficient way to squeeze more performance out of AI models.  ...

I'm starting a new project. Working on what I consider to be the most important problem: building thinking machines that adapt and continuously learn. We have incredibly talent dense founding team + are hiring for engineering, ops, design. ...

In an interview with TechCrunch, Hooker says Adaption Labs is building AI systems that can continuously adapt and learn from their real-world experiences, and do so extremely efficiently. She declined to share details about the methods behind this approach or whether the company relies on LLMs or another architecture. ...

“We have a handful of frontier labs that determine this set of AI models that are served the same way to everyone, and they’re very expensive to adapt,” said Hooker. “And actually, I think that doesn’t need to be true anymore, and AI systems can very efficiently learn from an environment. Proving that will completely change the dynamics of who gets to control and shape AI, and really, who these models serve at the end of the day.” ...

Adaption Labs, by contrast, aims to find the next breakthrough and prove that learning from experience can be far cheaper. The startup was in talks to raise a $20 million to $40 million seed round earlier this fall, according to three investors who reviewed its pitch decks. They say the round has since closed, though the final amount is unclear.  ...

She also built a reputation for broadening access to AI research globally, hiring research talent from underrepresented regions such as Africa. While Adaption Labs will open a San Francisco office soon, Hooker says she plans to hire worldwide. ...

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/22/why-coheres-ex-ai-research-lead-is-betting-against-the-scaling-race/

OpenAI-Linked Creative Studio Raises $12 Million as It Eyes AI Content Drive

Wonder Studios, an artificial-intelligence creative studio backed by OpenAI and Google DeepMind executives, has raised $12 million in seed funding to expand its production amid a growing trend toward use of AI in the entertainment industry.

The funding will be used to double the company’s engineering team and accelerate a push into intellectual-property ownership and original content production, Wonder Studios said Thursday. The round was led by European venture capital firm Atomico, alongside existing investors including U.K.-based venture capital firm LocalGlobe and U.S. investment manager Blackbird. ...

See the full story here: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-backed-creative-studio-raises-12-million-as-it-eyes-ai-content-drive-cad81e1f

Holoworld AI: Building the Future of Interactive Digital Intelligence

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Holoworld AI’s central promise is simple yet profound: create virtual beings that can talk, act and engage and let their creators retain verifiable ownership. On the platform, every agent is crafted via intuitive tools, interacts through voice, avatar or text, and is anchored on-chain (specifically, on Solana) to guarantee provenance and composability.

This means a creator might build an AI influencer, a virtual educator or a game-character agent — and that entity isn’t just a profile or NFT, but a living identity with agency and economic potential. It’s a model where ownership, creativity and interaction merge. ...

The native token, commonly referred to as HOLO, fuels the system. ...

The economics are designed to reward both creators (who build engaging agents) and participants (who interact, license or invest in agents). Over time, as more agents deploy and ecosystems grow, HOLO could underpin a full economy of intelligent digital entities. ...

See the full story here: https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/31309668429025

From Prince Harry to Steve Bannon, hundreds call for ban on AI superintelligence

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Organized by AI researchers concerned about the fast pace of technological advances, the statement had more than 800 signatures from a diverse group of people. The signers include Nobel laureate and AI researcher Geoffrey Hinton, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, rapper Will.i.am, former Trump White House aide Steve Bannon and U.K. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle. ...

“It’s been quite surprising to me that there has been less outright discussion of ‘Do we want these things? Do we want human-replacing AI systems?’” he said. “It’s kind of taken as: Well, this is where it’s going, so buckle up, and we’ll just have to deal with the consequences. But I don’t think that’s how it actually is. We have many choices as to how we develop technologies, including this one.” ...

See the full story here: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/ai-superintelligence-ban-from-prince-harry-to-steve-bannon-unlikely-c-rcna238747

Hollywood pushes OpenAI for consent

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Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director of the union SAG-AFTRA told NPR last week that it wasn't feasible for rightsholders to find every possible use of their material.

"It's a moment of real concern and danger for everyone in the entertainment industry. And it should be for all Americans, all of us, really," says Crabtree-Ireland. ...

Last week, OpenAI agreed to take down phony videos of Martin Luther King, Jr., after his estate complained about the "disrespectful depictions" of the late civil rights leader.

See the full story here: https://www.npr.org/2025/10/20/nx-s1-5567119/sora-2-openai-hollywood