philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Trump is undermining his own ‘action plan’ for AI, experts say

• China and the United States are the only powers with competitive AI capabilities.
• Scholars believe that whichever country loses the AI race will be unable to catch up with the exponential growth of the winner.

WASHINGTON — President Trump revealed an “action plan” for artificial intelligence on Wednesday ostensibly designed to bolster the United States in its race against China for AI superiority.

But experts in the field warn the administration is sidestepping safety precautions that sustain public trust, and is ignoring the impacts of research funding cuts and visa restrictions for scientists that could hold America back. ...

The plan also calls for AI to be integrated more thoroughly across the federal government, including at the Pentagon, and includes a directive targeting “woke” bias in large language models. ...

“Our openness to ideas and people, combined with steadiness of funding, drew bright talents from around the globe and science prospered,” Jasanoff said. “That achievement is in a precarious state through the Trump administration’s unpredictable and exclusionary policies that have created an atmosphere in which young scientists are much less comfortable coming to do their science in America.”

“Why would a talented young person wish to invest in a U.S. graduate program if there is a risk their visa could be canceled overnight on poorly articulated and unprecedented grounds? It’s clear that other countries, including China, are already trying to benefit from our suddenly uncertain and chaotic research environment,” she added. “We seem to be heading into an era of self-inflicted ignorance.” ...

“His policies thus far convince me that the future of the U.S. will certainly have more AI,” Svoronos said, “but I don’t see a coherent strategy around creating more effective or more aligned AI.” ...

“It’s not clear that technology development prospers without guardrails that protect scientists and engineers against accidents, overreach and public backlash,” she added. “The U.S. biotech industry, for example, has actively sought out ethical and policy clarification because missteps could endanger entire lines of research.” ...

See the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2025-07-24/trumps-action-plan-for-ai-has-some-glaring-omissions-experts-say

De-aged stars, cloned voices, resuscitated dead icons: AI is changing the art and business of acting

• While AI boosters celebrate new creative frontiers, critics like Justine Bateman argue digitally manipulating a performance erases what makes acting human.
• “AI is not going anywhere,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who used a clone of Brad Pitt’s voice as a temporary workaround during post-production on “F1.”
• After seeing himself digitally recreated as a young Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill says, “I don’t know the full impact AI will have but I find it very ominous.”

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A few years earlier, he had been dismayed by how a German dub of his 2015 thriller “Heist” flattened the performances, including a key scene with Robert De Niro, to match stiff, mistranslated dialogue. That frustration led Mann to co-found Flawless, an AI startup aimed at preserving the integrity of an actor’s performance across languages. As a proof of concept, he used the company’s tech to subtly reshape De Niro’s mouth movements and restore the emotional nuance of the original scene.

On “Fall,” Mann applied that same technology to clean up the profanity without reshoots, digitally modifying the actors’ mouths to match PG-13-friendly lines like “freaking” — at a fraction of the cost.

Still, Mann doesn’t see AI as a threat so much as a misunderstood tool — one that, used carefully, can support the artists it’s accused of replacing. Flawless’ DeepEditor, for example, lets directors transfer facial expressions from one take to another, even when the camera angle or lighting changes, helping actors preserve their strongest moments without breaking continuity.

“Plenty of actors I’ve worked with have had that moment where they see what’s possible and realize, ‘Oh my God, this is so much better,’” Mann says. “It frees them up, takes off the pressure and helps them do a better job. Shutting AI out is naive and a way to end up on the wrong side of history. Done right, this will make the industry grow and thrive.”

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“The allowances in the contract are pretty astounding,” Bateman says by phone, her voice tight with exasperation. “If you can picture the Teamsters allowing self-driving trucks in their contract — that’s on par with what SAG did. If you’re not making sure human roles are played by human actors, I’m not sure what the union is for.”

To Bateman, the idea that AI expands access to filmmaking — a central tenet of its utopian sales pitch — is a dangerous myth, one that obscures deeper questions about authorship and the value of creative labor.

...

“Suddenly you can write a scene — a woman is walking down the street, she looks like this, she’s wearing that, it’s raining, whatever — and AI can create a video for you,” Cronenberg says. “To me, this is all exciting. It absolutely can threaten all kinds of jobs and that has to be dealt with, but every technological advance has done that and we just have to adapt and figure it out.”

...

When Luke returned again in a 2022 episode of “The Book of Boba Fett,” the process was even more synthetic. Hamill was minimally involved on camera and the character was built almost entirely from digital parts: a de-aged face mapped onto a body double with an AI-generated voice delivering his lines. Hamill was credited and compensated, though the exact terms of the arrangement haven’t been made public.

The visual effect was notably improved from earlier efforts, thanks in part to a viral deepfake artist known as Shamook, whose YouTube video improving the VFX in “The Mandalorian” finale had racked up millions of views. He was soon hired by Industrial Light & Magic — a rare case of fan-made tech critique turning into a studio job. ...

See the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-07-24/hollywood-tomorrow-acting-jobs-ai-mark-hamill

Trump’s AI Action Plan Is a Crusade Against ‘Bias’—and Regulation

... The Office of Science and Technology Policy drafted the plan, which focuses on three key “pillars” for AI strategy: accelerating AI innovation, building infrastructure, and leading international diplomacy and security. ...

...encouraging the Federal Communications Commission to “evaluate whether state AI regulations interfere with the agency’s ability to carry out its obligations and authorities under the Communications Act of 1934.” ...

Shortly after Trump took office, Vice President JD Vance gave a speech at a major AI meeting in Paris where he laid out the new administration’s priorities. “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it's taking off, and we'll make every effort to encourage pro-growth AI policies,” Vance said, adding, “we feel strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias, and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.”

The AI Action Plan continues this crusade against “woke” AI, recommending that federal procurement guidelines are updated so that only AI companies that “ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias” are given contracts. ...

Last week, the US government reversed restrictions on certain cutting-edge Nvidia and AMD chip sales to China, apparently shifting its focus towards helping US companies compete globally.

A variety of tech, consumer protection, and civil society organizations are already speaking out with concerns about the action plan. Sarah Myers West and Amba Kak, the co-executive directors of the AI Now Institute, characterized the plan in a statement to WIRED as “written by Big Tech interests invested in advancing AI that's used on us, not by us.”

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/trumps-ai-action-plan-crusade-against-bias-regulation/

Amazon Buying Startup Bee, Maker of the Pioneer AI Bracelet

Amazon has agreed to purchase AI wearables firm Bee, it was announced via a LinkedIn post by the San Francisco-based startup. Bee’s principal product is a $50 wrist device called the Pioneer that records all audio within range unless manually muted. Combined with a $19 per month subscription the device records and transcribes “daily memories” to create to-do lists and reminders based on what it hears. It can also answer questions. Bee’s website says the product is backordered due to “high demand” with shipments resuming in September. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. ...

See the full story here: https://www.etcentric.org/amazon-buying-startup-bee-maker-of-the-pioneer-ai-bracelet/

and

Amazon acquires Bee, the AI wearable that records everything you say

Sony Pictures Television Leaning Into Creator Economy With Hire Of Digital Boss Matt Ford

The International Production group has hired ex-BBC Studios exec Matt Ford in a newly-created digital role to “engage with UK content creators, create digital originals and build creator partnerships.” He will “supercharge the group’s work on creating digital-first original content for streaming, digital, social, and audio platforms,” Sony said.

Rather than working for specific Sony-owned indies, the  VP, Commercial, Digital role is a centralized one and Ford is reporting into EVP, UK & Europe Matthew Justice. He will work closely with Hannah Smith (VP, Operations, SPT) and President, International Production, Wayne Garvie. ...

See the full story here: https://deadline.com/2025/07/sony-pictures-television-hires-matt-ford-digital-role-1236466982/

Silicon Valley AI Startups Are Embracing China’s Controversial ‘996’ Work Schedule

... These companies are embracing an intense schedule, first popularized in mainland China, known as “996,” or 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. In other words, it’s a 72-hour work week.

The 996 phenomenon in China gave rise to  major protests and accusations of “modern slavery,” with critics blaming the schedule for a spate of worker deaths. Despite the negative connotations overseas, US firms, many of them working on artificial intelligence, are adopting both the schedule and  its nickname as they race to compete against each other—and with China. Adrian Kinnersley, a serial entrepreneur who runs both a staffing and recruitment company and an employment compliance startup, has been surprised by how many startups are going all-in on 996. “It's becoming increasingly common,” he says. “We have multiple clients where a prerequisite for screening candidates before they go for an interview is whether they are prepared to work 996.” ...

It echoes Elon Musk’s "extremely hardcore" ultimatum to X employees, which encouraged them to work punishing hours. ...

Companies aren’t having trouble finding willing employees, and some frame it as core to their work culture. ...

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-valley-china-996-work-schedule/

Teens say they are turning to AI for friendship

... Arkansas teen Bruce Perry, 17, says he relates to that and relies on AI tools to craft outlines and proofread essays for his English class.

“If you tell me to plan out an essay, I would think of going to ChatGPT before getting out a pencil,” Perry said. He uses AI daily and has asked chatbots for advice in social situations, to help him decide what to wear and to write emails to teachers, saying AI articulates his thoughts faster.

Perry says he feels fortunate that AI companions were not around when he was younger.

“I’m worried that kids could get lost in this,” Perry said. “I could see a kid that grows up with AI not seeing a reason to go to the park or try to make a friend.” ...

See the full story here: https://apnews.com/article/ai-companion-generative-teens-mental-health-9ce59a2b250f3bd0187a717ffa2ad21f

AI Isn’t Hollywood’s First Script Doctor. But It May Be Its Last

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Writers, producers and directors across the United States and the United Kingdom are already seeing the shift. Those I work with describe being handed machine-generated materials — character breakdowns, first drafts, pitch outlines — then being asked to develop them into something usable. One of my clients, a showrunner with multiple global hits, was recently asked to rewrite a pilot generated by ChatGPT. The terms were explicit. No credit. No disclosure. Just a polish pass — then back to the shadows. ...

During the McCarthy era, entire productions relied on pseudonyms and stand-ins to get scripts by blacklisted writers onto the screen. ...

Today, it is not political ideology that drives invisibility. It is convenience. ...

See the full editorial here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/artificial-intelligence-hollywood-script-doctor-1236326141/

LORA – how to use a Low Ranked Adaptation

Conclusion

A LoRA is a powerful and approachable way to take control of how AI shows up in your creative work. Whether you're concepting a product line, exploring lighting looks, or trying to keep things on-brand, a LoRA lets you bring your own data to the table and make AI feel a little more like part of your team.

It’s not just about aesthetics—it’s about authorship.

https://3dartist.substack.com/p/wtf-is-a-lora

[A Lora] flips the power dynamic. You’re not asking the model to do something in your style. You’re teaching it your style directly.

China’s renewable energy push in Tibet Autonomous Region a worry for India, warns new study

... According to a new study, China is systematically harnessing the renewable energy potential of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) for both civilian and military purposes. ...

Nithyanandam argues that "China's sustained investments in TAR's renewable energy sector reflect its commitment to achieving its net neutrality goal and its intention to drive economic development in one of its most remote regions. This energy push has added strategic depth to the region’s importance, especially given its proximity to India." ...

"Though officially positioned within China's 2060 carbon neutrality roadmap, the dual-use character of many renewable, especially solar installations is evident. Large-scale and tactical systems alike serve civilian demands while also meeting the logistical requirements of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), revealing a deeper strategic calculus," he observes in his study, which is based on open-source information and image processing of remotely sensed data. ...

Interestingly, Tibet ranks among the sunniest regions globally, with more than 3,000 hours of annual sunshine across many western areas and an average of 8,160 MJ/m² annually in Lhasa alone. This has enabled the development of large-scale photovoltaic (PV) infrastructure, such as the 1.1 GW Yangbajing solar farm, building on long-standing traditions of passive solar design in Tibetan architecture. ...

See the full story here: https://www.newindianexpress.com/web-only/2025/Jul/19/chinas-renewable-energy-push-in-tibet-autonomous-region-a-worry-for-india-warns-new-study