philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

China’s top universities expand enrolment to beef up capabilities in AI, strategic areas

... China in January issued its first national action plan to build a "strong education nation" by 2035, to help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a "strong country".

In December education authorities said they would begin AI education in primary and secondary schools to cultivate creativity, scientific interest and digital skills among students.

See the full story here: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-top-universities-expand-enrolment-beef-up-capabilities-ai-strategic-areas-2025-03-10/

DNE Studios & Nonny De La Pena Pushes Boundaries with Volumetric 4D Storytelling of the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre at SXSW

As dawn breaks over Austin during SXSW 2025, a spectral revolution materializes at the intersection of 6th Street and Congress Avenue. Bryonn Bain's volumetric incarnation of Jesse Max Barber – the Black journalist who documented the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre – emerges not as a static hologram, but as a navigable memory field. Selected for SXSW's XR Experience Competition, this collaboration between Emmy-winning director Nonny de la Peña and Digital Nation Entertainment's studio director Addie Reiss represents a paradigm shift in historical resurrection through volumetric capture. ...

At the core of Barber's compelling presence lies DNE's Santa Monica volumetric 4D stage – where 120 bespoke RGB-D cameras orchestrated by Reiss' team captured Bain's performance, as a holographic presence. DNE's proprietary structured-light sensors achieved sub-millimeter spatial resolution – critical for preserving the tremor in Bain's hands as Barber recounts watching white mobs burn Black-owned businesses. "We needed forensic-level capture without sacrificing artistic spontaneity, to convey Bain's testimony and draw the audience into the story." explains Reiss. ...

"Record the actor, not an approximation." ...

See the full story here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dne-studios--nonna-de-la-pena-pushes-boundaries-with-volumetric-4d-storytelling-of-the-1906-atlanta-race-massacre-at-sxsw-302396306.html

DOGE Has Deployed Its GSAi Custom Chatbot for 1,500 Federal Workers

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In February, DOGE tested the chatbot in a pilot with 150 users within GSA. It hopes to eventually deploy the product across the entire agency, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The chatbot has been in development for several months, but new DOGE-affiliated agency leadership has greatly accelerated its deployment timeline, sources say.

Federal employees can now interact with GSAi on an interface similar to ChatGPT. The default model is Claude Haiku 3.5, but users can also choose to use Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 and Meta LLaMa 3.2, depending on the task. ...

In a Thursday town hall meeting with staff, Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer who now runs the Technology Transformation Services (TTS), announced that the GSA’s tech branch would shrink by 50 percent over the next few weeks after firing around 90 technologists last week. Shedd plans for the remaining staff to work on more public-facing projects like Login.gov and Cloud.gov, which provide a variety of web infrastructure for other agencies. All other non-statutorily required work will likely be cut, Shedd said. ...

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/gsai-chatbot-1500-federal-workers/

With GPT-4.5, OpenAI Trips Over Its Own AGI Ambitions

... When comparing AI benchmark tests from competitors’ models as well as OpenAI’s “reasoning” releases, the benefits of using GPT-4.5 are not immediately clear. Though, in the model’s system card and in a previous interview with WIRED, the OpenAI researchers who worked on GPT-4.5 claimed improvements can be felt in the anthropomorphic aspects of the model, like a stronger intuition and a deeper understanding of emotion.  ...

I feel confident saying that OpenAI is at a crossroads, where trying both to turn ChatGPT into a sustainable software business and achieve AI superintelligence appear increasingly at odds.

See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/gpt-4-5-openai-first-impressions/

Pentagon Signs Deal to “Deploy AI Agents for Military Use”

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Yet the encroachment of AI tech within the military has been unmistakable. Both Google and OpenAI have walked back rules forbidding the use of their AI tech for weapons development and surveillance, showing that Silicon Valley is opening up to the idea of having its tools be used by the military. ...

"Thunderforge marks a decisive shift toward AI-powered, data-driven warfare, ensuring US forces can anticipate and respond to threats with speed and precision," the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) wrote in a statement.

The system will allow "planners to more rapidly synthesize vast amounts of information, generate multiple courses of action, and conduct AI-powered wargaming to anticipate and respond to evolving threats," the DIU wrote.

According to a statement by the program's lead Bryce Goodman, there's a "fundamental mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and our ability to respond." ...

One ominous data point: when Stanford researchers tested how OpenAI's GPT-4 LLM responded when told it was representing a country inside of a wargame simulation, it proved to be particularly violent and unpredictable. ...

See the full story here: https://futurism.com/pentagon-signs-deal-deploy-ai-agents-military-use?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Musk loses injunction bid in OpenAI lawsuit but still wins big with judge’s ruling

... Musk, along with Altman, was one of the founders of OpenAI. He alleged that the founders had agreed on the charitable mission of the nonprofit and baked it into the company's charter.

He said he provided OpenAI with tens of millions of dollars in charitable contributions, relying on the agreement that OpenAI would not be in it for the money but for humanity.  ...

Grundfest read the opinion to mean that the judge had concluded "that there might well be a charitable trust," as Musk alleged, "and there might well be a serious flaw in OpenAI's plan to convert to a for-profit entity … but the court needs more evidence on that point and isn't ready to issue the extreme remedy of a preliminary injunction."

In sum, "the opinion clearly signals that the court sees potential merit in Musk's claim, but needs more evidence before it can reach a conclusion," he said. ...

See the full story here: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/elon-musk-loses-injunction-bid-openai-lawsuit-ruling/3810085/

Prime Video tests AI dubbing for select movies and TV series

Prime Video is now experimenting with AI-assisted dubbing for select licensed movies and TV shows, as announced by the Amazon-owned streaming service on Wednesday.

According to Prime Video, this new test will feature AI-assisted dubbing services in English and Latin American Spanish, combining AI with human localization professionals to “ensure quality control,” the company explained.  ...

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/05/prime-video-tests-ai-dubbing-for-select-movies-and-tv-series/

Eric Schmidt argues against a ‘Manhattan Project for AGI’

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Schmidt et al. introduce a concept they call Mutual Assured AI Malfunction (MAIM), in which governments could proactively disable threatening AI projects rather than waiting for adversaries to weaponize AGI.

Schmidt, Wang, and Hendrycks propose that the U.S. shift its focus from “winning the race to superintelligence” to developing methods that deter other countries from creating superintelligent AI. The co-authors argue the government should “expand [its] arsenal of cyberattacks to disable threatening AI projects” controlled by other nations as well as limit adversaries’ access to advanced AI chips and open source models. ...

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/05/eric-schmidt-argues-against-a-manhattan-project-for-agi

‘Divergent’ Producer Launches AI Company That Aims to Make Studio-Quality Movies for $500,000

... Staircase touts its own proprietary AI workflow, ForwardMotion, which claims to be able to produce near-studio-quality movie releases for under $500,000 each. The studio, which said it aims to produce around 30 low budget projects in the next three to four years, unveiled a teaser with the first five minutes from its debut feature, The Woman With Red Hair, directed by Brett Stuart and from Michael Schatz’s 2016 Black List script. ...

“After packaging and selling 150 projects into the studio system over the past 15 years, I’ve borne witness to far too much inefficiency to continue the status quo. Over the past year, I’ve dedicated myself to pairing ethical AI usage with our industry’s most underutilized assets–overlooked stories waiting to be produced from fantastic writers and directors,” Shahbazian, whose producer credits include Greg Berlanti’s Love Simon and Shawn Levy and Eric Heisserer’s Shadow & Bone, said in a statement. ...

See the full story here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/divergent-producer-pouya-shahbazian-1236153574/

John Gaeta’s Escape AI Launches Alternative Oscars For AI Filmmakers

... This weekend, Escape AI will host its first-ever Escape Awards, an AI-centric film festival and awards show, set one day before the Motion Picture Academy’s Oscars. Instead of industry insiders, voting is exclusively done by Escape’s 200+ creators, forming a peer-driven recognition system. It’s a bold counterpoint to traditional awards, which have struggled to define AI’s role in filmmaking. ...

Escape.AI functions as a curated platform for these new-age filmmakers. With nearly 1,000 projects uploaded, its peer-driven model helps surface standout work without the noise of YouTube or social media algorithms. ...

Categories reflect the unique nature of AI-driven filmmaking, recognizing achievements in generative storytelling, AI-assisted animation, and game-engine-based cinematics. The winners—selected by their peers—will have their films showcased to a broader audience, positioning Escape as the go-to hub for next-gen storytelling. ...

“The modern creator isn’t limited to one format,” he says, describing how today’s storytellers are blending film, interactive media, and generative AI. Escape AI is not competing with Hollywood—it’s building something new alongside it. ...

See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2025/02/28/john-gaetas-escape-ai-launches-alternative-oscars-for-ai-filmmakers/