philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

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

When AI replaces our dead loved ones, what’s next?

• Contemporary plays use AI as a lens to explore eternal questions about humanity, examining what happens when deceased loved ones are re-created digitally.
• “anthropology” and “Marjorie Prime” feature AI replicas that force characters to confront whether humans are just compilations of memories or emails and internet history.
• Theater proves an ideal medium for these explorations, using living performers to examine how technology is deconstructing our understanding of personhood.

See the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-10-20/theater-what-makes-us-human-playwrights-ai-anthropology-marjorie-prime

Adobe Launches AI Foundry for Enterprise-Grade Custom Models

... Now, a company can have its own (private) version of Adobe Firefly that understands its products, colors, logos, and tone of voice. Every image, video, or design the model generates is brand-safe, legally clear, and ready for commercial use. Adobe says the models stay private to each client and include built-in content-tracking metadata for IP protection.

AI Foundry solves the “we’re not allowed to use public AI tools” problem.  ...

See the full story here: https://shellypalmer.com/2025/10/adobe-launches-ai-foundry-for-enterprise-grade-custom-models/

Innovation at the Speed of AI

Governor Christopher J. Waller, Federal Reserve System Board of Governors

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I will focus on three aspects of major technological change that "repeat" through history. First, technological change is a constant in our lives, and it is almost always disruptive. It upends the way we work and socialize. Second, it alters existing power relationships in unsettling ways. Finally, technological change reliably raises productivity and our standard of living while improving the quality of our lives. My intent is to describe how AI is likely to affect our lives along these lines and how it differs from past technological changes. ...

Those who collected economic rents, or excess payments, from the control of power will lose those rents. But this will improve our lives in the process.

Whenever a new technology emerges, the first question economists get is about jobs: Will this replace people or make them more productive? The challenge is that, with innovation, there is often a time inconsistency between the costs and the benefits. The disruptions come first; the benefits take time. ...

History shows that adaptation, not avoidance, is what sustains progress. Each wave of technology has disrupted industries and employment, but over time it has also lifted productivity, raised real incomes, and improved living standards. ...

See the full speech here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20251015a.htm