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OpenAI responds to the NYT lawsuit, says training is fair use and there is an opt-out, “regurgitation” is a rare bug, and NYT “manipulated” its models — We support journalism, partner with news organizations, and believe The New York Times lawsuit is without merit.
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TechCrunch, CNN, CNBC, Financial Times, The Verge, Bloomberg, @isaiahporitz, Futurism, @jeremymbarr, @verge, @giordanorogers, @minimaxir, @saurabhsachan, @ndiakopoulos, @froomkin, @jamesrbuk, The Hollywood Reporter, @karlauerbach@sfba.social, @carnage4life, @martin@openedtech.social, @fifilamoura@eldritch.cafe, @quasarfortress, @nomadsvagabonds, @themacrosift, @selmarsmit, @drcolinwplewis, @obscure_jazz, @aimee_maree, @maxkannen, @acidflask, @rohanposts, @sai_prasanna, @nicky_bonez, @gdb, @garymarcus, @jacquesthibs, @techau, @altryne, @willoremus@mastodon.social, Stratechery and CMU, more at Techmeme »

Internal memo: Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon says the broadcaster needs to “accelerate” its digital shift and confirms “an impact on jobs”, citing an ad slump — Exclusive: Broadcaster looks to hasten shake-up amid TV advertising slump with most job losses likely to affect London-based workers
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Sources: SoundCloud owners Raine Group and Temasek Holdings are preparing for a sale of the music streaming service that could fetch $1B+ — Backed by Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, SoundCloud is to be put up for sale later this year as its owners anticipate a substantial payday, Sky News learns.
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RAIN News, CMU, @pivic@kolektiva.social, Cory Brown on LinkedIn and Music Ally

How US News & World Report licenses “badges” that US colleges use to promote their rankings, as critics say the payments incentivize a harmful ranking system — U.S. News sells “badges” to colleges, so they can promote their rankings — whether they are 1st, 10th or much, much lower.
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Jonathan Henry on LinkedIn, @halsinger and @jselingo

YouTube updates its cyberbullying policy to ban AI-generated content that “realistically simulates” deceased children or victims of crimes or deadly events — YouTube is updating its cyberbullying and harassment policies and will no longer allow content that “realistically simulates” …

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour becomes the highest-grossing concert film of all time, earning $261.6M+ globally, surpassing Michael Jackson's This Is It from 2009 — Taylor Swift is starting off 2024 with yet another historic milestone under her belt. — Following the release of “Taylor Swift …
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Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Billboard and ScreenRant

Sources: Will and Jada Smith's Westbrook struggled to land deals after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock and its 2023 revenue dropped to $100M, forcing steep cuts — The Scoop — The fall of 2021 was the perfect time for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith to sell their media company, Westbrook.
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Poynter and David Adeleke on LinkedIn

Roxi, a voice-activated video music service backed by Simon Cowell and others, plans to expand from UK to the US in Q1 on most streaming devices and smart TVs — Backed by Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Sheryl Crow, streaming service looks to supplant smart speakers
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The Hollywood Reporter, Music Ally, Billboard and Advanced Television

MBC Group, the Middle East's biggest broadcaster, rises 20% on its first day of trading on the Saudi exchange, after raising $222M by selling a 10% stake — - MBC has raised $222 million selling a 10% stake in IPO — Company was founded by Waleed Al Ibrahim in London in 1991

Netflix, Max, and Hulu won a combined 12 awards at the 81st Golden Globes; HBO's final Succession season won four awards and Netflix's Beef won three awards — Netflix, Max and Hulu led all streamers with 12 combined key category trophies at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards held Jan. 7 in Los Angeles.
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The Streamable, SlashFilm, The Verge, @appleinsider, @ayotristan, Engadget, Awardsdaily, People, Deadline, NBC News, AppleInsider, Deadline, Next TV and The Hollywood Reporter

Axel Springer launches a review of the editorial processes at BI, after a BI story claimed many instances of plagiarism by MIT's Neri Oxman, Bill Ackman's wife — The Scoop — Business Insider's parent company is divided over the publication's recent article about plagiarism allegations …
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Mediaite, Washington Post, New York Post, @benmullin, @mjnblack, @niallstanage, @hshaban, @billackman, @carnage4life, @billackman, Why Evolution Is True, @jamesrbuk, @benmullin, @maxwelltani, @lorakolodny@threads.net, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @chancerydaily@threads.net, @esqueer_@threads.net, @alexheath@threads.net, @alex.stamos@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, CNN and The Daily Beast

New York Post's Page Six launches a new studio in New York City to shoot its expanding array of celebrity-driven content, with media personality Astra as anchor — The tabloid's fabled gossip column has hired media personality Astra as anchor for the New York City facility in the headquarters of News Corp.

Getty Images and Nvidia launch Generative AI by iStock, a text-to-image service that generates stock photos and is aimed at SMBs — Getty Images and Nvidia are deepening their AI partnership with the launch of Generative AI by iStock, a text-to-image platform specifically designed to make stock photos.
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NVIDIA, more at Techmeme »

SCOTUS declines to hear a case filed by Twitter in 2014, in which Twitter argued that disclosing data requests in national security probes was protected by 1A — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by Elon Musk's X Corp to consider whether the social media company …
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MediaPost, The Daily Caller, The Verge, The Hill and @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »