Top News:
The Guardian:
Sources: WaPo's Will Lewis advised Boris Johnson and others to “clean up” their phones during UK's COVID-era Partygate scandal in December 2021 and January 2022 — Sources' claim suggests advice by Will Lewis, an informal adviser to then prime minister, contradicted instructions to staff
Discussion:
@dougiec3@libretooth.gr, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @adambienkov and @7im
Wired:
Analysis: Perplexity seems to scrape sites using surreptitious methods, ignoring robots.txt, with a Perplexity-tied machine doing so on Wired and other sites — A WIRED investigation shows that the AI-powered search startup Forbes has accused of stealing its content is surreptitiously scraping—and making things up out of thin air.
Discussion:
@bernie_michalik@threads.net, @jessicalessin, @technicallymims@threads.net, @LeftistLawyer@kolektiva …, @benedictevans@threads.net, @katiedrumm, @clive@saturation.social, @johnvoorhees@mastodon …, @carnage4life, @timmarchman.bsky.social, @johnkoetsier@threads.net, @howelloneill@infosec.exchange, @olifranklin, @noahshachtman@threads.net, @rafat and @dmehro, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Elon Musk tried to repair his often strained relationship with the ad industry through an appearance at the Cannes Lions, after Twitter skipped 2023's event — Elon Musk attempted to repair his often strained relationship with the advertising industry with an appearance at the Cannes Lions conference in France on Wednesday.
Tim O'Reilly / O'Reilly Media:
How generative AI model providers can create business models that reward copyright holders and content creators, much like what has happened on the web — Last month, The New York Times claimed that tech giants OpenAI and Google have waded into a copyright gray area by transcribing …
Discussion:
@ainemacdermot.bsky.social and Tim O'Reilly on LinkedIn
Lara Korte / Politico:
Snap agrees to a $15M settlement with California after a three-year probe into employees' allegations of discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment — Women who worked for the company in the last decade may be eligible for compensation. — SACRAMENTO, California …
Discussion:
@suhaunah, @calcivilrights, CRD, @kimzetter, Courthouse News Service, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
MoffettNathanson: Q1 2024 was the worst quarter the pay-TV business has ever seen, losing 2.37M subscribers, down 6.9%, and even YouTube TV slightly shrank — - Pay TV just suffered its worst quarter in history — a stunning 6.9% drop. — The TV industry used to hope digital services …
Discussion:
Nielsen, Next TV, @penenberg, @nicksologist, @chrifamouamo1, @pkafka, @thatniggaephy, @chrifamouamo1, @pkafka, Cord Cutters News and Awful Announcing
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
London-based sports content studio C15 Studio emerges from stealth to launch FAST channels in partnership with Formula 1, Triton Poker, and others — The developer of free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels dedicated to programming from Formula 1, Triton Poker and professional squash …
Discussion:
Matthew Keys on LinkedIn and Sportico
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz strike a distribution deal with X for their music series Verzuz, which they sold to Triller in 2021 but have since reacquired — Earlier in the year, Swizz and Timbaland reacquired Verzuz from their previous partner Triller and now own 100% of the platform …
Discussion:
Monique Pintarelli on LinkedIn, Rolling Stone, WTOP News and Billboard
Variety:
A look at Paramount's failed merger talks with Skydance and how Shari Redstone's unilateral decision to call off the talks shows her unusual power — For Shari Redstone, it was nothing personal. But the longer the negotiations went on, the more Redstone fell out of love with the idea …
Discussion:
@xpangler, The Hollywood Reporter, @xpangler, @asharma, @carlquintanilla, @xpangler and @xpangler
Charlie Nash / Mediaite:
X removes some of journalist Pablo Manriquez's viral posts on Senator Ted Cruz's donor info; X claims the posts violated its rules but did not give details — A series of viral social media posts revealing the contents of a folder on Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) donors were removed by Elon Musk's platform X on Tuesday.
Laura Kipnis / Wired:
A look at Rebind, a startup that turns Margaret Atwood's and other authors' voices into AI reading companions, and an interview with CEO John Dubuque — Margaret Atwood, Marlon James, Lena Dunham, Roxane Gay: We've all agreed to be turned into AI reading companions by a mysterious company called Rebind.
Discussion:
Rebind AI, more at Techmeme »
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Telegraph Media Group reports a record £244.6M loss in 2023 due to £277.6M of previously unidentified debt, despite operating profit rising 35.2% YoY to £54.2M — Telegraph Media Group has reported a record £244.6m loss in 2023, despite a 35% rise in operating profit.
Discussion:
Telegraph, Financial Times, Bloomberg, @pressgazette, The Guardian, @ljon.bsky.social and @josiahmortimer