Tech

In the second of a two-part interview on Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast, Soul Machines CEO Greg Cross casts his eye toward the future of how his business marrying state-of-the-art animation with artificial intelligence will be utilized in the world of Hollywood celebrity. Cross delves into the challenge of building technology ideally situated for the metaverse,

Bill Simmons, the Ringer founder and head of podcast innovation and monetization at Spotify, recently ridiculed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on his podcast, labeling the couple as “fucking grifters” Simmons’ comment follows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Thursday announcement that their production company, Archewell, had severed ties with the audio company. The pair

UPDATED: Spotify’s exclusive podcast deal with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has come to an end — with the couple having delivered just one show under the agreement. Spotify and Archewell Audio, the couple’s podcast production shingle, said Thursday in a joint statement that they are ending their pact. “Spotify and Archewell

Twitch is introducing Partner Plus, a program boosting the cut that streamers earn to 70% of subscription revenue — with a few conditions, however. Twitch’s new Partner Program, set to go into effect starting in October 2023, pay streamers 70% share on net subscription revenue to who meet the qualification criteria (with Twitch keeping the

Ryan Reynolds is known for R-rated humor — but now he’s going into dad mode with his first original series for internet TV provider Fubo. Reynolds’ Maximum Effort production company announced the June 20 launch of Maximum Effort Channel on Fubo, which will feature the debut of the partnership’s first original show: “Bedtime Stories With

“Prisma,” the groundbreaking Amazon Italian original series centered around identical adolescent teen twins who challenge gender norms in different ways, has been renewed for a second season. The second installment of the show is being financed and distributed under a different business model than the first season with Germany’s Beta Film now coming on board as

Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and currently the world’s richest person, is siding with striking editorial staff members of Insider Inc. in their fight to get a new contract with the digital media outlet. “They should keep striking. Fight on, comrades!” Musk tweeted Wednesday in reply to a post about

Yahoo hired Ryan Spoon, a former ESPN and BetMGM executive, as the new president of Yahoo Sports. Spoon replaces Jon Shaw, who had served as interim general manager of Yahoo Sports; Shaw will continue in a leadership role at Yahoo Sports reporting to Spoon, who reports directly to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone. Spoon is responsible

Studio71 has set a digital advertising and brand partnership pact with Andre Rebelo, a gaming creator better known to more than 20 million social media followers as Typical Gamer. The deal calls for Studio71 to represent Rebelo and his four YouTube channels as well as his presence on TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Studio71,

Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan just got engaged — and now they’re going into business together. Cooper, creator, host and executive producer of Spotify’s hit sex and relationship podcast “Call Her Daddy,” and Kaplan, founder/CEO of ACE Entertainment and producer of Netflix’s “XO, Kitty” and the streamer’s “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” film

Blockbuster’s famous video-rental stores are dead and gone. But the erstwhile chain’s brand is alive and kicking in a new nostalgia play from collectibles maker Funko. Funko announced a partnership with Blockbuster for a new “retro entertainment” product line, dubbed Rewind, featuring collectibles and packaging fashioned around the iconic Blockbuster design. The first full Rewind

Move over, concert T-shirt. Snoop Dogg wants to sell fans an NFT that promises owners exclusive access to updates from the rapper’s life on tour starting in July. The Snoop Dogg Passport Series is touted as the first “evolving digital tour collectible,” priced at about $45 or 0.025 ETH (Ethereum cryptocurrency) available on snooppassport.xyz. The

Joe Nocera, the host and writer of “The Shrink Next Door” podcast, has set a new, Agatha Christie-themed series with Audible, Variety can confirm. Produced by transatlantic podcast production company Blanchard House, “Agatha Christie and the Dandelion Poisoner” will see Nocera investigate a real-life murder that inspired Agatha Christie and has gone unexplained for a

Linda Yaccarino, who has taken over the role of CEO at Elon Musk’s Twitter, sent out her first communication to the social network’s employees Monday. In her 320-word memo, Yaccarino, who jumped ship from NBCUniversal to join Twitter, didn’t spell out specifically how she plans to run Twitter’s operations or what Musk’s “Twitter 2.0” vision

Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, announced that he is stepping down after nine years at Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper. Ryan cited “the decline in civility” in political discourse for his decision to leave the Post and lead the newly created nonpartisan Center on Public Civility, launched by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation

Thousands of Reddit discussion forums have “gone dark” — temporarily closing their virtual doors — for what’s planned as a two-day protest over the company’s move to charge third-party apps for API access to the site. More than 6,500 subreddits as of Monday morning have gone dark, according to Reddark, a site that’s tracking the

Netflix has picked up a sex-advice talk show from “E!’s Nightly Pop” host Zach Noe Towers as its latest addition to its SiriusXM channel Netflix Is a Joke Radio. Airing biweekly on Thursdays on channel 93 beginning June 15 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, “After Hours with Zach Noe Towers” is described as “a

At least initially, Netflix’s broad password crackdown appears to be producing the streamer’s desired results in converting freeloaders into paying customers in the U.S., according to early data from research company Antenna. On May 23, Netflix began notifying U.S. customers that users on their accounts who live outside their households would need to be added

Roku expanded its board with the election of Jeff Blackburn, formerly Amazon’s top digital media and entertainment executive, at the company’s annual shareholder meeting Thursday. Blackburn served as Amazon’s senior VP of global media and entertainment from May 2021 to February 2023, where he oversaw content businesses including Prime Video, Amazon Studios, MGM, Music, Audible,

Apple this week announced Vision Pro, its augmented-reality and VR headset priced at a cool $3,500, seven times the price of Meta’s upcoming Quest 3 headset. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, apparently, was not blown away by the Apple reveal. “From what I’ve seen initially, I’d say the good news is that there’s no kind of

A nationally syndicated talk show host in Georgia sued artificial-intelligence company OpenAI for defamation, alleging its AI-powered chatbot fabricated legal claims against him. The lawsuit is believed to be the first defamation complaint related to ChatGPT, which was introduced in November 2022. Mark Walters, founder of Armed American Radio (whose website describes him as “the

Equity, the U.K. trade union for performers and creatives, has launched a comprehensive toolkit aimed at protecting performers from the increasing use of unregulated artificial intelligence (AI) in the entertainment industry. The toolkit was developed in response to a surge in members seeking guidance, support and legal representation, as well as the U.K. government’s decision

Twitch to creators: Oops, never mind. The Amazon-owned livestreaming platform on Wednesday revoked its new branded-content guidelines the day after putting them into place, following a backlash from creators. The changes, which were scheduled to be effective July 1, would have restricted the kinds of ads allowed on Twitch — completely banning “burned-in” (i.e., in-stream)

Tucker Carlson — who was booted from Fox News in April — has made a serious pile of cash practicing what I like to call the conventional wisdom of the counterintuitive take. His worldview can be whittled down to this: everything you ever heard is wrong. And I mean everything. (He still believes the English

The Los Angeles Times, facing declining ad revenue and readership, is eliminating 74 editorial jobs, representing about 13% of the total newsroom staff. The L.A. Times Guild, an affiliate of Media Guild of the West, issued a statement that the union was “outraged” by the job cuts and “blindsided by this news.” Staffers at the

Spotify has announced its plans for Cannes Lions, the world’s largest celebration of the advertising and creative communications industry. Running June 19-22, Spotify Beach will include masterclasses with appearances by Emma Chamberlain, “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper and soccer star Cesc Fàbregas. Daily programming will also include sound bath meditation sessions, an immersive Songs of

Andy Serkis, the award-winning actor (“Lord of the Rings”) and filmmaker, is set to narrate the mixed reality game “Monstrorama” ahead of its world premiere at Tribeca. The experience, slated to compete in Tribeca’s immersive category, takes players on a tour of a secret museum called Monstrorama that’s located thousands of miles underground. The museum

Instagram’s recommendation algorithms have enabled a “vast” network of pedophiles seeking illegal underage sexual content and activity, according to a Wall Street Journal exposé. In a 2,800-word article published Wednesday, the Journal said it conducted an investigation into child pornography on Instagram in collaboration with researchers at Stanford and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Pedophiles

Netflix has announced production of “Rhythm + Flow Italy” following the launches of the hip hop music competition in the U.S. and France. The groundbreaking talent show that follows and nurtures aspiring rappers will be produced in Italy by Fremantle and feature Italian rappers Fabri Fibra, Geolier and Rose Villain in search of local artists

Reddit, the internet community discussion powerhouse, is cutting 90 jobs, laying off about 5% of its total employee base, as it restructure operations to position itself to break even in 2024. The job cuts, which will span companywide, were announced by Reddit CEO Steve Huffman in an email to staffers Tuesday. “We’ve had a solid