Entertainment Archive

Anthropic clamps down on Claude’s AI video game clones

Jay PetersNov 2

Richard LawlerNov 2

Techno music co-creator Juan Atkins has died at 64.

Along with fellow Belleville Three members Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, he created the Detroit techno sound, releasing music under aliases including Cybotron and Model 500.

Atkins was found unresponsive in his hotel room Saturday ahead of a planned performance in Mexico City, and May said, “He never mentioned how sick he was, for years. He just went out and did his job the best way he could. Respect his legacy. Respect the effort. Respect the work. Respect the accomplishments.” Saunderson wrote, “Juan was the originator of Techno, a true visionary who opened the door for so many of us, myself included.”

Mia SatoNov 2

How OpenAI is trying to woo Hollywood.

This profile of friend-to-the-stars Charles Porch (formerly of Meta) details how OpenAI is working to seed AI within the entertainment industry.

Porch describes, for example, how having Real Housewives stars at personal events could pay off in the future: “If an AI model comes up on the show, it might be Chat because we have this nice drumbeat. This is what I’ve been trying to explain to folks: It’s not about deals; it’s about relationships.”

Charles Porch Is OpenAI’s Hollywood Whisperer

[Intelligencer]

Why Peacock is making a huge bet on YouTube

NBCU Media Group chairman Matt Strauss on sports, streaming, and keeping you watching.

Nilay PatelNov 2

Andrew WebsterNov 2

A link to the past.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches later this week, and in the lead-up Nintendo has put out the first half of a lengthy developer Q&A, covering everything from what changed gameplay-wise, to the new visual style, which was inspired by puppet shows. As art director Aya Shida explains:

Neither puppet shows nor practical effects films reproduce reality exactly as it is. Even so, both create a convincing sense that the characters truly exist within their respective fantasy worlds. We also felt that there was some overlap between these forms of expression and the distinctive nostalgia evoked by the original game.

Jess WeatherbedNov 2

AI is being used to churn out a lot of indie games.

This graph shared by game hosting platform Itch.io doesn’t flag when AI was specifically used in game development, but at a time when so many studios are struggling, its hard to think of another reason why daily game submissions would have doubled in two months.

Terrence O'BrienNov 1

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever seen on YouTube?

To close out spooky season, I shared some of my favorite creepy clips from YouTube. I tried to avoid series that spanned multiple videos or had the backing of bigger corporate sponsors, like Adult Swim’s infomercials. But let’s toss all qualifiers out the window: What YouTube clip or clips have unsettled you the most?