Scott Kirsner

For today's Wide Shot newsletter, we return to the question of whether streaming is a good business and, more precisely, for whom? We address cable giant John Malone's recent assessment (categorically "no") and take a look at the state of Netflix, Disney, Paramount and others who participated in the streaming war. Who's winning? Who's still losing money? What's the next stage of the streaming business? (Oh, we also get into JOKER 2's box office travesty). #entertainmentbusiness #hollywood #streaming

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Allowing employees to sell shares in secondary tender offers is what companies do when they can't (or in SpaceX's case, won't) go public. We got a peek inside one of SpaceX offerings and it shows one thing: the investors are buying are getting a major bargain on share price. Plus, those who are authorized to buy are pretty much all Elon Musk champions. Take a look ... #startups #equity #stock https://lnkd.in/gdR3Yfe6

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I wrote about the new version of ChatGPT's voice assistant, GPT-4o, which can talk, laugh, interpret emotions and even sing. It's clearly modeled on Samantha from "Her," and it means that we are leaving the era of the dry, impersonal AI helper, and entering into much stranger territory. How will society change when AI voices can convince us they're human? Will we fall for our AI assistants, as Theodore does for Samantha? Or will other companies' more detached, less emotional chatbots carry the day? I wrote about the possibilities in The New York Times.

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If you're in a corporate innovation, R&D, new ventures role: could you chime in on this quick (~7 min) survey from InnoLead & HYPE Innovation? https://lnkd.in/ejRWb7Uq This message will self-destruct EOD Tuesday — when we need to close this survey.

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Fast Company's 10th annual Innovation Festival has flown by! I especially enjoyed talking on Wednesday morning with Carrot Fertility cofounder Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, BCG economist Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, and Blue Haven Initiative investor Ian Simmons. We stepped back from the frenzied news cycle and discussed what's really at stake this election year. 🤰 Maternal mortality rates: Asima reminded us that, even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the U.S. had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. Now, the crisis is even more dire. "A lot of [doctors] feel that they're in a situation where they can't do best by their patients," she said. As a result, they're leaving abortion-restricted states or leaving medicine entirely, with profound implications for maternal care. 📈 📉 Consumer sentiment: Philipp noted that inflation continues to shape consumer sentiment. "Price affordability isn't seen as strong," he said, despite the fact that "the economy as a whole is strong, consumption is still strong." For example, we hear a lot about prices being up 20-21% since 2019, but wages are up 25% over that same period. An incoming president will have to navigate consumers' negative perceptions. 🗳 Political stability: Ian highlighted the role of political stability. "The more we lean into actually practicing democracy, the better the economy is for the long-term," he said. He also warned against sitting on the sidelines. "Business leaders should not shy away from getting engaged and advocating what's going to be good for the economy," like fair and competitive markets.

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🗞 As someone who consumes news in many formats / channels - online, social, audio and even print (will always love my magazines and weekend newspapers), it’s magical to have most of what you love in one place (ahem, Yahoo News).  💫 It’s even more magical to say that the Yahoo News app is going through a major glow up with next-level personalization from Artifact. 🙌 In a world where it sometimes feels overwhelming to cut through so much information, sometimes you want the tl;dr.  Other times, you want to dig in, read the full article (and then another and another), and share highlights seamlessly on social or in group text threads with your BFFs. The new Yahoo News app launches today and it’s awesome - here are some of the reasons why: 📱 AI-Powered Personalized Feed 📝 Key Takeaways to summarize articles  🚩 Ability to Block Keywords and Flag Clickbait 💫 Easy one-touch Sharing Tools 🔥 Badges and Streaks to share with friends Learn more in this WIRED exclusive by Boone Ashworth https://lnkd.in/gs-V-4vp 📰 Katelyn Brehony 🗞 Estela Weinmann 📰 Caragh Fisher O'Connor 🗞 Kat Downs Mulder 🗞 Andrew Machado 📰

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For decades, internet politics has been shaped by a cyberlibertarian perspective that obsessed about government while enabling the corporate dystopia we live in today. If we want a better internet, we must abandon that perspective and reclaim sovereignty over digital technology. #techindustry #brazil #socialmedia #twitter #telegram #digitalsovereignty

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Worthwhile read on one of the most useful tools on the web 📖 (Internet Archive) https://lnkd.in/eMpbgsdY

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Another great forward-looking piece from David Buttle - all about why Microsoft's under-the-radar launch of AI news summaries via Copilot Daily is a potentially significant moment (if the tech moves forward even just a bit). "Firstly, services like this give rise to a new set of intermediation risks. Secondly these risks bring to the fore licensing decisions for publishers which are strategically consequential in the era of AI disruption. Finally, it adds to the pressure on Google’s faltering relationship with publishers, particularly around AI Overviews." Read on to hear more about each point in turn 👉 https://lnkd.in/eSVAf6Ei

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