Streaming media giant Netflix continues to post strong revenue growth, with a 15 percent increase to $9.83 billion in Q3, year-over-year. Net income hit $2.36 billion, a 41 percent increase over the same period last year, though the company is forecasting a Q4 dip, to $1.85 billion. Operating margin was up 30 percent (versus 22 percent during the same period last year). Ad-tier memberships increased by 35 percent for the quarter. Overall, global streaming paid subscriptions are up 14.4 percent in the third quarter, for a total of 282.72 million. Continue reading Netflix Q3 Is ‘Most Profitable’ Quarter Ever, Up by 41 Percent

Nvidia has debuted a new AI model, Llama-3.1-Nemotron-70B-Instruct, that it claims is outperforming competitors GPT-4o from OpenAI and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet. The impressive showing has prompted speculation of an AI shakeup and a significant shift in Nividia’s AI strategy, which has thus far been focused primarily on chipmaking. The model was quietly released on Hugging Face, and Nvidia says as of October 1 it ranked first on three top automatic alignment benchmarks, “edging out strong frontier models” and vaulting Nvidia to the forefront of the LLM field in areas like comprehension, context and generation. Continue reading Nvidia’s Impressive AI Model Could Compete with Top Brands

Apple is giving bands the opportunity to turn their concert repertoires into Apple Music playlists with the Set List feature, which lets fans savor the live concert experience. Powered by Bandsintown, Set List enables artists to turn the songs from a single show, residency or tour into a playlist that in addition to being shared on Apple Music can be displayed on music app Shazam (Artist and Concert pages). Once a Set List is published, artists can use the Promote feature from the web or the Artists app on iOS to share the playlist with fans on social media. Continue reading Apple Helps Bands Promote Live Performances with ‘Set Lists’

A new LLM framework evaluates how well generative AI models are meeting the challenge of compliance with the legal parameters of the European Union’s AI Act. The free and open-source software is the product of a collaboration between ETH Zurich; Bulgaria’s Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT); and Swiss startup LatticeFlow AI. It is being billed as “the first evaluation framework of the EU AI Act for Generative AI models.” Already, it has found that some of the top AI foundation models are falling short of European regulatory goals in areas including cybersecurity resilience and discriminatory output. Continue reading ‘EU AI Act Checker’ Holds Big AI Accountable for Compliance

Anthropic, maker of the the popular Claude AI chatbot, has updated its Responsible Scaling Policy (RSP), designed and implemented to mitigate the risks of advanced AI systems. The policy was introduced last year and has since been improved, with new protocols added to ensure AI models are developed and deployed safely as they grow more powerful. This latest update offers “a more flexible and nuanced approach to assessing and managing AI risks while maintaining our commitment not to train or deploy models unless we have implemented adequate safeguards,” according to Anthropic. Continue reading Anthropic Updates ‘Responsible Scaling’ to Minimize AI Risks

The Federal Trade Commission has implemented a consumer “click-to-cancel” rule that requires sellers to make it as simple to cancel subscriptions or memberships as it was to sign up. The FTC vote was 3 to 2, along party lines, in favor of implementing the rule, which makes it easier to divest of unwanted, recurring bills. “Too often, businesses make people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan. “The FTC’s rule will end these tricks and traps, saving Americans time and money. Nobody should be stuck paying for a service they no longer want.” Continue reading FTC Adds Click-to-Cancel Provision to Negative Option Rule

Competing chipmakers Intel and AMD are joining forces on an advisory group for x86 computing. Invented by Intel and launched in 1978, the x86 architecture remains one of the most widely used platforms in the world, but has already been displaced by ARM in mobile, and is now fending off a challenge from that architecture in the AI space. Also participating in the x86 advisory are Broadcom, Dell, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Lenovo, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat, joined by tech luminaries Linus Torvalds, inventor of Linux, and Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. Continue reading Rivals Intel and AMD Team Up to Launch x86 Advisory Group

Reddit is expanding its keyword targeting advertising program, introducing it in more places and adding AI-powered recommendations to help ads appear in the most relevant environments across the platform. Keyword targeting is now available for feed ads in addition to conversations, which were previously the only placement available. Reddit is also launching an AI feature called dynamic audience expansion that works with keyword targeting to place ads before a wider range of viewers based on the objectives of the campaign. Since going public on the NYSE in March, Reddit has been under pressure to increase ad revenue. Continue reading Reddit Drives Precision in Conversation Keyword Ads Using AI

Just in time for the holiday season, Google Shopping is launching an AI-powered personalized feed that recommends items customers might like. The redesign is coming to desktop and mobile devices in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Suggested items are based on search and YouTube histories as well as AI inference. Shoppers will get “an AI-generated brief with top things to consider” in finding the right item, plus a curated feed of products. For now, the brief will be labeled “experimental,” and Google is encouraging feedback for the times AI doesn’t get it 100 percent right. Continue reading Google Shopping Redesigned with Gemini Feed, Infinite Scroll

Adobe has launched a public beta of its Generate Video app, part of the Firefly Video model, which users can try for free on a dedicated website. Login is required, and there is still a waitlist for unfettered access, but the Web app facilitates up to five seconds of video generation using text and image prompts. It can turn 2D pictures into 3D animation and is also capable of producing video with dynamic text.  The company has also added an AI feature called “Extend Video” to Premiere Pro to lengthen existing footage by two seconds. The news has the media lauding Adobe for beating OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo to market. Continue reading Adobe Promos AI in Premiere Pro, ‘Generate Video’ and More

OpenAI has announced Swarm, an experimental framework that coordinates networks of AI agents, and true to its name the news has kicked over a hornet’s nest of contentious debate about the ethics of artificial intelligence and the future of enterprise automation. OpenAI emphasizes that Swarm is not an official product and says though it has shared the code publicly it has no intention of maintaining it. “Think of it more like a cookbook,” OpenAI engineer Shyamal Anadkat said in a social media post, calling it “code for building simple agents.” Continue reading OpenAI Tests Open-Source Framework for Autonomous Agents

Acting in advance of a California law that goes into effect on January 1, cloud gaming platform Steam has begun posting a notice that its customers are purchasing a license, not a product. The language that appears in the Steam shopping cart now includes the advisory that “purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam.” Signed into law last month, California’s AB 2426 is categorized a consumer protection law against false advertising for digital goods. Specifically, it requires online sellers provide a “conspicuous” advisory that licenses are limited in duration and can be revoked. Continue reading Steam Preemptively Adds License-Only Terms to Online Store

Apple TV+ will be available as a $9.99 monthly add-on with Amazon Prime Video in the U.S., allowing users to use the service in one app with a single bill, the companies announced. The deal has the mutual upside of adding the cachet of award-winning Apple originals like “The Morning Show” and “Ted Lasso” to Amazon Prime, while getting Apple TV+ in front of Prime’s more than 100 million U.S. households. Apple doesn’t release specific subscriber numbers for Apple TV+, which has reportedly accrued about 25 million paid global subscribers since its 2019 launch. Continue reading Apple TV+ to Be Available as an Amazon Prime Video Add-On

Meta is rolling out new generative AI advertising tools for video creation on Facebook and Instagram. The expansion to the Advantage+ creative ad suite will become widely available to advertisers in early 2025. The announcement, made at Advertising Week in New York last week, was positioned as a way for marketers to improve campaign performance on Meta’s social platforms. The new tools will allow brands to convert static images into video ads. The company also announced a new full screen video tab for Facebook that feeds short-form Reels with long-form and live-stream content. Continue reading Meta Announces New GenAI Video Tools at Advertising Week

Qobuz, an audio platform in operation since 2007 that has been growing in popularity worldwide, recently added the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) and Digital eXtreme Definition (DXD) audio formats as download options in its online store. Described as the ultimate in hi-res digital audio capture and playback, the two are not commonly offered. And while there is not yet a large catalog of songs, audiophiles welcome the news as a harbinger of things to come. Qobuz has already added about 22,500 mainly DSD tracks to its catalog of more than 100 million songs, and says there are more on tap. Continue reading Qobuz Queues Up Hi-Resolution DSD and DXD Music Tracks