Led by Pixar Animation Studios, a consortium of tech companies has formed the Alliance for OpenUSD to promote an open 3D computer graphics standard for the metaverse and other 3D projects. Adobe, Apple, Autodesk and Nvidia are also founding members along with the Linux Foundation’s Joint Development Foundation. The group will promote the development and standardization of Pixar’s Universal Scene Description tech, a 3D platform that is interoperable across a variety of tools, data and workflows. The goal is to make it easier to describe, compose and simulate large-scale 3D imaging projects and services across industries and platforms worldwide. Read more

Content hubs are gaining traction with streaming platforms as a search and discovery tool, according to a new study by Horowitz Research, which notes eight in 10 consumers indicating they watch content from a collection or hub occasionally. Multicultural audiences are turning to using hub resources in significant numbers, with African American streamers engaging at the 80 percent rate, and Asian viewers at 65 percent. The number trends higher — at 77 percent — among less acculturated Asian streamers. Among Latinx streamers, nearly 59 percent say they’ve turned to Latinx content collections, with less acculturated doing so at higher rates (78 percent). Read more

Meta Platforms is amping up its AI play, with plans to launch a suite of personality-driven chatbots as soon as next month. The company has been developing the series of artificially intelligent character bots with a goal of using them to boost engagement with its social media brands by making them available to have “humanlike discussions” on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Internally dubbed “personas,” the chatbots simulate characters ranging from historical figures like Abraham Lincoln to a surfer dude that dispenses travel advice. Read more

Launched two years ago, C2PA is an open-source Internet protocol that cryptographically encodes origin metadata into content. The protocol, a more secure form of watermarking, is being put forth as a way of disclosing when material has been created wholly or in part using artificial intelligence, something the White House has said it wants companies to do. Impending European Union regulations will also mandate that some tech platforms label images, audio, and video generated by artificial intelligence using “prominent markings.” More than 1,500 companies are involved with C2PA through the Content Authenticity Initiative, making it a viable solution. Read more

Local TV news may soon undergo an AI-driven revolution that will make artificially-generated newscasts a reality nearly 40 years after digital anchor Max Headroom introduced the concept. Veteran newsman and author Hank Price predicts that while the transition is still a few years in the making, the process is already underway, with AI already being used to alter the voice and images of human anchors and offering the possibility to eventually create computer-generated newsreaders with their own personalities. Comparing the advent of newsroom AI to switching to robotic cameras, he says the move will be costly but save money over time. Read more