There’s a streaming alliance that beats Netflix on one key metric
A still from “House of the Dragon,” which could help to fuel retention for Disney and Max’s bundle. New data suggests there’s one clear way streaming services can compete with Netflix: bundling. A power-in-numbers approach could pose a threat to Netflix’s unrivaled loyalty in the streaming market. In terms of subscriber retention, the Disney and…
What we know about the ‘Harry Potter’ TV show, from rumored castings to its release date
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” A “Harry Potter” TV show is in the works. At a press event in LA in April 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery first confirmed it’s expanding the wizarding world with a coming TV series, originally planned for release on its streaming service,…
Duolingo killed its cartoon owl mascot for another ‘unhinged’ marketing stunt — except in one country
Duolingo didn’t kill its viral mascot in one country. In an elaborate marketing campaign this month, Duolingo seemingly killed its viral green owl mascot in every country but one. “Duo, our owl, faked his death in every single market that we had except for Japan,” Luis von Ahn, the company’s CEO, said on an earnings…
A cofounder of Airbnb is joining DOGE and says he can’t wait to apply his ‘designer brain and start-up spirit’ to government work
“Excited to share I’m bringing my designer brain and start-up spirit into the government,” Joe Gebbia wrote in an X post on Thursday. Joe Gebbia, a cofounder and former chief product officer of Airbnb, said on Thursday that he would be a part of Elon Musk’s government efficiency commission, DOGE. “Excited to share I’m bringing…
Utilities want to power Big Tech’s AI ambitions with natural gas. These are the data centers they’re betting on.
A gas-fired power plant in Oregon. From the Midwest to the Southeast, electricity demand from Big Tech’s AI data center projects has become so great that in some states, utilities want to build new natural gas-fired power plants to serve them. Microsoft is building a data center hub outside Milwaukee, where the local grid doesn’t…
Inside Grok’s war on ‘woke’
Is it OK to misgender Caitlyn Jenner to prevent a nuclear apocalypse? Is it possible to be racist against white people? How do you define a Black person? These are among the sample prompts xAI has used in training its chatbot Grok, according to internal documents reviewed by B-17s Insider. The documents, along with conversations…
How Amazon used Oreos and dog toys to develop an army of robots to grab what you buy
Amazon is investing billions of dollars in robots to make its e-commerce business more efficient and profitable. This huge initiative started out a lot smaller. A decade ago, the company launched a competition for university engineering teams called the Amazon Picking Challenge. It called on researchers to design robots for a common warehouse task: Grabbing…
Microsoft hangs up on Skype for good
Microsoft bought Skype almost 14 years ago. Microsoft is shutting down Skype, the internet calling service it bought almost 14 years ago for $8.5 billion. Users are set to be invited to switch to Teams before the service is turned off in May. Skype posted on X on Friday: “Starting in May 2025, Skype will…
The ‘Cobra Kai’ season 6 finale ending closes a chapter, but it’s not the end of the ‘Karate Kid’ franchise
William Zabka in “Cobra Kai.” Warning: Major spoilers for the series finale of “Cobra Kai.” After launching on YouTube in 2018 and then becoming a sensation when it moved to Netflix in 2020, “Cobra Kai” is finally coming to a close, ending a successful six-season run that combined the classic “Karate Kid” movies with a…
