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Companies developing video AI models and tools often talk about working with Hollywood studios to make certain workflows possible. On Thursday, Netflix said that it has started using AI in movies and shows it produces. Speaking at the company’s post-results conference call, the company’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, said that the platform had “the very first GenAI final footage to appear on screen” in an Argentine show called “El Eternauta.” He noted that Netflix’s internal production group teamed up with producers to use AI to create a scene of a building collapsing. Sarandos said that using AI, the scene was finished…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will release $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money for after-school programs, days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the Trump administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.President Donald Trump’s administration on July 1 withheld more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, adult literacy and English language instruction, as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House’s priorities. In a letter sent Wednesday, Republican senators said the withheld money supported programs that had longstanding bipartisan support and were critical…

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, “Jaws” unlocked dread in millions about man-eating sharks. This summer, that fear may be somewhat reduced as they become contestants on a TV dance show.Former “Dancing With the Stars” host Tom Bergeron steps up for a marketing masterstroke by Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” — “Dancing with Sharks,” where humans and 20-foot-long hammerhead sharks do a little mambo.“I had a decade and a half experience of hosting a dance show, but this one was different,” Bergeron tells The Associated Press. “I’d often thought on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ wouldn’t it be great if we…

Disneyland kicked off its year-long 70th Anniversary Celebration back in May — but today, on July 17, 2025, the park’s actual 70th birthday, it unveils two of its most significant and emotional tributes yet. Walt Disney – A Magical Life, a groundbreaking new show featuring the most lifelike Audio-Animatronics figure Disney has ever created, and So Much That We Share: A Tribute to the Sherman Brothers, a heartwarming homage to the musical siblings responsible for some of the most iconic songs heard in the park — including a newly revealed final verse of “it’s a small world,” now added to…

Meta has refused to sign the European Union’s code of practice for its AI Act, weeks before the bloc’s rules for providers of general-purpose AI models take effect. “Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI,” wrote Meta’s chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan in a post on LinkedIn. “We have carefully reviewed the European Commission’s Code of Practice for general-purpose AI (GPAI) models and Meta won’t be signing it. This Code introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act.” The EU’s code of…

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — It was a perfect pitch. The ball sped straight across home plate, where it was met with an equally powerful kick. Perryline Jimmie sprinted toward first base after her kick as her teammates erupted in cheers on the sidelines.Jimmie, 23, is a professional player of kickball, a close cousin of baseball that is beloved by women in Liberia and played all over the country from schoolyards to public squares and dirt fields. Since its introduction in the 1960s, it has become the nation’s second-most popular sport after soccer.Kickball in Liberia has the rules of baseball but…

BOOM, Belgium (AP) — Fans roared in excitement and organizers sighed with relief as the Tomorrowland music festival kicked off Friday — just two days after a massive fire engulfed the main stage and threw one of Europe’s biggest summer concert events into doubt.Workers labored around the clock to clear out the debris from the elaborate backdrop that was consumed in Wednesday’s fire.Shouting ‘’We made it!’’, the festival’s opening performers, Australian electronic music group Nervo, were able to take to the main stage Friday after a last-minute scramble and slight delay. Some charred frames were still visible behind them.No one…

by Sarah Kuta Last updated: 1:50 PM ET, Thu July 17, 2025 Oceania Cruises is launching an immersive new signature dining experience aboard Oceania Allura.When the new ship sets sail on its maiden voyage on July 18, it will offer a new Gérard Bertrand Food and Wine Pairing lunch, an indulgent, six-course meal featuring premium hand-picked Gérard Bertrand wines. It will be available for up to 40 guests, for $175 per person (plus gratuities), on select days during each voyage.  The new offering will be expanded to Oceania Vista in September, followed by Oceania Marina and Oceania Riviera by 2026. “At…

OpenAI’s former chief technology officer, Mira Murati, just raised one of the largest seed rounds in history. Murati secured $2 billion in that seed round for Thinking Machines Lab — a startup so early, it hasn’t even revealed what it’s working on yet. The move is raising eyebrows across Silicon Valley, and it’s only the latest in a wave of top researchers splintering off from OpenAI to chase their own AI moonshots. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Rebecca Bellan and Anthony Ha break down what’s fueling the OpenAI talent shuffle, investor enthusiasm, and a former employee’s behind-the-scenes…

A Delta Air Lines plane takes off at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Dec. 24, 2021.Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFor United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, there’s his airline, his carrier’s main rival, Delta Air Lines, and then everyone else.Delta and United accounted for more than 86% of the profits posted by the seven largest airlines last year. Airline margins are notoriously thin, less than 4% last year, compared with close to 20% for big U.S. companies, according to the Airlines for America industry group. Already, the top four U.S. carriers — Delta, United, American and Southwest…