GamesBeat reports: “Advertising solutions company Anzu announced today that it has received a new investment from Amex Ventures. The undisclosed amount will accelerate Anzu’s mission to provide intrinsic in-game advertising to premium companies. Amex Ventures joins Anzu’s existing investors, a list that includes PayPal Ventures, WPP, Emmis Corporation, and NBCUniversal, among others.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “Grammy-winning artist Wyclef Jean has partnered with Jaeson Ma, co-founder of Asian music collective 88rising, to launch OpenWav, a platform that promises artists higher earnings via fan engagements. The startup, based in Los Angeles, was launched on Wednesday (June 11) during A2IM Indie Week in New York City, with backing from creator economy-focused fund Connect Ventures, Warner Music Group, Goodwater Capital, Soma Capital, SuperScrypt, Dragonfly, Galaxy Interactive, and Animoca Brands.”
TechCrunch reports: “Spanish startup Multiverse Computing on Thursday said it has raised an enormous Series B round of €189 million (about $215 million) on the strength of a technology it calls “CompactifAI.” CompactifAI is a quantum-computing inspired compression technology that is capable of reducing the size of LLMs by up to 95% without impacting model performance, the company said.”
Yahoo! Finance reports: “-Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT), a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world, and OpenAI today announced a strategic collaboration to support AI-powered products and experiences based on Mattel’s brands. The agreement unites Mattel’s and OpenAI’s respective expertise to design, develop, and launch groundbreaking experiences for fans worldwide.”
Variety reports: “New company Incantor AI has launched with what the tech company calls the “first AI model that enables creator attribution and IP rights tracking across all gen AI-derived content created on its platform.” Agency Verve will advise the startup as it rolls out its content creation platform and help Incantor “navigate the entertainment industry and explore practical applications of its technology, including content localization, rights management, and creative production workflows – while also advocating for the creative community and artists entering this new realm.”
IMDb reports: “Streamer Tubi has pacted with Kickstarter to offer distribution opportunities for 20 or more producers who are tapping the crowdfunding platform to support independent filmmaking. As part of the partnership, Tubi will invest in Kickstarter’s newly launched FilmStream Collective Fund, which distributes money to filmmakers active on the platform to help complete films.”
Broadband TV News reports: “Disney is to pay Comcast close to $439 million for its stake Hulu, in a deal that will allow it to finally take control of the US streaming service. The payment is a significant reduction on the guaranteed floor value of $27.5 billion agreed between Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal in 2023. Disney has effectively run Hulu since 2019, after Comcast ceded control. Since the acquisition of much of the former Fox assets, and the launch of Disney+, Star has become a kind of Hulu International as home to content originally created for Hulu itself.”
Music Business Worldwide reports: “Music tech company Songtradr is uniting its key B2B music businesses under the MassiveMusic brand. Under the new structure, announced on Wednesday (June 11), MassiveMusic will offer 7digital’s global distribution services, Big Sync Music’s advertising and licensing expertise, Musicube’s AI-driven metadata and search functions, and Resonance Sonic Branding’s strategic services.”
GamesBeat reports: “Unity today announced the launch of its new Audience Hub, which combines the company’s own privacy-first insights with third-party data sources to offer advertisers curated audience targeting. According to Unity, this new Hub offers audience intelligence without compromising data. The Audience Hub is now available to advertisers in the U.S. and Canada, with plans for a full global rollout soon.”
TechCrunch reports: “Pinterest is experimenting with “auto-collages,” an AI feature that allows advertisers to quickly turn their product catalogs into shoppable collages, the company announced this week. The new feature is designed to make it easier for advertisers to reach customers while saving time and creative resources, Pinterest says.”
