🤖 Is AI About To Take Over Hollywood?

Good morning. US stock futures dipped in Friday morning trading as investors digested the latest corporate earnings reports and looked ahead to a key July payrolls report.

🤖 Actors take to picket lines over AI threat

📝 Our report: Striking video game voice actors and motion-capture performers held their debut picket at Warner Bros. Games, declaring that artificial intelligence threatens their livelihoods. The performers called for the strike last week over failed labor contract negotiations focused on AI-related protections for workers.

 🔑 Key points:

• The decision to strike follows months of negotiations with major videogame companies including Activision Productions, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive, Disney Character Voices and Warner Bros Discovery's WB Games.

• This marks the latest strike in Hollywood after union writers and actors marched on the picket lines last year with AI also being a major concern.

• The strike also brings with it a larger call to action across Hollywood as people in the industry advocate for a law that can protect them from AI risks as well.

💡 So what: The strike by video game voice actors and motion-capture performers over the risks posed by AI has significant implications, including potential production delays and financial losses for game developers and publishers, heightened public awareness, and increased pressure on the industry to address job security and fair compensation. This movement highlights the balance needed between leveraging AI for efficiency and preserving human creativity and authenticity in the gaming industry.

Friday - U.S. Unemployment Rate

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🛢️ Chevron, Hess $53 billion deal faces delay

WHAT: Shares of Chevron and Hess Corp. took a nosedive after announcing that their $53 billion merger arbitration with Exxon Mobil is delayed until at least mid-2025. The international arbitration panel handling Exxon’s right-of-first-refusal claim over Hess’ stake in its Guyana oil project has scheduled the hearing for May 2025, with a decision expected in the following three months, the companies said. They had previously issued guidance for a decision in the fourth quarter of 2024.

WHY: The delay is a significant blow to the embattled deal, which remains far from completion more than nine months after it was announced. It is still under review by the US Federal Trade Commission, which plans to delay its decision whether to try to block the merger until after the arbitration case is settled, according to people familiar with the matter.

🤖 EU AI rules take effect

WHAT: The European Union's groundbreaking artificial intelligence law has officially kicked in, marking the latest chapter in the bloc's quest to tame the tech world. Officials say the Artificial Intelligence Act will protect the “fundamental rights” of citizens in the 27-nation bloc while also encouraging investment and innovation in the booming AI industry.

WHY: The AI Act covers any product or service offered in the EU that uses artificial intelligence, whether it's a platform from a Silicon Valley tech giant or a local startup. The restrictions are based on four levels of risk, and the vast majority of AI systems are expected to fall under the low-risk category, such as content recommendation systems or spam filters.

📱 Apple lobbies judge to toss antitrust lawsuit

WHAT: Apple has asked a U.S. judge to toss out an antitrust lawsuit by federal and state regulators accusing it of monopolizing the smartphone market, arguing that the case would force a judge to redesign its beloved iPhone. The Justice Department, 19 states and Washington, D.C., accuse Apple of an illegal monopoly on smartphones maintained by imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access from, developers.

WHY: The Justice Department says that by hampering interoperability between the iPhone and third-party apps and devices, Apple locks users into its own products and harms competition in the market. But Apple argued that the lawsuit fails to raise any evidence that its practices harm competition or consumers, who it says plausibly switch to a competitor if they dislike what iPhone features.

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