Good Morning,
Two companies started labeling their own output today, which tells you where the pressure is. Spotify will tag AI-generated “performers” as “AI Personas” and pull them from editorial and algorithmic recommendations (TechCrunch). Anthropic says every model released after August 2 will watermark generated text and files using the C2PA standard (TechCrunch). Neither is altruism. The harder version of that question is proving you’re human when the good bots and the bad bots look identical (The New Yorker). That’s the fascinating question Jill Lepore ponders.
Ownership, meanwhile, is consolidating faster than authorship. Ari Emanuel’s Mari, which already owns Frieze, is now buying ATG — seven Broadway houses, ten London venues, and TodayTix — for a rumored $6 billion (The Hollywood Reporter). Theatre and the art fair now have the same owner with a huge bet on culture.
The money underneath is shifting too. Public media booked $290 million from 66,000 new donors after federal funding tanked (Greater Public), and a family foundation put $5 million CDN into the Giller Prize after its bank sponsor walked (The Canadian Press). Sponsorship out, patronage in.
And front-of-house staff would like you to know that phones are the least of it (The Guardian).
All of our stories below.
