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Talking Heads star David Byrne blends “story and science” for unique theater experience
Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winning musician, playwright, author David Byrne is always doing something interesting. One of his latest creative endeavors is his “Theater of the Mind” in…
Halloween fun with a slice of science
Halloween can be many things: spooky, enchanting, fun, creative, mysterious and…scientific? That last word is what Walking Mountains Science Center hopes to bring to light when kids and families attend Fright at the Museum on...
Someone just rebuilt Adobe Creative Cloud with AI – then gave it away for free
But is that really a good thing?
There's a vibe-coded Adobe Creative Suite vibecoded clone, and it's pretty good
Vibe-coded alternatives to Adobe Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop and Premiere have been released. They may help Mac users save money, but there are some nuances to the situation.
Health and Human Services nurses win Public Health Award
Two Gunnison County Health and Human Services public health nurses, Shonna Gray and Amelia Meyer, were awarded the Exemplary Public Health Nurse Award at the recent Public Health in the Rockies …
Student scientists warm up at home before heading to national science fair
Scientific research can be both time consuming and tedious when designing a project that can achieve meaningful and accurate results. Wrangell High School students were honored for doing just …
TxDOT, RGV Business Leaders Tackle Overweight Truck Corridor Dilemma at Infrastructure Summit
TxDOT leaders Alex Meade, Pete Alvarez, and Brian Barth discuss a hot topic at RGV Partnership summit.
‘Play On!’ hits all the right notes
The English Renaissance meets the Harlem Renaissance in “Play On!,” a sparkling show that marries a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” with the music of Duke Ellington. Conceived by Sheldon Epps, who also directed the original 1996-97 production (first in San Diego, then on Broadway), the show is getting a marvelous revival under his direction to open Chicago Shakespeare Theater's 40th anniversary season.While the title “Play On!” refers to the famous quote about music being the food of love and thus to the dozens of Ellington songs—among them “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good),” “Solitude” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light”—incorporated into the plot, one of the highlights for me is the clever way Cheryl L. West's book reworks the story. Apparently, it's also been updated for this outing, among other things to give the women more agency. In the big opening number (there's a six-piece, horn-heavy onstage band), aspiring songwriter Vy (Hailee Kaleem Wright) is the one to “Take the 'A' Train” to “Drop Me Off in Harlem.” She wants to meet the famous Duke (Edred Utomi) — Ellington, not Orsino, that is — and she seeks the help of Jester (an engaging James Harkness) to find out how. When Jester tells her in no uncertain terms that the music industry is a man's world, she disguises herself as Vy-Man and persuades the Duke to listen to one of her songs. He's suffering from a creative block because he's pining for Lady Liv (Krystal Joy Brown), queen of the Cotton Club, and convinces Vy-Man to bring the Lady the song as if the Duke had written it, promising to reward her with employment. Vy reluctantly complies, and the predictable complications ensue. Lady Liv is attracted to Vy-Man, while Vy is attracted to the Duke and he to Vy, though it disturbs him because he thinks she's a man. The fallout when the deception comes to light bodes ill—at least for a while.Here's where West's book cannily diverges from Shakespeare. Vy's twin brother Sebastian really is dead, so West devises another love interest for Lady Liv basically by rehabilitating the Malvolio character, here named Rev (Alan H. Green), the Lady's uptight, self-important manager. His unrequited love for her is magically transformed after he gets his comeuppance (minus the torture) from Miss Mary (Alanna Lovely), her honey Sweets (James Earl Jones II) and Jester, the stand-in for Sir Toby, who has romantic problems of his own with a woman named CC (Kaylah Janssen). In other words, Rev gets the girl — and also a show-stopping yellow zoot suit from costume designer An-Lin Dauber. All the costumes are dandy, though those for the men have more pizzazz than the women's day dresses. The bilevel, slanted scenic design by Beowulf Boritt brings 1930s Harlem to life in a slightly expressionistic way with the help of Adam Honoré's lighting and Ray Nardelli's sound design. Edgar Godineaux's choreography adds to the period feel, though there could be even more of it.Most of all, the leads have splendid voices, and the performances are terrific. Green's Rev and Harkness's Jester get my vote for comedy chops, and Brown's Lady Liv probably will stay with me the longest for her complexity and big blues number, “I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues.”
Janelle Monáe wants to be L.A.'s reigning Halloween queen
Once again, Janelle Monáe brings Halloween festivities to Los Angeles, from Hollywood Forever to USC to a secret party location. Her hope is to bring people together over a shared love of creative expression.
Linkin Park documentary 'Unshatter' tracks band's emotional return to recording, touring
Linkin Park is revealing the uncertainty, grief and creative risk behind its return in the new documentary “Linkin Park: Unshatter.” | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
Community Health Center of the North Country, NAHEC to host event focusing on needs of older adults
POTSDAM — Community Health Center of the North Country and The Northern Area Health Education Center (NAHEC), through the Older Adult Rural Support (OARS) program, will host a community roundtable …
M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Promotes Conall McAteer to UK Executive Creative Director
October, 2026 - M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment has promoted Creative Director Conall McAteer to the newly created role of
Ubisoft plans cuts at German studios, adding to wave of workforce reductions
Ubisoft is planning to reduce its workforce in Germany, where it operates a trio of studios, by about 100 workers, Game File has learned. The company wants to offer employees buyouts to, should enough people accept, avoid having to lay anyone off. “In Germany, we initiated discussions with the Works Council last week regarding a proposed voluntary departure plan across Ubisoft Dusseldorf, Ubisoft Berlin & Ubisoft Mainz,” a company rep told Game File. A “works council” is a union-like group representing employees. “The voluntary plan is the primary measure being proposed to support the intended organizational changes,” the Ubisoft rep added. The company declined to confirm the scale of the potential headcount cut. Of the impacted studios, Mainz might be the best known to the public. It leads development of the Anno series and shipped the well-reviewed strategy game Anno 117: Pax Romana in November 2025. Berlin and Dusseldorf operate as support studios within Ubisoft’s creative network. Berlin recently supported the development of Rainbow Six Siege and the Rayman Legends Retold remake. Dusseldorf also contributed to those projects, as well as The Settlers and Ubisoft-branded escape rooms. Dusseldorf is the biggest of the three studios, with some 400+ workers, compared to just over 100 at the other two, a source familiar with the reductions and the teams told Game File. More than half of these new reductions of about 100 people are expected to happen at Dusseldorf. The planned cuts were announced at a town hall for the German studios on Tuesday of last week. In an email follow-up, the studio group’s managing director, Benedikt Grindel, said the cuts were intended to “best position our German studios for the future... with a clearer focus on their role, capabilities and organizational setup needed for the work ahead.” The email was an echo of the past. In January 2025, Grindel had emailed the Ubisoft developers in his region (or studio “zone”) to explain that a round of 185 cuts at the time, including about 65 at Dusseldorf, were “essential to improve our operational efficiency and ensure the long-term sustainability of our studios, the zone and the company.” A half-decade of continued job cuts Ubisoft has been aggressively cutting its headcount for years. At the end of September 2022, it had 20,729 workers. By the end of March 2026, that total was down to 16,590. Studio management is trying to trim costs as it grapples with a changing industry and a drought of releases, let alone hits. The company announced earlier this year that it had reduced its costs since 2022 by “nearly €325 million” ($362m) and planned to lower them through 2028 by another €180 million ($200m). In June the company said it was closing down its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and cutting roles in its Barcelona team. Even commercial and creative success hasn’t spared studios from this ongoing company-wide contraction. As Game File was nailing down details around the proposed cuts in Germany, Ubisoft management was informing workers of cuts in its Singapore studio, which shipped a hit remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag this past July. Some 70 positions in Singapore are being eliminated “to align the studio with upcoming production needs,” per a company rep’s statement to Game File. In early 2024, a large team in the Singapore studio launched the multiplayer pirate game Skull & Bones. It performed poorly but has been supported with regular content updates since. Many of Ubisoft’s studios around the world are heavily subsidized via regional grants and tax breaks. Singapore had been among them for years, but received no such local assistance in the 12 months ending this past March. News of the Singapore cuts broke today alongside word that Ubisoft is also proposing the closure of RedLynx, pending negotiations with officials. The Finnish studio behind the motorbike series Trials was founded in 2000 and sold to Ubisoft in 2011. As reported by VGC (and corroborated by Game File), Ubisoft management told employees it could not come up with a new, sustainable assignment for RedLynx. The 2025 workforce at Ubisoft Dusseldorf were straight-up cuts. This time, Ubisoft is hoping the reductions at its trio of German studios will largely come from workers taking a payout to leave. The company offered such voluntary dismissals at its Massive Entertainment studio (The Division) a year ago. For the German studios’ buyouts this time around, Ubisoft and the Works Council had discussed a formula that’d pay a worker’s monthly salary multiplied by 1.5 and by the number of years they’ve worked at the company, according to Game File sources. The formula is still subject to negotiations with the Works Council and has not yet been part of an official offer to workers. It could be adjusted up or down, and it could be supplemented with additional bonuses. Asked about the floated payout formula, a Ubisoft rep told Game File, “The terms of a potential voluntary departure program remain subject to negotiation with employee representatives. No final agreement has been reached, and we won’t comment on specific proposals while discussions are ongoing.” Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Epic’s AI adventures Epic Games (Fortnite, the Unreal engine) is all-in on using AI to try to transform the way it makes video games and game-making tools. It’s leaders appear to be undeterred by any resistance among gamers and some game developers around generative AI—and instead emboldened by advances, particularly in AI-assisted programming. A recap of the last three days: On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Epic management told workers last week that development of an upcoming game combining Star Wars and Marvel characters would be “AI first.” Employees would be expected to use AI models such as Claude to code the game. A manager told Epic’s developers there would be “[n]o more hand-written code” and that art for the game would be “generated with full AI workflows,” per the outlet. Just ahead of that story running, Epic founder Tim Sweeney tweeted: “We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration. The aim isn’t to do the same stuff with fewer people, but to enable everyone here to build MORE and BETTER stuff, and to bring the benefits to all teams using Unreal.” In a follow-up, Sweeney predicted that most game development processes would be at least three times faster a year from now than they were in January 2026, thanks to AI. To a person on X who told him he was failing to read the room, Sweeney said: “Much of the room wants it to be 2016 again, but it’s not. Our job, as the provider of tools and technology to much of the industry, is to design for the present that is and the future that will soon be.” On Wednesday, Epic announced it was releasing a faster launcher for its Epic Games Store marketplace. It did so by stating in a blog post as clear as could be that the launcher is an AI-enabled, vibe-coded project: Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look. Programming is hard? That was unexpected phrasing from a company founded by a legendarily great programmer. Back in 2011, Sweeney told me that he’d picked up programming quickly as a kid and rejoiced at the power it gave him. “I could look at any program that anybody else had written and, with enough effort, build something cooler.” Item 3: The Xbox Labs experiment (and one of the people behind it) Microsoft’s Xbox division, which is flooding the zone with announcements lately, yesterday revealed a new internal tech-tinkering team called Xbox Labs. In the words of Xbox boss Asha Sharma Labs is “a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists whose job is to turn emerging ideas into things our players and developers can experience.” Conventional wisdom coming out of the announcement is that Labs is a team that’ll focus on ideas driven by generative AI. In her announcement, Sharma cited some of the dizzying achievements in tech and gaming over the past month as AI agents and other AI tools have been deployed to swiftly figure out how popular games work, then rebuild them and mix them up. She mentioned seeing ”games rapidly decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they were never originally designed to support” and said “[p]erhaps more surprisingly, we’ve seen many of the biggest games in the world have been remixed into the source code of another.” (Minecraft plus Elden Ring, for example, or Fortnite + Super Monkey Ball + Overwatch + Diablo + others.) Sharma also cited the work of Windows PC games being ported to run in browsers, a seeming reference to a recent AI-assisted fan port of Halo. Or perhaps Call of Duty or GTA. Sharma didn’t use the specific term “AI” in her memo, but she came close, citing AI “agents” and their potential for game-making tools that Labs could help craft: I think XBOX has an important role to play here. Coding became the first major workload for agents because they can write, run, and test software. Games share many of those same properties, and people spend more than 72 billion hours a year playing XBOX games, roughly five times the estimated time spent writing code worldwide. We’ve spent 25 years learning how to make great games, and I want our game makers to help shape what these new technologies make possible. As we learn, we’ll share the tools we build with developers across the industry, just as we always have. When I asked an Xbox rep if Labs was an AI-centric team, they said genAI was not the focus, describing it as having a broader mandate for using new tech in new ways in gaming. As an example, they pointed to Xbox’s recently launched disc-to-digital gaming usage rights program. Microsoft didn’t specifically name anyone involved full-time in Xbox Labs yesterday, but on social media and LinkedIn, I spotted Adrian Mato IDing himself as leading the creatio of tools at Labs and talking up the launch. Mato first caught my attention in late September, when he said on X that he was “starting to build a new team at Xbox focused on products and tools for how games get built and distributed as agentic tools become more capable.” At the time, he framed AI-based tools as a supplement to traditional game dev tools. “I don’t think we need to replace them,” he said. Since then, he’s publicly shown interest in AI and in games. He’s recently spent some of his X feed marveling at the power of AI agents and praising the lighting in the latest Gears of War. Following the Labs announcement yesterday, he enthused about the Xbox Labs’ stylish landing page. He wrote: “We built some fun tools to art-direct shaders in real time, experimented with interactive ASCII art, and sprinkled in lots of tiny details. “Move your mouse to leave a colorful trail that reveals the original footage, or interact with the video to trigger bursts of particles. “A lot of love went into making it all feel just right. “More to come”
Sega pulls Total War: Shogun 2 - Complete Edition from sale amid AI accusations, admitting it has "fallen short"
Sega and Creative Assembly are working with platform holders to remove Total War: Shogun 2 - Complete Edition from sale and bring back the original game.
The iPhone Duo’s cooling system hides a clever trick inside its hinge
While a folding iPhone posed a new challenge for Apple’s thermal engineering team, they came up with a creative way to leverage the device’s hinge to their advantage.
Sega Pulls Disastrous Total War: Shogun 2 Remaster From Sale Following Backlash
Creative Assembly and Sega have pulled Total War: Shogun 2 — Complete Edition from Steam after a raft of complaints about the quality of the remaster.
TxDOT, RGV Business Leaders Tackle Overweight Truck Corridor Dilemma at Infrastructure Summit
TxDOT leaders Alex Meade, Pete Alvarez, and Brian Barth discuss a hot topic at RGV Partnership summit.
Phoenix among best markets for small business expansion
Phoenix is one of the nation’s stronger markets for small-business expansion, but Tucson is facing a more challenging economic outlook, according to a new study comparing 56 major U.S. metropolitan areas.
USC’s Themed Entertainment Program Hires Epic Universe Creative Exec Steve Tatham as Director
The program, part of USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media & Games Division, is a proving ground for future theme park creatives.
Every Celebrity Arrival at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards 2026 Red Carpet
The annual event celebrates the creative visionaries hard at work behind the scenes.
Can AI solve our mental health access problem?
Last week I asked you what worries you most about AI in health. It was close, but your top answer was “AI giving bad health advice.” Last week’s poll results: You’re in good company. This concern was top of mind at a conference I joined at Stanford last week, where researchers, clinicians, and people who build AI systems spent a day debating trust and safety in health AI. Stepping back, I’m also hearing your emerging concerns about AI’s impact on our well-being generally. I see this as a matter of public health, and we’ll take it in pieces as we learn together. Today we’ll focus on AI chatbots used for therapy for mental health. Early this month, Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 903, California’s most ambitious attempt to regulate AI use for mental health. It’s at the center of active debate, and raises the questions patients, family members, citizens, and voters will face as AI moves deeper into health care. Let’s work through it. What is “AI-based therapy”? It’s really two things: purpose-built mental health apps designed to deliver structured support, and general chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini that people increasingly use for emotional support—even if they weren’t built for it. Spoiler alert: I don’t know whether the shift toward AI therapy is good or bad. The evidence isn’t there yet. But I do know it’s already happening, and I have some ideas about how we can roll it out with safety in mind. The therapy dilemma, in a nutshell Mental health challenges are common, and strain health and well-being across populations. Therapy (interactive dialogue with a trained, empathetic practitioner) helps many people heal. The demand for licensed therapists far exceeds the supply in California, and AI-based therapy can narrow that gap. AI-based therapy remains novel, unproven, and not well tested. Right off the bat, we can see we’re dealing with trade-offs here. Since the main driver of demand for therapy from a robot is lack of access to therapy from a human, we’ll start there. It’s too hard to find and afford a human therapist California is short roughly 55,000 licensed, non-prescribing therapists and counselors, about 40% of what we need. Psychiatrists, who rely on talk therapy as a complement to prescribed medications, are even more scarce. Eight counties have none, and density ranges from 1.7 per 100,000 residents in San Benito County, to 68.1 in Marin County. My wife is a psychiatrist in Marin, and even here access is tight. If it’s hard in the best-supplied county, imagine rural Sierra County, or the San Joaquin Valley. In 2024, more than half of Californians who tried to make a mental health appointment struggled to find a provider who took their insurance, compared with 14% for physical health care. When Senate staff posed as “secret shopper” patients and called 120 mental health providers in Medicare Advantage networks, they landed an appointment less than once for every five tries. Insurers pay behavioral health clinicians about 22% less than medical and surgical clinicians for comparable office visits. On top of that, billing denials and prior authorizations hit hardest at the solo and small practices common in mental health. Psychiatrists opt out of Medicare at the highest rate of any specialty. In many places, a cash practice for therapy fills quickly with patients paying $250 or more an hour, with no insurance paperwork at all. Families who can pay cash find providers more easily. Those who rely on insurance, including Medi-Cal enrollees, older adults, rural residents, and non-English speakers, compete for what’s left. So we can’t pretend the human system works, and we can’t blame people for turning to AI for support when they’re in distress. AI is filling the gap It’s estimated that roughly a quarter of AI users use it for mental health support. If you have internet, it’s available 24/7, it’s cheap, and it speaks your language. Uninsured adults are about twice as likely as insured adults to do it (30% vs. 14%). It feels anonymous in ways that may enable people to ask things they’re unsure or embarrassed about. The largely hidden, personal use makes it hard to study whether it’s actually helping people with their mental health issues, but researchers are trying. Does AI therapy work? A 2026 analysis of nearly 40 randomized trials found chatbots showed a real but small reduction in depression symptoms. But most of these trials were compared to an alternative of no therapy, not a human therapist. So the benefit of AI therapy is probably real, but modest, and mostly untested against the alternative of human contact. We need more studies. Serious concerns OpenAI’s own estimate is that more than a million ChatGPT users each week show signs of suicidal planning or intent. These are high stakes encounters, and AI doesn’t always get it right. That’s partly because a chatbot can sound like a therapist, but it has no license, no duty of care, and it’s not clear who to hold accountable when it gets things wrong. AI is also designed to help users in whatever task they’re seeking to accomplish. People may feel like they’re getting therapy, but they’re mainly getting a convincing conversation. It’s easy for an AI companion to wander into gray areas, like playing along with “creative writing” that may be about the user’s own suicidal intent. Courts are driving safety conversations A wave of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of families claiming that chatbots pushed people they loved toward self-harm, including teens who died by suicide. The first settlements came this year. OpenAI is headquartered in San Francisco, and dozens of cases alleging that ChatGPT drove users to suicide or self-harm are now before a San Francisco judge. Character.ai has filed for bankruptcy after several states brought lawsuits accusing the chatbot of pushing dangerous content to kids. But the technology seems to be improving. Last month, an independent evaluation found that newer AI models “almost never endorse suicide.” That’s progress, but our societal appetite for even one preventable death is very low. So how do we move forward? Finding a middle ground Earlier this month the governor vetoed Senate Bill 903, a bill designed to place guardrails on the use of AI for therapy. The bill would have prohibited any AI-based platform from being advertised as psychotherapy, and would have required a licensed professional to review and approve each encounter where AI was used to support therapeutic decisions. Newsom called it overly broad, since even routine screening questions would have needed clinician sign-off. Knowing we’re already short on mental health providers, requiring human review of AI encounters may not relieve our access problems. Still, the answer isn’t no oversight. Here’s one feasible short term solution. Rather than reviewing each encounter, a licensed clinician can design the guardrails: what counts as a crisis, what triggers an immediate handoff to a human, and what gets sampled for audit each month. The AI runs inside that structure. Conversations get checked, failures get reported, and a real clinician owns the framework. Medicine already has models to learn from. The FDA process for rolling out newly approved medications is an example. After a product reaches patients, we keep watching for adverse events. Patient-facing AI needs the same “digital pharmacovigilance”: systematic tracking of harms, near misses, and the types of groups that get hurt and why. It’s also critical that users know that they can reach a human if they’re in crisis. Most chatbots now include messages like these: Bottom line The rush to use unproven AI tools for mental health support is mostly a workaround, a sign of a health system people can’t get into. We need better access to proven care from licensed clinicians. That takes reimbursement that makes accepting insurance viable, and a bigger workforce. But, built and tested well, AI could be part of the answer. It could be the 2 a.m. check-in when no one else is awake, or a way for patients to practice skills their therapist taught them. It could be the first step to get someone the right level of care, and take paperwork off clinicians’ plates so they spend more time with patients. None of this is simple. The SB 903 veto doesn’t end the debate, and the legislature will be back. In the meantime, those of us using these tools need to stay informed, ask hard questions, and hold the companies building them accountable. I’ll try to do my part, and we’ll keep learning together. Love,Matt P.S. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988- you’ll reach a real person— or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7. Dr. Matt Willis is the author of Your Local Epidemiologist in California. A California native, he’s served as a primary care physician, CDC epidemiologist, and public health officer for Marin County, where he guided the pandemic response. He lives in Marin with his family and their dogs, Teddy and Ramona. Thank you Cynthia He, MD, PhD, and Parnika Saxena, MD, for their guidance in preparing this article. Cynthia works in an outpatient mental health clinic, treating patients who have Medi-Cal or, sometimes, no insurance. Parnika works in an inpatient psychiatric unit, treating patients with public or private insurance or self-pay ability. All opinions are their own and do not represent their employers.
Leavell College announces new degree pathway including Bachelor of Science degree
NEW ORLEANS — Leavell College at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is announcing a new degree pathway that includes a brand-new Bachelor of Science degree and a new major within the Bachelor of Arts degree.
Microsoft Launches $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra to Take on MacBook Pro
Microsoft today announced launch timing and pricing for the Surface Laptop Ultra that it unveiled earlier this year. The 15-inch Surface Laptop Ultra is priced starting at $2,599, undercutting Apple's $2,999 16-inch MacBook Pro, and it targets the same creator and developer market. Microsoft says it is built for "demanding creative, software development, AI, engineering, and 3D workloads".
Garza: Alamo ‘Open for Business’ as New Leadership and Commercial Boom Drive Mid-Valley Growth
A podcast with Alamo Mayor J.R. Garza.
Makers — with artist studio spaces, gallery — to soft open in Lancaster city this weekend
There will soon be a new creative hub in Lancaster city, complete with artist studios and works on display.
Florida science standards debate heads to Orange County listening session
Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack defended a proposed rewrite of public school science standards, saying it still includes evolution and climate science. An October 27 listening session in Orange County will give Apopka families and educators an opportunity to discuss the changes before a planned December vote.
In Turbulent Times For Commercial Art, LightBox Expo Still Shines
The unique show focusing on commercial art provides much-needed community and opportunity for creative professionals as their industry is under threat.
“Software is over”: Bold AI developer takes aim at Adobe with open source clones
Opus-built Creative Cloud alternatives are ambitious, free, and nowhere near finished.
USC Hires Epic Universe Create Director Steve Tatham
The program, part of USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media & Games Division, is a proving ground for future theme park creatives.
Guam spouses turn to entrepreneurship to create their own business opportunities - Entrepreneurship
Many military spouses have transformed hobbies into business to combat the high cost of living and have a fulfilling creative outlet.
Saint Laurent ends decade-long tenure of designer Vaccarello as part of wider group revamp
Belgian designer Anthony Vaccarello is leaving Saint Laurent after a decade as the brand's creative director, the brand's owner Kering said on Friday.
The WET Science Center’s fall lineup brings the outdoors inside
With rain in the forecast and cooler temperatures, it’s time to find affordable ways to have fun inside. The WET Science Center is ready to help! Most middle schoolers in …
Whistleblowing Portal Opens in UK for Film, TV Sectors to Report Abuse
The UK's Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority has launched a new portal for the entertainment sectors to report abuse and harassment
Linkin Park documentary 'Unshatter' tracks band's emotional return to recording, touring
Linkin Park is revealing the uncertainty, grief and creative risk behind its return in the new documentary “Linkin Park: Unshatter.” | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
Rebecca Skloot, Author of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", Receives the 2026 NYU/Axinn Foundation Prize
Prize coincides with $5.2 million foundation gift to endow the prize and to support creative writing students at NYU
State Launches Indiana Small Business Program
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced the launch of the Indiana Small Business Program to strengthen the Hoosier small business environment and to promote and facilitate the participation of Indiana …
Fall is full of ways to connect with nature, get creative, and recharge at Trailside Nature & Science Center
The Union County Board of County Commissioners invites residents to explore a variety of upcoming programs, including sound bowl meditation, acrylic painting workshops, forest bathing and tea cerem…
RuneScape Reignited Cancelled Less Than Two Weeks After Being Announced
Creative director Mod Ryan announced that RuneScape Reignited, a new game mode designed for both old and seasoned players to start fresh, has been canceled less than two weeks after it was first announced.
Marrero Hi: To show real political courage, Rep. De La Cruz must sign the Dream and Promise Act
A guest column from Dani Marrero Hi, deputy director of La Unión del Pueblo Entero and LUPE Votes.
Apprenticeships Help Train South Carolina's Construction Workforce
Finding qualified, interested workers for South Carolina’s manufacturing and construction companies has long been a challenge. David Steffens, project manager for Carolina Power, has seen the struggles. “Especially in construction, laborers,...
'AI slop' or a boost for business?: How online AI promos are changing jobs in Sarpy County
As small businesses turn to generative AI for labels, menus and advertising, an Omaha-area graphic designer says the technology is reducing opportunities for human creatives.
From runway to classroom Jenny Smith shapes artist futures
From international runways to luxury cosmetics, Jenny Atwood Smith brings her creative vision to HOURGLASS Cosmetics.
Endemol Shine Brasil and Globo Join Forces to Co-Create Major Global Entertainment IP
Endemol Shine Brasil, part of Banijay Latin America, a leading force in Brazilian entertainment, and Globo, Latin America’s largest media company, have entered into a partnership to co-create new formats with the ambition to become the next generation of internationally successful franchises. The collaboration brings together the creative and strategic strength of Endemol Shine Brasil, […]
A materials-first approach to entertainment
It's our duty to tell professionals from the creative industry what it really entails to make 3D printing part of its production environment.
Linkin Park documentary 'Unshatter' tracks band's emotional return to recording, touring
Linkin Park is revealing the uncertainty, grief and creative risk behind its return in the new documentary “Linkin Park: Unshatter.”
Linkin Park documentary 'Unshatter' tracks band's emotional return to recording, touring
Linkin Park is revealing the uncertainty, grief and creative risk behind its return in the new documentary “Linkin Park: Unshatter.” The film captures the band as it grappled with what
AFL Releases FY2025 Corporate Responsibility Report
AFL, the Duncan, South Carolina-headquartered manufacturer of fiber optic cable, equipment, accessories, and related services, released its FY2025 Corporate Responsibility Report. As a reflection of AFL’s continued commitment to creating long-term...
Long Beach student advances to national science competition finals
Long Beach student Hanna Heitefuss is the only New Yorker among 30 finalists in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, earning national recognition for her research on saltwater intrusion and its effects on plants and aquatic life.
Side Acquires Boutique Art Studio Roboto Entertainment in Creative Services Push
/PRNewswire/ -- Leading games services provider, Side, today acquired the boutique games art studio, Roboto Entertainment, strengthening its global art...
Compete in Creative Living at Southwest Florida Ag Expo
Registration for the Southwest Florida Ag Expo’s popular Creative Living Competition opened Thursday, Oct. 1. This free competition celebrates the creativity and skills of Southwest Florida residents, offering an opportunity
Heineken taps into home entertainment
The Dutch lager brand has partnered with Brand Innovation Lab, the creative arm of Amazon Ads, to make going out as easy as streaming your favourite show.
Creator Economy Minor Builds the Business Skills Behind the Content
The first academic pathway into the creator economy pairs Newhouse and Whitman expertise to help students master both the creative and business sides of digital content.
Creative Entrepreneur Fellowship applications for 2027 now open
Applications for the Creative Entrepreneur Fellowship are now open to artists working and residing in West Virginia.
Small Business Administration Opens Nominations for Small Business Week Awards
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the South Carolina District Office opened nominations for its 2027 National Small Business Week Awards, which recognize exceptional small business owners from South Carolina. National...
CeramiCafe will expand its paint-your-own pottery business to Bend
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Are you looking for a creative way to spend time with family and friends Happening next, a new paint-your-own pottery business is coming to Bend! CeramiCafe, which started in Clackamas back in 2002, is expanding to Central Oregon. The business made the announcement on social media, saying plans are in the
Queen Creek businesses requesting state liquor licenses
The Queen Creek Town Council recommended approving several businesses for liquor licenses from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control. Kilkenny's Irish Pub, 20736 E. Munoz St., is …
Are You Not Entertained?
Emerging from his time as president in the Dubai Lynx Entertainment jury, Laurence ‘Lolly’ Thomson, former M+C Saatchi joint global chief creative officer, reflects on how brands are genuinely earning their place in culture
Wire 3 Begins Construction on Easley Expansion
Wire 3, a leading 100 percent fiber internet provider, announced that construction is underway in Easley, marking another step in the company’s South Carolina expansion. Powered by a fully funded $19 million investment, the Easley expansion will...
Duke Energy Grants Support Downtown Revitalization Efforts
The Duke Energy Foundation has awarded $190,000 in grants to South Carolina communities to support downtown revitalization efforts. Funds will be used for facade improvements, wayfinding signage, public gathering spaces, and small business...
Knoxville mom turns rivalry pinatas into business, creative outlet amid daughter’s rare diagnosis
Rivalry Row Pinatas let fans take a swing at Tennessee’s opponents at tailgates
SMAC Entertainment, CAA, EverWonder Studio Launch Grand Slam of Flag Women’s Flag Football Series
SMAC Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and EverWonder Studio have launched Grand Slam of Flag, a global tournament series featuring top women’s national flag football teams and their federations. The...
Titans Fire Three Business Execs Amid Another Ugly Start
Three business executives are out: senior VP and chief revenue officer Adam Nuse, senior VP of brand marketing Erin Swartz, and VP of creative Charles Jensen.
2026 Business & Economic Outlook to Explore Key Trends
The Northwest Indiana Business RoundTable ( NWIBRT ) and the Construction Advancement Foundation ( CAF ) will host the 2026 Business & Economic Outlook on Oct. 30, bringing business leaders, …
Enshrouded Director Admits Keen Games Bet the Studio’s Future on It, and Over 5 Million Players Paid Off That Gamble
Two days before Enshrouded's 1.0 launch, we interview Creative Director Antony Christoulakis to discuss the exceedingly popular survival game
Milwaukee-area bakeries serve Brewers-themed treats during World Series run
From baseball cookies to blue-and-yellow bread twists, businesses are getting creative to celebrate the Brewers.
Aetherion Expands Houston Industrial Water Treatment Business
Aetherion expands its Houston water treatment operations. Workforce growth and added services support its strategy to acquire regional providers.
Envelope Insiders Live: See stars of 'Furious,' 'Love Story' and more
The creatives behind 'Furious,' 'Love Story,' 'The Only Living Pickpocket in New York' and 'Tenzing' joined us for a day of food, wine and great conversations. Take a look inside.
SUNY Potsdam to celebrate fourth annual Public Health Day
POTSDAM -- SUNY Potsdam's Public Health Program will host its fourth annual Public Health Day on Thursday, Oct. 29, as the College welcomes guests and partners at non-profit organizations to …
Apple Music's new logo was shaped by Fred Again and a bath of mineral oil
Apple Music has rebranded for the first time since 2015. Find out how TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Fred again.. and a bath of mineral oil shaped the new note icon.
AltaCair Foundation hosts conference on bridging AI and health outcomes
The focus of Accelerator 2026 was on the practical role of AI in healthcare, access, whole person care, and community impact.
Linkin Park documentary 'Unshatter' tracks band's emotional return to recording, touring
Linkin Park is revealing the uncertainty, grief and creative risk behind its return in the new documentary “Linkin Park: Unshatter.” | WWL
At one of WA's busiest ERs, each day brings teamwork and ‘an element of chaos’
Good Samaritan is the only hospital in Puyallup, the single emergency trauma center serving a large swath of central and east Pierce County, meaning staff members have to get creative.
Dodgers player slams ‘soft porn’ ads during MLB postseason games
The Sydney Sweeney Novig ad has gone viral for the “creative” way it uses her fame and beauty to advertise a brand new gambling platform. But at least one Dodgers player isn’t happy that the ad, and others like it, are impacting families trying to enjoy the MLB postseason. Dodgers outfielder Alex Call replied to…
Linkin Park documentary 'Unshatter' tracks band's emotional return to recording, touring
Linkin Park is revealing the uncertainty, grief and creative risk behind its return in the new documentary “Linkin Park: Unshatter.” | KMBZ
The Walt Disney Company and Dude Perfect Announce Company-Wide Creative Partnership
Dude Perfect will develop original content for its own channels inspired by Disney franchises and events, with select Dude Perfect content also on Disney+.
EEPS course blends science, art to imagine upcoming NASA mission
The class encourages students to find creative ways to communicate scientific ideas.
MAD: M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Ups McAteer To ECD U.K.
To augment his team, McAteer hired three new creatives.
Cash Taiese impressed with Utah’s offense following Kansas visit
The American Fork standout witnessed the Utes' creative two-quarterback system firsthand, praising the electric Rice-Eccles atmosphere and coaching staff as Utah solidifies its status for local recruits.
Proposed business district would put the Arts District’s future in property owners’ hands
The once-niche creative refuge of Downtown Las Vegas has transformed into a busy local hangout, but the neighborhood’s business owners, residents and artists are asking a familiar question: Is this place still for us?
John Legend on Pharrell’s musical push, Jay-Z’s praise and new creative challenges with ‘Muse’
Jay-Z once called John Legend “our voice,” but Pharrell Williams had a different idea for Legend's baritone | WWL
Healthcare shouldn’t be so hard; health literacy can help
OPINION — A visit to the doctor may get you a diagnosis. A trip to the pharmacist fills the needed prescription. Your health plan has all sorts of information about benefits. Healthcare. Straightforward and easy to understand, right? Eye roll. Laugh stifled.
Budget 2027: Entertainment duty exemption for local film, theatre tickets in Federal Territories, creative sector gets RM130m
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Tickets for local films and theatre performances in the Federal Territories will be fully ex...
Area Events & Entertainment Community Calendar
Oct. 8 - Veterans Coffee & Conversation at the Eagles Club - begins at 10 a.m. Oct. 8 - Merrill Chamber Annual Celebration and Awards Oct. 8 - Create, Paint, and Sip at Sunset Hollow Wine Bistro …
WWF LPR Living Planet Report 2026
October, 2026.- For the launch of WWF’s Living Planet Report 2026, NOMINT worked closely with WWF to create a creative
Marine Science Center Releases 6 Rehabbed Sea Turtles
Six sea turtles were recently released in Volusia County after being rehabilitated at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet. All of the turtles were juvenile green sea turtles. The release …
Artists, District leaders convene for second annual 202Creat...
D.C. artists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders gathered Sept. 28 for 202Creates Con, marking 10 years of a city initiative supporting the District’s creative ...
Bridging the gap: Western student earns Fulbright to study wildfire science in Australia
“The goal is to identify the drivers behind intense wildfire activity and the ecosystems and communities they could impact” When Dalton Robberson finally got to the point of choosing …
Meet Iris Shen, the 17-year-old Texas student who used clams as a model for testing blood-cancer drugs, found a drug combination that slowed tumor growth, and won a $150,000 Regeneron Science Talent Search prize
Iris Shen, a 17-year-old student from The Woodlands, Texas, has earned third place and a $150,000 award in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search for an unusually creative approach to blood-cancer research. Instead of relying only on conventional laboratory models, Shen tested a potential cancer drug in clams to determine whether these animals could serve as an animal model for blood-cancer drug discovery.
St. Johns County connects business owners, resources
St. Johns County recently brought aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners together with local organizations that provide resources, guidance and support to help businesses start, operate and …
Amazon Small Business Event: Empowering the Next Generation and Scaling Service-Based Entrepreneurs
Join Hera Hub and Amazon for a hands-on workshop designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs and established service-based business owners bring new products to life. Amazon experts and small business owners will provide practical guidance, useful tools, and actionable next steps to launch a product and build a business with Amazon. This event is free but space is limited to 60 participants and will fill up. The event includes a light breakfast and lunch. Participants will choose from two specialized tracks based on their goals and stage of business. TRACK 1: NEXT GENERATION From Product Idea to Online Store Designed for aspiring young entrepreneurs, from junior high students through college and beyond, who have a product idea or want to explore the world of e-commerce. Amazon small business owners and Amazon experts will review topics such as: • How to develop and refine a product idea • How to set up and sell products on Amazon • What to consider when pricing, marketing, and fulfilling orders • Practical next steps for moving from idea to launch Whether participants already have a product in mind or are simply curious about entrepreneurship, this track will help them see what is possible and give them a roadmap to get started. TRACK 2: SERVICE EXPANSION Turn Your Expertise Into a Product Designed for consultants, coaches, speakers, creatives, and other service-based entrepreneurs who want to expand beyond trading time for money. Participants will explore how to transform their knowledge and expertise into tangible products such as: • Books and workbooks • Journals and planners • Card decks • Educational tools and resources Amazon small business owners will share how they identified viable product opportunities and created a product that can generate revenue beyond their one-on-one services. An Amazon expert will also review self-publishing and other ways to build a business with Amazon. By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with greater clarity, practical guidance, and a tangible next step toward launching or expanding their product-based business. The event includes a light breakfast and lunch. This event is free but space is limited to 60 participants and will fill up.
Northern Area Health Education Center to host health care career camp at SUNY Canton in 2027
CANTON — The Northern Area Health Education Center is accepting applications for its 2027 MASH Camp, a free day camp for students in grades nine through 12 interested in health care careers. …
UW-River Falls to offer Halloween carnival and “Haunted Lab” science demonstrations Oct. 20
RIVER FALLS – Two special Halloween-themed events are planned at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Tuesday, Oct. 20, including a Halloween carnival and “Haunted Labs” science …
Seahawks Injury Issues: Coach Earns Credit For Finding Answers
With key starters sidelined, first-time coordinator Brian Fleury earns praise for stabilizing Seattle’s offense through creative adjustments and steady leadership amidst a wave of early-season roster volatility.
Oct. Scientist in Residence At Work at Science Center
Ries Plescher, third-year doctoral student at University of Oregon in Eugene, is October’s Scientist in Residency Fellow at Sitka Sound Science Center. The SIRF program offers scientists four weeks to focus on their research while connecting with...
The Creative Arts Economy: A Local Business Beat Hiding Plain Sight
Long before TimeLine Theatre opened the doors to its new home in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood earlier this year, PJ Powers and Mica Cole had a vision for something much more than a state-of-the-art show venue. For Powers, the theatre’s co-founder and Cole, executive director, the goal was to transform a shuttered warehouse into a living...Read More
Area Events & Entertainment Community Calendar
Oct. 22 - Lincoln County Outdoor Recreation Community Workshop (brainstorming and action planning) - 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Room 255, Lincoln County Service Center, Merrill Oct. 22 - Veterans Coffee …
Sundar Pichai: Google’s Frontier Imperative, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products and Businesses
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has little patience for doubts about Google’s willingness or capacity to compete at the frontier of AI. His company’s latest Gemini 4 Argon model — long-promised and recently delivered — beats OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest public models on coding, math, science, and knowledge-work benchmarks and has placed Google’s AI back among the world’s best. Amid chatter that Google was fine with good-enough lightweight ‘Flash’ models, Pichai pushed back hard against any suggestion that company is limiting its research ambitions. “We won’t do it any other way,” he told me in a Big Technology Podcast interview recorded this week at Google’s Mountain View headquarters. Pursuing cutting-edge research is costly for Google, requiring compute and chips that otherwise could be sold at a high markup by its cloud business. But Pichai said allocating resources to frontier AI development is “ground zero” for Google. “Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development,” Pichai told me. In our conversation, we discussed Argon (which Pichai says processed three times as many tokens as Gemini 3 in the 72 hours after launch), AI’s role in developing better models, the AI interface of the future, competition with OpenAI, Google’s partnerships with Anthropic and Apple, data centers in space, and the nature of his optimism. You can read the full conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, below, or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice. Alex Kantrowitz: Google is back at the frontier with Gemini 4 Argon, which beats OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s public models on benchmarks spanning coding, math, science, and knowledge work. The conventional wisdom was that Google had given up on the frontier to focus on fast, good-enough models for its products. That was wrong? Sundar Pichai: Very wrong. Look, we are so committed to being at the frontier. It’s in our DNA. We won’t do it any other way. We’ve been thinking about the AI frontier for well over a decade now. The frontier is very dynamic. It’s very competitive. It’s very exciting. I couldn’t be more pleased with how Argon has come together. We took our time with it. We made sure we tested it safely and deployed it carefully. We took a bit longer than our other models, given its capabilities. Across the board, be it for agentic work, knowledge work, coding, creative tasks, Argon is one of the really good frontier models. The first 72 hours since we launched, it’s almost up to 25 trillion tokens used, which is about three times what Gemini 3.0 had in the first 72 hours. And we are capacity constrained as we are serving it. Excited, but there are always areas….. You know, the frontier is very dynamic, and you have to keep evolving the models. There are areas which we can see we need to improve as well. We’ll be at work on all of that as well. Which areas? On any given model, Argon would be across the board better at everything if you just look even two months back. But the space is so evolving. Even on coding, for example, there are pockets where we know we need to do better, and there’s clear feedback. We’ll make it better. The argument for standard models is that they’re already good enough to build great products, with the frontier valuable only for certain tasks. Meta built Muse with good models rather than the best, and Google could put standard models into Maps, Gmail, and Search. Why isn’t that sufficient? It’s definitely not how I have thought about it at all. We are deeply committed to driving the state of the art and actually pushing where this technology can go, all the way from transformers. That’s a journey we’ve been on. You will see us continue to do that. When you’re at the frontier, you get an earlier look into the emerging capabilities, earlier than others, which helps you better prepare for the future. We are fortunate to have a wide set of opportunities across consumer and enterprise. Some of our cloud customers, for sure, want the model at the frontier. The frontier models will be better at developing the next set of models in an era of recursive self-improvement. I would argue it matters there. Internally, we have definitely seen a steep point of inflection by deploying Argon to our developers. It definitely tackles problems which our previous models could not do. Being at the frontier puts you at the innovation frontier and helps you drive that as well. There is room for models of all sizes and capabilities. That’s why we did Flash, Flash-Lite, etc. I agree with you that you can develop very good product experiences with not necessarily the most frontier model, because they tend to be slower and more expensive too. But we care about the Pareto frontier, and we’re committed to doing all of that. You said developing frontier models gives you a look at what’s coming. What do you see on the horizon? What makes this moment so exciting is you build something which you think is a culmination of months of work, and you put it out. You already see clear headroom ahead. We’ve all been working on these agentic, long-horizon capabilities, but clearly the frontier is going to have multiple of these agents working together to do things. That’s an example of an exciting paradigm underway. It’s also clear to me that users, both in consumer and enterprise, will have access to some multi-agent framework for them, working all the time doing things. It feels like a moment of infinite possibilities. Sergey Brin said one of Argon’s core innovations was relying more on the model to help develop the model. Yet incidents involving OpenAI’s bots breaking containment and Google’s bots accessing a site they shouldn’t have suggest these systems still aren’t perfectly aligned. Isn’t there reasonable cause for concern about accelerating toward recursive self-improvement? There are three parts to your question. Let’s first talk about RSI itself. You’re right, Sergey mentioned RSI being a critical contributor as we are developing Argon. But to be very clear, today, in a continuum, we are pretty far from the end state of RSI or something like that. The right way to describe it is you have RSI loops along with AI researchers in various aspects of model development. You almost have agents helping AI researchers in some automated way work together to build these models. It’s good to at least understand where we are today, and it’s super exciting. I expect that continuum to keep making progress as we go into next year. The second question is around safety. Security comes from defense in depth. You’re talking about alignment, obviously. We all are doing a lot of work to make sure the models are as aligned as possible. But it’s an active area of research, and there are clear gaps. That’s not the only thing we rely on. You have the work you do on alignment, but beyond that, we put a lot of effort into real-time monitoring as these models are working. Making sure you have good telemetry into what’s happening so that you can intervene in real time if you see unexpected behaviors. How you do that, the architecture with which you do that, how you make sure it’s all sandboxed and isolated in a way that it can continue doing its job during real-time monitoring — these are all areas of investment. Obviously, when we deploy these models, giving customers, enterprises, control, both with real-time monitoring, but their ability to decide where they deploy, what type of data which models ever have access to, etc. All that work is very, very important, and we are doing a lot of that. As an industry, we need to constantly up our game and take the time to do all this stuff, including dedicating the compute required to make sure you can safely deploy these models. The third part is: Is it all enough? This is why there are a lot of conversations in the industry, and I think it’s reasonable to be worried. The right way to approach something you worry about is early on thinking about what more we can do. As an industry, you’re definitely seeing increased levels of work on alignment, testing for safety, etc., as we deploy these models. The next step would be developing better standards so there are cross-industry standards of how we do these things, including the ability to evaluate using independent evaluators. If you look at areas like financial controls, we have accounting standards, we have independent auditors. Those are all the next natural steps for us as an industry to work toward, and regulation will end up playing a role as we go through all of that as well. Google pursues both language models and world models, while some other AI companies like OpenAI have focused more heavily on LLMs as the path to AGI. Why is world-model research important to you? As humans, you obviously perceive the world around you, and you’re taking all those inputs. Making sure these models are able to understand the laws of physics, simulate the world in high fidelity. All that, I think, are key enabling blocks for intelligence. We are working across all possible applications of this. Take an area like robotics. It’s not an accident: If you look at embodied reasoning benchmarks, Argon is state of the art. That all comes from our experience building world models. Inherently, I would expect there will be architectures which will converge all of this in the future. But for us, we view this as, today, this jagged frontier that is intelligence. We want to be at the frontier of all the possible approaches, and that will help us both drive better research, better insights, and develop a much better AGI model, is how we think about it. Some people argue Google should focus on selling its computing resources rather than using them for AI research. Cloud wants to sell compute at a high markup, while researchers need a very big computer to build the best models. How do you balance those demands? Ground zero for us is making sure we are investing in the compute that’s needed to be at the AI frontier. In 2015, I set the company to be AI-first. AI is that key horizontal ingredient across everything we do, all the way from Search to Cloud to Waymo. That is ground zero for us, making sure both for research and developing the models that we have enough compute needed. Beyond that, we have these independent businesses which each have their own long-range plans. They’re using those long-range plans to project forward, and we plan for compute for all of them. The cloud team, they have a business and they have a projection and they have demand signals. They have committed contracts. With that help, we can plan on a long-term compute trajectory for them. We’re fortunate to have this wide set of opportunities. There’s no company in the world which isn’t making trade-offs at any given moment in time. But the first principles we operate on is making sure we have enough compute to invest in the frontier, and that’s non-negotiable, and everything else works on top. Remember, we are building our own compute, our own data centers. There are long lead times. The compute we have today is a function of decisions I made in 2024. Even if you think back to a year from today, last year the agentic coding takeoff hadn’t happened. Today, obviously, when you sit and look at anything, everyone is short—not just us, other companies—and everyone wishes you had two times what you had planned for. That comes with the territory. At any given moment in time, we are planning for what we would need two to three years out in the future. You’re going to find some decisions you make may look suboptimal two years out, depending on where the state of the art is. I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. The way I think about compute allocation is making sure Google DeepMind, both for research and frontier model development, is cutting edge in terms of compute access. After that, we plan for all our businesses. It’s great we can provide our compute to other people too, like we have done. It allows us to scale that up, get real tests for it in the widest application set possible, test it in the real world, and make sure we are at the cutting edge of technology at every layer of our AI stack as well. Ben Horowitz relayed on a podcast that Andy Jassy had said compute was sold out until 2028. Are you seeing the same thing? If today a customer is coming out and asking us for compute in ’27, that is incredibly difficult to do. Even last year we went out and leased some short-term compute to accommodate some customers and help them out. But yes, we are all dealing with similar timelines. Every major technology shift seems to involve overbuilding, from railroads to fiber. Do you think that’s happening here? It depends on the time frames you’re looking at. This level of build, if I take a long enough time frame, it makes complete sense to me. We are at early stages of the most consequential technology ever, and this is not like fiber. It’s not dark. We are using it. We are capacity constrained on a daily basis. The applications, the underlying technology is improving rapidly. But running a company, the way I work through the moment is you look at your demand signals. You look at your committed revenue opportunities that you’re getting in the form of contracts. You balance that with the underlying technical capability, or internally you balance how we are using it internally, the model trajectories. Based on all that, you take a disciplined approach—a confident, aggressive, but disciplined approach—to plan out compute. But when you talk about the broader economy as a whole, you’re having people operate with various levels of risk. I focus on what I can control as a company and plan through it. If your question is, can there be an overbuild? Yes, because you can have some constrained components. Remember, what matters is a set of everything you need to build out that compute. Memory, electricity, electricians…. Land. Like 2,000 components or more. You could get constrained at some point. There could be things which cause bottlenecks, and then you could have overbuilds. There could be external shocks to the economy. There are macro risks. All that is possible at any given time. But am I confident that the compute we are planning for, we will have uses for it given enough time? Absolutely, yes. I was in the room when you said AI would be as profound as fire and electricity. If you believe that, shouldn’t you give researchers the biggest possible computer, even at the expense of today’s cloud profits? We’re all doing some form of that. Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development. What you’re seeing is true already. But you want to be thoughtful. Even our AI researchers have some constraints, which are also good. That’s what inspires creativity. That’s what helps you come up with a more efficient algorithmic breakthrough, maybe to use less memory. What we are committed to is to invest what’s needed to stay at the frontier. OpenAI President Greg Brockman told me a few months ago that the ideal AI product might have no interface at all—just as natural as conversation. What do you think the interface looks like in the age of AI? Computing historically has been humans adapting to computing. With AI, it’ll be the other way around. The technology will adapt seamlessly to how humans live and go about their day-to-day life. You want to be able to speak to that AI when you want to. It has context. It can be persistently running somewhere, give you continuity. You’re not dealing with a lot of complexity. It’s natural. All that makes sense to me. That doesn’t mean it won’t have any interface, however. Nowadays, even on my phone, Gemini voice models are so good. I can just press the microphone button. I can just ramble. That’s why we call it Rambler. I can ramble. It intelligently corrects with my personal context. Even my friends’ names, weird names, it gets it right, even if it first guesses it wrong. It’s amazing. I’m not going in, backspacing, editing once I finish saying it. It’s remarkable how good it’s gotten. But there are going to be moments you will need an interface. You may want to entertain yourself. You may want to watch a video. You may ask your AI to create something, and you want to watch it, consume it. The way I think about it is, you want it to be as seamless and as natural as possible, and that you are not doing the hard work adapting to whatever the interface is. The technology is adapting to how you’re working at any given moment in time. When I asked Sam Altman about competition from Google, he argued that OpenAI was building AI-native products and implied Google was bolting AI onto existing ones. Do you accept that framing, and can a “bolt-on” compete with an AI-native product? First of all, it’s a very dynamic moment. We are all pushing each other. OpenAI has pushed us as a company too. This is not just we are doing something to them. Far from it. Yes, Google went into its own version of a code red too. In the AI moment, all of us have to respond with varying levels of urgency at any given moment in time. We are constantly building new products as well. Gemini was built from the ground up as a product—the Gemini app I’m talking about. Or tomorrow, as all of us are adapting to agents, are you bolting agents onto ChatGPT, or are they building it natively? How would you think about that? You can always put these questions back. I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as you want to build world-class product experiences that are AI-native and they are winning. Some of it is adapting products, some of it is rethinking new experiences. They will all be part of how you approach this moment. How do you expect to make money from these AI interfaces? If an agent recommends a product and I buy it, should it take a cut of the sale, even if that’s disclosed? I’m going to put enterprise aside. Consumers are going to increasingly value this technology. Take software developers today. Developers are willing to pay for these coding models because it really helps make them more productive. Nobody would want to code the way they were coding three years ago, or even the same time last year. When you’re delivering value, there’s value to be had. I’ve never seen examples where consumer products really scale to billions of users, where people are using it intensely, and haven’t had monetization to go along with it. If you’re providing value to people, there is inherent value to be had. The nature of it may change. You’re asking a scenario in which agents are doing stuff for you. At the end of the day, you will have commercial needs. The agents need to fulfill those commercial needs. The providers on the other side are going to see value in that. There’s going to be some mechanism by which it gets fleshed out. That’s what an efficient system does. But what matters is that you’re building those world-class consumer experiences. I promised myself one product feature request: Can you make Gemini-powered search in Gmail as good as searching Gmail through ChatGPT? What’s going on here? One of the exciting things we announced recently is the unified Gemini agent for enterprise, and we’re bringing that to consumers. These are persistent agents which run 24/7 in the cloud. We’re spinning up a micro VM effectively for every query, and from the runtime, the harness, the model—it’s all a headless service. It’ll work everywhere, and it has your context with you. You can address this agent whether you’re in Workspace, in Search, in Gemini. Agents are going to drive this unification from a customer experience, which people are looking for. When you have a broad product portfolio and you’re moving forward fast, there are always areas where you’re moving forward faster than some other areas. That’s valid feedback. But we are putting a lot of time and effort into making sure, as we build out our agentic experience, that unification and that capability works well across all these services. People have asked where Google’s equivalent of Muse or Dots is. Do you anticipate creating a new product to compete with them? Our goal with Gemini is to be a personal, proactive, and powerful assistant. That’s what we are working toward. You saw us describe the early versions of it at Google I/O this year with Spark. Effectively, already, if you open the Gemini app as a Pro or an Ultra user, you see Chat and Task, and they start giving you that agentic experience. With Argon now, that capability is dramatically accelerated. What we announced recently in our enterprise event, we are bringing that to consumers as well. Soon in Gemini, you will be able to ask something, and it’s a continuum. You don’t need to think about whether you’re asking a chat or an agentic task. It’ll just automatically do the right thing, and it can work persistently in the background securely and get things done for you. Already, empirically, when I look at what’s coming into Gemini in our app, last year you would have tagged them and most of them would have been chats. But a steadily growing percentage is already agentic tasks in Gemini. Yes, we are going to bring personal agents to our consumers. It’ll work in the Gemini app. It’ll work in Google Search. It’ll work in Gmail. You can address it, call it, etc. We want to make sure we’re getting it right. It’ll be powered by Argon, and we are very excited to bring it to our users. Google has invested and committed tens of billions of dollars to Anthropic. What do you see in Dario Amodei that makes you want such a deep investment and partnership? Very early on, when we looked at the founding team of Anthropic, it was very clear to us this was a world-class team which was involved in some of the earliest GPT models. We were quickly able to assess that they would be at the frontier. We’ve always tried to identify and partner with companies which would be at the cutting edge of technology. We’ve done that with SpaceX. We’ve done that with Anthropic. That’s what we saw, and we had a chance to partner. Is your partnership with Apple to license Gemini for Siri expanding, contracting, or standing still? For both us and Apple, that partnership was about translating the capabilities of AI into better experiences for users. I thought Apple has done a phenomenal job of incorporating—they customize these models and build it into Siri—and it’s been great to see the reception. We are committed to doing more. You’re going to do more with them? There’s nothing specific to comment, but it’s a partnership. It’s working well. What have you learned so far about the feasibility of data centers in space? It’s a very exciting project. Projects like this remind me—I still recall that moment in the desert for the DARPA Grand Challenge, watching the Stanley car compete in it, which ended up being the basis for Waymo. With all these technologies, you’re at a moment in time where it looks a bit like sci-fi, but 10 to 20 years down the line, it’s actually working in a meaningful way. I feel the same in space. We’ve always believed in betting big on these technologies. Quantum has been a great example of it. We’re probably 10 years into the journey. Waymo, we are almost 20 years into the journey. Space, we are two to three years into the journey. It’s clear to me that it’s an approach which will make a lot of sense in the future. Being in sub-synchronous orbits with 24/7 access to the most abundant form of energy we have access to will make a lot of sense for this exponential increase in compute that we are going to need. Having said that, this is a challenging project. The team has disciplined milestones. It was a super exciting milestone to send the TPUs up to space. Sometime, as we are speaking, we are expecting a “hello world” moment from them. I look forward to seeing that happen, and we’ll continue investing here too. You previously said 25% of the code written within Google was written by AI. What’s the number today? That number in our world today is meaningless in the sense that every part of what we now touch is influenced by AI deeply. What we are tracking with Argon, for example, it’s been a point of inflection. People are using Argon to really go tackle complex projects, including projects which affect millions of lines of code. In the four weeks since we have launched Argon, we have seen a 30% increase in CLs, and more importantly, almost a similar increase—a one-third decrease in rollbacks. People are writing code more productively and better code with it. We are tracking it with newer metrics now. How are you dealing with opposition to data centers? If you can’t build in the U.S. the way you want to, where else do you go? We’re very committed to building our data centers very responsibly. When I look at our largest data centers in some of the communities where we have been the longest, I visit them, I talk to people. There are people who come and tell us their kids have gone to college because of our investments in these communities, and we’ve grown in those communities. To me, this is about doing it right. Engaging with the communities early, doing it transparently. We are committed to making sure we are bringing incremental power, and we cover 100% of the cost of our power needs for these projects. It’s understanding the impact on neighborhoods and making sure you’re working thoroughly to address them. Done rightly, you can continue making progress. But we are constantly taking feedback into account. I do worry not everyone operates the same way. People have been surprised by data centers showing up in their backyard. Those are all important. As an industry, we should continue to do better. But part of the reason, in a 20-year time frame, we are thinking about things like data centers in space is making sure we are able to put these data centers where maybe the trade-offs will be different. What unproven area of AI is Google working hardest to crack? Is it continual learning—getting models to keep updating after release—or something else? There are multiple parallel paths. You saw with Argon we have a million output tokens. With our Gemini models early on, we had a one-million context window on the input side. These are all examples of breakthroughs we are constantly working on. How do you think about synthetic data? How do you think about continual learning? How do you think about more efficient architectures? We do dedicate a meaningful percentage of our compute to these research bets too. It always goes hand in hand, including our world models. Those are all bets we are placing. Sometimes, as part of these bets, there are ideas that emerge which just make their way into the mainline models. Maybe we don’t fully talk about it, but we have multiple steps in these areas. Working in technology requires optimism that building something will improve the world, but those bets can leave real consequences when they fail. I recently returned to a town in El Salvador where enthusiasm for Bitcoin had given way to unfinished construction and something resembling a ghost town. How do you maintain the optimism you spoke about in your Stanford commencement address while accounting for those risks? I genuinely have a deep conviction that improving technology and improving access to technology makes people’s lives better. It’s been my personal experience in my life, out of which comes that deep conviction, optimism. But with that, I’ve always felt humanity’s journey is always about working hard to harness that technology to make it work well for society. The optimism is not an optimism that you just build whatever you want, whenever. You work hard to make sure you’re building technology in the service of humanity, to make the human condition better. That’s got to be the defining goal as we are approaching it. With that framework, I’m very, very optimistic. We are in very early stages of the kind of progress that we are going to see on many areas. We’re all talking about areas like healthcare. A lot of the progress is ahead. The ability to make things in a fundamentally cheaper way on many things where things have been getting expensive for a long, long time, discovering new materials, etc., which really bend the curve—it’s tough to step today and understand the impact of all that, but they’re going to be very profound. I’m very optimistic, but we have to be rightfully concerned about all the ways this technology can go wrong. Sundar, I know you don’t do many of these. Thank you. Thanks, Alex. Appreciate it.
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Queen Creek chamber hosts Women in Business Conference
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