Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know… and stick around for Washington’s latest A.I. threat.

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"Will leave you on the edge of your seat."

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[WATCH] Chemistry & Collaboration in THE BEAST IN ME

Claire Danes & Matthew Rhys discuss their initial reactions to reading the script, and dive into character dynamics, emotional stakes, and the creative process behind bringing this cat-and-mouse thriller to life.

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For more on THE BEAST IN ME, visit series.netflixawards.com

Meanwhile, on the pods…

And now, a little more on Washington’s push for nationalized A.I.…

A.I.

When OpenAI C.E.O. Sam Altman floated the idea of a sovereign wealth fund to give U.S. citizens “a stake in A.I.-driven economic growth,” he probably didn’t expect to capture the interest of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. On June 1, Sanders pitched a one-time 50 percent tax on the largest A.I. companies that would give the government voting shares and board seats. Days later, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he planned to take “pieces” of the companies, “where it almost becomes a partnership with the American public.” In other words, the prospect of nationalized A.I. is reaching escape velocity.

And yet, as Ian reports, the idea isn’t so clear-cut. Yale economist Andrew Metrick told him that “government ownership of private firms often leads to corruption, mismanagement, and lots of wasted taxpayer money.” Others see a thornier problem: Unlike the chipmakers and miners the Trump administration has already taken stakes in, the A.I. labs don’t need the money. As former White House economics advisor Peter Harrell framed it, equity seems to be “a shiny object” policymakers are chasing to “magically deliver money for the government.” Then there’s the question nobody in Washington seems ready to answer: Once the government starts taking pieces of private industry, where does the project end?

Click here to read Ian’s full story.

HOLLYWOOD

As states assume the lead on antitrust enforcement, a number of private attorneys are getting creative with success fees—including Jeffrey Kessler, whose firm bet tens of millions of dollars on his ability to take Live Nation to the cleaners.

SPORTS

After decades of dysfunction, the Knicks won their first title since 1973 thanks to Jim Dolan, of all people, finally trusting the right basketball specialists and resisting the mistakes that defined the previous 25 years. Mike Breen, the voice of the team, and clutch ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst break it down.

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[WATCH] In Conversation with the Team Behind THE BEAST IN ME

The cast and crew of THE BEAST IN ME reflect on how the show came together - from the initial inspiration to the relationships and past collaborations that shaped the team. They discuss exploring the premise of meeting your own shadow, and how the subject-writer dynamic at the heart of their source material informed the story they set out to tell.

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For more on THE BEAST IN ME, visit series.netflixawards.com

ART

Even after the robust volume of sales in New York, there are clearly still plenty of serious buyers looking for de Koonings—and that wasn’t always a given.

FASHION

Despite geopolitical tensions and slowing growth in Europe, luxury consumers are treating economic anxiety as someone else’s problem. Exclusive new data reveals what these shoppers are buying—and why a demographic shift could be the industry’s salvation.

MEDIA

Versant C.E.O. Mark Lazarus joins Dylan to make the bull case for the cable business everyone keeps pronouncing dead and his four-vertical strategy anchored by MS NOW, CNBC, Golf Channel, and Fandango. They also discuss MS NOW’s digital expansion, Crooked Media’s licensing deal, and other media topics du jour.

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