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 the latest on Hollywood’s A.I. vibe shift.

Meanwhile, on the pods…

And now, a little more on Hollywood’s A.I. thaw…

HOLLYWOOD

It’s bus tour season in L.A., a time when New York media analysts chauffeur their investor clients around to meet with studio executives. And, as Matt reports, the topic everyone wants to discuss is the A.I. takeover. Sure, the technology was the villain of Hollywood’s 2023 strikes, but studios and streamers are no longer shy about touting its usage: Josh D’Amaro heralded A.I. “efficiencies” on his first earnings call, Paramount Skydance keeps hyping up A.I.-driven cost reductions at WarnerMount, and Amazon MGM just doubled attendance at its “A.I. on the Lot” symposium, to 2,400.

More surprisingly, an unexpected vibe shift among the creative class is also starting to emerge. Whether out of resignation, exhaustion, or opportunism, Hollywood is inching from outright resistance to cautiously optimistic engagement—a phenomenon visible on red carpets, at the labor guilds, and at agencies suddenly eager to sign A.I. creators. Even efforts like Cate Blanchett’s RSL Media, a nonprofit focused on building a “consent framework” for the use of creative work and N.I.L. rights in training models, frame the détente in pragmatic terms. “We are not anti-A.I.,” RSL C.E.O. Nikki Hexum told Matt. “We are just very much pro-consent.”

Click here to read Matt's full story.

WASHINGTON

Endlessly shifting goalposts and an increasingly violent ceasefire with Iran have created the perfect conditions for a new kind of forever war in the Middle East—a frozen conflict in which the only beneficiary may be Trump, himself.

SPORTS

The commissioners of college sports’ two biggest conferences have thrown a stray shot or two at each other this spring over the College Football Playoff. But as just about everyone acknowledges, they both know they’ll have to be much more aligned to tackle the myriad issues they face.

A.I.

Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow is jumping in front of the unstoppable A.I. freight train, betting that anxious voters are hungry for a pragmatic, informed approach that finds a reasonable sweet spot between Bernie Sanders and David Sacks. Herewith, the details of her plan.

FASHION

The sui generis luxury basics founder recently eliminated his C.E.O. and took over strategic and operational direction of the business himself. Profits are up, but can a creative director with aspirations to be the next Armani actually will himself to become a C.E.O., too?

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Peter Chernin, founder of North Road and the Chernin Group, to discuss the production of the new horror film Backrooms, the biggest problems in Hollywood, whether the content recession is ending, his thoughts on where digital media is going, and why the life of a studio head isn’t as fun as it used to be.

MEDIA

Dylan and Julia get right down to brass tacks with the latest shocks in the Bari Weiss–CBS News psychodrama: the firing of Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, and the stunning appointment of Nick Bilton—a magazine journalist without TV news experience—to replace Tanya Simon as executive producer. Then they turn to the challenges of managing a news program, the friction between staff and new leadership at 60 Minutes, and whether Bari and Bilton will save or kill the half-century-old franchise.

SPORTS

John Ourand joins Peter to chew over the NBA’s buzzy postseason and assess how the league’s media rights-holders are faring: NBC and Peacock pulling 9 million-plus per game, ESPN nursing a four-game-sweep hangover, and Amazon a distant third in ratings. Then they discuss how the NFL, MLB, and Apple are adjusting their playbooks ahead of the 2028 rights cycle.

Need help? Review our FAQ page or contact us for assistance. For brand partnerships, email ads@puck.news.

You received this email because you signed up to receive emails from Puck, or as part of your Puck account associated with {{customer.email}}. To stop receiving this newsletter and/or manage all your email preferences, click here.

Puck is published by Heat Media LLC. 107 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10006