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The Oscar nominations are in, and it’s clear that for studios, it’s one battle after another this award season. However, amid ongoing M&A, winning those battles is even more important.The 98th Academy Awards are slated for March 15, with Conan O’Brien set to return as host. Last year’s awards saw a ratings boost to around 19.7 million viewers despite streaming glitches during the Oscars’ first year on Hulu and Anora, a relatively small film, emerging as the awards darling.Now, with the nominations in thanks to a livestream hosted by Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) and Lewis Pullman (The Testament of…

Vimeo, the video-hosting platform, is laying off some of its global staff, according to a report from Business Insider. The move comes shortly after the company’s acquisition by the Italian tech conglomerate Bending Spoons, which purchased it in an all-cash deal last year for $1.38 billion. Bending Spoons confirmed the layoffs to BI but wouldn’t share how many people would lose their jobs. The Verge reports that the cutbacks will impact a “large portion” of the company’s total workforce, citing a LinkedIn post from Vimeo’s former VP of Global Brand and Creative, who stated that he, “along with a large portion of the company,” had been “impacted by…

As this year’s Oscar nominations rolled out this morning, I told my boyfriend that Sinners, with 16 noms in total, had made history. “Woke is back,” he replied.He was joking (don’t come for him!), but his quip highlights a pretty stark dichotomy. Last year, as everyone from President Donald Trump down harped on about the perils of DEI, the biggest cultural breakthroughs—Sinners, KPop Demon Hunters, Heated Rivalry, One Battle After Another—all showcased diversity in fresh ways. And it succeeded. These works weren’t just popular among leftists or critics, they were bona fide cultural phenomena.Sinners, a horror movie set in the…

Liquid Death‘s Super Bowl teaser suggests the water brand is bringing serious energy to the Big Game for the second year running.The famously rebellious brand will air a 30-second national ad during the first half of Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8. Created in-house by its creative team and production arm Death Machine, the commercial will promote Liquid Death’s new energy drink line, Sparkling Energy.A teaser for the ad, released today (Jan. 22), zooms in on a row of grinning, wide-eyed, papier-mâché heads.Sparkling Energy, launched in December, broke into the top 20 brands by market share on Amazon in its…

LiveKit, a developer of infrastructure software for real-time AI voice and video applications, has announced the raise of $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. The round, which comes 10 months after LiveKit’s previous fundraise, was led by Index Ventures with participation from existing investors, including Altimeter Capital Management, Hanabi Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. LiveKit powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice mode. The startup’s other customers include xAI, Salesforce, Tesla, as well as 911 emergency service operators and mental health providers. The company was founded in 2021 by Russ d’Sa and David Zhao as an open source software project for…

Elon Musk, the richest man on earth, is very good at making money. His track record of predicting the future is less stellar.Through the years, Musk has made several outlandish forecasts—about self-driving cars, about space exploration, about brain chips, about robotics—that have not panned out. The Tesla CEO and former steward of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency seems at least a bit self-aware. During a surprise appearance and his debut at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, he concluded with something like a mission statement: “Generally, for quality of life, it’s better to err on the…

OpenAI’s recent launch of Atlas marks a pivotal moment for digital marketing, and for the evolution of the internet itself. Atlas showcases the rise of the agentic web, an internet in which AI completes tasks on users’ behalf and actively represents them.For marketers, this means algorithms will increasingly mediate how people discover, evaluate and interact with brands. The path forward lies in diversification and data: Expanding how we reach audiences and unifying how we measure performance across every screen. The Diversification ImperativeFirst, we have to acknowledge that AI is already reshaping online behavior. Gartner predicts that by 2026, traditional search traffic…

It’s been nearly two years since Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella predicted AI would replace knowledge work — the white-collar jobs held by lawyers, investment bankers, librarians, accountants, IT and others. But despite the huge progress made by foundation models, the change in knowledge work has been slow to arrive. Models have mastered in-depth research and agentic planning, but for whatever reason, most white-collar work has been relatively unaffected. It’s one of the biggest mysteries in AI — and thanks to new research from the training-data giant Mercor, we’re finally getting some answers. The new research looks at how leading AI…

On Tuesday, two Massachusetts lawmakers introduced two bills to the state’s House and Senate that, if passed, would create a state law requiring companies to tell customers when service on their connected products will end. It is an effort meant to tamp down on cybersecurity risks and also boost consumer protections. With knowledge about future support, consumers can confidently buy a device knowing how long they can expect it to reliably work, and when to plan for its eventual obsolescence.The pieces of proposed legislation, collectively named An Act Relative to Consumer Connected Devices, were introduced by Massachusetts state senator William…

William Shatner just wanted to eat his breakfast in peace.When photos appeared on sites like TMZ and MailOnline earlier this week, snapping the 94-year-old actor eating a bowl of cereal in his car in LA traffic, the grainy, paparazzi-style shots suggested a man caught mid-meal rather than mid-brand deal.However, in the days since, another set of images has emerged, showing Shatner getting out of a car, with a box of Raisin Bran tucked under his arm, as if he had just popped out to restock his cupboard.The coincidence started to strain credulity, begging questions about why Shatner was suddenly being…

Last year, fusion power startup General Fusion was struggling to raise funds, laying off at least 25% of its staff before receiving a $22 million lifeline investment while it figured out how to keep the company afloat. Today, General Fusion revealed its survival plan: it will go public through a reverse merger with an special purpose acquisition company, Spring Valley III, combined with additional investment from institutional investors. It’s a significant change in fortunes for a company whose CEO wrote a public letter just last year pleading for funding. If the deal closes as planned, General Fusion could receive up…

Last week, a website called ICE List went viral after its creators said that they had received what they described as a leak of personal information about nearly 4,500 Department of Homeland Security employees. However, a WIRED analysis of the site found that the database relies heavily on information that apparent DHS employees have posted publicly online themselves. This comes at a time when DHS has characterized reporting on or publicizing the identity of ICE officers as “doxing” and has threatened to prosecute perceived offenders to the fullest extent of the law.ICE List operates as a crowdsourced wiki maintained by…

Super Bowl 60 halftime headliner Bad Bunny might have some competition if Hellmann’s has anything to do with it. The condiment brand has unveiled a 15-second promo teasing its 2026 Super Bowl ad, which will introduce viewers to Meal Diamond, “a hot new star warming up for his moment in the spotlight.”Set to Neil Diamond’s 1969 hit “Sweet Caroline,” the spot invites viewers backstage just before showtime. As the lights come up, we see a larger-than-life performer putting the finishing touches on a sequined outfit. As part of his preshow ritual, he tucks into a stacked turkey sandwich made with…

AI Mode, Google’s conversational Search feature for complex questions, is getting more personalized. The tech giant announced on Thursday that it’s bringing “Personal Intelligence” to AI Mode, enabling it to tap into your Gmail and Google Photos to provide more individualized responses. The company debuted Personal Intelligence last week in the Gemini app to allow the AI assistant to tailor its responses by connecting across your Google ecosystem, starting with Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube history. The opt-in feature is now starting to roll out to AI Mode to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers in English in the…

The problem? There is a significantly better phone for just a little more: the Google Pixel 9a. Google will support that device for seven years, and it also comes with flagship-grade performance, better cameras, and more smart software features. The Moto G Stylus will only get two Android OS upgrades and three years of security updates. This is precisely why you should buy it on sale.Best Moto G Under $300Photograph: Julian ChokkattuPhotograph: Julian ChokkattuPhotograph: Julian ChokkattuMotorolaMoto G Power 2026I have good news and bad news. First, the good: Motorola’s latest Moto G Power 2026 is a pretty solid smartphone. Unlike…

In this episode of TechMagic, hosts Cathy Hackl and Lee Kebler unpack the realities behind today’s AI headlines. They explore OpenAI’s shift toward advertising, the growing human bottleneck in data center expansion, and why the AI conversation is moving beyond productivity toward physical and human-centred systems. The discussion dives into the surprising earning power of skilled trades, how XR is transforming workforce training, and why the metaverse was never just about VR headsets. From VRChat to The Sims, Cathy and Lee reveal where the spatial web is quietly taking shape, and what it all means for the future of work and technology.Come for…