Making rightsholders’ spirits Sora
Last week, OpenAI unveiled Sora 2, the next model of its AI-powered video generation tool, which can supposedly create just about anything on command to feed its own social media-like video app… except for copyrighted characters. In the days since its launch, CEO Sam Altman says the company has received valuable feedback from users, ‘interested groups’, and most importantly, rightsholders.
Up first, OpenAI plans to offer rightsholders “more granular control” over how their characters and content are generated by users on the Sora app, allowing them to opt in and have their characters’ likenesses generated for free, or to opt out instead. Companies like Disney and the rest may not want just anyone to create their own Simpsons sketches on the fly, for instance.
“We are hearing from a lot of rightsholders who are very excited for this new kind of ‘interactive fan fiction’ and think this new kind of engagement will accrue a lot of value to them, but want the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all),” a blog post reads.
The AI company is also exploring the possibility of creating a monetisation scheme for rightsholders who opt in to have their IP generated, rather than the users who are generating them. OpenAI reckons this will require some “trial and error to figure out,” but it plans to start working out those kinks soon. “Our hope is that the new kind of engagement is even more valuable than the revenue share, but of course, we want both to be valuable.”
Somehow. Xbox Game Pass got worse
We, along with many others, are still reeling from Microsoft’s bonkers Xbox Game Pass price hike worldwide, which saw South African gamers hit with as much as a 109% increase last week — while still failing to deliver several key features, like cloud gaming, that Microsoft used to justify the increase. Now, Microsoft has confirmed to multiple outlets, like Insider Gaming, that subscribers have lost another major perk.
Where Game Pass customers once enjoyed up to 10% discounts for all DLC products on the store, Xbox has removed that benefit from the mix. It’s replacing it instead with more benefits to its Reward programme — another feature currently unavailable in South Africa. Customers will still enjoy a 20% discount on select Game Pass titles, with eligible Rewards members earning more points than they did previously.
“This is not specific to any one game and reflects all games and DLC purchases. Instead of a discount on the purchases, Ultimate and Premium subscribers will earn 10% and 5% – respectively – in points when purchasing select games and add-ons from the Game Pass library,” it said.
Most interesting is Microsoft’s decision not to disclose the change in its initial blog post announcing the hike, instead deciding to implement the change quietly over the weekend for customers to discover as a fun little easter egg. Fingers crossed that’s the last discovery customers will make in a service they now pay up to R350/m for.
M5 iPad Pro spotted out in the wild
Apple can’t be happy to see not one, but two separate YouTubers supposedly unboxing the iPad Pro with an M5 chipset before the Fruit Company has even announced the bloody thing. Those would be Wylsacom and Romancev768, who both showed off the next-gen 13in iPad Pro and confirmed several rumours, one of those being the inclusion of the M5 SoC — and the sort of upgrades customers can expect from it.
Judging by the Geekbench 6 scores shown off, the M5 chipset offers up to 12% faster multi-core CPU performance and up to 36% faster graphics performance in comparison to last year’s M4 efforts lodged in the iPad Pro. The videos also confirmed that the 256GB storage model will include 12GB of RAM, with the 1- and 2TB models likely arriving with 16GB of RAM, like last year. No other major design changes could be gleaned from the videos.
Earlier rumours indicated this year’s crop of iPad Pros would gain a secondary front-facing camera to make video calling in both portrait and horizontal modes simpler. Neither device includes a secondary camera in the videos, forcing Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman to come out and double down on the rumours in his Power On newsletter:
“I can say with certainty that M5 iPad Pros within Apple have the second lens. There’s a history of Apple testing features at an advanced stage before pulling them (such as certain storage capacities or features like a second dock connector on the original iPad), but this would be a strange, last-minute cut.”
Jane Goodall’s Famous Last Words
Netflix has a new show out, Famous Last Words, and it just dropped its first episode. But unlike most Netflix shows, there’s no telling when the next episode is coming. That’s because the streamer is waiting for its next guest to die. No, really. The first guest on Famous Last Words was Jane Goodall, who recently passed at the age of 91.
Netflix has been secretly filming and banking several posthumous interviews featuring older celebrities who perhaps realise they aren’t long for this world. It’s a morbid idea, but a great one meant to keep the memory of its guests alive that little bit longer. Brad Falchuk, co-creator of shows like Glee and American Horror Story, serves as the show’s interviewer, typically filmed on an empty soundstage and with remotely operated cameras.
The setting, and Falchuk’s reminders that his guests “are dead” — often by framing his questions in the past tense — serve as a safe place for candid answers from the guests, unafraid of any public backlash after the fact. There’s no telling who else will appear on Famous Last Words, and what order they will turn up.
