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While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important. I also try to include some resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

Bro boost: women say their LinkedIn traffic increases if they pretend to be men

Collective experiment found switching profile to ‘male’ and ‘bro-coding’ text led to big increase in reach, though site denies favouring posts by men

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/22/bro-boost-women-find-linkedin-traffic-drives-if-they-pretend-to-be-men

Innovation

New Artificial Intelligence Model Could Speed Rare Disease Diagnosis

Scientists built an AI model that can flag human genetic mutations likely to cause disease.

https://hms.harvard.edu/news/new-artificial-intelligence-model-could-speed-rare-disease-diagnosis

Technology

Licensing for AI: What Should Book Publishers & Authors Do?

@ThadMcIlroy suggests publishers come together and decide, in broad terms, on recommended policies for licensing moving forward.

https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2025/11/licensing-for-ai-what-should-book-publishers-authors-do/

Universal Music Group, Sony Music, & Warner Music Group licensed catalogs to Klay

Klay’s AI streaming startup lets users remake songs in different styles. It’s the first AI music service to partner w all 3 major labels.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/major-music-labels-strike-licensing-deals-with-ai-streaming-startup-klay-bloomberg-news-reports/ar-AA1QM5Zu

Warner Music Group partners with Suno to offer AI likenesses of its artists

The record label has also dropped its lawsuit against Suno, which will soon allow users to make AI-generated music using voices from participating Warner Music Group artists.

https://www.theverge.com/news/829189/warner-music-group-suno-ai-licensing-deal

More Music Publishers Settle With And Partner With AI. Book Publishers Look The Other Way

Per Mark Williams, music settled from strength into partnerships; Books settled from weakness into 1-time payments. Music labels are shaping AI integration; Book publishers are responding to it.

https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/2025/11/27/settlement-trajectory-music-partnerships-book-publishing-leverage/

This AI start-up, with 8 employees, generates 3,000 podcasts a week

They released more than 175,000 AI-generated podcast episodes w 12M lifetime episode downloads and 400K subscribers, charging $1 per episode.

https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/ai-start-up-with-8-employees-generates-3-000-podcasts-a-week/story

Europe is scaling back its landmark privacy and AI laws

Under pressure from industry and the US government, Brussels is stripping GDPR protections — including simplifying cookie permission pop-ups — and relaxing or delaying landmark AI rules.

https://www.theverge.com/news/823750/european-union-ai-act-gdpr-changes

AI Eats the World

Nov 2025 presentation from @benedictevans

https://www.ben-evans.com/presentations

Google releases Nano Banana Pro, its latest image-generation model

Built on Gemini 3 LLM, this brings higher resolutions up to 4K, more accurate and flexible text rendering, improved editing tools, and even web‑search capabilities for tasks like finding recipes and creating flash cards. Designed for professional use, Nano Banana Pro lets users fine‑tune details such as lighting, camera angles, depth of field, and color grading, while supporting multi‑object compositions and maintaining likeness for up to five people. It can blend up to 14 items in one image and use six high‑fidelity reference shots. The model is being integrated into Google’s AI tools, including the Gemini app, NotebookLM, Workspace apps like Slides and Vids, and the Flow video tool. Google is also embedding its SynthID watermarking and detection tech into the Gemini app, with plans to add C2PA content verification in the future.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/20/google-releases-nano-banana-pro-its-latest-image-generation-model/

Google launches Gemini 3 w new coding app & record benchmarks

The Gemini app has more than 650M monthly active users, with 13M developers integrating it into their workflows. Google’s Antigravity has conversational prompts, command-line tools, & browser view for dynamic, multi-pane agentic coding.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/18/google-launches-gemini-3-with-new-coding-app-and-record-benchmark-scores/

ChatGPT launches group chats globally

Up to 20 participants, while keeping individual settings and memories private. ChatGPT can be tagged to respond, react with emojis, and reference profile photos, + is designed to participate selectively in discussions.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/20/chatgpt-launches-group-chats-globally/

Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.5: Cheaper AI, infinite chats, & coding skills that beat humans

Early enterprise adopters report notable gains in coding, document creation, and data analysis, as well as “self‑improving” AI agents that refine their skills through iteration. The launch also adds new features such as Excel integration, Chrome workflows, programmatic tool calling, and “infinite chats” that bypass context limits.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/anthropics-claude-opus-4-5-is-here-cheaper-ai-infinite-chats-and-coding

Character AI will offer interactive ‘Stories’ to kids instead of open-ended chat

The new interactive fiction format lets users create guided narratives w their favorite characters, replacing chatbot access for those under 18 years of age amid concerns over mental health risks & addiction.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/25/character-ai-will-offer-interactive-stories-to-kids-instead-of-open-ended-chat/

AI LUMAscape

HT @benedictevans

https://lumapartners.com/lumascapes/

Court Filings Allege Meta Downplayed Risks to Children and Misled the Public

Instagram’s former head of safety & well-being when joined Meta in 2020 was shocked to learn they had a 17x strike policy for accounts reportedly engaged in “trafficking of humans for sex.”

https://time.com/7336204/meta-lawsuit-files-child-safety/

Publishing & Media

Bookshop.org brings ebook local bookstore support to the UK

Since 2020, Bookshop.org has been offering an alternative to Amazon and supporting local bookstores. Now, they are rolling out ebooks in the UK. Readers select their local or preferred recipient and thereafter, every ebook they buy through Bookshop.org delivers a donation to that bookstore. Bookshop.org still is required to implement DRM for those publishers that require it. For its own app, it uses Readium DRM. They aren’t able to offer purchases through the app; these still have to be made on the website.

https://teleread.org/2025/11/30/bookshop-org-brings-ebook-local-bookstore-support-to-the-uk/

Coalition Protests Tennessee’s Directive to Public Libraries

A coalition of 34 literary organizations, publishers, libraries, and right to read advocates is protesting an order from Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett for public libraries to review their children’s materials for “age-appropriateness,” following President Donald Trump’s January executive order to eliminate “gender ideology” from public institutions.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/99182-coalition-protests-tennessee-s-directive-to-public-libraries.html

NPR’s Books We Love

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2025

Resources & Opportunities

Bursting the Blue-Red Bubbles

LAST CHANCE! Red Rooster Harlem venue. Karine Jean-Pierre on stage. You in the room? Secure your ticket and let’s get past the blue-red bubble. Register now! 12/4 at noon.

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6406290

WMG Member Social with WMG Co-Presidents

12/16 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET. WMG members only. FREE (Zoom)

Join WMG Co-Presidents Jodi Brockington and Jane Wesman for a virtual Member Social, a community-building celebration for all WMG members. We strongly encourage members based outside of New York to join us. This isn’t just another Zoom meeting; it’s a chance to pause, connect, and invest in your professional community. We’ll begin with a warm welcome from WMG’s leadership, then move into facilitated breakout sessions where you’ll introduce yourself, highlight a current goal or challenge, and meet peers whose skills or interests might align with yours. Afterwards, we’ll bring everyone back together for a wrap-up where we’ll share resources, upcoming WMG programs, and ways to stay engaged—whether you’re seeking a mentor, offering support to someone else, or exploring a new idea. The result? A stronger connection to WMG’s thriving network and fresh momentum for your next act in media.

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6429132

The Art of Being Irreplaceable: Creativity in the Age of AI

1/22, 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET. Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom)

Are you afraid that AI is going to take your job? Yes—we all are! Yet one truth remains: artificial intelligence can mimic style, but it can’t replicate soul. Join Women’s Media Group for a thought-provoking session with award-winning author Jane K. Cleland, whose new book, Beat the Bots: A Writer’s Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Age of AI, offers a roadmap for writers determined to stay both relevant and inspired. Guided by acclaimed publishing expert Jane Friedman, Cleland will share practical exercises to nurture imagination, spark original thinking, and resist creative conformity. Expect practical creativity boosters, encouragement to take risks, and a renewed sense of purpose in your storytelling journey. It’s not about resisting technology—it’s about harnessing what only humans can do.

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6429044

WMG Comedy Night: Smart Laughs, Big Energy

1/27 6pm (VIP Reception) | 7:15 pm General Admission

Get ready for a night of fearless, full-throttle comedy with Women’s Media Group, celebrating women who rule the mic and the moment. Featuring Sarah Cooper, Ophira Eisenberg, and Phoebe Robinson — plus more comedians to be announced — this live show brings together some of the funniest and most fearless voices in entertainment. Bring friends, bring your sense of humor, and get ready to laugh, connect, and unwind with WMG. Reserve your spot today — general admission seats will go fast!

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6425404