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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

The MAGA Plan to Take Over TV Is Just Beginning

Under Trump, the F.C.C. has used obscure regulatory powers to crack down on network TV.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/magazine/fcc-tv-networks.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EVA.-OzT.iuaG7owmhqKW&smid=nytcore-ios-share

“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”

Blue Cross had refused to pay thousands of claims for the center’s patients, but on several occasions execs at the insurance company had signed special one-time deals with the center to pay for their wives’ cancer treatment.

https://www.propublica.org/article/blue-cross-blue-shield-louisiana-insurance-lawsuit-breast-cancer-doctors

Innovation

Researchers used 3M days of Apple Watch data to train a disease-detection AI

JETS (by researchers @ MIT & Empirical Health) used 3M person-days of Apple Watch data to develop a foundation model that can predict medical conditions w very high accuracy.

https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/09/researchers-used-3-million-days-of-apple-watch-data-to-train-a-disease-detection-ai/

A red pixel in the snow: How AI solved the mystery of a missing mountaineer

They used AI software capable of analyzing thousands of photos taken by drones that could fly close to the rock walls and up the many gullies that streak the mountain flanks. The AI picked through the pictures taken by the drone pilots pixel by pixel, looking for anything that might look out of place on the mountainside. The software identified dozens of potential anomalies from a large number of photographs in a matter of hours.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260108-how-ai-solved-the-mystery-of-a-missing-mountaineer

Genetic clues may be hiding in Leonardo da Vinci’s artwork

He never had children, his grave was destroyed during the French Revolution, and bones rumored to his may not be. But he left behind a wealth of paintings, drawings & letters that may still contain traces of genetic material today, so scientists are looking for his DNA.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/16/science/leonardo-da-vinci-dna-search

Technology

Publishers seek to join lawsuit against Google over AI training

Hachette and Cengage file to join an existing copyright infringement lawsuit against Google in which authors say Google used their books to train its Gemini LLM.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/publishers-seek-join-lawsuit-against-google-over-ai-training-2026-01-15/

Ingram Lets Publishers Opt Out of Book Sales to Tech Firms

Ingram announced that client publishers can now opt out of sales to tech firms, which are increasingly using print books to train AI.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/99453-ingram-offers-to-not-sell-books-to-ai-companies.html

Publishers prepare to be “squeezed” by AI and creators in 2026

Newsrooms will prioritize on-the-ground reporting, YouTube, and something called “liquid content” this year, according to a global survey of news executives.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/publishers-prepare-to-be-squeezed-by-ai-and-creators-in-2026/

Writers and Artists Need a Way to Label AI Use: Here’s What That Could Look Like

HT @publishingtrend AACC (AI Attribution and Creative Content) is open-source transparency framework w two simple categories.AI-Assisted and AI-Generated.

https://janefriedman.com/writers-and-artists-need-a-way-to-label-ai-use-heres-what-that-could-look-like/

AI journalism startup Symbolic.ai signs deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp

News Corp is signing up AI startup Symbolic.ai, which claims to “assist in the production of quality journalism”

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/15/ai-journalism-startup-symbolic-ai-signs-deal-with-rupert-murdochs-news-corp/

Wikimedia announced deals with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI and Perplexity

The partnership will allow the companies access to Wikipedia’s API in developing LLMs.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/wikipedia-amazon-meta-perplexity-ai.html

OpenAI Says It Is Bringing Ads to ChatGPT  

OpenAI will start testing ads in ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers, letting users interact with sponsored products while keeping subscriptions ad-free. Per FT,

OpenAI expects to make “low billions” from ads in 2026.

https://www.adweek.com/media/openai-chatgpt-ads-sponsored-products/

Ads Are Coming to ChatGPT. Here’s How They’ll Work

It will match ads to conversation topics using some personalization data, but OpenAI says ads will not influence ChatGPT’s responses. They claim they will not sell user data or expose user conversations to advertisers.

https://www.wired.com/story/openai-testing-ads-us/

Open-Source AI Takes on Google’s Image Generator for Complex Graphics

Chinese startup Z.ai has released GLM-Image, an open-source AI model designed to create complex, text-heavy images like infographics and technical diagrams — a space dominated by Google’s Nano Banana Pro. It outperforms Google’s model in certain benchmark tests for text accuracy, but it isn’t as visually polished or as good at following vague instructions, and runs slower due to high computing needs. It’s free to use under enterprise-friendly licenses. That means companies can host it themselves, customize it, and avoid paying for proprietary AI services.

https://venturebeat.com/technology/z-ais-open-source-glm-image-beats-googles-nano-banana-pro-at-complex-text

Cloudflare acquires Human Native, AI data marketplace that manages transactions between developers and content creators

The company said the deal will help it build tools for AI developers to “find, access and purchase reliable high-quality data through fair and transparent channels.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/cloudflare-ai-human-native-acquisition.html

AI summaries are coming to (for?) your Gmail

Gmail’s new AI Inbox tab will analyze the contents of a user’s emails, summarize them, and suggest action items.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/ai-summaries-are-coming-to-for-your-gmail/

Salesforce rolls out new Slackbot AI agent as it battles Microsoft & Google in workplace AI

It searches enterprise data, drafts docs, & acts. It accesses Salesforce records, Google Drive, calendars, & Slack convos, synthesizing insights & producing docs

https://venturebeat.com/technology/salesforce-rolls-out-new-slackbot-ai-agent-as-it-battles-microsoft-and

Gemini provides proactive responses from your photos, emails, & more

Google’s new feature in its Gemini app called Personal Intelligence delivers highly tailored AI responses by reasoning across data from Gmail, Google Photos, Search, and YouTube history. Unlike prior capabilities that could retrieve information from these apps individually, Gemini can now connect disparate pieces of personal data to proactively offer context-aware recommendations and solutions—for example, linking email threads to a video you watched or suggesting travel ideas based on past trip photos. Google highlights use cases ranging from practical problem-solving, such as recalling a license plate from a photo to lifestyle suggestions like personalized book, travel, and entertainment recommendations.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/14/geminis-new-beta-feature-provides-proactive-responses-based-on-your-photos-emails-and-more/

Google announces a new protocol to facilitate commerce using AI agents

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is a new open standard created with partners like Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart to make AI-driven shopping smoother and more connected. UCP allows AI agents to handle the entire buying process, from product discovery to post-purchase support, without needing separate systems for each step. It works alongside other agent standards like Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and Model Context Protocol (MCP), letting businesses choose the parts that fit their needs. Google plans to use UCP in AI-powered Search and Gemini apps, enabling U.S. shoppers to check out directly with retailers using Google Pay or PayPal. Brands will also be able to offer instant discounts during AI product recommendations, and merchants can integrate branded AI agents into Google Search to answer customer questions.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/google-announces-a-new-protocol-to-facilitate-commerce-using-ai-agents/

Anthropic’s new Cowork tool offers Claude Code without the code

You specify a folder and give clear instructions. It enables a range of applications from assembling expense reports to managing media files or analyzing conversations.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/anthropics-new-cowork-tool-offers-claude-code-without-the-code/

Anthropic announces Claude for Healthcare following OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health

Like ChatGPT, Claude can sync health data from devices without using it for model training. It connect to med databases for faster research, reports, & prior authorization reviews

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/anthropic-announces-claude-for-healthcare-following-openais-chatgpt-health-reveal/

OpenAI Asking Contractors to Upload Work From Past Jobs to Evaluate the Performance of AI Agents

To prepare AI agents for office work, the company is asking contractors to upload projects from past jobs, leaving it to them to strip out confidential and personally identifiable information.

https://www.wired.com/story/openai-contractor-upload-real-work-documents-ai-agents/

AI and the Human Condition

Right now it is individual humans who are uniquely capable to reach audiences at scale; AI, on the other hand, is about scaling compute to deliver results to individuals. The desire for a communal experience will persist, and those experiences will continue to be organized around other humans, not machines.

https://stratechery.com/2026/ai-and-the-human-condition/

AI industry insiders launch site to poison the data that feeds them

Alarmed by what companies are building with artificial intelligence models, a handful of industry insiders are calling for those opposed to the current state of affairs to undertake a mass data poisoning effort to undermine the technology. Their initiative, dubbed Poison Fountain, asks website operators to add links to their websites that feed AI crawlers poisoned training data. A source said the goal of the project is to make people aware of AI’s Achilles’ Heel – the ease with which models can be poisoned – and to encourage people to construct information weapons of their own.

https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/11/industry_insiders_seek_to_poison/

Skylight Calendar 2 keeps your family organized

Skylight — originally known for its digital picture frames — introduced the Skylight Calendar 2, a mid-sized version of its wall-mounted family organizer. The calendar merges schedules from services like Google Calendar, iCal, and Microsoft into one color-coded view. AI capabilities let users snap photos of flyers or emails to automatically add events, manage grocery lists, plan meals, and discover recipes. Parents can generate shopping lists from planned meals or even get recipe ideas by photographing the contents of their fridge. The interface is simple enough for young children to check chores using pictures instead of text. It already has more than 1.3M users of their calendar systems.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/skylight-debuts-calendar-2-to-keep-your-family-organized/

Five US publishers sue Google over ‘deceptive and manipulative’ adtech practices

Penske, The Atlantic, McClatchy, Conde Nast and Vox Media sue Google over its ad market monopolization.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/marketing/five-us-publishers-sue-google-over-deceptive-and-manipulative-adtech-practices/

TikTok quietly launched a new micro drama app called PineDrama

TikTok rolled out a stand-alone app in the US and Brazil, called PineDrama, dedicated to micro drama series. Micro dramas — also called “verticals” and “mini dramas” — are serialized shows that users watch in roughly one-minute clips. They are free without ads or paywalls for now. The most popular micro drama series often include romance or the supernatural, or both — think sordid love affairs with vampires or werewolves. Its current top three trending shows each had over 100 million views.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-launches-a-new-micro-drama-app-called-pinedrama-2026-1

Google Classroom’s new tool uses Gemini to transform lessons into podcast episodes

Google added a Gemini-powered tool to Google Classroom that lets teachers create customizable podcast-style audio lessons to engage students and support deeper learning.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/google-classrooms-new-tool-uses-gemini-to-transform-lessons-into-podcast-episodes/

The most bizarre tech announced at CES 2026

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/08/the-most-bizarre-tech-announced-at-ces-2026/

Publishing & Media

Independent Publishers Caucus Launches Bestseller List with ABA

Independent Publishers Caucus and the American Booksellers Association debuted the Independent Press Top 40, a weekly bestseller list collating the most popular titles from indie publishers.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/99435-independent-publishers-caucus-launches-bestseller-list-with-aba.html

Publishers panic that Hudson News could stop carrying their mags

HT @BoSacks Magazine publishers worry Hudson News, a staple of airports & other transit hubs, might stop carrying mags in the Tri-State Area bc they are laying off 236 employees in NJ.

https://nypost.com/2026/01/16/media/publishers-panic-that-hudson-news-could-stop-carrying-their-mags-asteroid-killing-off-the-dinosaurs/

Literary Arts Fund created to rekindle a love for reading

According to a recent study, reading for pleasure has fallen by 40% in the last 20 years, continuing a long-running downward trend. By many measures, reading skills for both students and adults continue to fall. The Mellon Foundation has a new effort to boost the world of words.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/literary-arts-fund-created-to-rekindle-a-love-for-reading

Why reading helps cure an overactive nervous system, according to a neuroscientist

https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/873671/why-reading-cures-overactive-nervous-system-experts-explain/

It’s Time To Stop Judging People For Reading Trashy Books

HT @publishingtrend

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/stop-judging-people-for-reading-trashy-books

Trump’s return chills embattled LGBTQ book industry

HT @publishingtrend In children’s book publishing, editors/authors see lower sales figures amid book bans, as well as admin’s targeting of DEI & pre-occupation w “radical indoctrination” in K-12 schools.

https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5679251-trump-era-lgbtq-book-bans/

Resources & Opportunities

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 Ophira Eisenberg, Akilah Hughes, Leighann Lord, Youngmi Mayer, Phoebe Robinson, and Maysoon Zayid with emcee Audra Boltion-Ortiz, this live show brings together some of the funniest and most fearless voices in entertainment. Invite friends, bring your sense of humor, and get ready to laugh, connect, and unwind with WMG.

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6425404

Bookstore & Brasserie with Kathleen Schmidt

2/12 6:30 p.m. ET. WMG members only; FREE

Join Women’s Media Group Board member Kathleen Schmidt for an evening of bookstore love and camaraderie! We’ll meet at 6:30 at the bookstore for shopping in the East Village of NYC and then walk to dinner to talk about our favorite books.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509655

WMG Job Seekers

2/23, noon; Penguin Random House, NYC. WMG members only; FREE

Are you looking for a job, underemployed, or planning to pivot? Women’s Media Group is pleased to offer our first Job Seekers event of the year to network, share tips, and offer support. Come join us for a free, in-person, members-only small group session. Connect with each other, hear from an expert, and come armed with questions! Former WMG Membership Chair Susan McCulloch will be in conversation with WMG Board member Keline Adams, Director at Penguin Random House. Feel free to bring your own lunch.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509718

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