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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.

Innovation

AI Helps Locate Dangerous Fishing Nets Lost at Sea

AI can sift through petabytes of underwater imaging to identify signs of lost fishing nets—so-called ghost nets. Each year, 80K sq km of fishing nets is lost, threatening seals, turtles, and dolphins.

https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/ai-helps-locate-dangerous-fishing-nets-lost-at-sea/

It’s 12ft tall, covered in feathers and has been extinct for 600 years – can the giant moa bird really be resurrected?

And should it?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/11/de-extinction-extinct-giant-moa-bird-colossal-bioscience-aoe

Technology

‘Dumbing down’ or ‘momentous’ opportunity? Industry divided over AI literary translation

As more companies explore AI literary translation, the rapid progression of the technology and what that could mean for the future has divided the book industry.

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/dumbing-down-or-momentous-opportunity-industry-divided-over-ai-literary-translation

Johns Hopkins University Press will license its authors’ books to train AI models

Authors have until the end of August to opt out of the licensing agreement. If they do not, their work will be used to help train AI models.

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/higher-education/johns-hopkins-press-artificial-intelligence-ai-llm-QKOMZUWMNBC4NLF63TNLPQHD2Q/

Google Seeks Licensing Talks With News Groups, Following AI Rivals

Google is seeking to recruit news organizations for a new licensing project related to AI, and plans to launch a pilot initially with ~20 US outlets.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-22/google-seeks-licensing-talks-with-news-groups-following-ai-rivals

Google’s AI Summaries Have Chopped Article Clicks Down by Half

Users are half as likely to click on a search link after reading an AI summary on Google per Pew Research. Users click on links following an AI summary only 8% of the time, down from 15% when there is no AI recap.

https://www.thewrap.com/ai-summaries-google-article-clicks-half/

LLM-powered AI Search Overviews isn’t just commoditization: It’s deconstruction.

Publishers were better off when Google was copying their text; Google summarizing info is much worse, even if it’s even less of a copyright violation https://stratechery.com/2025/content-and-community/

Donald Trump Says AI Companies Can’t Be Expected To Pay For All Copyrighted Content Used In Their Training Models: “Not Do-Able”

At an All-In Podcast summit, President Trump said forcing AI firms to pay for each copyrighted work is “not doable”, calling for “common sense” AI and IP rules.

https://deadline.com/2025/07/trump-ai-action-plan-copyright-1236466617/

AI Book Market Projection: More Than 30% Growth

HT @publishingtrend The Global AI Book Writing Market is projected to experience substantial growth, expected to reach $47.1B by 2034, up from $2.8B in 2024.

https://scoop.market.us/ai-book-writing-market-news/

Netflix’s first show with generative AI is a sign of what’s to come in TV, film

Producers used it to create a scene in which a building collapses 10X faster than w traditional VFX tools. Netflix also using AI for conversational search and interactive ads.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/07/netflixs-first-show-with-generative-ai-is-a-sign-of-whats-to-come-in-tv-film/

Google Launches Entertainment Division with Slate of “Tech-Positive” Film and TV Projects

100 Zeros is a multiyear partnership with Range Media Partners, the influential management and production company behind films like A Complete Unknown and Longlegs

https://stagerunner.net/google-launches-entertainment-division-with-slate-of-tech-positive-film-and-tv-projects/

AI Accountant Simulator Test

AI excels at tasks that don’t change underlying environment: Answering questions, writing code, researching sources. It’s unclear how well this translates to tasks where each action has lasting consequences and errors compound over time.

https://accounting.penrose.com

AI Is Making Sure You Pay for That Ding on Your Rental Car

Hertz and other agencies are increasingly relying on scanners that use high-res imaging and AI to flag even tiny blemishes, and customers aren’t happy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/travel/rental-car-ai-scanner-hertz.html

Using synthetic personas and research to explore ideas

Some interesting AI use cases from @neilperkin

https://onlydeadfish.co.uk/2025/07/23/using-synthetic-personas-and-research-to-explore-ideas/

It’s the end of the internet as we know it

Traffic from human visits is flattening while automated traffic surges — sometimes outnumbering people. Forget SEO – now it’s AEO (AI engine optimization). Digital sites now need 2 versions: 1 for humans, another for crawlers.

https://qz.com/ai-chatbots-google-search-internet-bots

‘AI fatigue’ is settling in as companies’ proofs of concept increasingly fail.

Here’s how to prevent it: It’s all in the process – get functional business units to do governance, requirements, review, and start small.

https://fortune.com/2025/06/11/ai-companies-employee-fatigue-failure/

OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Agent can control an entire computer & do tasks for you

It can look at your calendar to brief you on upcoming client meetings, plan and purchase ingredients for a family breakfast, or create a slide deck based on its analysis of competing companies.

https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/709158/openai-new-release-chatgpt-agent-operator-deep-research

Mirage is the World’s First AI Video That Can Transform Live Footage in Real Time

https://petapixel.com/2025/07/18/mirage-is-the-worlds-first-ai-video-that-can-transform-live-footage-in-real-time/

AI avatars are here in full force—and they’re serving some of the world’s biggest companies

Synthesia says it serves over 70% of the Fortune 100. The most common use cases for AI-generated avatars are business training + internal comms videos.

https://fortune.com/2025/06/26/ai-digital-avatars-corporate-video-training-gen-z/

AI-powered VTubers are earning millions with fully virtual personalities

One of the most popular gaming YouTubers is named Bloo, a VTuber — a fully virtual AI personality. There’s concern abt convincing but entirely AI-fabricated videos

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/ai-virtual-personality-youtubers-or-vtubers-are-earning-millions.html

Publishing & Media

Jeff Bezos weighing possible acquisition of CNBC cable network

Amazon Founder Weighs Acquisition of CNBC: Jeff Bezos is said to be mulling a possible acquisition of CNBC, as the cable network would “align well with his interests.”

https://nypost.com/2025/07/23/media/jeff-bezos-has-been-weighing-a-possible-acquisition-of-cnbc-sources/

Publisher McGraw Hill raises $415 million in US IPO

Shares were priced at $17 each, below its marketed range of $19-$22.

https://www.reuters.com/business/publisher-mcgraw-hill-raises-415-million-us-ipo-2025-07-24/

SF-Based Internet Archive Is Now a Federal Depository Library. What Does That Mean?

Sen. Alex Padilla grants the Internet Archive federal depository status, making it a part of a network of over 1,100 libraries that archive government documents

https://www.kqed.org/news/12049420/sf-based-internet-archive-is-now-a-federal-depository-library-what-does-that-mean

A new generation of magazines is getting kids to put down their phones

In a world of smartphones and screen time, parents are willing to pay for high-quality magazines for kids. It’s reviving a once-dead industry.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91364687/a-new-generation-of-magazines-is-getting-kids-to-put-down-their-phones

Condé Nast Shuts Membership Program Vogue Club

Conde Nast is closing its membership program Vogue Club. “Vogue has leant into more consumer-facing events.”

https://wwd.com/business-news/media/vogue-club-membership-program-closes-1237992222/

Vox Media Readies a Print Magazine for Eater

Eater plans to mark its 20th year with a new initiative designed to reflect both its legacy and its evolving business model.

https://www.adweek.com/media/eater-off-menu-franchise/

G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites

With the sale of Kotaku, a video game site, to the European publisher Keleops, all but one website remains at G/O Media, which is shutting down.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/business/media/kotaku-go-media-sale.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YU8.WeTq.FL7ZKoUv67Ix&smid=tw-share

Substack raises $100M, becoming unicorn with $1.1 billion valuation

Substack hasn’t recently disclosed its revenue, but it made just $12 million in gross revenue in 2021. The company was focused on profitability after the pandemic, but it’s now more focused on growth and has seen a huge surge in creator interest in recent months.

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/17/substack-newsletter-funding-creator-economy

Communities imperiled by declining numbers of journalists

One-third of U.S. counties don’t have full-time journalists, per a new report by the non-profit Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack. In 2022, in average, there were 40 full-time journalists per 100K residents. Now it’s 8.2.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/07/10/journalists-declining-study/7921752188818/

Survey Says Journalists Drink the Most Coffee

A survey of 20,000 workers finds that people in journalism and media drink more coffee than people in other professions.

https://dailycoffeenews.com/2025/07/22/survey-of-20000-workers-says-journalists-drink-the-most-coffee/

A Beloved Black-Owned NYC Bookstore Is Facing Its Most Difficult Chapter Yet

After 25 years in business on the border of Harlem and Washington Heights, a vital community bookstore, Sister’s Uptown Bookstore and Cultural Center, is fighting to stay open.

https://patch.com/new-york/harlem/beloved-black-owned-bookstore-facing-its-most-difficult-chapter-yet

Resources & Opportunities

AI for Editors: An AMA with Erin Servais

Writers, Journalists, Editors get answers to your questions about using AI for storytelling, enhancing creativity, and more! 8/6 12-1pm ET via Zoom. FREE for Women’s Media Group members, $15 non-members. Register TODAY!

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6222466

WMG Members-Only Small Group Socials

WMG Members: There are a ton of in-person and virtual members-only Small Group Socials to choose from! Including lunch w me. Hope to see you there!!

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/events

Submit Your Manuscript to Storehouse Voices

MT @marcelalandres Storehouse Voices, a joint imprint from Penguin Random House’s Crown Publishing Group lead by Publisher Tamira Chapman, seeks books across a broad range of nonfiction and fiction via their online manuscript submission portal #teamPRH

https://storehousevoices.com/manuscript-submission/