Netflix says it's already used AI in 'roughly 300' titles this year, a White House teleprompter operator won big betting on presidential speeches, and MLB banned the use of dugout iPads for AI-powered in-game strategy calls

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That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust goats, because they're built different, and Messi only trusts Duracell.
Netflix says it's already used AI in about 300 titles this year.
A White House teleprompter operator reportedly won big betting on presidential speeches.
And Major League Baseball banned the use of dugout iPads for AI-powered in-game strategy calls. It's Friday, July 17th, and here's a quick look at some of the news happening in the sphere of tech this morning from Engadget.
Netflix has not made any secret of its interest in artificial intelligence, and now we have a sense of how those tools are being used in its content. In a shareholder newsletter, Netflix said, so far this year, Gen. AI workflows were used in roughly 300 of our titles, with the largest concentration of work in post-production. One of the projects mentioned for the American market was the American experiment that used generative AI to create highly complex sequences, but the tech is becoming more widespread at this point. We already knew that Netflix had applied generative AI in at least one original show as of last July, but between making acquisitions and launching new specialized studios, its ambitions clearly extended further. The streamer went on to note in its earnings letter that, we are increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher quality output more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional methods. Here's the recurring reminder that, yes, gen AI is capable of making something much quicker than a VFX artist or animator, but it still takes some human touch to make sure the results actually work with the rest of the film or show. And just because AI can be a useful tool for skilled creators does not mean it should be tasked with replacing entire teams. Hopefully, that's something Netflix and its partner studios understand as they continue to double down on the tech.
Gabriel Perez, President Donald Trump's teleprompter operator, has been placed on administrative leave after it was discovered he bet on dozens of the president's speeches on Kalshi. That's according to ABC News reports. Officials from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or the CFTC, the body that currently oversees betting platforms like Kalshi, are reportedly willing to settle with Perez if he returns his winnings. Perez allegedly made more than $100,000 betting on the length of President Trump's speeches, including the State of the Union address, a speech at the World Economic Forum in January, and remarks at a Medal of Honor ceremony in March. ABC News said that Perez typically has the final eyes on nearly all of the President's prepared remarks, which made it easier to place informed bets. If that was not enough of a giveaway, Perez reportedly backed out of certain bets when Trump went off script. Cauchy promptly flagged and referred those trades to the CFTC, according to a statement provided to ABC News, and Perez has reportedly already confessed to some of the trades in an interview with investigators. At a press conference, White House Press Secretary, Caroline Levitt, said that the President was aware of Perez's actions and called them deeply unfortunate and a disgrace. Levitt added that Perez had been put on unpaid administrative leave, and that he will no longer be here. In April, Cauchy introduced new policies to prevent politicians and athletes from betting on their own elections or games. The company later suspended three political candidates from its platform for breaking those same policies. Cauchy introduced further restrictions in June, requiring users to disclose where they work before placing certain bets. Attempts to tamp down insider trading might not have done much to discourage anyone, and states trying to regulate prediction markets have been blocked. After New Jersey banned Cauchy, a US. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state had no right to ban the platform, putting power firmly in the CFTC's hands.
Well, it appears the urge to turn all critical thinking over to AI has not escaped Major League Baseball teams. Regular baseball viewers have become accustomed to seeing players and staff huddled around tablets in the dugout. The expectation is that the devices are used for reviewing performance and maybe crunching last-minute stats. But apparently, Major League Baseball officials have intervened to prevent teams from using the hardware for running generative AI. League officials have taken the unusual step of making a mid-season policy change to crack down on the use of custom apps that would take over recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches. The Athletic reported that the news was delivered via a memo from the Commissioner's Office on June 11th. Sources told the publication as many as a third of teams were using tablets for these unintended purposes, although no clubs will be facing any punishment after an MLB review determined that all organizations were now compliant with the new rules, which took effect earlier this week. In-game iPad use was subjected to increased restrictions after a sign-stealing scandal surfaced in 2021 In the intervening years, teams began pushing for more lenience, which the Commission is now walking back. An unnamed source told The Athletic, gotta stop the cheating before there's cheating now. Baseball is heaven for stat nerds, and crunching a lot of data quickly is one of the best uses for AI. Sure, there may be a statistically proven best decision at any given time, that once you throw physical, mental, and emotional performance into the mix, the mathematically correct answer may not in fact be the best one. Tech is great as a backup, like with the new automated ball strike system, but using it as a replacement for brains and intuition sounds like a quick way to suck all of the joy out of the sport. A game of baseball is not identical to a game of chess, and we shouldn't encourage it to be.