Google’s announcement this week should have been a routine product update. Instead, it handed the AI debate its sharpest flashpoint of the year, and handed DuckDuckGo the opening it has been waiting for. What happened. On Tuesday (US time), Google detailed new admin controls that let K-12 schools manage (or disable) its AI features for student accounts. The catch sat in the second half of the policy: a school that rejects Google’s AI tools entirely will not get Search for its students either, with the cutoff arriving in 2027. Given that Search is the front door to the modern internet and G...
Google’s school AI ultimatum draws a monopoly backlash, and DuckDuckGo circles Google now lets schools disable its AI tools for student accounts, with a catch: districts that reject AI entirely will also lose Google Search, starting in 2027. The reaction was swift (one critic called it “using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI”) and DuckDuckGo has begun pitching itself directly to frustrated schools, offering search with an AI-answer opt-out. New York and Los Angeles systems have already moved to restrict generative AI on student devices. Takeaway: the 2027 cutoff giv...
Anthropic is building cryptographic proof of which AI model wrote what Anthropic has published an open-source system called FlashProve that generates cryptographic signatures for AI outputs, mathematical proof that a response came from a specific model rather than a cheaper substitute quietly swapped in behind the scenes. The target is impersonation and hidden model-swapping as AI outputs circulate beyond their origin. Takeaway: content provenance is shifting from policy to math. For anyone publishing or auditing AI-generated work, machine-verifiable signing like FlashProve is worth tracking a...
Australian box office crosses $1 billion for the first time since 2019 The milestone landed with nearly two months of the year still to run: box office revenue is up 24% year-on-year after five consecutive $100M+ months, per Val Morgan Cinema data reported by Mediaweek, with a growing audience for cinema advertisers behind it. Takeaway: theatrical is not dead in this market. For indie filmmakers and exhibitors, the audience came back and the ad money is following. IF Magazine · Mediaweek The Streep- and Kidman-backed Writers Lab is coming to Australia The screenwriting development program sup...
ABC and Screen Australia partner to support First Nations screen industry The ABC and Screen Australia have announced a partnership to back First Nations screen stories, deepening the national push that began with the agency's new First Nations strategy leadership. The deal pairs the national broadcaster's reach with the national funder's development muscle. Source: IF Magazine The Inspired Unemployed land their own sketch show The Inspired Unemployed are taking their podcast-born comedy to television with a dedicated sketch show, one of the most anticipated local comedy launches on the slate....
Anthropic warns it's approaching self-building AI capability Anthropic has warned it's getting close to recursive self-improvement — the point where AI systems substantially accelerate the development of their own successors — citing its own risk-disclosure framework and filings that caution "using AI to help build more capable AI" carries considerable safety risk. The company says current systems remain below its acceleration threshold, but the warning from the safety-first lab lands as the starkest timeline claim yet from a frontier developer. Sources: TechCrunch · Anthropic I...
One million regional Australians could lose their local cinema — despite a box-office boom Australia's box office is booming, yet a million regional Australians could still lose their local cinema, exposing how thin the exhibition thread runs outside the capitals even in strong years. The piece puts access, not appetite, at the centre of the sector's next fight. Source: FilmInk Rachel Perkins named Screen Australia's Director of First Nations Strategy Screen Australia has appointed Rachel Perkins as its inaugural Director of First Nations Strategy, one of the most significant leadership appo...
OpenAI might rebrand its data centers as 'AI compute campuses' OpenAI is reportedly considering rebranding its data centers as "AI compute campuses" — a semantic shift that carries real strategic weight. Whether it's a land-play signal (campuses buy different permitting conversations than server farms) or a public-relations shrug, the name change would follow the industry's habit of re-naming the thing to re-frame the argument. Source: TechCrunch AI can make tech CEOs' lives easier. What about everyone else? A new piece asks the week's sharpest labour question: AI is demonstrably m...
Screen Australia backs 44 documentary projects Screen Australia has announced funding for 44 documentary projects, describing a sector "unafraid to innovate and speak with authentic voices." The slate spans a wide range of forms and voices, reinforcing documentary as one of the country's most reliably funded screen formats. Source: FilmInk Aunty Donna team making feature film 'Crime Casters' The team behind Aunty Donna is making a movie. 'Crime Casters' will take the group's chaotic comedy from viral sketches and streaming series to the big screen, one of the more anticipated Austral...
OpenAI reportedly cuts funding round target by $10 billion OpenAI has slashed the target for its latest funding round by $10 billion and is now seeking to raise $20 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, according to FT reporting confirmed by Reuters and CNBC — down from an earlier reported goal of up to $30 billion at $1.4 trillion. The cut comes amid a broader tech selloff driven by AI worries, and marks the most concrete sign yet that investor appetite is cooling at the top of the market. Source: Reuters Apple CEO: we don't want to ship AI for AI's sake Apple's chief executive says the co...