Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience Archives
Re-live the Avengers' journey with Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience, which juxtaposes iconic Marvel film scenes with music from a live orchestra. Read on for our review.
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Fast Company
14 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Napster is back—and it's betting big on holographic avatars
Copyright lawsuits and ethical debates have led some to say the AI industry in its 'Napster era.' Now, Napster itself is now reentering the chat with its own AI bet. Last month, the former dot-com darling launched a conversational AI platform with dozens of 'AI companions' trained with topical expertise to help users learn, collaborate, create, and problem-solve. Napster also unveiled the View, a 2.1-inch display that attaches to a laptop as a 'second screen' for two-way 3D holographic video chats. Unlike in the '90s, the file-sharing pioneer is no longer a first mover. The nostalgia-laden brand joins an already crowded field of AI agents and competing devices from both giants and startups. Napster's platform used frontier AI models from OpenAI and Gemini to develop a new 'large persona model' (LPM) trained on 30 psychometric characteristics mined from organizational psychology, says Napster chief technology officer Edo Segal. Each companion embodies some sort of profession as a topical expert, along with therapists, doctors, nutritionists are chefs, architects, engineers, and educators. Business-minded offerings help with everything from financial planning and tax strategy to legal issues and public policy. The goal is to allow users to explore endless customizable personalities, each with distinct voices, Segal tells Fast Company: 'We've made it possible to effectively explore building these endless universes of these personas.' Napster's platform is based on tech developed by Touchcast, a startup founded by Segal that Infinite Reality acquired for $500 million this spring. AI comparisons to Napster's early woes aren't lost on Napster execs. Segal says it's an apt metaphor, adding that early clashes with the music industry echo more current debates about how tech giants control consumers' content, data, and audiences. Decades later, Napster wants to be seen as an ethical alternative to Big Tech. One way it's doing that: Promising users it won't share, well, or wall off their data or audiences. 'There was a lot of controversy around what Napster did, but you can't argue it wasn't user-focused,' Segal says. 'At a time like this, with AI's profound impact on society, it's useful to have a brand with a north star that puts the user first. . . . That's the important lesson to take. Obviously, we don't want the outcome to be similar to the last time around.' Gartner expects 80% of enterprise software to be multimodal by 2030, up from less than 10% last year. However, analysts predict a third of AI video generation providers could fail by 2028 because of reputational, ethical, and legal issues. Napster's plan involves letting people create and customize new avatars or even make one in their own likeness. It's already working with London's Imperial College, where professors can create avatars for students to talk with outside office hours that come with transcripts of interactions afterward. Another early adopter is the Portuguese soccer league Benfica, which created an immersive 3D version of its e-commerce site and a way for fans to chat with an AI Companion about the team, jerseys, and related topics. 'What makes people feel heard and seen?' Napster's AI pivot is the latest in a series of attempts by various owners to ride its brand cachet during emerging tech waves. In March, it sold for $207 million to Infinite Reality, an immersive digital media and e-commerce company, which also rebranded as Napster last month. Since 2020, other owners have included a British VR music startup (to create VR concerts) and two crypto-focused companies that bought it to anchor a Web3 music platform. Napster's launch follows a growing number of attempts to drive AI adoption beyond smartphones and laptops. Startups like Humane, Rabbit, and Bee have either flopped or at least failed to gain much traction. Giants like Meta and Google are moving forward with their AI-enabled smart glasses. (And then there are other still secret projects like whatever OpenAI's making with former iPhone designer Jony Ive.) What makes Napster think it can succeed where others haven't? Part of the strategy is charging people a low subscription fee starting at $19 per month or to bundle it with the Napster View for $199. The trick is moving Napster beyond its music legacy. Some experts are skeptical if holographic avatars are even needed. Voice and text will see adoption much faster unless there's a specific need for video, says Gabo Arora, founder and CEO of the immersive tech startup Lightshed. 'That's the crucial thing,' says Arora. 'You know it's fake, but you don't want to feel too self-aware of this. The broader thing with all this is that we are now in the intimacy economy. What makes people feel heard and seen and connected?' Despite its controversial origin story, Napster still was a 'really good brand' known for being disruptive and innovative, says Napster president and chief marketing officer Karina Kogan. Infinite Reality had spent years buying companies related to AI, virtual reality, and other metaverse-related industries. After buying Napster, it seemed like a way to unite them all under a recognizable name. '[Napster's brand] feels like an accelerant to getting us into the market versus trying to build a lot of equity into Infinite Reality,' Kogan says. 'As a marketer, the challenge is which challenge would I rather take on: Is it harder to drive awareness or change perception? . . . How do we make people experience Napster as more than a music service or more than what it was like 20 years ago?' 'We have a massive product road map' While Napster is selling the idea of customizable AI avatars as helpful, the reality is more nuanced. While some researchers have found people resist the AI broader companion category for its lack of inauthenticity, other recent findings suggest AI companions can reduce loneliness. There's still growing concern that constant AI conversation could dull critical thinking, foster dependency, provide inaccuracies, and even lead to disturbing psychological effects. When asked about its plans for adding safeguards to protect users, execs say they have bans in place against certain types of harmful answers. Chats also come with a disclaimer that says 'AI can make mistakes. Check important info.' Whether people even want an infinite array of options to choose from is a question. Companies tend to drive adoption of new tech by copying platforms that have worked in the past, says Samantha Wolfe, a professor at New York University who teaches a class on AI avatars. She thinks Napster's platform seems almost like an app store—instead of merely creating AI avatars to chat with based on celebrities or other parasocial relationships. 'It feels like they're skinning AI applications,' says Wolfe. 'It's nice having apps on your iPhone in a way that each has its own expertise. [Napster's AI Companions] are like they're all individual people-apps.' Voice capabilities could strengthen interactions with AI companions, says marketing professor Stefano Puntoni, codirector of the Wharton Human-AI Research at the University of Pennsylvania. He also notes research suggests anthropomorphic cues can influence customer responses. 'People often avoid adopting AI companions because they don't believe that these are 'true' relationships,' says Puntoni, who studies the ways AI chatbots impact on areas like loneliness and consumer habits. 'The interesting thing is that at the same time, people do acknowledge that AI can fulfill many of the concrete aspects of relationships.' Knowing if people want holographic AI experts could determine Napster's ability to find a niche through its new metaverse-minded home. It's also just one of Infinite Reality's many bets: In the past year, it's spent at least $1 billion buying companies specializing in generative AI (Touchcast), avatars (Action Face), game development (LandVault) and spatial web experiences (Ethereal Engine). The challenge will be tying it all together. 'We're putting products into the market and looking for feedback and signals,' Kogan says. 'Sometimes the thing you think is going to hit isn't the thing that hits . . . There's obviously more strategy behind our decisions. We have a massive product road map.'
Vogue
16 minutes ago
- Vogue
Carrie's Right: Cheating in a Relationship Doesn't Have to Be a Disaster
When it comes to cheating, everyone has a pop culture reference point—a kind of wider societal lens through which infidelity is seen and understood. For some, it's the denials: think Ross and Rachel's 'break' and Bill Clinton's 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman.' For others, it's standout soundbites, like 'We do everything that people who have sex do!' as Julia Roberts famously yells in Mike Nichols's Closer. Now, thanks to the latest episode of And Just Like That, there's a new addition to the canon. 'It's so odd, but I kind of understand,' Carrie Bradshaw says after Aidan tells her that he slept with his ex-wife, Cathy. The circumstances are somewhat unique: the cheating happened in a moment of distress after Aidan and Cathy's troubled teenage son, Wyatt, refused to go to a wilderness program his parents had hoped might provide him (and them) with some much-needed respite. 'I guess we were just trying to comfort each other, it just happened,' explains Aidan. 'And it was a mistake. I mean, we both said so. And it will never, ever happen again. It just won't.' But Carrie remains largely nonchalant and empathetic, saying she can 'understand how that could happen.' The two proceed to get into a slight tiff about their frankly bizarre five-year plan to be properly together (whatever that means) after Wyatt goes to college, ultimately reaching some sort of mutual agreement that sees them tangled up in bedsheets mere moments later. In other words, Aidan's infidelity—if Carrie even wants to call it that—is no big deal. To some, this might seem odd: cheating ravages friendships! Families! And, in the case of the Profumo affair, political parties! It's heinous! Shameful! Hey, it's even one of the 10 commandments! Sure. But in some cases, cheating simply isn't that deep. At least not to the degree that it always causes irreparable harm. Sometimes, there are situations in which people can—and do—get past it. A YouGov report from 2022 found that more than half of Americans who have ever been in a monogamous relationship say they have been cheated on—and in many scenarios, those instances of infidelity wouldn't have ended the relationship. One study published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior in 2023 found that married people who have affairs largely find them very satisfying and believe that cheating didn't hurt their otherwise healthy relationship.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jason Kelce strips down to tiny speedo for charity event
Jason Kelce's fans may have some more inspiration for risqué tattoos after his latest stunt. The former Philadelphia Eagles star stripped down to just a tiny USA-themed speedo at a charity event in Sea Isle City, NJ, on Wednesday. A photo shared on X from the NFL team's official account showed the retired athlete standing above the crowd in the barely-there swim bottoms. Kelce arrived to the fundraiser in American flag-themed shorts. He then carried a large green beach chair into the center of the crowd. After climbing on the chair and commanding the audience's attention, he dramatically ripped off the shorts to reveal his undergarments. Several attendees were visibly shocked by the display, including multiple women who were seen staring at Kelce in amazement. Kelce, 37, hosted the fifth annual Team 62 at the Ocean Drive celebrity bartending event, which raises funds for the Eagles Autism Foundation. The retired NFL center has pulled similar jaw-dropping stunts at the charity event in his previous years. In 2023, he participated in a beer-drinking contest and wowed the crowd when he chugged 30 ounces of brew in less than six seconds. It appears Kelce is putting his newly acquired sex-symbol status to good use after he making headlines earlier this month for responding to a fan's now-viral pin-up style tattoo in his likeness. Kelce was drawn posing in a kneeling position with his hand behind his head, wearing nothing but cleats, gloves and some padding. However, fans lusting after the married father of four should be warned — his wife, Kylie Kelce, isn't a fan of the drool emoji comments left under his pictures. 'I'm gonna need you to sit down, put your tongues back in your mouth and be respectful. That man is a father to my children,' Kylie chided on last Thursday's episode of her 'Not Gonna Lie' podcast.
