Newsletter also covers Gates’s planned AI-risk push as Anthropic IPO nears
YouTube has held discussions with publishers in recent months about developing an audiobook feature, potentially bringing the Google-owned video platform into competition with Spotify and Amazon’s Audible, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The video platform has weighed bundling the product into its ad-free YouTube Premium service, which starts at $15.99 a month and includes access to music and videos, people familiar with the matter told the Journal’s Alexandra Bruell and Anne Steele. It isn’t clear whether YouTube would charge for access to individual books.
The offering could be another way to make YouTube’s ecosystem richer and reduce subscriber churn, per the Journal. Embracing audiobooks might also give YouTube’s massive creator network a new format to experiment with and cross-promote directly to viewers on the platform where many of them are strongest. Publishing executives see a possible route to new revenue — and an alternative to the unauthorized audio versions of their books that now appear on YouTube.
Traditional TV broadcasters at this week’s annual Mipcom content market and conference in Cannes, France, said they are adapting to YouTube’s pull on audiences — and finding ways to capitalize, the Journal reported. Germany’s RTL reported that uploading older episodes of its action series “Cobra 11” to the platform drove a 26% increase in related subscriptions for the broadcaster’s own streaming service, according to Variety. YouTube Music will label songs that were created “primarily using generative AI,” Deadline reported.
Bill Gates’s planned AI push. Bill Gates is preparing to escalate his campaign to manage AI risks, an effort that could impact the fast-moving industry and mark a “comeback tour” for the Microsoft cofounder following reputational fallout from his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Axios reported. Gates now views containing the potential fallout from AI “as one of the most important issues he will engage with in his lifetime,” people familiar with his thinking told Axios’s Bradley Olson. It’s not clear what form the new push will take, but Gates has concluded that op-eds and media interviews aren’t enough. Word of his campaign comes as Anthropic prepares for a potential public-market debut next month.
Anthropic’s investor day. The maker of Claude hosted public-market investors at its San Francisco office Wednesday for a marathon day of presentations ahead of its planned IPO, Kate Clark, Angel Au-Yeung and Corrie Driebusch reported for the Journal. The company is banking on investor enthusiasm that hasn’t waned despite a tougher market for new listings and the intensifying debate around AI safety. Anthropic’s revenue climbed 45% to $16.8 billion in the third quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.
Other items from the newsletter. The year-over-year increase in restaurant prices during September outpaced both grocery inflation and wage growth, per the Journal. Kimberly-Clark forecast a decline in third-quarter sales and backed its outlook for the year, following a social-media firestorm in China over the company’s diapers this past summer, the Journal reported. The new menu for Delta One travelers will include wagyu beef burgers, Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon and Kentucky bourbon from Blanton’s as the airline competes for big-spending customers, The Points Guy reported. LeBron James-backed Mike’s Red Tacos opened a Sacramento, Calif., location that will serve as a prototype and training center for franchisees set to follow, Restaurant Business reported. Gap expanded its relaunched fragrance lineup with a limited-edition holiday scent called Bliss, Glossy reported. WPP promoted Adam Gerhart to the post of global chief client officer, Adweek reported. Borrowing a feature from social media, Bumble now lets users create handles, Mashable reported. Figma is promoting its new AI agent with a dance video meant to channel the way design feels, Creative Bloq reported. The New York Times product-review site Wirecutter is looking beyond affiliate revenue with new editorial formats and franchises that marketers can sponsor, Digiday reported. ESPN introduced a YouTube channel aimed at kids, NCS reported. Indigo Road Hospitality Group, an owner of restaurants and boutique hotels, named Catherine Woods as chief marketing officer, FSR reported. Corona Cero, the alcohol-free version of Corona sold by Anheuser-Busch InBev, is expanding an international seven-pack to promote the theme of a beer for every day of the week, Packaging News reported.