EA, It’s In The Bank

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Happy Monday, Future Party. On Saturday night, country artist Zach Bryan shattered the record for the largest audience at an American ticketed concert, packing Michigan Stadium — the largest stadium in the US and third-largest in the world — with 112,408 fans. The concert also set a new record for the most merch sold at a single show, raking in $5 million from vinyls, T-shirts, and what we hope are branded beer koozies. Talk about an incredible feat… and an absolute nightmare when it came time to leave the parking lot at the end of the night.

Top video game developer Electronic Arts may go private in a $50 billion leveraged buyout deal — the largest of its kind ever.

Why It Hits: EA — the creator of iconic franchises like FIFA, Madden, and The Sims — has been a gaming powerhouse since the ’80s and a public company since 1990. Taking it private would require massive capital, and financing the deal through a leveraged buyout (using primarily debt to fund the transaction) signals that buyers believe EA will continue delivering blockbuster hits in the near term.

Behind The Deal: The largest leveraged buyout to date was the 2007 Texas-based utility firm TXU Energy for $32 billion.

The EA deal would blow it out of the water.

Last Level: Leveraged buyouts typically target mature companies with predictable revenue, allowing investors to cut costs and eventually sell or merge at a profit. EA fits the bill — and has been floated as a potential Disney acquisition, as the entertainment giant looks to expand deeper into gaming.

Projection: If this deal goes through, it could set off a wave of M&A across the gaming industry, as firms look to scoop up developers to flip or combine into bigger players. We’re in the scale-or-die era.

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Last year, Lionsgate announced a partnership with AI firm Runway to eventually create movies and shows — but so far, that ambition has proven nearly impossible.

The Big Picture: Studios like Netflix and A24 are cautiously exploring how AI can optimize production. That’s why all eyes are on Lionsgate as it attempts to build a proprietary LLM trained on its 20,000-title library and used exclusively in-house.

Behind The Scenes: Considering the lack of results and the difficulties uncovered in achieving them, Hollywood may abandon its pursuit of fully AI-generated or AI-augmented titles.

Final Prompt: Despite hurdles, Lionsgate insists it’s “utilizing AI on several fronts as planned,” according to The Wrap. The studio is testing ways to streamline preproduction and postproduction and may explore other AI partnerships. Still, Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns’ pitch to create a new version of John Wick in three hours may never get the greenlight.

Coming Soon: It’s possible Lionsgate could launch an experimental AI short-film division to showcase what its Runway partnership has achieved so far — and hope some filmmakers spark to the system.

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78.9% of you voted No in Friday’s poll: Do you use TikTok?

“To what end?”

“I have worked for several cyber security companies, and all of them said to not use this application. Too much risk involved.”

“It’s the high-fructose corn syrup of the mind. No, thank you.”

“I have debated whether to continue using the app with all the controversy, but to date still am. I am watching closely to see what will become of the new negotiations. That will determine my continued use of the app.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🎙️ Jimmy Kimmel is officially back on the air across the entire US after affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair ended their boycotts.

📺 NBCUniversal’s various channels may be pulled from YouTube TV if the two companies can’t renew their carriage deal by tomorrow.

🎮 Xbox’s handheld gaming device, the Xbox Ally, is going to retail at $1,000.

🤖 Apple is internally testing a ChatGPT-like app before it rolls out an updated AI-powered version of Siri next year.

📞 Neon Mobile, an app that pays users to record their phone conversations, which are then sold to AI firms, has gone offline due to security concerns.

👀 The Pentagon has designated popular Chinese drone firm DJI as a “Chinese Military Company,” putting its business at risk.

📱 ByteDance is reportedly set to receive a 50% revenue share from the US version of TikTok.

🎥 Google is running an AI film competition that will give one winner $1 million.

🦾 The Meta AI app has launched a dedicated feed for UGC short-form AI videos called Vibes.