HBO Headlines Coachella

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Happy Friday, Future Party. In case you missed it, one of the most brazen heists unfolded in Italy this week — a truck carrying 12 tons of KitKat bars, roughly 414,000 packages of chocolate wafers, was stolen. Whoa. Nestlé, KitKat’s parent company, has even launched a tracking website to check whether the bar you’re eating might be part of the stolen haul — just in case you needed another reason to feel a little guilty about indulging.

OpenAI is acquiring the streaming show TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network) for an undisclosed sum.

The Big Pitch: OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, said that “the standard communications playbook just doesn’t apply” to the company because what it’s doing is simply too big and too important. She believes people are having the wrong conversations about AI (read: sometimes negative), which is counterproductive to the startup’s goal of weaving AI into every aspect of daily life. So, it needed a talk show that could help set the record straight.

Behind The Scenes: OpenAI is buying CEO Sam Altman’s “favorite tech show.”

Last Broadcast: TBPN — which THR calls the “Gen Z CNBC” — is a go-to talk show for Silicon Valley insiders. Its three-hour daily livestream, featuring sharp commentary and interviews with top industry personalities, plays across nearly every platform and draws an average of 70,000 viewers. While that may not seem like much, it’s aimed squarely at the audience OpenAI wants to win over: potential hires, hungry investors, and rival execs.

TBPN’s Hays said of the deal, “Moving from commentary to real impact in how this technology is distributed and understood globally is incredibly important to us.” In other words, Hays is ready to evangelize the coming robot revolution.

The Future: When — or if — OpenAI achieves AGI, expect Sam Altman to take to TBPN to break the news first.

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HBO is premiering the new season of its hit show Euphoria at Coachella.

The Big Picture: Film and TV premieres are thinking outside the box these days, turning to Fortnite, Roblox, and other inventive digital platforms. But with IRL events back in vogue, HBO is betting that a physical crowd is the buzziest way to build hype for a show that’s had a long four-year road back to the screen.

Between The Sets: The screening of Euphoria will mark the first time a show has ever premiered at the major music and arts festival.

Encore: Celebrity sightings are already a regular occurrence at Coachella, but Euphoria’s talent has a particularly strong history with the festival. At the 2023 edition, composer Labrinth (who now mysteriously harbors no love for the series) played a set in which he brought out Zendaya to perform two songs he produced for the show.

Now that nearly every young actor on Euphoria is a star, prepare for the screening to be the most paparazzi-infested event of the weekend.

Coming Soon: It’s possible that the Euphoria screening could open Pandora’s box of left-field movie and TV premieres that meet fans where they are. Come on, Universal — we’d happily see Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day at Area 51!

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43.5% of you voted Completely ignored it in yesterday’s poll: How did you engage with April Fool’s Day this year?

“April Fools’ Day is foolishness I choose not to participate in. It’s not a good thing to me and does nothing but produce more unnecessary chaos in these already chaotic times in our troubled world.”

“Somewhat annoyed by the onslaught of emails from every brand trying to be clever with fake products. Just let it go...”

“Don’t engage in April 1st anymore.”

“Breakfast pranks for kids!”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, 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.

🏈 WME Group is selling its sports marketing and creative agency, 160over90, to Publicis Groupe for over $500 million.

📺 Sam Altman says OpenAI is still in discussions with Disney about a potential collaboration following the surprise shuttering of Sora.

🎮 Indie.io, a platform for independent video games, is rolling out a monthly subscription pass that will give users access to over 70 titles.

🎙️ Newsletter platform Beehiiv is moving into native podcast hosting in a bid to take on Substack and Patreon.

💸 TikTok filed to become a financial lender and payments issuer in Brazil. Interesting…

📱 A new platform called Surf aims to become the social-driven feed curator of the fediverse.

👟 Authentic Brands Group is making overtures to Nike about acquiring the embattled Converse brand.

📉 LVMH’s shares cratered 28% this past quarter — potentially the worst stock decline in the history of the brand.

🦊 Project Hail Mary is more than a hit movie — it’s also a fashion trendsetter, as fans race to get Ryan Gosling’s cool fox cardigan.