Google’s latest AI tool, Gemini, designed to create diverse images, has been temporarily stopped after sparking controversy over its depiction of historical figures. AI Tool Gemini Gemini was made to create realistic images based on users’ descriptions in a similar manner to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Like other models, it is trained not to respond to dangerous or hateful prompts and to introduce diversity into its outputs. However, users reported that Gemini, in its attempt to avoid racial bias, often generated images with historically inaccurate representations of gender and ethnicity. For example,
The estate of Donna Summer, the legendary Queen of Disco, has accused rapper Kanye “Ye” West of copyright infringement amid AI concerns. Allegations Against West This accusation centers around a song from West’s recent collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, “Vultures 1.” The estate claims that West sought permission to use Summer’s iconic track “I Feel Love” but was denied. Despite this, the album’s song “Good (Don’t Die)” features lyrics and melodies eerily reminiscent of Summer’s classic. The song includes the lyric, “Oh, I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive, oh,” along with
Showmax, a South African company, has surpassed Netflix to become the leading streaming platform in Africa. With a subscriber count of 2.1 million in Africa as of November 2023, surpassing Netflix’s 1.8 million, Showmax’s rise signifies a significant change in the region’s media consumption habits. Showmax Showmax is an online subscription video-on-demand service that launched in South Africa in August 2015. Its majority owner is MultiChoice, which owns 70% of the Showmax group, while NBCUniversal owns 30% in all territories except Nigeria. The platform’s content strategy, which focuses heavily on
In celebration of Black History Month 2024, themed “African Americans and the Arts,” we wanted to focus on the Afrofuturism and it’s evolution and influence over the years. Afrofuturism is a movement that merges science fiction, tech, history, and African diaspora culture. Origins And Evolution Afrofuturism, a term coined by Mark Dery in 1993, has roots that trace back even before it was named. It represents a cultural, aesthetic, and philosophical movement encompassing science, technology, and the history of the African diaspora. As author and filmmaker Ytasha L. Womack described,
Media mogul Tyler Perry has announced the first series under his new multi-year first-look series deal with Netflix. The new arrangement with Netflix extends his exclusive film deal with Netflix in October 2023. Meet Tyler Perry Perry, who was named on Forbes’ list of “World’s 10 Highest-Paid Entertainers” for the second year running in 2023, is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. In October, Perry secured a first-look deal with Netflix for feature films, following his deal with Amazon Studios to write four features for Prime Video. To date, Perry’s
To mark Black History Month, a new game titled “Guess, Jerry!” has made its debut on the App Store. Created by Microsoft Senior Software Engineer Michael Curd, the app pays tribute to Jerry Lawson, who shaped modern video gaming. Father Of Video Game Cartridge Jerry is an AI buddy inspired by video game legend Jerry Lawson, who was often named the “Father of the video game cartridge”. Lawson was one of the first prominent African American figures in the gaming industry. As chief hardware engineer for Fairchild Semiconductor, Lawson steered
Twitch streamer Kai Cenat has announced his partnership with Nike, becoming the first streamer to forge such a connection with the global sportswear brand. Meet Kai Cenat Cenat is a 22-year-old American content creator who streams on Twitch and posts videos to YouTube. He shared his first video on his main YouTube channel in 2018, and the channel now has nearly 5 million followers. Since then, he has grown his audience across two different YouTube accounts and his Twitch channel, now with 9 million followers. Cenat has also won Streamer
Black Americans consume more media than any other US population, but almost 70% wish they saw better representation, a Nielsen report has found. Black Audiences Consume The Most Media Nielsen’s “The Global Black Audience” report highlights Black America’s significant engagement with media and their perspective on representation in content and advertising. Black Americans remain today’s core audience, spending more time with media than any other US population, 81 hours weekly. Black audiences 18 and older in the US spend the most time on media daily – nearly 12 hours. The
Neon Money Club has launched a new dating app, Score, for people with a credit score of 675 or above. Luke Bailey and Jackie Liao co-founded Neon Money Club as an invite-only money club that aims to empower users financially while bypassing hurdles they often face. Members get access to invest in the US stock market, hyper-relevant financial content, and their recent launch of a Cream Card, making Neon Money Club the first Black-owned business to establish an American Express Card. The Score Dating App Neon Money Club has become the first financial brand
Grammy-award-winning producer Jermaine Dupri and his label So So Def Recordings have announced a new multi-year partnership with Create Music Group. Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Recordings So So Def Recordings was founded by Dupri in 1993, and since then, he has worked with many successful artists at the start of their careers. He produced Usher’s diamond-certified album “Confessions” and Mariah Carey’s platinum album “Emancipation of Mimi.” As part of the new deal, So So Def Recordings will bring all of its recordings, publishing, and back catalog to Create Music
