TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday, and Meta is bringing AI and VR wearables to the Meta Lab: an IRL “flagship retail space” in L.A.

Today’s News

BACK TO SCHOOL

Mark Rober is creating a $55 million science curriculum—and giving it to teachers for free

The initiative: One of YouTube’s favorite STEM creators is on a mission to make educational material more palatable for today’s students—and more accessible to teachers. During an appearance on Tubefilter‘s Creator Upload podcast, Mark Rober discussed his plan to put together a science curriculum that will be distributed for free to classrooms.

The engineer-turned-creator projected that it will take his team about three years and an estimated $55 million to compile a curriculum appropriate for students between third and eighth grades. When that material arrives, it will be a free resource for teachers, many of whom are facing increasingly difficult circumstances in the classroom:

The context: As Rober explained, the development of free school curriculum is part of a broader effort to shift his focus toward initiatives that benefit society as a whole. The creator has already expanded his science kit brand, CrunchLabs, by adding enriching summer camp programs and educational material made and presented through Roblox.

Now, to achieve his goal of making school curriculum just as entertaining and informative, Rober will “hide the vegetables” (as he put it) by deploying “all the tricks we learn on YouTube” while also calling in some special guests. He cited Cristiano Ronaldo and MrBeast as two big names who will appear in his classroom content.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

What if you could clip content faster—without breaking the bank or risking takedowns?

Today, clipping is the biggest thing in content. By turning long-form videos into short-form clips, creators are able to reach new audiences faster by repurposing content they already own.

The problem: clipping can be pricey—and paying someone else to clip for you comes with big risks.

Take it from YouTube’s biggest stars: top creators like Airrack spend tens (and even hundreds) of thousands of dollars every month on clipping operations.

Until recently, Zach Justice was in the same boat: the creator (who reaches 10M+ followers) was spending $50K/month on clipping agencies—and seeing 25% of the resulting clips taken down because he didn't control their production.

Then he switched to using OpusSearch.

The AI tool works faster than agencies for a fraction of the cost. Capable of scanning creators’ entire video libraries, OpusSearch can identify viral moments in seconds, automatically clip them into Shorts, TikToks, and Reels, and post across multiple platforms.

Now, Zach Justice is bringing in 10M+ views/month with OpusSearch—and reaching 67% new viewers in the process. 

Visit the website to try it out for yourself:

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Canon has tapped star creators like Colin & Samir, Josh Richards, Michelle Khare, and Rory Kramer to judge a $100,000 “dream project” contest. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Google has unveiled Project Suncatcher, a “moonshot” that aims to make AI computing more sustainable by equipping “solar-powered satellite constellations with TPUs and free-space optical links.” (Google Research)
  
  

• Reddit has been added to the list of social media platforms that will be affected by an Australian law banning users under the age of 16 from hubs like Facebook, X, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. (Engadget)
  
  

• Apple Podcasts is testing out a series of new features, including timestamped links and automatically generated chapters for English-language shows. (The Verge)

NEW ERA, NEW ICONS

TikTok is doing its own awards show in the U.S.

The context: Social media platforms are powered by a growing number of creators—and when those creators succeed, they inspire the next wave of up-and-comers to strive for the same accomplishments.

For over a decade, YouTube has encouraged that cycle by honoring creators with plaques that celebrate various impressive subscriber milestones. Spotify recently copycatted that plaque idea—and then, last month, Instagram introduced its own take on creator nods by awarding golden rings to standouts selected by a panel of cross-industry creatives.

The show: Now, TikTok is doubling down on its own form of creator recognition by bringing the TikTok Awards to the U.S. The platform held creator awards shows in 21 regions last year, but this marks the first time it’ll bring the celebration stateside.

The Los Angeles-based TikTok Awards will take place December 18 at the Hollywood Palladium, and will be streamed on both TikTok’s app and Tubi. Viewers will play a key part in selecting winners, with public voting opening November 18 and closing December 5th.

The defining features: As you probably already know, the creator industry has a small number of pre-existing awards shows already (including Tubefilter’s own long-running Streamy Awards). So, how does TikTok plan to set its creator celebration apart from the rest?

The show (which is themed around “New Era, New Icons”) will recognize creators across 13 categories. Some of those—like Creator of the Year, Video of the Year, Storyteller of the Year, and the humanitarianism-focused TikTok For Good Award—are relatively standard.

Others are more uniquely connected to TikTok. The platform plans to tie its ecommerce ambitions into the show by handing out a TikTok Shop-sponsored award called “Immediately Added To Cart.” Another award, Rising Star of the Year, is sponsored by top-dollar Shop seller e.l.f. Cosmetics (which is also the show’s presenting sponsor). Finally, TikTok will hype up its own editing software by giving out a “CapCut Award.”

THE BIZ

AI performers are climbing the Billboard charts

The AI wave: AI-generated performers are making an impact on Billboard’s weekly music charts. According to the magazine, four genAI artists recently debuted on its various rankings.

That vanguard is led by Xania Monet, a manufactured R&B singer who was created by Mississippi designer Telisha “Nikki” Jones to turn her poetry into song. Monet has since become the first known AI artist to get enough radio airplay to crack a Billboard radio chart. According to the publication, the synthetic singer reached #30 on the Adult R&B Airplay chart for the week of November 11.

That success led to a fierce bidding war as recording industry execs vied to sign Monet to their respective labels. Ultimately, it was Neil Jacobson’s Hallwood Media that won out—after paying a reported $3 million for the privilege.

The context: Monet isn’t the first AI artist to make waves in the world of mainstream entertainment. The team behind the agency Xicoia, for instance, made a splash when it announced plans to represent “hyperreal digital stars,” including manufactured actor Tilly Norwood.

Despite subsequent backlash from actors and organizations like SAG-AFTRA, AI entities like Norwood and Monet are likely to continue making their way onto industry charts—and that means publications like Billboard may need to adjust accordingly.

For more than a decade, the publication’s rankings have been weighted to incorporate traffic on platforms like YouTube, a policy that has turned viral ditties like the “Harlem Shake” and “Baby Shark” into chart-toppers.

Now, as AI-generated content claims more territory among YouTube’s most-watched channels, Billboard will have to consider if it’s okay with a potential influx of AI artists in its rankings or if it’s time to update its accounting system.

WATCH THIS 👀

Not all AI is slop. (Some of it is piloting fighter jets.)

Fighting with AI: As the calendar turns over from October to November, a new category of AI content is making its way up the YouTube charts. Move over, AI Jesus—AI-piloted jets have arrived.

The fighter jets in question hail from a new-and-improved class of unmanned fighter that is currently being developed by Shield AI. The aerospace and defense firm is applying artificial intelligence models to military weaponry in its quest to build the arms of the 21st century.

That Stark Industries-style mission statement has earned Shield AI a super-sized YouTube viewership. A video introducing X-BAT—aka “the world’s first AI-piloted VTOL fighter jet”—has amassed more than 15.7 million views since October 21. In the last week alone, Shield AI’s channel added 441,000 new subscribers, pushing its lifetime total into seven digits.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.