It’s Monday and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants parents to play a ChatGPT-generated podcast “every morning for the drive to school.” Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch’s response: “What if you just talked to your children?”
Today’s News
🤝 Razer acquires StreamElements
📈 Chronicle Media powers audience growth
👊 Snapchat updates its AI policies
🍳 RFK Jr. cooks on YouTube
🎙️ This week on the podcast…
GAME ON
StreamElements is changing hands.
Gamer lifestyle brand Razer has acquired streamer platform StreamElements
The acquisition: By offering everything from stream overlays and analytical insights to virtual tip jars, chatbots, and sponsorship managers, StreamElements has become a trusted partner for millions of creators.
But despite those innovations, the platform struggled through several rounds of layoffs before resorting to a fundraising drive earlier this year. By May, the situation had gotten so dire that a shutdown seemed imminent.
Now, after months of uncertainty, StreamElements has found a buyer in Razer. The brand—which sells hardware, accessories, and services to gamers—will own and operate the StreamElements platform in its current form, which 2.6 million creators use daily.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Razer is bringing StreamElements under its umbrella after acquiring the platform from its previous holding company, Live Momentum Ltd.
The natural fit: When a shutdown was looming back in May, StreamElements users worried that their revenue would be affected if the platform was unable to keep its lights on. By finding a like-minded buyer that shares its mission of creator empowerment, StreamElements has managed to avert that crisis.
“StreamElements has built something millions of creators depend on every single day. Bringing them into the Razer family lets us double down on what we already do for creators; from the gear they stream with, to the software that powers their channels, to the programs that help them grow.”
Razer has partnered with big names like PewDiePie and Ironmouse while also establishing a creator program that provides partners with rewards, affiliate deals, and other perks. In a statement, Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said that StreamElements’ legacy of creator service makes it a fitting addition to the Razer portfolio.
HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰
Chronicle Media’s audience growth tools supercharged watch time for ‘The Normal MFer.’
YouTube comedy series The Normal MFer saw a 619% increase in organic reach, a 1,804% increase in watch time, and a 330% increase in new viewers after partnering with Chronicle Media. (Tubefilter - Partner Story)
Simon Afram and his production company, Op-Fortitude, have filed a $105 million lawsuit against Netflix based on allegations that a copy of their upcoming film, Fortitude, was stolen from a Netflix office. (Gizmodo)
Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and other labels have proposed a set of guidelines that would require songs to be “substantially human-made” in order to qualify for music charts. (The Verge)
The Social Media Victims Law Center is suing Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google over the alleged roles their platforms played in the deaths of four children. (Engadget)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Snapchat is cracking down on AI slop (but it still wants you to use its AI tools).
Snapchat won’t let creators monetize videos that are fully AI
The policy update: As the parent companies behind platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram rush to profit off generative AI, they all seem to be running into the same question. How can a platform promote AI without surrendering to an overwhelming flood of AI slop?
Snapchat is the latest company attempting to bridge that gap with a new policy. Back in April, the platform said it would tweak its TikTok-style “best of” feed, Spotlight, so scrollers would “see fewer synthetic AI videos” and more of the “candid moments, spontaneous reactions, and everyday experiences shared by real people across Snapchat.”
Now, Snapchat says it’s taking that effort one step further by blocking fully AI-generated videos from being recommended on Spotlight. That means creators making fully AI-generated videos can no longer submit them, and can no longer be paid for them through the platform’s monetization program.
“As low-quality, repetitive, AI-generated content becomes increasingly common across the internet, we want Spotlight to remain a place where people can discover authentic creativity from real people.”
The qualifier: The key word here is fully. Creators can no longer submit fully AI-generated videos—but they are allowed to submit partially AI-generated videos.
In a blog post, Snapchat clarified that the update is “not about rejecting AI” and that content “enhanced or edited using Snapchat’s AI creative tools” (which include “AI Lenses, My AI, AI Snaps in Memories, AI Snaps in creative tools,” and more) will “continue to be eligible for recommendation and importantly include transparency indicators.”
So, while Snapchat might not accept fully AI-generated videos, it’s still fully embracing AI—especially if creators are using its in-house tools.
FOODTUBE
RFK Jr. is cooking up “Real Food” on YouTube.
RFK Jr. has a YouTube cooking show
The YouTube series: Five years ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was banned from YouTube due to his vaccine skepticism. Now, he’s teaming up with a rotating cast of guests to host The Real Food Show, a cooking program released on his personal YouTube channel.
As part of his campaign against preservatives, empty calories, and other ultraprocessed foods, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services will whip up meals designed to be healthy, affordable, and relatively easy to prepare. The Real Food Show is informed by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which the HHS released earlier in 2026.
“The Real Food Show is about reclaiming something that we’ve lost. Our health, our confidence, our connection to one another, and the simple joy of gathering around the table. When millions of families make changes like these, they become lasting cultural changes.”
The guests: There’s a growing overlap between food creators and traditional TV networks, and RFK Jr. has a chance to bridge that gap. With its cost-conscious recipes, The Real Food Show is hitting on some hot YouTube trends—but the platform’s top chefs may not be too keen on partnerships with the Trump administration.
The first guest on The Real Food Show is a Fox News contributor named Andrew Gruel, and RFK Jr. announced the series at a press conference attended by chef Robert Irvine, who has called the President “a great boss.”
LISTEN UP 🎙️
ASU is schooling creators. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.)
This week on the podcast…
The episode: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Lauren Schnipper and Josh Cohen break down Arizona State University's new BA in content creation before diving into the massive streaming partnership between YouTube and Peacock owner NBCUniversal.
With Peacock becoming a free YouTube Premium perk in 2027, will the video platform see subscriber numbers rise?
Check out the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to dig into all the details.
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.