It's Wednesday and a snazzy new creator studio is drawing influencers and producers to an unexpected locale: a Walmart in Franklin, Tennessee.

Today’s News

THE BIZ

Roblox is introducing a new revenue stream

The system: Roblox is currently on pace to pay out over $1 billion to creators in 2025—and now, a new revenue stream could push that number even higher.

As explained in a Roblox blog post, the Creator Rewards program will deliver Robux to experience developers via two different types of payouts, both of which will replace pre-existing revenue streams on July 24:

1. The Daily Engagement Reward will replace Roblox’s engagement-based revenue stream by paying five Robux to creators when an “Active Spender” (aka a user who has spent at least $9.99 in Roblox over the past 60 days) spends at least ten minutes in a creator’s experience. The reward will only trigger on the first three experiences each Active Spender plays each day.
   
   

2. The Audience Expansion Reward will evolve the Creator Affiliate program by making purchases more profitable when they come from new users or users who have been inactive for at least 60 days. When those users make purchases during their first two months of activity, the selling creators will pocket 35% of the resulting revenue.

The (possible) motivation: So, why is Roblox making a change now? For one, the platform is likely hoping to keep up with rivals like Fortnite, which already uses engagement-based payouts to incentivize creators. Paying creators in Robux could also stimulate on-platform ecommerce, which aligns with Roblox’s goal of getting more of its digital currency in circulation and making it more powerful.

Finally, Roblox might be gearing up for the arrival of a new competitor. The release of Grand Theft Auto VI is imminent, and Rockstar aims to make its latest open-world game the next big platform for creator-built worlds. In that scenario, Roblox will want to shore up its ecosystem to ensure creators stick around.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• According to Frank McCourt (aka one of the billionaires angling to acquire TikTok), “active conversations with the White House” regarding a sale have gone “pretty quiet” following the third ban delay. (Axios)
  
  

• Meta says it is “fixing things now” in the wake of mass bans that have affected seemingly rule-abiding Facebook Groups across the platform. (TechCrunch)
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• Paramount Plus with Showtime is abandoning its unwieldy name. The streaming tier’s rebranded title: “Paramount Plus Premium.” (TechCrunch)
  
  

• Tech companies seem to be shying away from public support for Pride this June, with Amazon, Meta, and Google no longer backing major LGBTQ+ events they previously sponsored. (Gizmodo)

SUMMER STYLE

Pinkfong and Shein just dropped a Baby Shark apparel line

The collection: South Korea-based Pinkfong and Singapore-based Shein are looking to parlay the massive popularity of “Baby Shark” into ecommerce sales. The companies’ new Baby Shark x Shein apparel line includes 98 pieces and 19 accessories, with prices ranging from $2 to $25 and fits designed for both kids and parents.

The collection arrives in time for the tenth anniversary of the original “Baby Shark” video, which hit Pinkfong’s official YouTube channel in 2016. The earworm has smashed multiple records since then, snagging the title of YouTube’s most-watched upload from “Despacito” in 2020 and becoming the first YouTube video to receive ten billion views in 2022. As of this week, “Baby Shark” has over 16 billion lifetime YouTube views.

The context: Shein—which has been criticized as one of the faces of the fast fashion movement—is currently in the midst of an arms race with fellow East Asian ecommerce giants like Temu and ByteDance. In Latin America, for example, ByteDance’s TikTok Shop is looking to elbow its way into a market where Shein and Temu already have strong footholds.

Creator-focused collabs will be a powerful weapon for the fast fashion giants as they seek to outpace Shop. That’s why Temu has attached its name to some of YouTube’s biggest sponsored videos, and why Shein is now joining forces with the company behind YouTube’s all-time most-watched upload.

THE SHORT OF IT

Could Netflix challenge YouTube in the realm of short-form content?

The strategy: By greenlighting projects that feature top YouTube stars, Netflix has already presented itself as a competitor to Alphabet’s video hub. Now, one Wall Street analyst thinks it’s time for the streamer to take on YouTube’s hottest format.

Steven Cahall, a media analyst for Wells Fargo, has argued that Netflix could “navigate generational changes” by incorporating the kind of “high-value short-form content” found on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or Instagram Reels. That move would allow the streamer to cater to users who are short on time, rather than focusing primarily on binge-watchers.

Netflix already seems to be moving in that direction. The May 2025 launch of a vertical content feed arrived on the heels of a clipping tool that invited users to upload snippets of their favorite shows and movies. Netflix also operates multiple YouTube channels that haul in millions of weekly views.

Those short-form offerings have diversified Netflix’s on-demand output—but at the end of the day, they’re almost all tied to its long-form library. Cahall is suggesting something different: a selection of premium shorts that could stand on their own while simultaneously helping Netflix (which has more experience with traditional funding models than YouTube) court the growing community of creators who are pursuing upfront payments and fan support over ad revenue.

The context: Netflix may or may not follow Cahall’s advice—but the streamer will need to change something if it wants to continue encroaching on YouTube’s territory. While some of its forays into the creator world have been successful, YouTube is generating more watch time on TVs than Netflix and has a more favorable reputation among younger generations, too. It’s possible a wave of short-form viewership could tip the scales in Netflix’s favor, but it will need to act fast if it hopes to catch up.

WATCH THIS

Ludwig isn’t happy about MrBeast’s AI thumbnail generator

The tool: In a recent stream, Ludwig Ahgren expressed concerns about MrBeast’s new AI thumbnail tool. The feature—which users can pay $79.99/month to access through MrBeast’s Viewstats platform—makes it possible to “literally put your face on a thumbnail” from another creator’s channel.

But is it ethical to use thumbnails that draw that much “inspiration” from other creators?

Ludwig doesn’t think so. While the streamer is all for sending AI images to human artists for reference, he considers it cheating to actually upload AI-generated thumbnails that copy other creators’ work—and he wants YouTube to step in before that kind of theft becomes more prevalent:

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