TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Big Tech has AI on the brain. The latest developments: Meta plans to “introduce AI agents to billions of people” while TikTok turns its focus to generative avatars.

AMPED UP

The NFL is pitting creator against creator for an epic game of flag football

AMP and RDCWorld are going head-to-head at this year’s NFL Draft. The two creator groups will hit the field for a flag football game held in Kansas City on April 29. AMP’s lineup will include Duke Dennis, Agent 00, ImDavisss, Fanum, Chrisnxtdoor, and Twitch superstar Kai Cenat. On the RDCWorld side, Co-Founder Mark Phillips will team up with Desmond Johnson, Ben Skinner, Dylan Patel, John Newton, and IPI.

Each team will have a star quarterback on their side.

Former NFL pros will go under center, with Robert Griffin III leading RDCWorld against Michael Vick’s AMP squad. Football stars and creators will also shine off the field: current NFL player Tyreek Hill (formerly of Kansas City’s hometown Chiefs) will co-host the event alongside Andrew Hawkins, while short-form comedian Adam W will serve as the game’s sideline reporter.

Luckily for out-of-towners, spectators won’t have to take a trip to Kansas City to watch the game. The action is set to start at 1 PM CST and will be streamed across the NFL’s social channels and on AMP and RDCWorld’s YouTube channels.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Your videos already stand out from the rest. Now, you’ll have a camera that does the same.

From travel vlogs to fashion-forward GRWMs, creators like you can do just about anything—which is why you need  a camera that can handle it all . Enter the Nikon Z fc: a retro-styled cutting-edge camera designed with all of the features creators need to succeed, from 4K video and innovative eye-tracking technology to crisp autofocus and 20 Creative Picture Controls. ​

Here’s what creators love about the Nikon Z fc:

1. A design that stands out just as much as you do ✨ 
Travel vlogger  Alicia Mae Hirtè  LOVES the Z fc’s “classic” throwback-inspired design and six “super stylish” color options that are built to match any vibe—whether that means keeping things low-key in classic black or matching your OOTD in coral pink, mint green, or amber brown.

2. A front-facing screen built specifically for vloggers 🤳 
According to Alicia, the Nikon Z fc “thoughtfully includes everything the vlogging community typically desires in a vlogging camera,” including a  vari-angle vlogging screen  that tilts all the way out and flips around, so vloggers, streamers, and Snap stars can capture content in all settings and lighting conditions

3. Wireless sharing capabilities 📲 
Filming on-the-go? The Z fc is 100% compatible with the free Nikon SnapBridge App—meaning you can transfer content to a smartphone within seconds and share on social media with ease. 

 Visit the website to learn more → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Youtube has announced two new ad products that can help brands reach 18-to-24-year-old viewers: Gen Z Music and Trending Music on Shorts. (Tubefilter)
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• The latest episode of Creator Upload breaks down the implications of “Heart on My Sleeve,” a song that recreated celebs’ voices with AI—and earned 15 million TikTok views in the process. (Tubefilter)
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• According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, time spent on Instagram has increased by more than 24% since the introduction of Reels.  (TechCrunch)
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• A proposed TikTok ban is facing obstacles in Montana, where the state’s governor hopes to amend the bill to target a wider variety of platforms. (Ars Technica)

DATA • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈

This comedian is putting a positive (and hilarious) spin on cultural differences

For Uyen Ninh, moving across the world to live with her boyfriend and fulfill her “dream of studying in Germany” was meant to be an epic adventure. And it was—until COVID-19 came around. The first lockdown hit not long after Ninh began her new life in Germany and, as she puts it, she was “really, really bored.”

To keep herself busy, the creator decided to start a Facebook blog about her experience adjusting to a new country. Those written posts weren’t exactly a hit, but Ninh wasn’t ready to give up. So, she decided to pivot to video—and since TikTok’s editor was more convenient, she started fine-tuning her content there before posting it to Facebook. Posting the same videos on TikTok was more of an afterthought.

At least, until those TikTok videos started “blowing up out of nowhere.”

Nowadays, Ninh entertains more than a million followers on TikTok and has attracted a vibrant cross-platform fanbase thanks to her unique spin on mixed-culture couples content. Her hilarious videos touch on everything from driving differences to spice tolerance (or intolerance) and routinely generate millions of views on both TikTok and YouTube.

Ninh’s YouTube channel is thriving:

• Since making her YouTube Shorts debut, the creator’s audience has grown to nearly 770,000 subscribers.

• Plus, her top Short now claims a whopping 31 million views.

• And altogether? The creator’s channel has generated a total of 910 million lifetime views.

ALPHABET REBOUND

YouTube might be in a slump, but its parent company is meeting expectations

Alphabet may have started Q1 2023 with a massive round of layoffs and the departure of YouTube’s longtime CEO, but things seem to be looking up for the Google parent company. In fact, now that the dust has settled, Alphabet’s first quarter isn’t looking so bad.

The tech giant’s quarterly earnings exceeded expectations for a grand total of $69.79 billion.

Overall, Alphabet’s Q1 earnings reached $1.17 per share, which beat projections by ten cents. Those numbers are good news for Alphabet, especially during a year when OpenAI’s ChatGPT and TikTok’s search engine status challenged one of Google’s core businesses.

And then there’s YouTube…

Despite Alphabet’s success, YouTube experienced a year-over-year decline for the third quarter in a row. The video giant hit $6.69 billion in ad revenue for the quarter—a total just above the projected figure—but that sum still represented a 2.6% year-over-year dip. Still, Alphabet’s leadership is staying optimistic: CFO Ruth Porat (pictured above) said that she sees “signs of stabilization” for YouTube, while Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai cited the arrival of NFL Sunday Ticket as an upcoming opportunity for subscriber growth.

As for Neal Mohan? YouTube’s newly-minted CEO received only a single mention in the Q1 2023 earnings report—but that doesn’t mean he won’t play a vital role in the video giant’s future.

WATCH THIS 📺

LinkedIn’s new show is all about inspirational business leaders

LinkedIn’s latest original series is all about overcoming obstacles. Viewers can tune into Catalyst to learn how business leaders have overcome obstacles to achieve their biggest career goals.

Catalyst’s first five episodes feature business leaders like Soapbox co-founder David Simnick (who had to figure out how to turn around failing businesses), fact-checking exec Ken Oliver (who went to prison before becoming the VP of Checkr.org), and Dr. Sian Proctor (who was rejected by NASA before becoming the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft).

Ready to learn more? You can watch the first episode of Catalyst here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort