TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and OpenAI is raking in the big bucks. The ChatGPT parent company’s latest funding haul: $6 billion.

Today’s News

HOWDY, PARTNER

Twitch just added a new path to partnership

The system: Becoming a Partner on Twitch is no simple feat. Within one 30-day period, creators have to stream on at least 12 different days, stream 25+ hours of content, and maintain an average of 75 viewers across all their live time. That last requirement can be especially difficult for up-and-coming streamers to meet—but a recent policy change should make the process a little bit easier.

The update: According to Angela, a member of Twitch’s Global Partner Operations Team, the platform now includes raids in creators’ average viewer count—an update that should ease many creators’ path to partnership.

The omission of raids viewership from requirements for partnership has long been a thorn in creators’ sides, especially since the feature (which allows streamers who are going offline to send their viewers en masse to another channel) can be an integral growth avenue for up-and-comers.

Now, established streamers will be able to make major contributions to rising creators’ careers. A streamer who has 40,000 viewers raiding a streamer who averages 10 could be a life-changing moment—as long as the smaller creator is able to hang on to some of that audience.

The context: This isn’t the first time Twitch has sought to reward networking and mentorship in recent months. The platform has doubled down on creator community-building lately, including through the introduction of merged chats for multi-creator streams and a “Knock” feature that allows streamers to ask to join each other’s broadcasts.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• The European Union has invoked the Digital Services Act to request more details about recommendation algorithms on YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Meta is testing a new Facebook Content Monetization program designed to streamline the application process by consolidating all three of the platform’s creator monetization options. (Engadget)
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• Amazon will reportedly introduce more ads to Prime Video after hauling in over $1.8 billion in advertising commitments since January 2024. (Engadget)
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• According to a letter obtained by Billboard, TikTok has “walked away” from negotiations regarding the renewal of its agreement with music licensing partner Merlin. (Billboard)

SPOOKY SEASON

Snapchat’s Phantom House is back for another year of AR tricks and treats

The revival: Snapchat is jumping into fall with the return of one of its spookiest series. The 2024 edition of Phantom House—a scary original that debuted last year—will double as a promo for four new AR lenses and feature a different creator in each episode. The first installment, starring Caryn Marjorie, is already available through the official Phantom House hub. Three new episodes will arrive one-by-one on Tuesdays, with creators Tue Nguyen, Jake Koehler, and Rachel Levin each leading viewers through a haunted setting by posting sequential Snap Stories.

The context: Phantom House marks the dawn of a new era for original Snapchat content. The app initially began producing originals a few years after its 2012 breakout—but by 2022, it had slashed funding for those programs amid a round of layoffs. That first generation of originals, which focused largely on celeb culture, struggled with relatability and failed to maintain viewer interest high enough to sustain Snapchat’s spending.

Phantom House is different. A combination of creator-led seasonal content and sponsorships from brands like Maybelline, State Farm, and Hulu seems to have made the show a more sustainable hit, while simultaneously encouraging viewers to interact with Snapchat’s AR features. That success is good news for Snap, which noted in its Q2 2024 earnings report that Lens usage had risen 12% year-over-year.

GETTING GRAPHIC

MrBallen is adding a new chapter to his true crime empire

The release: MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark, and Mysterious is here just in time for Halloween season. John Allen—aka the true crime YouTuber known to 9.3 million subscribers as MrBallen—has officially released a graphic novel filled with spooky, larger-than-life tales. That book (published by Penguin Random House‘s Ten Speed Graphic imprint) includes nine stories, including two that draw on Allen’s own personal life. Novelist Robert Venditti co-authored the graphic novel alongside Allen, while Andrea Mutti provided the illustrations.

The context: MrBallen Presents is the latest addition to Allen’s “strange, dark, and mysterious” media empire. The former U.S. Navy SEAL has applied his signature slogan to multiple ventures, including a hit podcast launched in 2022 and a 15-city tour that kicked off earlier this year.

Allen’s knack for bone-chilling entertainment makes his new publication a perfect read for spooky season, but MrBallen Presents isn’t the only creator-made graphic novel available to viewers. Artistic influencers like Tony Weaver, Jr. and GameToons have used the same medium to further their work, while streamers Ninja and Moist Cr1TiKaL have authored graphic novels to express their big personalities.

WATCH THIS 📺

Is this what a conversation between two sentient AIs will look like?

The future: According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, humanity is still “a few thousand days” away from meeting a truly self-aware AI—but in the meantime, a new Google feature has offered users some insight into what those early conversations could look like.

The feature: Google’s AI-driven NotebookLM feature has simultaneously impressed and unsettled online commenters by generating AI-hosted “podcasts” based on user-provided research. Now—thanks to a user who submitted an article informing NotebookLM’s hosts that their podcast was, in fact, not run by humans—we’re getting a sneak peek at AIs in crisis.

Check out the full recording here to see how the artificial duo confronted the harsh reality of their own existence.

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