Show Notes
A dire warning from Anthropic and OpenAI that increasingly autonomous AI agents could launch cyberattacks – or worse – has an especially chilling implication for Hollywood, where studios and streamers are rapidly weaving AI into their businesses. "Imagine a world in which there are thousands of Sony hacks happening in real time," Reel AI columnist Erik Barmack tells Elaine Low and Sean McNulty. "You could take down the entire industry. Confidentiality, protections, the secure release of IP – all of those things could be harmed."
And while the guilds fight generative AI and Hollywood hashes out rules for how the technology can be used, Erik says the industry may be focused on the wrong threat: "What happens when recursive learning gets better and better, and these agents go off and do thinking on their own?"
Plus: There may finally be momentum behind a federal film and TV tax incentive. Rep. Laura Friedman tells Elaine that lawmakers from both parties are working with Hollywood's guilds and Jon Voight – Donald Trump's special Hollywood ambassador, whom she describes as a key bridge to the president. Friedman says she hopes the proposal can move by year-end – and describes the unusual bipartisan effort as giving lawmakers "an extra sort of joy" in working together: "We're still one country."
00:00 Intro
00:24 Welcome To Ankler Agenda
01:35 Paramount Vs. State AG Showdown
03:00 Did Bari Weiss Sink 60 Minutes?
04:46 Ai Leaders Sound The Alarm
05:53 The 1,200 Agent 'Collective'
08:21 Hollywood's Big AI Bet
09:41 Bots That Lie And Hack
10:49 The Next Sony Hack, Times 1,000
12:59 Will A Slow Down Actually Happen?
13:41 Guilds Fighting The Last Battle
15:20 Studios Vs. Big Tech Power
17:44 Bring Back The Landline
18:40 Next: Rep. Laura Friedman
19:01 Hollywood's Economic Freefall
20:40 143,000 Jobs On The Line
21:51 From Film Producer To Congress
24:38 Inside The Bill And The Timeline
26:30 Jon Voight's Role As Trump's Bridge
29:05 Bipartisanship In A Polarized Era
31:05 Selling It To Non-Hollywood States
32:28 California's $750 Million Fight
34:30 The Goal: Every Soundstage Full
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