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Last week, Netflix announced it was buying Warner Bros. in a massive $82.7 billion deal. The streaming giant’s acquisition will set Netflix, which already leads the streaming wars, even further apart from competitors, as it will also add HBO, a Warner subsidiary. But while the deal will further cement Netflix’s domination, questions are swirling around how it will impact viewers, as well as the talent platforms rely on.Streaming platforms have recently undergone consolidation, creating three mega-platforms. According to a Forbes survey, Netflix is the most popular streaming service in America with 55% of Americans saying they use it, followed by Amazon Prime (51%), and Disney+ (49%). And, for talent, like actors and writers, the further consolidation of streaming platforms may escalate financial worries that have already been growing for some in the entertainment industry. In recent years, a number of actors have openly raised concerns about fair pay, as streaming platforms began to change the game. While traditional broadcast series pay residuals for each re-airing, as a percentage of the actor’s salary, later agreements changed the way actors earned residuals entirely. The new formula was based around a predetermined licensing fee, rather than the number of re-runs. Netflix, which seemed to favor paying actors more upfront while rather than residuals may have been particularly guilty of underpaying talent. And there was no shortage of actors calling the streaming giant out. A number of actors on some of Netflix’s most popular shows have spoken about their low-ball paychecks, having to keep their day jobs, or even pay for their own transportation to the set a conversation which gained traction with the 2023 writer’s strike. Alysia Reiner, who played the warden Natalie (Fig) Figueroa, in Netflix’s hit series, Orange is the New Black, told New York Magazine in a 2023 interview, about the “risk” that actors took during the early days of streaming, saying that “the reward for Netflix does not seem in line with the reward for all of us who took that risk.” Reiner continued, “I can go anywhere in the world and Im recognized, and Im so deeply grateful for that recognition. Many people say theyve watched the series multiple times, and they quote me my lines. But was I paid in a commensurate way? I dont think so. With the latest transaction under way, SAG-AFTRA addressed the reignited concerns around talent’s pay in a Dec. 5 statement, explaining that the consolidation “raises many serious questions about its impact on the future of the entertainment industry, and especially the human creative talent whose livelihoods and careers depend on it.” The statement continued, A deal that is in the interest of SAG-AFTRA members and all other workers in the entertainment industry must result in more creation and more production, not less. It must do so in an environment of respect for the talent involved.” However, it seems like those things may not come without a fight, especially given how Netflix prefers to put big-budget films directly on its streaming service for subscribers, rather than opting for theatrical releases. That recent transaction has some groups, like the Directors Guild of America (DGA), already expressing “significant concerns ” over the development. In a Dec. 5 statement, the DGA said, We believe that a vibrant, competitive industry one that fosters creativity and encourages genuine competition for talent is essential to safeguarding the careers and creative rights of directors and their teams.” The DGA added that it will be meeting with the streaming giant “to outline our concerns and better understand their vision for the future of the company.” Jon Shavitz, an independent filmmaker and writer living in Los Angeles, also addressed concerns around the deal in a recent blog post, writing that the experience of going to the movie theater is endangered as the giants take over, but it’s not because audiences don’t want theatrics, which, in his view, is utterly irreplaceable. Audiences still want the big screen,” Shavitz writes. “They still want the magic of the lights coming down and the quiet anticipation before the picture starts. They still want to gasp with a hundred people at the same time. You cant algorithm that. You cant stream your way out of that fundamental human appetite for an exciting theatrical-only event.” Still, Shavitz tells Fast Company that the concern creators are feeling around financials, as well as potentially fewer jobs, is “fair. He says that, simply, the streaming model doesnt work as far as getting talent paid fairly. Still, the writer says he’s also hopeful that people within the industry “will fight to fix what’s broken,” noting that he believes the economics of deals such as this which dont support talent, could ultimately force a return to core business fundamentals. By that he means an eventual return to the ever-evaporating exclusive theatrical windows. As he writes in his blog, Netflix’s deal is an “overreach” that will force both those working within the industry, as well as audiences, to decide between “a streaming-only future for major release films, or working to restore the very thing that made cinema a cultural force in the first place”. Once the deal goes through, whatever happens next, Shavitz says, will be “up to us industry and non-industry people alike to fight for the theatrical experience.” Fast Company reached out to Netflix for comment.
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If budgeting spreadsheets and lofty financial goals leave you stressed rather than inspired, consider another New Years ritual: an end-of-year money audit. The word audit might not sound all that fun. But just like an accountant, its helpful to approach your money behavior as neutral and impersonal as possible. At the end of every year, people tend to jump straight into resolutions: cutting spending, tightening budgets, and promising themselves theyll finally get disciplined in the new year, Jack Howard, Head of Money Wellness at Ally Bank, told Fast Company. But I think the most meaningful financial reset starts somewhere much quieter: with your emotions. One of the most overlooked parts of financial wellness is understanding the emotional habits behind our money choices. Its not about creating a strict budget; its taking stock of the emotional habits behind your spending. When you understand whats working (or not), you can make more intentional choices about what to amplify, adjust, or leave in 2025. Before the holidays get rolling, it can be helpful to take a pause to conduct an emotional money audit. December is a great time to do this because you can go into the new year feeling confident about where you are financially and plan for the upcoming year. Heres how Howard recommends people approach their own audit, to start off 2026 on the right financial footing. Start with reflection, not restriction Look back at the year through the lens of how your spending made you feelsecure, stressed, impulsive, proud? Howard says. Notice patterns without judgment. Ask yourself which habits supported your financial well-being and which ones held you back. More than one in five American adults (22%) said they’d had to dip into their savings to cover their expenses in the past year. And as traditional milestones, like starting a family and homeownership, feel further out of reach for many, treat culture, the habit of indulging in small luxuries has taken grip. Examine the habits beneath your behaviors And yet much of our adult spending behavior started long before we were old enough to even make our own money. I call these our ‘money roots,’ Howard says. Take a moment to understand what triggers certain financial choices and which habits you want to start, continue, or stop heading into 2026. Get a clear, full picture of your finances According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans owe more debt than at any point in historymore than $18.5 trillion in total. In such circumstances, it can be easier to bury your head in the sand or throw caution to the wind and book that three-week trip to Europe. When you dont have a clear picture of whats coming in and going out, everyday decisions can feel overwhelming, Howard says. Start by listing out your current income, expenses, savings, and debt. Be specific so you can see where your money is actually going. Create a realistic, values-based spending plan for 2026 Money wellness isnt about always saying ‘no’ to spending, says Howard. Its just as much about saying yes intentionallyto the things that you truly value. Figure out your core values, and invest in them. Is it an expensive gym membership or overpriced fitness class? Is it that coffee you buy on the way to work everyday that puts a smile on your face? Budget for the purchases that bring you joy and cut costs elsewhere. The goal is never perfectionits progress The power of compounding is not limited to investments. Focus on creating positive financial wellness momentum to propel you into the new year, says Howard. Set clear, manageable milestones and outline small, steady steps to build traction, like setting a weekly money check-in, automating tiny transfers towards your goals, or reviewing one spending category at a time.
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Cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for misleading investors who lost billions when his companys crypto ecosystem collapsed in 2022. Kwon, known by some as the cryptocurrency king, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court in August to fraud charges stemming from Terraform Labs $40 billion crash. The company had touted its TerraUSD as a reliable stablecoina kind of currency typically pegged to stable assets to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. But prosecutors say it was all an illusion that came crumbling down, devastating investors and triggering a cascade of crises that swept through cryptocurrency markets. Kwon, who hails from South Korea, has agreed to forfeit over $19 million as part of the plea deal. While federal sentencing guidelines would recommend a prison term of about 25 years, prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Kwon to 12 years. They cited his guilty plea, the fact that he faces further prosecution in Korea, and that he has already served time in Montenegro while awaiting extradition. Kwons fraud was colossal in scope, permeating virtually every facet of Terraforms purported business, prosecutors wrote in a recent memo to the judge. His rampant lies left a trail of financial destruction in their wake. Kwon’s attorneys asked that the sentence not exceed five years, arguing in their own memo that his conduct stemmed not from greed, but hubris and desperation. In a letter to the judge, Kwon wrote, I alone am responsible for everyones pain. The community looked to me to know the path, and I in my hubris led them astray, while adding, I made misrepresentations that came from a brashness that is now a source of deep regret. Authorities said investors worldwide lost money in the downfall of the Singapore crypto firm, which Kwon cofounded in 2018. Around $40 billion in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg. Kwon was extradited to the U.S. from Montenegro after his March 23, 2023, arrest while traveling on a false passport in Europe.
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Some of the countrys most prestigious colleges are enrolling record numbers of low-income students a growing admissions priority in the absence of affirmative action. America’s top campuses remain crowded with wealth, but some universities have accelerated efforts to reach a wider swath of the country, recruiting more in urban and rural areas and offering free tuition for students whose families are not among the highest earners. The strategy could lead to friction with the federal government. The Trump administration, which has pulled funding from elite colleges over a range of grievances, has suggested its illegal to target needier students. College leaders believe theyre on solid legal ground. At Princeton University, this year’s freshman class has more low-income students than ever. One in four are eligible for federal Pell grants, which are scholarships reserved for students with the most significant financial need. That’s a leap from two decades ago, when fewer than 1 in 10 were eligible. The only way to increase socioeconomic diversity is to be intentional about it,” Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber said in a statement. Socioeconomic diversity will increase if and only if college presidents make it a priority. Last year, Princeton set aggressive goals to recruit more low-income students in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action in higher education. Without the ability to consider race, officials wrote in a campus report, focusing on economic diversity offers the universitys greatest opportunity to attract diverse talent.” The country’s most selective colleges still enroll large proportions of students from the wealthiest 1% of American families. Many of those campuses have tried for years to shed reputations of elitism, with only gradual changes in enrollment. Colleges set records for enrollment of low-income students Only a small fraction of the nations colleges have publicly disclosed their low-income enrollments this year, and national data wont be released by the federal government until next year. But early numbers show a trend. At 17 highly selective colleges that have released new data, almost all saw increases in Pell-eligible students between 2023 and this year, according to an Associated Press analysis. Most saw increases in consecutive years, and none saw a significant decrease in aggregate over the two years. Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all have set enrollment records for Pell-eligible students in the past two years. Part of the uptick owes to a federal expansion that made more students eligible for Pell grants last year. But campus leaders also believe the increases reflect their own efforts. The numbers in MITs freshman class have climbed by 43% over the past two years, and low-income students account for more than a quarter of this years class. MIT officials cited its policy providing free tuition for families that earn less than $200,000 a year. MIT has always been an engine of opportunity for low-income students, and we are dedicated to ensuring we can make an MIT education accessible for students from every walk of life,” Stu Schmill, MITs dean of admissions, said in a statement. Nationwide, roughly a third of undergraduate students have received Pell grants in recent years. Two years ago, Amherst College in Massachusetts made tuition free for students in the bottom 80% of U.S. earnings. It also started covering meals and housing for those below the median income, and it stopped prioritizing children of alumni and donors in admissions decisions. Since then, low-income enrollment has risen steadily, reaching 1 in 4 new students this year. At the same time, the admissions office has stepped up recruiting in overlooked parts of the country, from big cities to small towns. When we go out and talk to students, its not in the fanciest ZIP codes,” said Matthew McGann, dean of admissions. Its in places where we know theres a lot of talent but not a lot of opportunity. Racial diversity does not necessarily follow economic diversity On many campuses, officials hoped the focus on economic diversity would preserve racial diversity Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous Americans have the country’s highest poverty rates. But even as low-income numbers climb, many elite campuses have seen racial diversity decrease. Without the emphasis on income, those decreases might have been even steeper, said Richard Kahlenberg, a researcher at the Progressive Policy Institute who advocates for class-based affirmative action. He called the latest Pell figures a significant step in the right direction. Economic diversity is important in its own right, he said. It’s important that Americas leadership class which disproportionately derives from selective colleges include people who’ve faced economic hardships in life. Swarthmore College saw the most dramatic leap in Pell enrollment, jumping from 17% to 30% last year. While many campuses were delaying scholarship decisions until the government resolved problems with a new financial aid form, Swarthmore used other data to figure out applicants financial need. That allowed Swarthmore to offer scholarships to students while they were still awaiting decisions from other schools. More financially disadvantaged students ended up enrolling at Swarthmore than officials expected. College leaders also credit their work to reduce campus costs laundry is free and students get yearly credits for textbooks, for example. Yet Swarthmore saw its Black enrollment fall to 5% of its freshman class this year, down from 8% the year before. In a race neutral environment, those numbers are likely to drop,” Jim Bock, the admissions dean, said in a statement. Not all minority students are low-income, and not all majority students have significant financial means.” The approach risks federal scrutiny In legal memos, the White House has alleged that prioritizing students based on earnings or geography amounts to a racial proxy in violation of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision against affirmative action. In a June letter, Trump officials accused the University of California-Los Angeles of race-based admissions in all but name.” It criticized UCLA for considering factors like applicants’ family income, ZIP code, and high school profile. Colleges ften weigh that kind of information in admissions decisions. Yet the Trump administration has declared that the Supreme Court decision outlaws a wide range of long-accepted education practices, including scholarships targeting students in underserved areas. Already, there are signs of an impact. Earlier this year, the College Board the nonprofit that oversees the SAT suddenly discontinued an offering that gave admissions offices a wealth of information about applicants, including earnings data from their neighborhoods. Kahlenberg and others see it as a retreat in the face of government pressure. The College Board offered little explanation, citing changes to federal and state policy around the use of demographic information in admissions. ___ The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Collin Binkley, AP education writer
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Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Companys weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. Im Mark Sullivan, a senior writer at Fast Company,covering emerging tech, AI, and tech policy. This week, Im focusing on Nvidias up-and-down fortunes stemming from Jensen Huangs close relationship with Trump. I also look at some reported infighting over AI at Meta, and at the reasons for data centers in space. Sign up to receive this newsletter every week via email here. And if you have comments on this issue and/or ideas for future ones, drop me a line at sullivan@fastcompany.com, and follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @thesullivan. China may not want (many) Nvidia H200 chips after all Nvidia appeared to have scored a major coup when President Trump on Monday wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. government would allow the sale of its powerful H200 AI chips to China. Previously, the chip company lobbied its way to an approval to sell its older and weaker H20 chip in Chinathe worlds second-largest economy and a hotbed of AI and robotics researchbut President Xi Jinping told Chinese firms not to buy them, citing security reasons. The administrations favor to Nvidia came with some conditions. The U.S. would get a 25% cut of the Chinese sales, and the chips would undergo a security review before their export. And Nvidias most powerful chips, the Blackwell GPU, would remain banned from export to China. But Nvidia still stood to make a lot of money selling the H200s. Now reports say that the Chinese government plans to restrict the import of the H200s, allowing only a small set of trusted Chinese companies or research organizations to get them. Reuters reports that Alibaba and ByteDance want to order H200s but are waiting for a final decision from the Chinese government. Xi wants Chinese companies to use chips from domestic companies such as Huawei, which could help the Chinese chip companies catch up with Nvidia in a technological sense. The Information reports that the Chinese government sees the H200s as a stopgap solution in the meantime. The Chinese also have serious concerns about the security of the H200s, amplified no doubt by the chance that agents of the U.S. government might install security backdoors or location tracking codes in the chips during the security review. Huang reportedly talks to Trump on the phone regularly and has written checks for things like Trumps new ballroom at the White House. The downside of embracing Trump so openly and unconditionally may have eroded trust for Nvidia in China. In the past, China has mounted state-sponsored or grassroots boycotts against American companies, including Apple, McDonalds, and the NBA. And there are other ways of getting Nvidia chips into China. The Information reports that the Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has been using thousands of Nvidias Blackwell chips (the most powerful in the world for AI) to train its newest model. Chinese companies have been setting up fake data centers in neutral countries, outfitting them with Nvidia servers loaded with chips, then dismantling the servers and sending the chips off to China. Nvidia said Wednesday that its unaware of any such activity. Friction between Zuckerbergs new superintelligence and other parts of Meta?: report After the disappointing performance of Metas latest Llama models, CEO Mark Zuckerberg hatched a plan to put his AI lab in the running to build artificial superintelligence. He badly wants Meta to compete for that holy grail against the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Google DeepMind. So, he paid $14.3 billion to buy Scale AI with the idea of having that companys young CEO Alexandr Wang lead a new superintelligence research group at Meta. Over the summer, Wang and Zuckerberg went on a poaching spree to hire top AI research talent away from those companies, offering salaries in the hundreds of millions of dollars. They were successful: The new group has about 100 researchers. But all is not well, the New York Times reports. Wang has clashed with some of Zuckerbergs top lieutenantsChris Cox, who manages the companys social network products, and Andrew Bosworth, who runs Metas mixed reality (metaverse) businesson how Wangs groups research should be applied. From the report: In one case, Mr. Cox and Mr. Bosworth wanted Mr. Wangs team to concentrate on using Instagram and Facebook data to help train Metas new foundational A.I. model known as a frontier model to improve the companys social media feeds and advertising business, they said. But Mr. Wang, who is developing the model, pushed back. He argued that the goal should be to catch up to rival A.I. models from OpenAI and Google before focusing on products, the people said. In other words, Cox and Bosworth are more interested in using Wangs AI models as a means to an end (a business end): to pump up social engagement and better target ads at users. But Wang may see the superintelligence group as something more like a pure research group that sets its own research agenda. Wang, Cox, and Bosworth may simply be the latest actors in a much older tension between pure research and applied AI. Its unclear if Mr. Wang, Mr. Cox and Mr. Bosworth have resolved their debate, the Times reports. After all the money he spent to chase superintelligence, Zuckerberg is likely to side with Wang and insulate the group from short-term demands of product managers. Why Musk and Bezos are putting data centers in space Why are Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos working on missions to launch AI data centers into space? It sounds exotic. But it makes sense. Tech companies and their partners are spending trillions to build new terrestrial data centers to produce enough computing power for AI. In some areas, electricity costs have increased after the local energy provider built new grid infrastructure to accommodate new data centers. Data centers need a lot of electricity to power the AI chips inside them, and a lot of electricity and water to keep the chips cool. Its very cold in space, so the cooling problem goes away. An orbiting data center could use solar panels to collect the energy needed to run the servers (the sun is 30% more intense in space). Troubles associated ith terrestrial data centersland-use permitting, local zoning, water rights, etc.dont apply in space. The Wall Street Journal reports that Bezoss Blue Origin has had a team working on orbital AI data centers for more than a year. Musks SpaceX has plans to mod one of its Starlink satellites to host AI servers. Google and Planet Labs have plans to launch two test satellites into orbit loaded with Google AI chips (called Tensor Processing Units). Other, smaller companies, such as Starcloud and Axiom AI, have sprung up to focus all their efforts on orbiting data centers. Those involved acknowledge that while the floating data centers are technically feasible, lots of work remains to bring the costs down to a point where theyre competitive with earth-based data centers. More AI coverage from Fast Company: OpenAI appoints Slack CEO Denise Dresser as first Chief Revenue Officer Nvidias Washington charm offensive has paid off big Google faces a new antitrust probe in Europe over content it uses for AI Trump allows Nvidia to sell H200 AI chips to China Want exclusive reporting and trend analysis on technology, business innovation, future of work, and design? Sign up for Fast Company Premium.
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