Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon dispatch of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Ian Krietzberg takes us inside Amazon’s AGI Labs, where researchers have ambitious plans to create an “agentic” A.I. model to declutter your online life—basically, an enterprise-grade personal assistant. Danielle Perszyk, a cognitive scientist at the lab, explains how they’re attempting to build a different type of artificial general intelligence—and what could go wrong if they succeed.

Plus, below the fold: John Heilemann and former Obama comms guru Dan Pfeiffer assess Gavin Newsom’s plan to gerrymander his way to the White House. Marion Maneker and Ian debate whether A.I. will disrupt the art world. Scott Mendelson crunches the numbers on Hollywood’s middling summer box office. Sarah Shapiro examines the men’s jewelry boomlet. And exclusively for Inner Circle members, Julia Alexander articulates the challenges facing ESPN’s new all-in-one app as Bristol prepares for launch.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand is joined by Yahoo’s Ryan Spoon on The Varsity to break the news about Yahoo Sports Network. On The Town, Matt Belloni rings up Fox’s Pete Distad to discuss the company’s first significant foray into streaming. And on The Powers That Be, Julia and Ian chew over the Spotify micro-scandal surrounding A.I. band The Velvet Sundown and the incentives for streaming platforms to embrace A.I.-generated content.

P.S.: If you missed Julia Alexander’s panel conversation in Los Angeles last week with the talented casting directors behind three Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ shows, you can catch up on their conversation here.

A.I.

While others have abandoned the pursuit of artificial general intelligence, Amazon’s AGI Labs is still chasing the dream. Cognitive scientist Danielle Perszyk explains how they’re trying to build advanced, reliable agents—and ruminates on the existential implications if they succeed.

WASHINGTON

A timely conversation with Obama comms guru and Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer about Gavin Newsom’s redistricting gambit, what Dems can learn from Zohran Mamdani, and the party’s broken messaging machine.

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ART

Why is Silicon Valley seemingly so excited about replacing human artistry? A frank conversation about Big Tech’s art “disruption” fantasies, and where that leaves creatives and enthusiasts.

HOLLYWOOD

Most of the big studio movies performed as well as they needed to for their own commercial success. But a lack of regular releases, zero surprise breakouts, and a slew of less-special-than-before franchise titles left theaters begging for a #Barbenheimer…

FASHION

Even amid the luxury slowdown, the jewelry category is resilient and growing—fueled by male athletes, musicians, and celebrities striking endorsement deals or simply showing off on game day.

SPORTS

As it prepares to launch its long-awaited streamer, ESPN is looking to combine every facet of the fan experience—live games, news, fantasy, and sports betting—all in one app, the first step toward rebuilding its influence in an always-on, attention-shattered era.

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SPORTS

Ryan Spoon, president of Yahoo Media Group, joins John to announce the launch of Yahoo Sports Network. He outlines the company’s strategy to serve content across mobile, web, YouTube, and FAST channels like Samsung TV Plus and Fubo. Spoon also discusses partnerships, the shift from linear to streaming, and Yahoo’s collaborative approach in a competitive sports media market.

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Pete Distad, C.E.O. of Fox’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, to discuss Fox One, the company’s first significant foray into streaming, which will offer all of Fox’s news, sports, and entertainment content together on one platform. They talk about the juggernaut of news and sports, the end of NFL being exclusively on broadcast, why the price is so high ($20 a month), the potential of it cannibalizing Fox’s successful existing cable business, the option to bundle with ESPN for $40, and more.

A.I.

Ian Krietzberg joins guest host Julia Alexander to parse the incentives for streaming platforms like Spotify to embrace A.I.-generated content, spotlighting the precarious case of A.I. band The Velvet Sundown, which racked up more than a million plays before being exposed. They also discuss Character.AI’s shift from chasing A.G.I. to role-playing entertainment, and the ethical questions that come with it.

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