Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know… and stick around for more on Hollywood’s surprising A.I. détente.

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Meanwhile, on the pods…

And now, a little more on Hollywood’s A.I peace treaty…

HOLLYWOOD

It’s been three years since Hollywood’s double-barreled writers/actors strike, largely centered on compensation and A.I. issues, crippled the industry for nearly six months—which is why it’s a little strange that this bargaining cycle has been so civilized. Surprisingly, the 18-page summary of SAG-AFTRA’s tentative deal with the studios revealed that the union (pending membership approval) had left the door open to “synthetic” actors—i.e., fully A.I.-generated digital performers, not based on or performed by identifiable human actors. Has Hollywood finally accepted the inevitable?

In his latest dispatch, Eriq pressed SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland on the myriad questions surrounding the ostensible concession. Notably, Crabtree-Ireland pushed back on the notion that the contract language is vague, and waved off the possibility that any studio could realistically justify deploying a fully synthetic actor instead of a dues-paying member. Indeed, nobody in town seems quite ready to storm the barricades over A.I. stealing their jobs just yet, but the union is very much reserving its right to take up arms later…

Click here to read Eriq’s full story.

FASHION

Victoria’s Secret just escalated its proxy battle with billionaire Brett Blundy, an ugly fight over who’s done worse on sexual harassment. But the sideshow is distracting from a crucial point: The new Victoria’s Secret is working.

WASHINGTON

James Blair and Chris LaCivita are set to embark on an ambitious midterm agenda, working amid a sprawling web of interlinked super PACs, LLCs, and dark money groups that make it difficult to know who’s funding whom—and how much anyone is getting paid. It’s either sinister or brilliant, depending on one’s politics, but almost certainly both.

A.I.

One week after Trump dragged Silicon Valley’s top C.E.O.s halfway across the world to extract various business deals with Xi Jinping, the crew returned to Washington with more questions than answers. Among them: Does the White House have a unified policy on A.I.? And is China a competitor, or a customer?

ART

The May auctions continued in thrilling fashion at Christie’s last night, as feverish bidding pushed new records for the mainstays of modernism—Pollock, Brancusi, Miró, Rothko—and the art-hoovering skylords of finance dropped the G.D.P. of a small country on the Si Newhouse collection. So can we call that an art market triumph? Not so fast…

SPORTS

Horizon Media’s Adam Schwartz on the amplifying value of a Super Bowl ad, MLB’s events strategy, and why the 30-second spot is still the backbone of television advertising.

MEDIA

Dylan Byers joins Peter to discuss his report that Paramount leadership is preparing to potentially strip Bari Weiss of operational control at CBS News after seven and a half months of bad press, a handful of unforced errors, and a belated epiphany that her role should have been circumscribed to editorial decisions. Then they turn to the New York Times newsroom’s quiet revolt against Nicholas Kristof’s Israel op-ed.

FASHION

Lauren’s guest is new Line Sheet correspondent Malique Morris. They dive into the week’s biggest news: Lauren’s scoop on Everlane’s $100 million sale to Shein, the slow collapse of 2010s direct-to-consumer brands, and how Quince might be next. They also get into the Gucci and Dior Cruise shows, the messy Victoria’s Secret proxy battle, and their favorite looks out of Cannes. The conversation ends with a heated debate on whether Taylor Swift will ever be chic.

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