AI Watch: Weekly Updates on the Latest in Generative AI News

Amid the flurry of generative AI developments, Adweek’s weekly AI Watch roundup captures the latest news, regulatory proceedings and business developments revolving around gen AI.  

Here are this week’s updates: 

Policy and legal: 

• The Writers Guild of America has come to an agreement on a tentative contract, ending a nearly 150-day strike. This means writers can resume work immediately. The newly negotiated contract is set to remain in force until May 2026 and includes several updates such as an increase in pay and benefits, job protection against artificial intelligence advances, and incentives based on viewing performance.

The tech side:

• In another case of how Big Tech is implementing AI, Amazon has invested up to $4 billion in Anthropic, a rival to OpenAI, the ecommerce giant announced Monday. In exchange, Amazon will gain a minority ownership stake in Anthropic and integrate its technology into various products, including the Amazon Bedrock service for AI applications. Anthropic will utilize Amazon’s custom chips for AI model development and deployment, while also making Amazon Web Services its primary cloud provider. 
• OpenAI has added voice capabilities to ChatGPT, the company announced Monday. The new voice features carry similarities to those currently offered by Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri assistants.
• Getty Images has joined forces with Nvidia to introduce Generative AI by Getty Images, a tool that lets people create images by accessing Getty’s vast collection of licensed photographs, clearing users of possible copyright infringement. 
• Spotify has decided to eschew a ban on AI-generated music, according to CEO Daniel Ek. Earlier this year, the platform removed a track that featured AI-cloned voices of artists Drake and The Weeknd. However, in an interview with the BBC, Ek said that while there are legitimate uses of AI in music production, it should not be employed to imitate artists without their explicit consent. He also acknowledged that the use of AI in the music industry is a topic that will likely be subject to ongoing debate for “many, many years.”
• Microsoft makes a move on nuclear to power its AI investments. Since AI data centers consume a lot of electricity that could thwart Microsoft’s climate goals, the company is looking for a principal program manager to lead its nuclear energy strategy and roll out a plan for small modular reactors, per its job posting. 
• Google has opened up its AI-powered search, SGE (Search Generative Experience), to teens ages 13-17 in the U.S. who are signed into a Google account through the Google app or Chrome desktop, the tech giant announced Thursday.