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Responsible use of artificial intelligence that curbs misinformation rather than creates more of it will require collaboration among the tech platforms, advertisers and others in the online ecosystem, Kerry writes.

Driving the news: More than a dozen executives expressed that desire yesterday at a brunch in Cannes, hosted by brand safety tech company Zefr. 

Why it matters: As more money funnels into AI startups, existing players are discussing how to develop a responsible framework for this tech. 

What they're saying: "When we all come together and work toward the single common goal is when we're achieving success," said Samantha Stetson, Meta's vice president, client council and industry trade relations. "Each company individually ... going out and trying to address this, we're not going to get it."

"We're hopeful that good AI can help beat bad AI," said Jennifer Helm, head of advertising stakeholder development at Meta. "I think that we should find some comfort in that. When it comes to political content, it is about keeping up with new trends. I think we're gonna have to develop and learn along with the rest of the industry."

"What I'm encouraged by is the activity of ... the companies. It always starts with the larger companies leaning in," Trustworthy Accountability Group CEO Mike Zaneis said. "It doesn't take 100 industry leaders to move the market. It takes a couple of key advertisers."

Zoom in: The lack of federal rules about the use of AI in political advertising may soon change, Axios Pro: Tech Policy's Ashley Gold writes. The Federal Election Commission announced yesterday it will hold a meeting Thursday to consider whether to initiate a full rulemaking on political deepfakes.

That movement comes as a new ad from Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis featured AI-generated, fake images of former President Trump kissing and hugging Anthony Fauci.

Of note: One action already taken by media buying agency GroupM is encouraging clients to create their own social charter.

"This is a manual effort," said Amanda Grant, global head of social at GroupM. "Because each client has different decisioning when it comes to what's important to them, what their values are."

"We try not to act out of fear," said Beatriz Perez, chief communications, sustainability and strategic partnerships officer for The Coca‑Cola Company. "But we also understand our accountability to make sure that we're doing the right things and have the mechanisms in place and working with the people who are truly the experts, because we're not the experts."

Axios Pro: Tech Policy's Ashley Gold writes

Tech executives call for collaboration on responsible AI framework

1 big thing: Collaboration for responsible AI

Jennifer Helm, Robert Rakowitz, Kerry Flynn, Chris Deri and Lisa Osborne Ross seated at a table with a white tablecloth and flowers

Meta's Jennifer Helm, Global Alliance for Responsible Media's Robert Rakowitz, Axios' Kerry Flynn, Weber Shandwick's Chris Deri and Edelman's Lisa Osborne Ross. Photo: Matthieu Roggero on behalf of Axios

Embracer Group, the Swedish gaming giant that acquired the rights to "Lord of the Rings" last summer, revealed it paid around $396 million for the popular franchise.

Why it's the BFD: That's a shockingly low sum for a property that was at one time expected to fetch at least $2 billion, Tim writes.

Driving the news: Embracer Group revealed the 4.25 SEK purchase price in its annual report this morning, which roughly translates to $395.6 million in USD, currently.

By the numbers: Amazon paid $250 million for the rights to develop a series based on the popular J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy world. It then spent an additional $465 million making the first season.

Catch up quick: Embracer Group, one of the most acquisitive media companies over the last few years, recently announced an aggressive cost-cutting plan that will include the sale or closure of some of its studios.

It made more than 20 acquisitions last year alone that totaled more than $1 billion.

Going forward, Embracer plans to focus heavily on utilizing its "Lord of the Rings" IP.

Yes, but: This comes as Amazon does into its second season of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and Warner Bros. Discovery plans a new set of movies.

Embracer Group is reeling after a "transformative" partnership that had been negotiated for months fell apart last month, per Axios Gaming's Stephen Totilo.

Embracer Group paid $365M for "Lord of the Rings" rights

2. The BFD: Fleecing Middle Earth

Illustration of a person holding a really tiny dollar bill.

• ElevenLabs, a New York-based AI voice synthesis platform, raised $19m in Series A funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. https://axios.link/3Jlg9wx

• Parrot, a transcription platform, raised $11m in Series A funding co-led by Amplify Partners and XYZ Venture Capital. https://axios.link/3NOX093

• Orson, a Winter Garden, Florida-based "story-as-a-service" startup, raised $3m led by Long Journey Ventures. https://axios.link/3NEXPRF

• Canal+, the French broadcasting giant, is buying a $200m stake in Hong Kong-based streaming service Viu. The investment could increase to $300m, and Canal+ has a further option to increase its stake to 51%. https://axios.link/3qLtQOM

• Culture Genesis and Jellysmack announced the launch of a new $25m fund aimed toward underrepresented YouTube creators and publishers. https://axios.link/444djns

3. Deal flow

• Ryan Murphy will leave Netflix for a new production deal with Disney. Murphy, who was previously with Disney-owned 20th Century Fox, signed a nine-figure deal with Netflix in 2018. https://axios.link/43UGCJx

• Mike Mulvihill, longtime Fox Sports exec, has been named president of insights and analytics for the Fox Corporation. https://axios.link/3XeCDFh

• Pola Changnon, executive VP and GM of Turner Classic Movies, is leaving Warner Bros. Discovery. https://axios.link/43QTdxg

• Electronic Arts shakeup: Stuart Canfield has been appointed executive vice president and CFO, taking over the role from Chris Suh, who will step down at the end of the month. As part of the moves, EA is being reorganized into two groups — EA Sports and EA Entertainment. https://axios.link/3Ncwgxw

4. Movin' on up (or out)

📺 WBD in talks to license HBO original series to Netflix (Deadline)

"Such a deal would mark the first time in nearly a decade that HBO shows would exist on a rival SVOD service in the U.S.," Peter White writes.

🏈 EA Sports hit with lawsuit over college football video game (Front Office Sports)

"The Brandr Group, which has deals to negotiate group licensing contracts for 54 Division I schools that would be represented in the game, is suing EA over the name, image, and likeness deals being offered to athletes," Amanda Christovich writes. 

🥊 Lawyers: Email proves Microsoft's Activision bid is designed to eliminate PlayStation (Axios)

"The contents of the message are redacted, but the plaintiffs say it was sent by Microsoft's head of Xbox game studios (Matt Booty) to Microsoft's chief financial officer for Xbox (Tim Stuart)," Stephen Totilo writes. 

📝 Netflix tweaks its Top 10 rankings, adds view count (THR)

"The streamer will now sort its top titles by what it's calling 'views' rather than by total viewing time, though that figure will still show up on the weekly lists. The view tally comes from dividing the total time spent watching a series or movie in a given week by the running time to arrive at the number of Netflix accounts that watched a series or movie," Rick Porter writes. 

5. Channel surfing

Illustration of a surfer with a television in the place of his head.

Between all of the panels, one-on-one meetings and parties at Cannes yesterday, Kerry stopped by Pinterest Beach with Axios' events team and decided to get some permanent ink. 

Her third tattoo is "manifest." While Pinterest had a limited amount of design options, this choice embodied her dreams back in 2015 as a fledgling media reporter to attend Cannes. That became a reality in 2019, but this year has been even more action-packed and insightful. 

Thanks to One By One in London and tattoo artist Monsternari, who provided the free ink.

😱 1 fun thing: Permanent ink at Cannes

Kerry's "manifest" tattoo and awful sock tan. Photo: Monsternari

🚨 Situational awareness: The FTC is suing Amazon, accusing the company of enrolling customers in its Prime program without consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions, Axios' Ashley Gold writes. 

✈️ Programming note: Tim is flying to Anaheim for VidCon. Say hi if you're there! 

🇫🇷 Meanwhile, Kerry is still holding it down in the south of France. Join her for an apéritif (or pickleball, she's really into pickleball).

@tim_bays: "Secret Invasion" on Disney+. Spending part of my cross-country flight watching Nick Fury and his glorious gray beard. 

@kerrymflynn: Foo Fighters at Spotify Beach. Couldn't be more excited. (Editor's note: Jealousy defined.)

✏️ Thanks to George Moriarty for editing and Katie Lewis for copy editing this newsletter.

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and VidCon attendees to sign up.

June 21, 2023

1 big thing: Collaboration for responsible AI