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LOS ANGELES — Media companies should focus on creativity instead of growth, The Chernin Group co-founder and North Road chair Peter Chernin said at a May 3 Axios Live event.

Why it matters: Original content gives smaller studios a rare opportunity to compete with industry titans.

Axios' Dan Primack spoke to Chernin for the event, which was sponsored by Edelman Smithfield.

Fun fact: At the time of the interview and a first for the streaming platform, Chernin's production company had the No. 1 TV show ("Man on Fire") and movie ("Apex") on Netflix.

What they're saying: "You can't beat an incumbent on scale," Chernin said. "You beat an incumbent on creativity."

• Studios are also "wildly over-focused on sequels," he added. "Those companies should be in the business of creating and inventing original" intellectual property.
• "The most exciting things happen where young people and talent and technology come together."

Case in point: North Road's new movie "Backrooms," directed by YouTube creator Kane Parsons and based on a 2019 viral internet post, is projected to be "the most successful new horror movie in the last several years," Chernin said.

What's next: Chernin recommends that major platforms rethink their approach to keeping everything in-house when it comes to ownership, production and distribution rights.

• "Embrace independent, creative companies" to stay competitive and relevant, Chernin said.
• "Resisting technology is a stupid idea," he added.

Content from the sponsor's segment:

Lisa Leiter, Edelman Smithfield's managing director and U.S. co-head of financial services, told Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston that the rise of AI is causing concern.

• "People are worried about losing their jobs," she said, "and there's a fear that [AI] could really damage society."
• Companies should be clear, concise and specific as they share information with the public to reinforce trust, she added.

OpenAI is making the default ChatGPT more accurate and more personal — changes that could increase people's reliance on it, while also increasing its access to their lives.

Why it matters: Even subtle changes to a chatbot's tone, accuracy or memory can trigger backlash.

In-Q-Tel is refashioning its investment strategy to focus on a smaller number of big bets in key areas like autonomy, contested logistics and critical infrastructure, CEO Steve Bowsher told Axios.

The big picture: The venture capital firm, birthed from the CIA, helped elevate Anduril Industries and Palantir Technologies, among the splashiest companies in today's defense-tech frenzy.

• Its hundreds of other investments include drone-maker Neros, cyber specialist Twenty and remote-sensing company ICEYE.

The biggest tech companies are set to spend $1 trillion on AI by next year, according to multiple banks, a bill so big that it's propping up both the stock market and economy.

Why it matters: Our financial system is now load-bearing on AI spending that may never pay off, and most investors can't even see what the full tab is.

OpenAI and Anthropic are teaming up with private equity firms on multibillion-dollar ventures to push their AI tools into midsized companies.

Why it matters: The two companies want to shore up enterprise adoption of their tools as they race toward IPOs that could come as soon as this fall.

While AI was trained to write like humans, these large language models are eroding the unpredictability of our writing and shifting the way we talk.

The big picture: Researchers found that AI pushes users toward a more standardized speaking and writing style, reducing variations in sentence structure and vocabulary.

State governments are rapidly embracing AI by launching low-risk pilot programs, but haven't yet figured out how to measure their impact, according to a new analysis from Code for America shared exclusively with Axios.

Why it matters: AI promises to make government more efficient and cut costs.

Caterpillar — which formed decades before computers and nearly a century before ChatGPT — is becoming an AI play.

Why it matters: The equipment maker is enjoying a sales boom from the surge in development of AI data centers and power plants.

The "Make America Healthy Again" movement notched a big win on pesticide regulation during Thursday's debate on a House farm bill, only to see the White House pull the nomination of a favored influencer for surgeon general hours later.

Why it matters: The events showed how the movement continues to have clout on matters related to the food supply, but can be a political liability when it comes to vaccines and other public health matters.