Netflix is taking steps aimed at upgrading the viewer experience, rolling out AV1 Film Grain Synthesis (FGS) streams to the majority of its subscribers. While FGS has been part of the AV1 standard since the Alliance for Open Media introduced the format in 2018, Netflix began to apply it to a limited number of titles in 2021 and is is now enabling it at scale. The streamer says the open-source FGS compression system “revolutionizes video streaming” and will “preserve the artistic integrity of film grain” — a feature generally considered essential to achieving a cinematic look — while also optimizing data efficiency. Read more

New Jersey-based cloud-computing startup CoreWeave has reached an agreement to acquire crypto miner Core Scientific in a vertical integration move that will see the AI infrastructure provider gain access to more than 1 gigawatt of U.S. data center capacity with an incremental 1 gigawatt of power available for expansion. The all-stock transaction, valued at $9 billion, is expected to close in Q4 pending regulatory approval. According to CoreWeave, the purchase will eliminate some $10 billion in upcoming lease fees, saving around $500 million annually starting in 2027 and helping to “future-proof” the company. Read more

Grammarly — maker of the popular AI productivity tool — says it will acquire Superhuman, an AI-native email app that helps users save time on electronic communications. The purchase price was not disclosed. The acquisition aims to accelerate Grammarly’s evolution into an all-around AI productivity assistant that does more than improve syntax and offers a full complement of apps and agents. The San Francisco-based company, which launched in 2009, last year acquired Coda and its suite of document and spreadsheet software. Grammarly says it now has “an ‘AI superhighway’ that delivers writing agents to users across more than 500,000 applications and websites.” Read more

Microsoft has entered into a five-year strategic partnership with the Premier League, replacing Oracle as the British football association’s official cloud partner in addition to providing AI services. Premier League mobile and web apps will begin featuring a chatbot powered by Copilot and Microsoft AI, which will also be used for the league’s fantasy games. The Premier League says it has 1.8 billion fans in 189 countries and claims to be “the world’s most-watched football league.” Microsoft will also help modernize the League’s technical infrastructure, both internally and in broadcast operations. Read more

Google is making it easier to access its Gems customizable Gemini chatbots by bringing them to the side panel in Google Workspace apps, including Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail. The task-specific Gems AI assistants are meant to help with common tasks and eliminate what Google calls “repetitive prompting.” Now they’ll be usable without even prompting Gemini to open. While Google offers pre-made Gems, they can also be customized or individually created to meet specific needs. Both custom and templated Gems can be installed in side panels, leveraging capabilities like @-mentioning or accessing files and folders. Read more