Substack is attempting to lure select TikTok posters to its publishing platform with the launch of Substack Creator Studio. Billed as “a fellowship for the next wave of video stars to turn their TikTok channels into Substack shows and communities,” the outlet says video-native creators will be able to forge a “more direct, intimate relationship with their audience” on Substack, while making money from subscriptions. Only 10 fellows will be initially selected, and given access to consulting and production support from Adam Faze’s Gymnasium short-form studio, producer of the TikTok series “Boy Room.” Read more

Microsoft Xbox President Sarah Bond announced the company plans to launch a web-based mobile game store in July, creating a new rival for Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Speaking at the Bloomberg Technology Summit, Bond said the web venue was selected so a single store could serve all users in all countries, “independent of the policies of closed ecosystem stores.” Initially the focus will be on Microsoft games, opening later to other publishers. “This web-based store is the first step in our journey to building a trusted app store with its roots in gaming,” Microsoft said in a post-even statement. Read more

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced during a live-streamed event today that the company is launching an updated version of its GPT-4 model that powers OpenAI’s popular chatbot. The new flagship AI model, GPT-4o is reportedly “much faster” and offers improved text, voice and vision capabilities. Murati said GPT-4o will be free to all users, while Plus users will enjoy “up to five times the capacity limits” available to free users. According to OpenAI, the new AI model “can respond to audio inputs in as little as 232 milliseconds, with an average of 320 milliseconds, which is similar to human response time in a conversation.” Read more

The UK AI Safety Institute announced the availability of its new Inspect platform designed for the evaluation and testing of artificial intelligence tech in order to help develop safe AI models. The Inspect toolset enables testers — including worldwide researchers, government agencies, and startups — to analyze the specific capabilities of such models and establish scores based on various criteria. According to the Institute, the “release comes at a crucial time in AI development, as more powerful models are expected to hit the market over the course of 2024, making the push for safe and responsible AI development more pressing than ever.” Read more

Netflix announced it is launching a “digital theme park” in early access on the Roblox online gaming platform. Web-based universe “Netflix Nextworld” will feature mini-games, easter eggs, watch parties, user-generated content and more “in 3D interactive spaces” based on characters and content from popular Netflix franchises such as “Stranger Things,” “One Piece,” “Cobra Kai” and the “Rebel Moon” movies. There will also be an activity based on the upcoming animated series, “Jurassic World: Chaos Theory.” Users will be able to collect objects and wearables from the shows and movies to post in their Fan Pods, which can be shared online with friends. Read more