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After failing to reach a contract resolution with the studio association, more than 11,000 film and television writers remain on strike. Of the many topics under consideration in this year’s Writers Guild of America contract discussions, one nascent technology has fueled dissent among the negotiators: artificial intelligence.

“I hope I’m wrong, but I do think that the use of AI is going to take over the entertainment industry,” said Justine Bateman, a member of the writers, directors and actors guilds. “And I think it’s going to be really bad.”

The implementation of generative AI could mean sweeping changes for the entertainment industry. Advocates for AI technology see it as a tool that will uplift content creators and break down the barriers to entry.

“It’s going to be very soon until we can literally just type in a prompt and see something as a consumer,” said AI filmmaker Caleb Ward. “And you don’t have to have any sort of skills as a visual effects artist or as someone in the entertainment industry.”

Since the last writers’ strike in 2007, widespread consumer adoption of video streaming has exemplified how novel technologies can upheave the entertainment industry. Now, however, the leaders in the streaming space are dealing with the ballooning costs of high-output, high-quality content.

“Today, the only one we know of that is cashflow positive is Netflix,” said Dan Rayburn, a streaming media analyst. “Every other company out there is losing money—Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, losing billions and billions and billions of dollars a year.”

As streaming companies scramble to save their bottom lines, content is being removed from platforms, cutting off creators from being compensated.

“Every time a content deal is done with a streaming platform or distribution, it has a direct impact on those who created the content — distributors, producers, writers, actors — because they’re getting royalties based on that,” said Rayburn.

As the entertainment industry faces another disruptive technology in the form of AI, the Writers Guild of America is demanding that regulatory standards around the technology ensure fair labor conditions and compensation for Hollywood professionals.

Watch the video above for more on how AI is fueling the WGA’s fight for a fair contract.

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Marvell plunges 19% as outlook falls short of high expectations

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Marvell plunges 19% as outlook falls short of high expectations

Matt Murphy, CEO of Marvell Technology.

Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Marvell Technology shares plummeted more than 19% after the chipmaker’s guidance fell short of some elevated buyside estimates.

For the first fiscal quarter, the chipmaker said it expects sales of about $1.88 billion. That was just ahead of the $1.87 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. However, the outlook fell short of some buyside expectations calling for around $2 billion in revenue, disappointing investors after the stock soared 83% in 2024.

The results fueled some concerns about Marvell’s partnership with Amazon Web Services on its Trainium AI chip, and the potential lack of upside for Marvell’s custom application-specific integrated circuits business.

“Solid numbers missed the high watermark set by the rest of the AMZN supply chain,” wrote Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley in a note after the report. “While the company continues to sound good re: the future of their ASIC prospects, the AMZN numbers near term are a bit lower, which is the real sticking point for a market punishing anything not perfect in AI.”

Marvell is known for creating customized chips and hardware used in data centers, networking and infrastructure. The company has benefited from the artificial intelligence boon that has lifted the sector, but chipmakers now face elevated expectations for financial performance.

For the fourth quarter, Marvell reported adjusted earnings per share of 60 cents and revenue of $1.82 billion. That was slightly ahead of the earnings per share estimate of 59 cents and $1.80 billion revenue prediction, according to LSEG.

Data centers revenue came in at $1.37 billion, beating the $1.36 billion average estimate.

Other semiconductor stocks slumped alongside Marvell, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF last down 4%. AI chip leader Nvidia and Broadcom dropped more than 5% each. Taiwan Semiconductor fell nearly 4%.

— CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos contributed reporting.

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Marvell Technology sinks more than 15% despite earnings beat

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Amazon cloud launches service for helping game companies with streaming

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Amazon cloud launches service for helping game companies with streaming

Attendees walk through an exposition hall at AWS re:Invent, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, in Las Vegas on Dec. 3, 2024.

Noah Berger | Getty Images

Amazon’s cloud unit said Thursday that it’s launching a service to allow video game publishers to stream their games online.

GameLift Streams will deliver games to any device with a browser that supports the WebRTC standard, Amazon said in a blog post. That includes smart TVs, phones, tablets and PCs. One way the service can be used is to rapidly distribute titles in development to testers, and then securely remove access later.

“Lots of AAA games are using the service in that regard,” Chris Lee, general manager and head of immersive technologies at Amazon Web Services, told CNBC. A handful of companies, such as Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive, invest heavily in top-flight games with high production quality.

AWS generates a considerable amount of its revenue from core services such as renting out access to server and storage space, with data centers located around the world. But the company has hundreds of other services available to software developers. For the past decade, AWS has served as Amazon’s main profit engine.

Jackbox Games, a developer of casual games such as “Quiplash” and “Fibbage,” plans to rely on GameLift Streams to release a game-streaming service that will provide access to many of its titles. Jackbox’s games are currenlty available for an upfront fee.

Evan Jacover, Jackbox’s technology chief, said his company looked into building its own technology for streaming but decided to go with AWS after learning of its plans.

“It’s not a core competency at Jackbox Games,” Jacover said, adding the startup had a proof of concept, or POC. “We got a POC up, but it wasn’t efficient to get it really working well.”

Jackbox’s goal is to release an early ad-supported version of its service in the first half of the year, with more games and a subscription option to follow. Because the company’s games aren’t heavy on graphics, they don’t have major latency concerns and can work well on streaming.

Amazon GameLift Streams supports 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.

“That’s kind of the sweet spot when we talk to customers,” Lee said.

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro can go up to 4K resolution and 120 frames per second, accommodating more advanced video. But modern game consoles cost hundreds of dollars.

The cost of GameLift Streams is based on which Nvidia graphics processing units customers use, along with consumption of storage for game data. Games can run on Windows or Linux. No modifications are required to integrate the service, the blog post said.

WATCH: Growth in AWS is key to Amazon’s earnings story, says Truist Securities’ Youssef Squali

Growth in AWS is key to Amazon's earnings story, says Truist Securities' Youssef Squali

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More trifold smartphones are popping up after Huawei’s $3,600 splash

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More trifold smartphones are popping up after Huawei's ,600 splash

BARCELONA — China’s Huawei isn’t the only smartphone maker adding a third display to its devices.

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show in Barcelona, a number of firms were showing off their display technology innovations.

The South Korean tech giant Samsung revealed its new “trifold” concept devices at the event: the Flex G and Flex S.

The Flex G has three screens and folds flat inwards and outwards, a bit like a book. The Flex S, on the other hand, has a more zigzag-like shape. It’s meant to resemble an “S” — hence the name.

The Flex S is another concept device Samsung showed off at MWC. It folds in a more zigzag-like way to make an “S” shape.

Ryan Browne | CNBC

It comes after Chinese tech giant Huawei last month launched its new Mate XT, a 3,499 euro ($3,678.56) smartphone with three screens, in international markets.

Samsung stressed that its Flex G and S models were only concept devices — so don’t expect to find them on shelves anytime soon.

Still, it’s a sign of where smartphone makers are seeing the next wave of innovation.

‘Sea of sameness’

The smartphone market has hit something of a plateau over recent years, with many models not straying far from the standard form factor of a bar-shaped device.

'Sea of sameness': Are smartphone makers out of ideas?

Apple set the tone for what the devices in our pockets would look like when it launched the first iPhone in 2008. But smartphone makers are now trying to pull the market out of this so-called “sea of sameness.”

On Tuesday, British consumer tech startup Nothing launched its new Phone (3a), a 329-euro ($356.28) budget model with a quirky design and LED light system that lights up when you get calls or notifications.

Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis — who is planning a move to India as the startup plans an aggressive expansion push in the country — told CNBC the company is trying to shake up the smartphone market with something more fun and unique.

Using the Indian market as an example, Evangelidis said: “People are walking away from pure functional needs when it comes to product. They aspire to brands that have more of an emotional benefit, and I think that’s where the opportunity is.”

Innovating on display

However, although smartphone makers have been aggressively working to release new folding devices, the category remains a relatively niche area of the market.

Plus, folding phones can represent a big jump for the average consumer.

For one, they tend to be bulkier than non-folding phones because of the additional screen. And they’re not cheap, either. According to data from market research firm IDC, the average selling price of folding phones is nearly three times higher than that of normal smartphones — roughly $1,218 vs. $421 for non-folding phones.

While the foldable phone market grew 6.4% year-over-year to 19.3 million units, the category “represents only 1.6% of total global shipments,” according to Francisco Jeronimo, vice president EMEA for devices at IDC.

Nevertheless, this year at MWC, phone companies showed they’re getting better at developing folding phones that can better cater to everyday users.

For example, Oppo showed off its new Find N5 device this week. It only has two screens, but it’s a lot thinner than competing folding phones, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 6.

Samsung currently holds the leading position in the global foldables segment. In 2024, it commanded a 32.9% share of the market. Huawei was close behind, with 23.1%, while Motorola was the third-biggest folding phone manufacturer with 17% market share. 

And despite the punchy prices, these companies are betting consumers will be willing to pay for a more premium-grade experience.

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