A-Pop (artificial pop) is here.

👋 Good morning or evening, wherever you are. It’s the weekend.

Timbaland might be the first major producer to treat AI not as a novelty but as a co-creator. After calling today’s music “bland” and “boring,” he’s now proving his point with the debut of Tata Taktumi, an AI-generated artist built from his own demos.

Her first single, Glitch x Pulse, merges human songwriting with AI production and vocals, pushing what he calls a new genre: A-Pop, or artificial pop.

Whether it has the “soul” Timbaland promised is up to the listener, but it’s clear the experiment itself is changing the format.

OK let’s keep going ↓

🔥 Creative pulse

Recap of the 2 AI videos this week:

1. Ordering AI is fine. Ordering people isn't. (Claudia Lalau)

2. Love at First Sight. (Jacopo Reale)

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💡 Here’s what you should know

• Netflix lands Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s AI thriller

  Netflix acquired Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s T-Street–produced AI thriller starring Rachel McAdams, with Gordon-Levitt directing and co-writing alongside Kieran Fitzgerald in their first collaboration since Snowden.

• U.S. Supreme Court asked to review AI copyright case

  Computer scientist Stephen Thaler petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling denying copyright protection for AI-generated art, arguing that current law creates a chilling effect on creative AI use and undermines constitutional copyright goals.

• New York courts issue first AI-use policy for judges and staff

  The state’s new rules restrict generative AI use to approved private models, prohibit inputting confidential case data, and require AI training to ensure ethical, unbiased application in court work.

• AI-powered ‘Mahabharat’ trailer debuts ahead of India release

  Collective Media Network and Prasar Bharati unveiled the first trailer for Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, an AI-driven retelling of the Indian epic that blends traditional storytelling with advanced digital production, premiering Oct. 25 on WAVES OTT.

• Apple nears deal to acquire Prompt AI talent and tech

  Apple is in final talks to acquire computer vision startup Prompt AI, founded by Berkeley researchers Tete Xiao and Trevor Darrell, in a move expected to bolster its HomeKit and AI capabilities.

• Microsoft unveils NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 supercomputer for OpenAI

  Azure introduced the world’s first production cluster built on NVIDIA’s GB300 NVL72 system, integrating over 4,600 Blackwell Ultra GPUs to power next-generation reasoning and agentic AI models at unprecedented scale.

• Campus hires former Meta AI chief as CTO after acquiring Sizzle AI

  The Sam Altman-backed college startup brought on Jerome Pesenti as CTO through its acquisition of Sizzle AI to accelerate personalized, AI-powered learning.

• China tightens enforcement of U.S. chip import restrictions

  Beijing has intensified customs inspections on Nvidia and other advanced semiconductors as part of efforts to curb U.S. chip imports and strengthen domestic production.

💰 The numbers

• Didi Autonomous Driving raised RMB 2B (~US$275-280M) Series D funding to push its Level 4 autonomous tech.

• Prezent raised $30M led by Multiplier Capital, Greycroft, and Nomura Strategic Ventures, to acquire AI services firms starting with Prezentium, bringing both companies under one roof.

• Vulcan Technologies raised $10.9M Seed co-led by General Catalyst and Cubit Capital to modernize regulatory law with AI and streamline compliance for government and private sectors.

🧠 Thought starters

3 things to think about…

1.) The CEO sees the AI boom spelling the end to what he calls “excess profits” in both the banking and software industries, as incumbents are overtaken by faster-moving challengers.

“Most legacy banks will probably become pure balance sheets where basically, you have a big balance sheet and you optimize for return on equity and that’s pretty much it,” he said.

2.) Here’s 2 big questions:

• When does human-made stop meaning human-created?

• If AI shaped it but didn’t touch it, is it still ours?

3.) GPT-5 Pro edges out Gemini 2.5 Deep Think with a new FrontierMath record, but the real showdown starts when Gemini 3 arrives.

😂 Meme of the day

Thanks for reading,

Eddie

Join the AI Creative Club (you’ll find me there). It’s not only for artists and filmmakers…it’s for anyone who recognizes this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn as much as you can about AI to multiply your impact...to become superhuman. Remember, creativity is just intelligence having fun. This club is for ultra curious people, and if you’ve made it this far…you’re pretty damn curious and probably the smartest one in your circle of friends. It would be my honor to have you in there.

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