Announcing a major new partnership

👋 Good morning/evening (wherever you are). It’s Wednesday.

I’m honored to announce a partnership with FILM CRUX, one of the most respected names in filmmaking.

Lion El Aton, founder of FILM CRUX, and I are officially teaming up to bring his expertise, network, and resources into AI Creative Club so we can grow it together and deliver even more value.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Expert AMAs: “Ask Me Anything” threads with Lion and other top creators in the AI and filmmaking space.

• Bite-Sized Tips: Actionable workflows and strategies you can binge. No long or boring lessons. Quick, specific answers designed for creators who want to learn fast and keep moving.

• A High-Value Community: A place where creators collaborate, share feedback, and get noticed by recruiters, studios, and brands.

Together, we’re building the #1 club for AI creatives.

One last thing…I’ll keep it quick:

Lion is both a creative and business genius.

The best part is he’s very humble about it.

This is all you need to know: Lion is one of the rare artists who works entirely for himself, chooses the brands he collaborates with, and has built an extremely successful online business with hundreds of thousands of loyal, active members.

I honestly can’t name another pro-AI filmmaker who has achieved that combination (in such a short time span).

Join the club and you’ll be in the same room as him.

Join here, while it’s hot!

OK let’s keep going ↓

🔥 Creative pulse

This AI short film is special, but it’s hard to explain why.

You’ll understand once you watch it.

When I asked Herinarivo Rakotomanana, the filmmaker, what he wanted me to highlight, he only had one request:

To include this line:

"A sensory collage of childhood memories from Madagascar with present-day impressions."

Watch the video. Posted on LinkedIn.

PS: In case you missed the entire email intro….we just partnered with FILM CRUX to take the AI Creative Club to the next level. It’s the perfect time to join the community.

One piece of advice, tip, or connection here could change your life. Learn more.

💡 Here’s what you should know

• Apple tests Gemini for Siri and AI search

  Apple is evaluating Google’s Gemini to power a Siri upgrade and new AI search feature, ending interest in acquiring Perplexity.

• KKR names ex-AWS CEO Adam Selipsky as AI strategy advisor

  Selipsky will guide KKR’s $179B Real Assets platform, shaping global investments in data centers, energy, and connectivity as AI drives unprecedented infrastructure demand.

• Flow Sessions launches with first filmmaker-in-residence

  Google Labs is introducing Flow Sessions, a program giving filmmakers access to Flow, mentorship, and AI tools to bring new stories to life.

• CoreWeave to acquire OpenPipe for AI agent training

  CoreWeave is buying OpenPipe, creator of the Agent Reinforcement Trainer, to expand reinforcement learning and custom model capabilities.

• Warp launches Warp Code for agent-driven development

  Warp Code introduces code review, file editing, and project tools to make building and shipping AI-generated code faster and more reliable.

• North Carolina launches AI Leadership Council and Accelerator

  Governor Josh Stein signed an executive order creating a state AI council and accelerator to guide policy, ethics, training, and innovation, with its first report due in June 2026.

• ElevenLabs launches SFX model v2 with seamless looping

  Create longer, higher-fidelity sound effects from a prompt, now with looping support, higher sample rates, a refreshed library, and integration into ElevenLabs Studio for audiobook, podcast, and video creators.

• eBay CEO says AI is making selling more efficient

  Jamie Iannone shared that eBay is using AI tools to streamline selling and improve product recommendations for shoppers.

• Starbucks rolls out AI-powered automated inventory counting

  Starbucks is using AI, computer vision, and AR to automate stock counts across North America stores, improving efficiency and ensuring customers always get their favorite drinks.

• Switzerland launches Apertus, a transparent open-source LLM

  Built by EPFL and Swiss universities, Apertus offers full transparency, open access, and sovereign control, aiming to give researchers and enterprises a safer alternative to commercial AI models.

• Scale AI sues Mercor over trade secret theft allegations

  The $29B data-labeling giant claims a former exec took confidential docs to $2B rival Mercor, spotlighting fierce competition in AI infrastructure.

• Google launches Androidify, an AI-powered avatar builder app

  Androidify uses Gemini 2.5 Flash and a fine-tuned Imagen 3 model to turn selfies or prompts into custom Android bot avatars, showcasing Google’s latest AI APIs, Jetpack Compose UI, and Firebase integrations.

💰 The numbers

• Mistral AI is finalizing a €2B (~$2.2B) raise at a $14B valuation, making it one of Europe’s most valuable AI startups.

• You.com raised $150M at a $1.5B valuation to help developers build AI apps.

• Exa Labs raised $85M to build an AI-optimized search engine for models.

• HappyRobot raised $44M Series B to scale AI agents for freight logistics.

• Orchard Robotics raised $22M Series A to build AI-powered farm automation tools and precision crop management systems.

• Symmetri raised $6M seed to develop infrastructure for the AI agent economy.

• ArcaScience raised $7M seed to advance AI-powered drug benefit–risk evaluation.

• Hubert raised €2.5M (~$2.7M) seed to transform high-volume hiring with AI.

🧠 Thought starters

Tesla’s Robotaxi app is now live. It’s a major milestone.

Pair that with Marc Benioff’s push for Physical Agentforce and you see what’s coming next.

AI is shifting from screens to infrastructure, emerging as the control system for work and movement in the real world.

😂 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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