Netflix's AI movie cost $320 million

👋 Good morning/evening (wherever you are). It’s Monday. As usual, a lot happened over the weekend.

Last Friday, The Electric State was released on Netflix.

The reported budget was $320 million, which would make it the most expensive streaming film ever.

According to Joe Russo, the film utilized the technology for voice modulation, which he described as “something any ten-year-old could do after watching a TikTok video.”

Wonder Dynamics was involved too.

You know, the company that Russo and Spielberg are on the board of? The one that calls itself “AI-powered VFX software”?

Note: Autodesk acquired Wonder Dynamics last May

If you’re curious, these individuals are involved with Wonder:

FYI I posted this on LinkedIn and X with a 7-minute BTS showing how they used AI in the movie.

Wait X…Twitter?

That’s right, starting today, I’m reviving my X account and will be posting there more frequently. It’s been years.

Why should you follow me there? It’s simple…you’ll see AI content on X that I may never post on LinkedIn.

So, what are you waiting for?

Follow me on X — I'd really appreciate a like/comment/share on my recent post to celebrate my unceremonious return. Thanks in advance.

OK let’s keep going ↓

Here’s what you should know:

• China's Baidu launches two new AI models

  Out of nowhere, Baidu announced this on Saturday. To make it brief, there’s an AI price war happening (coming soon).

• Roblox’s new AI model can generate 3D objects

  Cube 3D generates 3D models and environments directly from text and, in the future, image inputs.

• Google’s Gemini AI is really good at watermark removal

  It’s a nightmare for copyright enforcement. Even if Gemini blocks this…there will be plenty of open source tools that can do the same thing. 

• Intel's new CEO plots overhaul of manufacturing and AI operations

  Name a better duo than “Restructuring” and “Revamping” as it relates to AI.

• xAI acquires AI video startup Hotshot

  During a livestream in January, Elon said that he expects a “Grok Video” model to be released “in a few months.”

• OpenAI to start testing ChatGPT connectors for Google Drive and Slack

  According to a document viewed by TechCrunch.

• Google + Partners launch a satellite that detects smaller wildfires earlier

  This satellite is the first of more than 50 in a first-of-its-kind constellation designed to use AI to detect and track wildfires as small as a classroom.

The numbers:

• Nvidia’s AI empire

  Features a list of startups that raised rounds exceeding $100 million where Nvidia is a named participant since 2023, including new ones it has backed so far in 2025, organized from the highest amount to lowest raised in the round.

• Figure introduces BotQ

  New manufacturing facility for humanoid robots — capable of manufacturing up to 12,000 humanoids per year.

Thought starters:

• ReCamMaster: Camera-Controlled Generative Rendering from A Single Video

  The synthesized videos are not perfect (yet).

• OpenAI’s CPO Kevin Weil says "this is the year that AI gets better than humans at programming forever"

  Watch the full interview with Overpowered on YouTube.

• GTC March 2025 Keynote with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang

  This is the big topic of the week. Watch the keynote live on YouTube (starting in 16 hrs).

Thanks for reading,

Eddie

Are we friends on LinkedIn and X? Let’s connect — DM me or hit the follow button.

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