NEWS OF THE WEEK: J.K. Rowling on New Harry Potter Cast: 'I Couldn't Be Happier'
J.K. Rowling has broken her silence on the new stars of the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, saying: 'All three are wonderful. I couldn't be happier.' Her comment came in response to a fan on X (formerly Twitter) who praised the newly announced leads. Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione, and Alastair Stout as Ron. The trio were selected from over 32,000 auditions across the UK and Ireland. Filming begins this summer, and the series—spanning seven seasons—is set to air on HBO with a reported budget of £75 million per episode.
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43 minutes ago
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Death to Gmail? Google DeepMind CEO Wants AI to Solve This One Annoying Problem
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis might have won a Nobel Prize for his work on AlphaFold 2, an AI model that can predict protein structures, but the solution to the problem he really wants to solve still evades him. The problem in question is infinitely easier to grasp and more relatable than Hassabis' work in the field of chemistry. "The thing I really want that we're working on is next-generation email," he said, speaking at SXSW London on Monday. "I would love to get rid of my email." Based on the crowd reaction, it was a popular sentiment in the room, where earlier that day, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted to sending only one email for the entire 10-year period he was in office. There is some irony to Hassabis' quest. The prize-winning scientist is responsible for developing some of the most complex and sophisticated AI models the world has ever seen, all in aid of working toward cures for diseases that are beyond anything we have access to today. His mission to render email (presumably Gmail?) – an annoyance of our own human invention – obsolete feels like small fry in comparison. But it also exposes the duality of Hassabis' responsibilities at Google. He is, and always has been, deeply committed to pursuing AI for the benefit of humankind. "My personal passion is applying [AI] to the frontiers of science and medicine," he said. At the same time he is beholden to the corporate interests of Google, which acquired DeepMind in 2014. Hassabis always imagined the development of AI to be more of a "scientific-led endeavor," spearheaded by a computer science equivalent to CERN, the famed particle physics lab in Switzerland. But the technology went a different way, becoming commercially viable much quicker than he anticipated. From there, he said, "the capitalist engine has done what it does best." Hassabis almost speaks as though he is separate from the "capitalist engine," but of course he is deeply embedded within it. DeepMind being owned by Google means that as well as pursuing his passion project of curing disease with AI – arguably the most noble use of AI – he must split his attention to ensure Google's AI products, from Gemini to Veo and everything else the company announced at I/O last month are up to scratch in a competitive market. In pursuit of AGI The competition is "ferocious" and it's a hefty work schedule for one man, who says he sleeps very little and doesn't expect to until "we get to AGI," or artificial general intelligence. Along with developing DeepMind's core AI models, and translating them into science, he continues to pursue the development of AGI, or AI that fully matches (or exceeds) human intellectual capabilities. "My feeling is that we're about five to 10 years away," he said. His vision for AGI is that it will unlock a world in which "we can cure many, many diseases – or maybe even all diseases," and "unlimited renewable energy." In some ways, the Google products are stopping off points on the way. One of the reasons DeepMind has built Veo 3, its latest video generation software, said Hassabis, is that AGI needs to have a physical understanding of the world around it. The world models built for Veo 3 are key to this understanding. In turn, these world models will be essential for a breakthrough in robotics, which Hassabis believes is due in the "next few years." While it's sometimes not clear where DeepMind's worthy mission ends and Google's commercial priorities kick in, it's clear that Hassabis is finding ways to make it work for him, and his long-term pursuit of an AGI breakthrough. In spite of the seismic shift he predicts this will cause, even he is skeptical of the hype around AI in the short term. "I mean, it couldn't be any more hyped," he said. "Therefore, it is a little bit overhyped."
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Gotham TV Awards: ‘Matlock's Kathy Bates Named Outstanding Lead Performer In A Drama As Winners Roll In
The ceremony for the second annual Gotham Television Awards is underway Monday night in New York City, where winners for the year's best in TV are being revealed as the small-screen awards season hits high gear. Netflix's Adolescence leads all nominees coming into the night with four, while Max's The Pitt, CBS' Matlock and FX's limited series Dying For Sex have three noms apiece. Already tonight, Apple TV+'s The Studio won the Breakthrough Comedy Series award. More from Deadline Gotham Television Awards 2025 Red Carpet Photos: All The Looks Of The Night 'Adolescence', 'The Pitt', 'Dying For Sex', 'Matlock' Top Nominees For Gotham TV Awards 'Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy' Emmy Submissions: Renée Zellweger Eyes Historic Double In all 12 competitive categories are up for grabs recognizing breakthrough drama, comedy and limited series, including in the newly created category of Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast or Streaming. That award tonight went to HBO | Max's documentary Pee-wee as Himself. Keep checking below as we update this year's winners list. This year's Gothams are also celebrating their tribute honorees during the ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street: Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, as well as director Hwang Dong-hyuk, will receive Creator Tributes; Elisabeth Moss and the cast of The Handmaid's Tale will receive the inaugural Ensemble Tribute; Brian Tyree Henry will receive the Performer Tribute; Sheryl Lee Ralph will receive the Sidney Poitier Icon Tribute; David E. Kelley will receive the Visionary Tribute; and Parker Posey will receive the inaugural Legend Tribute. Last year, the Gotham Film & Media Institute-organized Gotham TV Awards helped kick off the awards-season run of Netflix's eventual Emmy winner Baby Reindeer, and also bestowed double wins on Paramount+'s Aussie comedy Colin From Accounts. Here's the winners list, which will be updated. Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama Series Kathy Bates, Matlock (CBS) Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama Series Ben Whishaw, Black Doves (Netflix) Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast or Streaming Pee-wee as HimselfMatt Wolf, director; Emma Tillinger Koskoff, producer (HBO | Max) Outstanding Performance in an Original Film, Broadcast or Streaming Aaron PierreRebel Ridge (Netflix) Breakthrough Nonfiction Series Social StudiesLauren Greenfield, creator; Frank Evers, Lauren Greenfield, executive producers (FX/Hulu) Breakthrough Comedy Series The StudioEvan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen, creators; Josh Fagan, Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Alex McAtee, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen, James Weaver, executive producers (Apple TV+) Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series Julio TorresFantasmas (HBO | Max) Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy Series Poorna JagannathanDeli Boys (Hulu) Breakthrough Drama Series Breakthrough Limited Series Outstanding Lead Performance in a Limited Series Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Limited Series Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More Everything We Know About 'Happy Gilmore 2' So Far
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2 hours ago
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Warning over TikTok food sellers not listing allergens
TikTok users are selling food without listing allergen information, the BBC has found. Listings on TikTok Shop show people selling snacks and sweets without highlighting they contain one of the 14 main allergens that UK businesses are legally required to declare. When the BBC brought these listings to TikTok's attention, it deleted them and said: "TikTok Shop is committed to providing a safe and trustworthy shopping experience." Simon Williams, chief executive of Anaphylaxis UK, warned allergy suffers: "If the ingredient and allergen information isn't there, don't buy it. You're putting your life in grave danger." "We have policies and processes in place with our sellers to ensure the safety of food and beverages sold on our platform and we will remove products that breach these policies," a TikTok spokesperson said. However, it is currently possible to sell food on TikTok Shop without providing any ingredient or allergy information. The BBC found one seller, Mega Buy UK, selling a sweet treat related to the popular Netflix show Squid Game and listed the ingredients and allergens as "not applicable". Another UK-based seller called The Nashville Burger listed a burger-making kit that contained milk - one of the 14 allergens food businesses in the UK are required to declare on labels. It also contained wheat - which should be listed as an allergen under cereals containing gluten. However, on TikTok Shop, the allergen information was given as "spices" and the ingredient description simply said "flour". The BBC also found a seller called UK Snack Supply advertising lollipops and crisps with no ingredient or allergen information. TikTok has deleted the adverts the BBC highlighted, but all three companies are still on TikTok Shop selling other products without providing full allergen information. The BBC has approached all of these sellers for comment but could not independently verify that the sellers were all listed in the UK. However, allergy charities say regardless of where the firms are based more should be done to keep consumers safe. TikTok is a place where food trends go viral - from the pickle challenge which involved eating a hot pickle wrapped in a fruit roll-up - to Dubai chocolate which sparked a shopping frenzy. And while users consume the videos TikTok has also become a platform to buy and sell a bite of the action. Kate Lancaster's two children both have milk allergies and she regularly posts advice on TikTok as The Dairy Free Mum. She thinks TikTok has a responsibility to ensure all products sold on its shopping platform meet safety and labelling standards. "It's completely unacceptable and really worrying. Failing to provide ingredient information is potentially very dangerous, and it feels like a complete disregard for the safety of those living with food allergies," she said. Tanya Ednan-Laperouse co-founded The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation in the name of her daughter who died after an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger sandwich. She said: "'TikTok is responsible for ensuring that all their UK food sellers meet legislative requirements to sell food products on their app. "Any that don't should be immediately removed from the app and investigated, but ideally this should not happen if their checks and balances are rigorous and in place." After her daughter's death, new safety rules, known as "Natasha's Law", were introduced which require full ingredient and allergen labelling on all food made on premises and pre-packed for direct sale. Kate believes TikTok is allowing sellers to "swerve" basic food labelling requirements as the app allows people not to list any ingredients at all and thinks the platform should penalise those who don't provide the correct information. "Since Natasha's Law has come into effect I feel that, in general, allergy labelling has improved, but it's frightening that a huge platform like TikTok does not have adequate measures to ensure that labelling is in place," she said. "The thought of someone with a food allergy, or an allergy parent, buying items that they assume are safe, when in fact they may not be, is really scary." Mr Williams from Anaphylaxis UK says the ultimate responsibility lies with the seller but does think TikTok could do more. "At the moment it's being used as a platform to sell things that may not be safe. They [TikTok] do need to do more," he said, "There's a lot of people making a lot of money, great side hustle, but they're putting people at risk." Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is responsible for food safety in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: "Wherever people buy their food, it needs to be safe and what it says it is. "Food businesses in the UK must be registered with their local authority and follow food law. All food businesses have a legal responsibility to sell safe food and provide allergen information." The FSA website says that if food is sold online or over the phone through "distance selling" then allergen information must be provided at two different stages in the order process. This usually means providing allergy information in the online description and then also on the packaging so a buyer has two opportunities to check if their allergy could be triggered.
