The Problem With China and AI
Benjamin Mullin, John Koblin, and Tripp Mickle (Hacker News):
Jon Stewart’s show on Apple’s streaming service is abruptly coming to an end, according to several people with knowledge of the decision, the result of creative differences between the tech giant and the former “Daily Show” host.
[…]
The show initially had difficulty gaining traction. By the second season, though, several interviews generated viral clips online, and the season was nominated for the outstanding talk series Emmy.
Benjamin Mayo (Hacker News, MacRumors):
Filming for season three was set to begin soon, but those plans have now been scrapped.
According to the newspaper, Apple executives resisted coverage of some topics Stewart had planned to tackle in the third season, including coverage of China and AI matters.
Mickle was one of the ones reporting previously, based on multiple sources, that Tim Cook and other executives were “giving notes” on Apple’s TV content. Eddy Cue categorically denied the story, but I never found it likely that Apple would be entirely hands-off, and there have been scattered reports since that notes have been given. Canceling a show entirely is a much cleaner way of solving “the problem” and will ensure that other shows won’t need notes on these topics to stay in line.
In 2019, Alex Kantrowitz and John Paczkowski reported for Buzzfeed News that Apple was one of several studios which wanted to avoid irking powerful people in China. It is risky for any large studio to be unable to show its productions in China but, as has become a normal point of discussion for me, Apple’s exposure is even greater because of its manufacturing requirements.
Previously:
- A Hard Bargain for Apple in China
- Apple Suppliers Accused of Using Forced Labor
- Giving Notes on Apple’s TV Shows
- Apple Shying Away From R-Rated Original Content
Update (2023-10-25): See also: ArsTechnica and Hacker News.
Update (2024-06-18): M.G. Siegler:
Stewart sat down with Puck’s Matt Belloni for his podcast The Town last week. He started out clearly trying to make peace with Apple – which, by his own account, did very right by him and his team upon exiting the relationship – and tone down the rhetoric[…]
[…]
He recalled a specific instance when he was shooting the show’s second season, which was during his interview with economist Larry Summers. As the two discussed high corporate profits and federal interest rates, Summers pointed out that Stewart’s program was airing on Apple. Stewart acknowledged it and said that all corporations are gouging customers, and Summers acknowledged that raising interest rates softens the labor market.
“We play the interview for the audience, they explode like we just hit a three-pointer at the buzzer,” Stewart recalled, adding that Apple raised concerns soon after. “The show ends, we go downstairs in full Rudy mode. The Apple executives walk into the dressing room afterwards with a look on their face and I was like ‘oh my God, did the factory explode, what happened?’”
“And they go ‘are you going to use that Summers thing,” Stewart continued. “I was like ‘the one where the crowd cheered?’ We went back and forth for a couple of weeks before the show aired about that particular moment. It was then that I realized, ‘Oh, our aims don’t align in any way.’ We’re trying to make the best most insightful execution of the intention that we can make, but they’re protecting a different agenda. And that’s when I knew we were in trouble.”
See also: William Gallagher and Ryan Christoffel.
Previously:
Before AppleTV+ launched, Tripp Mickle was the same guy who reported that Tim Cook, along with Amburg/Erlicht, was telling TV producers that they couldn't include "gratuitous violence or nudity", and gave the world the memorable label "expensive NBC" (even claiming, via blind sources, that this was how Apple described *itself*). People were sure the whole lineup was going to be safe enough to run on a loop inside Apple stores. I'm sure he's got his facts straight this time, though.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-sex-please-were-apple-iphone-giant-seeks-tv-success-on-its-own-terms-1537588880