{"id":40839,"date":"2023-10-20T16:40:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T20:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=40839"},"modified":"2024-06-18T14:38:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T18:38:56","slug":"the-problem-with-china-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/20\/the-problem-with-china-and-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem With China and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/19\/business\/media\/jon-stewart-the-problem-ends.html\">Benjamin Mullin, John Koblin, and Tripp Mickle<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=37955468\">Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/19\/business\/media\/jon-stewart-the-problem-ends.html\">\n<p>Jon Stewart&rsquo;s show on Apple&rsquo;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 &ldquo;Daily Show&rdquo; host.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2023\/10\/19\/apple-has-a-problem-with-jon-stewart\/\">Benjamin Mayo<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=37950194\">Hacker News<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2023\/10\/20\/apple-tv-show-problem-jon-steward-canceled\/\">MacRumors<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2023\/10\/19\/apple-has-a-problem-with-jon-stewart\/\"><p>Filming for season three was set to begin soon, but those plans have now been scrapped.<\/p><p>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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Mickle was one of the ones <a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/05\/giving-notes-on-apples-tv-shows\/\">reporting<\/a> previously, based on multiple sources, that Tim Cook and other executives were &ldquo;giving notes&rdquo; on Apple&rsquo;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 &ldquo;the problem&rdquo; and will ensure that other shows won&rsquo;t need notes on these topics to stay in line.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/problem-with-jon-stewart-ending\/\">Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/problem-with-jon-stewart-ending\/\">\n<p>In 2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/alexkantrowitz\/apple-china-tv-protesters-hong-kong-tim-cook\">Alex Kantrowitz and John Paczkowski<\/a> reported for <em>Buzzfeed News<\/em> that Apple was one of <a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/chinese-censorship-hollywood\/\">several studios<\/a> 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&rsquo;s exposure is even greater because of its manufacturing requirements.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/19\/a-hard-bargain-for-apple-in-china\/\">A Hard Bargain for Apple in China<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/16\/apple-suppliers-accused-of-using-forced-labor\/\">Apple Suppliers Accused of Using Forced Labor<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/05\/giving-notes-on-apples-tv-shows\/\">Giving Notes on Apple&rsquo;s TV Shows<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/24\/apple-shying-away-from-r-rated-original-content\/\">Apple Shying Away From R-Rated Original Content<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"the-problem-with-china-and-ai-update-2023-10-25\">Update (2023-10-25): See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2023\/10\/report-apple-cancels-the-problem-with-jon-stewart-over-china-ai-topics\/\">ArsTechnica<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=37966643\">Hacker News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p id=\"the-problem-with-china-and-ai-update-2024-06-18\">Update (2024-06-18): <a href=\"https:\/\/spyglass.org\/the-problem-was-jon-stewart\/\">M.G. Siegler<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/spyglass.org\/the-problem-was-jon-stewart\/\"><p>Stewart sat down with <a href=\"https:\/\/puck.news\/author\/matthew-belloni\/?ref=spyglass.org\">Puck&rsquo;s Matt Belloni<\/a> for his podcast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theringer.com\/2024\/6\/13\/24177435\/jon-stewart-talks-apple-split-corporate-constraints-media-regression?ref=spyglass.org\"><em>The Tow<\/em>n<\/a> last week. He started out clearly trying to make peace with Apple &#x2013; which, by his own account, did very right by him and his team upon exiting the relationship &#x2013; and tone down the rhetoric[&#8230;]<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><blockquote><p>He recalled a specific instance when he was shooting the show&rsquo;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&rsquo;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.<\/p><p>&ldquo;We play the interview for the audience, they explode like we just hit a three-pointer at the buzzer,&rdquo; Stewart recalled, adding that Apple raised concerns soon after. &ldquo;The show ends, we go downstairs in full <em>Rudy<\/em> mode. The Apple executives walk into the dressing room afterwards with a look on their face and I was like &lsquo;oh my God, did the factory explode, what happened?&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p><p>&ldquo;And they go &lsquo;are you going to use that Summers thing,&rdquo; Stewart continued. &ldquo;I was like &lsquo;the one where the crowd cheered?&rsquo; We went back and forth for a couple of weeks before the show aired about that particular moment. It was then that I realized, &lsquo;Oh, our aims don&rsquo;t align in any way.&rsquo; We&rsquo;re trying to make the best most insightful execution of the intention that we can make, but they&rsquo;re protecting a different agenda. And that&rsquo;s when I knew we were in trouble.&rdquo;<\/p><\/blockquote><\/blockquote><p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/appleinsider.com\/articles\/24\/06\/14\/jon-stewart-reveals-the-moment-thing-went-bad-with-apple\">William Gallagher<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/9to5mac.com\/2024\/06\/14\/jon-stewart-speaks-out-following-tv-shows-abrupt-end\/\">Ryan Christoffel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/03\/apples-problem-with-lina-khan\/\">Apple&rsquo;s Problem With Lina Khan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benjamin Mullin, John Koblin, and Tripp Mickle (Hacker News): Jon Stewart&rsquo;s show on Apple&rsquo;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 &ldquo;Daily Show&rdquo; host. [&#8230;] The show initially had difficulty gaining traction. By [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-20T20:40:09Z","apple_news_api_id":"716c2b1a-53a6-46af-bebe-db76ee794f38","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-06-18T18:39:00Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AcWwrGlOmRq--vtt27nlPOA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38,1789,1351,1547,158,600],"class_list":["post-40839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-apple-tv-plus","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-china","tag-strategytax","tag-tv-show"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40839"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43745,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40839\/revisions\/43745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}