Good morning. Amazon is expanding its live shopping efforts with a new Shark Tank-inspired show called Buy It Now. It will feature a rotating cast of judges including celebs like Gwenyth Paltrow and Christian Siriano as well as Amazon execs. No word on whether we’ll see Barbara Corcoran…and for that, we’re out.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Meta Rolls Out AI Translation Tools for Creators

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced new augmented reality (AR) and AI tools at the company’s 2024 Connect event on Wednesday.

How will these updates affect creators? Colin and Samir were at Meta HQ—here are their biggest takeaways from Connect:

Automatic video dubbing is coming to Reels. Meta showed off a new AI translation tool that dubs Instagram or Facebook video creators’ audio in different languages (and even syncs with creators’ lips).

“This continues to help globalize content—but to truly go worldwide, creators will have to make content that crosses cultural borders,” Samir said.

Creators can craft AI versions of themselves. Zuckerberg had a live conversation with a “hyper-realistic” avatar resembling Instagram creator Don Allen (who also appeared on stage). 

“This will really push the bounds of the parasocial relationship between a creator and their audience  — I’m intrigued by the tech, but uncertain if it’s something I’d want to use yet,” Coin said.

Zuckerberg previewed Meta’s most advanced AR glasses yet. Dubbed “Orion,” the wireless prototype showcases holograms in the real world—and is activated by voice commands, hand gestures, and a “wrist-based neural interface” that lets users send signals to the device from their brains.

Orion “felt like I got my hands back, like we’ll look at this current era 10–20 years from now and think it was crazy that we all used to be addicted to looking at these little rectangles called phones,” Colin said.

Discord Opens Developer Ecosystem

Discord is going the way of Roblox—making it easier for creators to build and monetize on the platform.

This week, Discord announced that it’s opening development for Activities, its in-app ecosystem for apps and games, to all developers. 

What that means: Creators can make, monetize, and distribute their own games and software via Discord’s Embedded Apps Software Development Kit. 

Discord is offering tiers of growth, with platform fees reducing from 30% to 15% for the first $1 million in gross sales generated by a developer’s app. 

Context: The move aligns with Discord’s mission to narrow its focus from community-centered chat app to “a place that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interest,” Discord CEO Jason Citron told GamesBeat.

How are creators responding? Generally positively.

• “Feels like there's a huge opportunity for in-app games on Discord. Been saying this for a while just in the Discord bot space, but with the Activities platform they have now it seems like a no brainer to get engagement,” tech creator Garrett Makes said on X.

• “I’ve been really excited for this, and so are developers,” gaming investor Josh Lu said on X. “We have multiple Speedrun companies building for the platform and if you look closely you'll be able to find them featured this week.”

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Top creators are securing their handles for merch:

• IShowSpeed upgraded to speed.store

• MrBeast transitioned to mrbeast.store

• Dodford chose dodford.store

• Even we opted for presspublish.store for our audience to easily find press merchandise.

You've claimed your social handles—now secure your domain for future monetization. Make your brand stand out with a .store domain. Don't delay—claim yours today and ensure your online presence is as impactful as your content.

SAG-AFTRA Strikes League of Legends

Voice actors who are part of SAG-AFTRA declared a strike against video game League of Legends this week.

Context: SAG has been boycotting select video games since July over publisher AI use.

• Union members added League of Legends to the list after Formosa Interactive, the company that provides League of Legends’s voiceover services, allegedly enacted “unfair labor laws” by canceling a game that it had registered with the union and searching for “non-union” workers. 

• Formosa rejects the allegations.

League of Legends publisher Riot Games denied its involvement and said the strike won’t impact its game development schedule.

Big picture: The gaming industry has faced a record number of layoffs this year, creating a more difficult production environment amid lower overall consumer demand.

“To be fair, Riot Games is a struck company and they’ve had two months to come to the union and make a deal. But they haven’t seemed interested in protecting their actors from AI,” voice actor Linsay Rousseau, who is participating in the strike, said on X. “We encourage Riot Games to sign directly with the union and keep the League recording.”

🔥 Press Worthy

• Hank Green launches a Kickstarter for his new project, The Book of Good Times.

• Ashley Alexander is hosting a pop-up for her matcha brand, Nami Matcha, in NYC.

• Join Colin, Samir and thousands of other creators at Adobe MAX—a 3-day creativity conference to sharpen your creative skills, ignite inspiration, and connect with like-minded creators. Register to attend in Miami or online for free here.*

• LinkedIn is using user data for AI training.

• TikTok partners with the World Health Organization to provide health information on related videos.

• Golf creators JnA join Good Good.

• YouTube introduces longer unskippable ads for TV viewers.

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• Read: Most news creators are men, according to research from Reuters. The think tank unpacks why that is—and how several female journalists are breaking through on creator platforms.

• Watch: “AI has become completely inescapable.” Commentary creator Drew Gooden argues why most tech companies’ new AI tools are “ruining the Internet.”

• Listen: Filmmaker and actor Mark Duplass appears on The Town to discuss the current (and growing) landscape of indie TV.