📓Creativ Brief: Your SXSW Guide
SXSW itineraries. Microsoft AI. Bitcoin reserve. Paramount cuts DEI. Top game by publisher.
I’m laid out on my back this week from a nasty cold. Three full days in bed, which feels like an eternity in start up time.
That said, we’ve powered through to bring you an abridged version of the brief today… a briefer brief… to talk about all things SXSW.
We’ve got a host of things happening. If you are in Austin, TX this weekend from the 7th-12th, our team will be there.
Some highlights:
All day Saturday, 1stAveMachine and SGx will present as SXSW innovation awards finalists for their Bedtime AI storymaker and AI film camera CMR M-1.
Saturday evening, we’ll be attending exclusive happy hours with Fastco and Axios Media on Saturday with clients.
Sunday we’re taking it easier and listening to some great music at Hotel Vegas and attending panels at SXSW Converge.
Monday is panel and networking!
Tuesday, I’ll be attending GamesBeat Engage at SXSW to talk gaming.
Scroll below for our full SXSW itinerary sheet.
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3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines
Microsoft is developing its own artificial intelligence reasoning models, known internally as MAI, to compete with OpenAI and reduce reliance on external AI providers. These MAI models have been trained using chain-of-thought techniques and perform comparably to leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic; Microsoft is experimenting with integrating them into its Copilot tools and may offer them to external developers by year-end.
Why it matters: This strategic move signifies Microsoft's intent to enhance its AI capabilities in-house, potentially lowering costs and influencing the competitive dynamics within the tech and AI industries.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, utilizing bitcoin assets already seized by the U.S. government. The reserve will be funded with bitcoin forfeited in criminal or civil cases, with no immediate plans for new acquisitions; however, the order allows for future budget-neutral strategies to acquire additional bitcoin without burdening taxpayers.
Why it matters: This initiative signifies a formal recognition of bitcoin as a reserve asset by the U.S. government, potentially influencing global cryptocurrency adoption and regulatory approaches.
Paramount Global has announced the termination of several diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, citing compliance with President Donald Trump's executive order banning such practices in federal operations and directing agencies to investigate private companies over their DEI programs. The company will discontinue setting aspirational numerical goals related to race, ethnicity, sex, or gender in hiring and will cease collecting demographic data from job applicants unless legally mandated.
Why it matters: This shift is part of a larger trend of companies rethinking their DEI efforts as federal policies change, which could have a big impact on diversity in media and entertainment.
Creativ Spotlight - The Full SXSW Itinerary
Want to do SXSW like a pro? Click here to view our full itinerary for upcoming events you can register for. Yeehaw!
Stat of the Week - Top Games by Publisher for Consumers
As part of our Machine Generated Insights gaming study, we extracted consumer data that identifeis what games are currently at the heart of conversation with video gamers. Our insights measure the percent of mindshare each game has by studio/publisher—not only that, we were able to determine the specific games and IP dominating the gaming zeitgeist.
Take 2 Interactive and their Grand Theft Auto IP landed at the top of our list—at this point, you can’t go to any corner of the internet without someone bringing up the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6. This is followed up by Sega and the ever-famous Sonic franchise. Rounding out the top 3 is Square Enix, with Final Fantasy remaining a popular topic of conversation with gamers.
This is the future of insights, and it’s all happening through ellain and Creativ Company!