TL;DR

In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.

Next month, Warner Bros. Discovery will rebrand HBO Max to Max and will add Discovery+ content to the service. (Variety)
Microsoft’s new Bing integration for its SwiftKey app lets users chat with the AI bot directly from their mobile keyboard. (The Verge)
Amazon is introducing a cloud service called Bedrock that developers can use to enhance their software with text-generating AI systems. (CNBC)

Audiences

About 1 in 4 US adults either spent less on or stopped paying entirely for various entertainment expenses due to inflation. (Morning Consult)
52% of US Gen Z adults are frequent travelers, on par with Millennials. (Morning Consult)
70% of US adults, including 83% of weekly AI users, believe current AI tools are capable of achieving artificial general intelligence. (Morning Consult)
91% of Mexican households with fixed broadband watch movies, series or events online. (BBVision)
In the US, Millennials are the age group most likely to buy products or services advertised on podcasts. (Insider)
The pandemic has fueled a large increase in viewing of English content in India, with 65% of the urban Indian SVOD audience now watching English content. (Ormax Media)

Google TV expanded its free streaming lineup to over 800 live TV channels. (Tech Crunch)
Instagram added new features to its creator marketplace and expanded access to brand agencies. (Tech Crunch)
Microsoft’s PC Game Pass launched in 40 new countries. (The Verge)
Peacock subscribers can now stream content on Meta Quest devices. (Tech Crunch)
Google will shut down Currents, the work-focused Google Plus replacement. (The Verge)
Pinterest announced new safety tools and parental controls. (Tech Crunch)
NPR announced it is quitting Twitter after a dispute with the social media platform over its editorial independence. (Mediaite)
New Australian “total TV” ratings data, known as VOZ, is expected to launch in May to better reflect how Australians are consuming TV. (TV Tonight)
Channel 4 will launch a high impact digital advertising experiment. (Digital TV Europe)
Porsche will allow passengers to stream film and TV on built-in screens. (The Guardian)

YouTube started its presale of NFL Sunday Ticket subscription, with presale ending in June. (Tech Crunch)
Succession hit a series high of 2.5M viewers when HBO aired episode 3 of the final season. (Variety)
Netflix announced a straight-to-series order for an untitled animated series set within the Stranger Things universe. (THR)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie exceeded expectations in its weekend debut, bringing in $377M globally and $204.6M domestically. (Axios)
Paramount+ has become an official partner of Formula 1, as it pushes deeper into sports content. (Deadline)
Snap has signed new music licensing deals to expand its Sounds library. (Tech Crunch)
Spotify is targeting radio broadcasters with its latest product update that will make it easier to covert radio shows into on-demand podcasts. (THR)
South Korea is now the largest producer of hit series globally for Netflix outside the US, with more than 60% of its customers having watched a Korean show last year. (Bloomberg)
Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to add live sports to its Max streaming service. (CNET)
Endeavor could bundle the streaming rights for both UFC and WWE. (Sports Pro Media)
Premier League football clubs rejected a £15M Netflix series, deeming the offer too low. (Talk Sport)

Researchers populated a tiny virtual town with AI, and it was very wholesome. (Tech Crunch)
OpenAI will start paying people as much as $20K to help the company find bugs in its AI systems. (Bloomberg)
Microsoft is bringing Windows 11 to its HoloLens 2 headset. (The Verge)
BGaming launched a new themed slot, Alien Fruits, that includes AI-generated graphics. (Yogonet)

Atlantic City's casinos are still feeling the impact of the pandemic, with profits down 4.6% YoY in 2022. (Yogonet)
Slowing consumer spending, reduced availability of credit and rising penetration of e-commerce may contribute to the closure of 50K US retail stores by 2027. (Retail Dive)
BTS will launch an immersive fan experience to celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary. (Rolling Stone)
Australia’s second largest movie theater operator, Hoyts, has been put up for sale. (Variety)
Disneyland will close Splash Mountain on May 31st for an extensive reimagining process. (KTLA)
Katy Perry announced the final performance dates of her Las Vegas Strip residency, with the last show being November 4th. (Fox)
Event organizer Billy McFarland announced that Fyre Festival is making a return. (E!)
The Cannes Film Festival unveiled the lineup for its 76th edition which includes films from Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and Catherine Breillat. (Variety)
Detroit casinos reported $119.2M in gaming revenue during March, a 12% increase MoM. (Yogonet)