Puck

Meta Removes Controversial Instagram AI Feature

Meta launched Muse Image on July 7, 2026, with an initial U.S. rollout and 30 new AI Story effects. The product included a controversial mention-based option that let third parties generate or modify images by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts without notifying owners, effectively requiring creators to opt out. After days of backlash from creators, privacy advocates, SAG-AFTRA, talent agencies (including CAA), celebrities and journalists warning of privacy risks and potential abuses such as sexualized AI images, Meta disabled the @mention capability and said it had "missed the mark." Meta retained the underlying image model and standard text-, sketch- and upload-based generation, updated its Muse Image post, and previewed further development including Muse Video and the Muse Spark 1.1 model.

Tech Investors Face Summer AI Market Uncertainty

Rising valuations, volatile markets and political backlash are creating a nervous environment for tech and AI investors this summer. The piece highlights bubble warnings from the Bank for International Settlements, increased margin trading, and concerns from prominent investors and executives. Several specific developments are noted: Amazon dropped distribution of an almost-completed OpenAI movie (Neon has since acquired it); Together AI and German drone maker Quantum Systems raised major funding rounds; OpenAI has discussed donating a 5% stake to a U.S. sovereign fund; Meta and xAI are entering the business of selling compute; and Anthropic’s co-founder Tom Brown reportedly brokered a truce with the U.S. government. The article also flags growing political risk around data centers, the persistence of FOMO among investors, and continued strong revenue growth at leading AI firms.

California Presses Paramount to Divest CNN

Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison and financed in part by Larry Ellison, is advancing a proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (often called "WarnerMount") that has cleared federal approval from the Department of Justice. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is conducting state-level scrutiny and has indicated that selling CNN could be a key concession to resolve antitrust and public‑interest concerns. Paramount has stated it prefers to merge CNN with CBS News, but sources and reporting (Puck News) suggest a divestiture of CNN is under active discussion to satisfy regulators. The outcome could reshape media ownership, streaming and advertising inventories, and set regulatory precedents for large media mergers.