Tech Giants Buy Hollywood For Soft Power: AI Film & The Cost of Empty Sound Stages — Alan Lasky

About this episode

Alan Lasky discusses the intersection of AI and media, the challenges facing Hollywood, and the motivations behind tech giants acquiring media companies.

Alan Lasky arrived at the AI XR Podcast straight from Las Vegas ahead of NAB. An MIT Media Lab graduate under Nicholas Negroponte, a veteran of Silicon Graphics and Amazon Web Services, and an advisor to investment banks on AI and media, he brings technical depth, industry history, and financial realism about where media is actually going. The conversation covers Hollywood's structural collapse, AI's role in the production renaissance, and the harder question of why trillion-dollar tech companies keep buying media businesses that can't generate comparable returns. Alan's answer: soft power. Amazon makes $950 million Lord of the Rings spinoffs so you order more paper towels. Apple is making Neuromancer. His five-year weighted moving average of Disney stock — flat from 2018 — makes the argument clean. AI XR News You Should Know: Artemis ignited a new space boom. Amazon acquired Global Star satellite to build Project Kuiper, a direct Starlink competitor. Apple's AI audio smart glasses are reportedly arriving this year per Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, entering a market where Meta owns the optometrist channel and Google is moving through Warby Parker. Snap laid off 15% while doubling…

People in this episode

Guest: Alan Lasky

Topics covered

• AI in media
• Hollywood's structural collapse
• Tech companies and media acquisitions
• Soft power in entertainment
• AI film production
• Future of media

Keywords

• AI
• Hollywood
• media acquisitions
• soft power
• Amazon
• Apple
• Disney
• Snap
• NAB

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MIT Media Lab, Silicon Graphics, Amazon Web Services, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Snap, Meta, Google

Books & works: Lord of the Rings, Neuromancer, Magic Leap

Places: Las Vegas

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