In Birmingham, which faces a long-brewing cash crisis, "grants to regularly-funded arts organisations will face 50% cuts this year and 100% next financial year." This includes, among others, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham REP Theatre, IKON Gallery, and Birmingham International Dance Festival. - Birmingham Live
"Preliminary work has begun on a $335-million expansion of the Colburn School of performing arts designed by Gehry that includes a mid-size concert hall he expects to be in near-constant use for events put on by students, professional artists and academics." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, which operates M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum as well as a traditional Chinese opera center and a black-box theater, was created by government statute but receives no government subsidies — and the initial endowment established when WKCDA was created will be gone next year. - ARTnews
The "passeport talent," launched in 2017 for certain highly-skilled individuals, now includes entrepreneurs, investors, and staff employees (as well as freelancers) judged likely to make a significant contribution to France's culture or economy. It allows holders to live and work in the country for up to four years. - Euronews
It argues that as a reputable and trusted source, its articles have additional weight and reliability in training generative AI and are part of a data subset that is given additional weighting in that training. - The Conversation
U.S. copyright law is extremely complicated, and the technology bears features that don’t resemble anything seen in earlier technology transitions. Put them together, and the complexities are magnified exponentially. - Los Angeles Times
Before 2019, other companies held Call of Duty tournaments. Then things changed. "The lawsuit claims that at one point, Activision Blizzard required teams to each pay $27.5 million and swear not to participate in or promote any other professional Call of Duty operations." - MSN (Los Angeles Times)
"If the residents of Littleton vote to limit public art, as one Board of Selectmen member has suggested, the statue will have to be removed. There’s no middle ground: Either all art or none would be allowed on government property.” - Christian Science Monitor
Yes, longtime users, Reddit ITA, to the tune of $60 million a year. “It’s not known what company Reddit made the deal with, but it’s quite a bit more than the $5 million annual deal OpenAI has reportedly been offering news publishers for their data." - The Verge
"St. Louis Park Public Schools will allow opt-outs for families who don’t want their children to read books with LGBTQ+ characters, after six Somali Muslim families threatened to sue the district.” - Sahan Journal
"I will always remember the words written on a piece of paper that Navalny held at one of his court hearings: 'I am not afraid and you should not be afraid.' Navalny was still smiling and laughing on the eve of his death." - The Atlantic
We were the victims of an American approach to city planning that had lost its way. But the next generation of kids may not be so unlucky. After a long demise, the grid is showing signs of a comeback. - The Atlantic
Kevin Roose: "My column about the experience was probably the most consequential thing I’ll ever write — both in terms of the attention it got … and how the trajectory of A.I. development changed. … It's been a year of growth and excitement in A.I. but a surprisingly tame one." - The New York Times
