Netflix just won't chill. The streaming service reported better than expected first-quarter earnings on Monday.
"It's primarily driven by the quality," said Kyle Robertson, the founder and editor-in-chief of StartU, a digital publication covering start-ups. He said the streaming service's 7.4 million new subscribers in the first quarter were likely attracted by content more than the volume of Netflix's titles.
The Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said the company will spend between $7.5 and $8 billion on original content this year as it prepares to do battle with Disney's new streaming service.
"They have competition coming from all quarters," said Paul Verna, principal analyst at eMarketer, said in an interview on Cheddar. "It's only a matter of time before Apple starts to seriously get into the streaming video world with a subscription service."
In recent news, Netflix has been battling an international feud with the Cannes Film Festival, resulting in the streaming platform pulling its movies from the festival. In the earnings note, Hastings explains a new rule that means a film competition at Cannes cannot be watched on Netflix in France for the next three years. Never wanting to do that to its international users, Netflix will continue to sit out until further notice.
Netflix also announced expectations for the second quarter, when it aims to add nearly 1 million domestic subscribers and more than 4 million new international users.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/netflix-wont-chill).
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
