So

the more they eat, the stronger they get.

And so Mortimer wants to do this.

He's a little bit down and out.

He hasn't had success in a couple of years.

So he lets it happen.

So he basically opens up a portal to the cartoon world.

And in terms of, you know, kind of thinking about juxtaposed to previous mazes that you've done or even previous mazes that we've seen at Scary Farm, what makes Inks stand out against those?

What's your sense of the industry readiness for this change?

This is something that I think because of the really, the power of all the benefits and also what it requires to get there, it's taken the industry a little bit longer to implement than, uh, what many may have expected.

And so it took the appraiser software providers a little bit longer to get the appraiser software out there and available.

We had a, a fairly rigorous process within Freddie Mac and other investor to ensure that we were verifying the data, uh, to make sure that there were not data integrity issues and other things that would complicate the process and make sure that really we're delivering the benefits that are necessary.

And as part of that, it kind of delayed the ability for maybe some lenders to roll this out earlier.

And so now what we're seeing is there's widespread adoption in terms of appraiser availability.

If you look back over the last 10 years of appraisal reports submitted to UCDP, we've had between 30 and 40,000 appraisers that have done all of those appraisal reports.

What are you hearing from the early adopters?

and coffees, helping on reception.

helping the therapy team with their sessions and supporting people in their rehab.

Even our, um, social groups are kind of like, you know, coffee and craft groups, uh, kind of community stuff.

Um, so I think people giving up their time, that's so valuable to us.

Um, it allows us to operate the way we do.

So that's one way.

And then you're part of something as well.

Okay.

Explain what is going on and why it matters.

Sure.

So I think, you know, we need to zoom out at least for a second and say that there's been this decades-long arms race among different states across the country to lure Hollywood productions, and they've done this largely via tax incentives.

So these are states like Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Illinois, which is the state I visited for this story.

And these states have been increasingly successful at winning away business, and the region that's suffering because of that is Southern California, obviously the 100-year-old epicenter of entertainment.

And California has fought back.

The state beefed up its incentive program last year, more than doubling it, so now it's $750 million annually, and the jury's still out on how much of an impact that beefing up will have on local production here in Southern California.

I would read that story.

So will you remind us what does this deal entail and why are the stakes so high in Hollywood and beyond?

Sure.

I think we should probably start with some of the key players in this deal.

Paramount Skydance is owned by David Ellison, whose father is Larry Ellison, the billionaire, co-founder of Oracle and friend of Donald Trump.

And Paramount is acquiring Warner Brothers Discovery for $111 billion.

And in this deal, they are getting a trove of desirable assets.

And many in Hollywood oppose the deal.

So what case is the attorney general making as he alleges that this merger violates federal law?

Can you lay out the concerns about what that relationship could mean? And obviously, from Annie's comment, there have definitely been concerns raised in the journalism space.

Sure.

So, yes, Larry Ellison is a longtime friend of President Trump.

That's not the case for David Ellison, although he has worked to develop a relationship with the president.

He hosted a dinner in D.C. earlier this year that honored President Trump.

I think that we can talk a little bit about what's happened at CBS News since David Ellison took over Paramount.

You know, this has been a real flashpoint and I think led to concerns among many everyday Americans and of course people in the media about what might happen if CNN and CBS are brought under one roof.

And is Hollywood really looking at this as a last-ditch effort to try to stop this merger?

But what else can AI do besides productivity that is great for customer experience, you think?

I think customer experience from a customer support standpoint, I think we should not act like that as a summit that every company has achieved.

They have not, right? And I think personally, we use Navon at Stripe to do our traveling and booking and stuff.

Amazing product.

And you can see how they have really tightened down how LLMs are used.

You have a query.

If it's within a certain budget or price range, they just solve it for you.

And how are the companies like Stripe and ultimately Spouse narrowing the gap with Google to enhance products that feeds LLMs for their customers?

Yeah.

But I used to go on the pri- I suppose, interesting things like looking for the lost empire of Srivijaya, or Cheers and the Solomons.

And eventually I realized, you know, living people, [laughs] they're actually quite interesting.

Um, so I kind of switched.

But I continued to have this interest in how you understand people from objects, 'cause that's what archeologists did.

So I worked, when I first came to UC, I was working material culture.

Then along comes the digital, and everyone's saying, "Oh my gosh, we've got this thing called the virtual that's not real, and it's, it's not material." I'm thinking, but it is.

So the ne- the next question we've been asking people is almost ridiculous to ask after all this, but for you as a researcher then, will artificial intelligence, agentic intelligence, you know, AI, whatever, is it going to transform your job? Is it going to take your job? Is it going to have any impact on your job at all?

Are we-Uh, have we gotten any kind of a clarity on whether there is gonna be ICE, uh, showing up at some of these game watches, showing up at the stadiums, uh, and, uh, and trying to find people who they might want to detain who aren't here legally?

Well, the, the federal government has said that ICE will have a role in the security for the World Cup, and, uh, the government has not really specified what that will look like, but that's enough to upset many across the country, not just in Houston, but here in Los Angeles as well.

Just one example, there is a labor union that involves workers at SoFi Stadium, it's about 2,000 people, and they have demanded that ICE not be involved in the World Cup, at least here in LA.

Um, and so it just goes to show you this is an event that has been totally politicized, not just due to international geopolitics, but like you said, to domestic politics.

And, uh, I, I think it's a, it's, it's a real stress test for the Trump administration.

You know, Donald Trump received a special brand-new peace prize from FIFA last year, and he has talked about how this will be the best World Cup of all time.

But, you know, with less than two months out, i- in some cities, uh, there's a bit of chaos.

Uh, you know, do you think the potential is there for this now, or do you think that because this has become so expensive, so politicized, that, that it's not gonna have that kind of invigorating effect for the American population?