VISUAL CREATORS
For your artistic side.

🧊 Meta's AI Creates 3D Models From Single Images

The Story: Meta AI has released SAM 3D, a new model that generates detailed 3D reconstructions from a single 2D image. The release includes two specialized models: SAM 3D Objects for scenes and items, and SAM 3D Body for human figures. The models are now accessible for public experimentation through a new online platform.

The Details:

• The AI can create textured 3D models of objects and estimate human poses from a single photograph.

• Meta has launched the Segment Anything Playground, allowing anyone to upload images and test the 3D reconstruction features.

• The release includes SAM 3D Objects for scene reconstruction and SAM 3D Body for human shape estimation.

• The technology is already being used in Facebook Marketplace's 'View in Room' feature to visualize products in a user's space.

• Model checkpoints, inference code, and a new parametric human model called MHR are being shared with the creative community.

Why It Matters: For 3D artists, game developers, and concept artists, this technology could dramatically speed up asset creation and pre-visualization. The ability to generate a usable 3D base from a single photo lowers the barrier to 3D modeling, potentially changing workflows for creating digital assets, character designs, and virtual environments.

PRODUCTION MASTERY
The commercial aspects of creativity.

🤝 Warner Music and Udio Forge AI Licensing Deal 

The Story: Warner Music Group and AI music generator Udio have settled their copyright lawsuit and are now partnering. They will launch a licensed AI music creation service in 2026, trained on WMG's catalog, creating an authorized way for fans to generate music while compensating artists who choose to opt-in.

The Details:

• The landmark agreement resolves previous copyright infringement litigation between the two companies.

• The new platform will allow users to create remixes and new songs using the voices of participating artists.

• This partnership establishes a framework for new revenue streams, ensuring artists are credited and paid for their work's use.

• WMG's approach signals a shift from pure opposition to structured collaboration with AI firms.

• Udio will transition to a fully licensed model, following a similar deal it recently made with Universal Music Group.

Why It Matters: This partnership provides a potential blueprint for how creative assets, from music to visual styles, could be licensed for generative AI. For freelancers and agencies, it signals a shift from AI as a threat to a potential revenue stream, establishing a model for consent, credit, and compensation in client work.

CREATOR ECONOMY
Navigating the digital creative world.

📉 Understanding the 'Enshittification' of Creator Platforms

The Story: Author and activist Cory Doctorow coined the term 'enshittification' to describe the predictable decay of online platforms. The process involves a three-stage shift: first, platforms attract users with a good service; then, they exploit those users to benefit business customers; finally, they extract all value for themselves, degrading the experience for everyone.

The Details:

• Initially, platforms offer value to users, often operating at a loss to build a large, locked-in audience.

• Once users are dependent, the platform shifts to extracting value from them to serve business customers like advertisers and sellers.

• In the final stage, the platform squeezes both users and business customers to maximize its own profits, causing the service quality to plummet.

• Doctorow argues this cycle is enabled by a policy environment that allows monopolies to operate without meaningful competition.

• The process is visible on platforms like Amazon, where the experience for both shoppers and sellers has been notoriously degraded, or 'enshittified.'

Why It Matters: For creators, this framework explains why platforms that once offered organic reach now demand payment for visibility. It highlights the risk of building a business on a platform designed to eventually extract value from you, urging a strategy that diversifies audiences and avoids dependency on a single, degrading ecosystem for income and discovery.

🔥 Press Worthy

📽️ VISUAL CREATORS

Nano Banana Pro, Google DeepMind's new image model, is now available. Built on Gemini 3 Pro, it offers studio-quality controls, improved text rendering in multiple languages, and 4K resolution output, rolling out now in Gemini, Google Ads, and Workspace.

Five next-gen Nigerian designers are gaining global attention for work showcased at Design Week Lagos. The collection features furniture and lighting that draws from cultural heritage not as surface-level ornament, but as a core system of thinking and intelligence, shaping new design conversations.

📈 PRODUCTION MASTERY

Cinema equipment manufacturer Arri is closing two German lighting facilities and cutting 150 jobs. The company cites shifts in market demand and increased competition from more affordable prosumer gear, reflecting a broader trend impacting the high-end production industry.

Meta’s new content protection tool for Facebook Reels automatically detects unauthorized copies across Facebook and Instagram. Creators receive alerts and can choose to block the content, track its performance with attribution, or release their claim, offering more control over their original work.

🎭 CREATOR ECONOMY

A new IAB report projects U.S. ad spend in the creator economy will reach $37 billion in 2025, growing four times faster than the overall media industry. Nearly half of advertisers now consider creators a “must buy,” signaling a major shift in brand budgets.

TikTok’s new Bulletin Board is a one-to-many broadcast channel letting creators with over 50K followers send text, image, and video updates directly to opted-in fans. It provides a direct communication line that bypasses the main algorithmic feed for more reliable reach.

📚 Learn & Grow

📽️ VISUAL CREATORS

• A showcase of winning nature photography with a deep dive into the best-in-show shot.

• A framework for AI-powered Photoshop workflows shifting creatives from editors to orchestrators.

📈 PRODUCTION MASTERY

• A balanced strategy for learning AI: master the basics without it, then innovate with it.

• This record comic sale offers a powerful lesson on the enduring value of creative IP.

🎭 CREATOR ECONOMY

• Apple's 2025 podcast charts reveal top shows, new hits, and listener sharing trends.

• A major APA study on how short-form video consumption impacts attention and cognitive function.