Apple has acquired all rights to its hit show "Severance" from Fifth Season for just under $70 million, according to TechCrunch. The deal means Apple's in-house studio will produce future seasons of the popular series, which will now be one of Apple's marquee titles. Fifth Season will remain as an executive producer.
The acquisition mirrors a similar deal Apple struck with AMC Studios for the sci-fi show "Silo" after its first season, TechCrunch reported. The production costs for "Severance" had reportedly exceeded what Fifth Season could afford, and the studio had considered relocating production from New York to Canada for tax benefits, according to Deadline, as reported by TechCrunch.
In other news, OpenAI has disbanded its mission alignment team, which was designed to communicate the company's mission to the public and its employees, TechCrunch reported. The team's former leader has been given a new role as the company's chief futurist. The team, formed in September 2024, was dedicated to promoting the company's mission to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity, according to Platformer, as reported by TechCrunch. An OpenAI spokesperson described the team's purpose as a "support function to help employees and the public understand our mission and the impact of AI."
In the business world, AI inference startup Modal Labs is in talks to raise a new round at a valuation of approximately $2.5 billion, according to four sources with knowledge of the deal, as reported by TechCrunch. If the deal closes at these terms, it would more than double the company's valuation from less than five months ago, when it announced an $87 million Series B round. General Catalyst is reportedly in talks to lead the round. Modal's annualized revenue run rate is approximately $50 million, according to sources. Modal Labs co-founder and CEO Erik Bernhardsson denied that his company was actively fundraising, characterizing his recent interactions with VCs as general conversations, according to TechCrunch.
Additionally, the AI-native, full-stack auto retail business Ever has secured a $31 million Series A funding round led by Eclipse, with Ibex Investors, Lifeline Ventures, and JIMCO as co-investors, according to TechCrunch. Ever aims to be the go-to platform for buying and selling used electric vehicles, and already has thousands of customers on its platform.
Finally, Amazon dropped a new trailer for its upcoming "Spider-Noir" series, which will debut on MGM Plus on May 25th before making its way to Amazon on the 27th, according to The Verge.
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