Paramount shares slump on report Sony is rethinking its offer, C-SPAN taps Sam Feist as its next chief, Jimmy Finkelstein reportedly explores starting a new venture, MAGA Media leaves out key context on Michael Cohen, TikTok creators sue over new law, OpenAI's chief scientist announces exit, Bob Iger woos advertisers, Francis Ford Coppola gets hit with sexual misconduct allegations as the Cannes Film Festival gets underway, Tom Brady expresses regret over the Netflix roast, and so much more. But first, the A1.

Google's Search Goblin

CNN Photo Illustration/Google

The A.I. doomsday clock appears ready to strike midnight for publishers.

Google on Tuesday announced that it will infuse its ubiquitous search engine with its powerful artificial intelligence model, Gemini, drawing on the rapidly advancing technology to directly answer user queries at the top of results pages. "Google will do the Googling for you," the company explained. In other words, users will soon no longer have to click on the links displayed in search results to find the information they are seeking.

On its surface that might sound convenient, but for news publishers — many of whom are already struggling with steep traffic declines — the revamped search experience will likely cause an even further decrease in audience, potentially starving them of readers and revenue. Why spend time clicking on a link when Google has already scoured the internet and harvested the relevant information with its A.I.?

"Google will take care of the legwork," executives said. But a lot of that legwork, of course, comes in the form of human-written articles and expertise published across the internet on blogs and media outlets, all built on a foundation of advertising support.

Google's message was heard loud and clear. Within hours of the Mountain View announcement, the news industry began sounding the alarm.

"This will be catastrophic to our traffic, as marketed by Google to further satisfy user queries, leaving even less incentive to click through so that we can monetize our content," Danielle Coffey, the chief executive of the News/Media Alliance, bluntly told me. 

Coffey, whose organization represents more than 2,000 news publishers and has taken an aggressive posture toward A.I. developers' use of journalism, added: "The little traffic we get today will be further diminished, and with a dominant search engine that’s cementing its market power, we once again have to adhere to their terms. This time with a product that directly competes with our content, using our content to fuel it. This is a perverse twist on 'innovation.'"

The announcement from Google, which newsrooms had expected and expressed worry over in both public and private forums in recent months, is poised to further batter an industry that has been dealt a series of brutal blows — much of it at the hands of Big Tech — over the last several years. It also comes as OpenAI reportedly readies to launch its own A.I.-powered search engine.

Since ChatGPT crashed onto the scene more than a year ago, showcasing the potential power of A.I. for the public and setting off an arms race with Google, Meta and others, publishers have worried greatly about the impact the technology will ultimately have on their businesses. But they have had little time to plan their responses to the transformative technology, given the breakneck pace in which it has developed.

Some newsrooms have chosen to cautiously lock arms with the technology giants, striking deals with OpenAI to license their deep archives of content. Others have taken a much different path, with The New York Times most notably filing a scorched Earth lawsuit against the ChatGPT creator. 

While publishers once worked hand-in hand with Big Tech companies (remember those days?), their relationships have soured tremendously in recent years. Mark Zuckerberg most publicly turned his back on the news industry, deprioritizing news articles on his platforms and shutting off other initiatives his company once championed. Google has maintained a better relationship with publishers, but also faced sharp criticism. Most recently, it drew scorn after temporarily blocking some California news outlets from search results in response to a bill that would force it to pay publishers. 

On Tuesday, likely predicting the panic that its announcement would stir, Google argued that the A.I. changes would actually benefit news companies. Google told me it is showing more links with its AI Overviews feature and that by improving the search product, it will allow the company to send more traffic to web publishers.

"We see that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query," Google said in its announcement. "As we expand this experience, we’ll continue to focus on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators.”

But given Silicon Valley's track record with publishers, it's unlikely that the statement will give them much relief. And already there is skepticism over Google's claims.

"Our initial analysis suggests it will significantly reduce search traffic to content creators’ websites, directly impacting their ad revenue and, by extension, their livelihoods," Marc McCollum, chief innovation officer at Raptive, which provides services to thousands of only creators and businesses, said in a statement. "This change could put the future of the open internet in danger." 

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Sony's Second Thoughts: Shares in Paramount Global closed down 5% Tuesday, falling after CNBC's David Faber reported Sony is "rethinking" its $26 billion bid to purchase the media conglomerate with Apollo. "People close to the situation that I’ve been speaking to of late indicate that the likelihood of a bid at least for the full company seems to be fading a bit," Faber reported, adding that Sony has not yet signed an NDA "that you would typically sign so you can begin real due diligence." Faber said that his report didn't mean "there would not be some sort of bid potentially forthcoming," but he wondered whether it might be restructured. The Sony-Apollo play for the Shari Redstone-controlled company comes as David Ellison's Skydance waits in the wings. Here's Faber's full report.

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C-SPAN's New Chief: It's the end of an era. After nearly 35 years working at CNN, most recently as its Washington bureau chief, Sam Feist will exit the outlet to become the chief executive of C-SPAN, the networks announced Tuesday. "Our democracy needs C-SPAN now more than ever," Feist said in a statement. Feist called the public affairs network "an American treasure" and said that he "could not be more excited to lead this essential institution." Feist, who will exit CNN at the end of June and take over the channel later this summer, will be only the third C-SPAN CEO in its 45-year history, succeeding Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain. CNN's Hadas Gold has more here.

🔎 Zooming in: In announcing Feist's exit to staffers, CNN boss Mark Thompson hailed him as "a CNN institution." Indeed, it's difficult to underscore the profound impact Feist has had on CNN in the more than three decades he has spent within its halls. Since starting as an intern in 1989, Feist has worked in a number of roles, ranging from camera operator to booker to political director to founding executive producer of "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." Along the way, he has mentored hundreds of journalists with his well of knowledge and served as CNN's D.C. ambassador, representing the network like no one else. There are few people who bleed CNN red like Feist. Which is all to say that his colleagues at CNN will very much miss him, but also be cheering him on as he starts his new endeavor at C-SPAN.

CNN Photo Illustration/Fox News

Context and Cohen: As Michael Cohen testifies against Donald Trump in the hush-money trial, Fox News and MAGA Media are waging an all-out assault on the former fixer's character. Trump's media allies are working overtime to portray Cohen as a liar and bully. "COHEN'S HISTORY OF LIES EXPOSED," declared a chyron Tuesday night on Laura Ingraham's prime time show. It goes without saying that Cohen, indeed, has a history of lying and was convicted of perjury. No one is going to dispute that — not even Cohen. But Trump's MAGA Media allies are neglecting to inform their audiences of the necessary context: that Cohen lied years ago to protect Trump. That might be a politically inconvenient fact for some of the folks who work at Fox News — but it is crucial when discussing Cohen's record. And failing to do so underscores that many on that channel — and elsewhere in media – are not doing honest work, but instead pushing propaganda on behalf of their Dear Leader.

CNN Photo Illustration/J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Creators Challenge Congress: Eight TikTok creators on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging the divest-or-ban legislation passed by Congress and singed into law by President Joe Biden. The lawsuit, which TikTok is paying the legal fees for, alleged that the law violates the First Amendment. "It bans an entire medium of communication and all the speech communicated through that medium, even though, at the very least, the vast majority of that speech is protected," the lawsuit said. Of course, TikTok is already suing the U.S. on similar free speech grounds. CNBC's Josephine Rozzelle has more.

🔎 Zooming in: NPR's Bobby Allyn surveyed six legal scholars, all of whom said that the U.S. "forcing the closure of TikTok on vague national security grounds would most likely infringe on TikTokkers First Amendment rights." Meanwhile, Nick Frisch and Dan Wang argued in The NYT that "the end of TikTok" would amount to a "propaganda win for Beijing." 

CNN Photo Illustration/Jennifer Pottheise/Disney/Getty Images

Iger's Personal Pitch: For the first time since 1994, Bob Iger opened Disney's upfront presentation, telling advertisers assembled at New York City's Javits Center that he is "deeply optimistic" about the entertainment giant's future. "To say a lot has changed since 1994 would be an incredible understatement and I’m not just talking about the color of my hair, or my fashion choices," the chief executive joked. In his speech, Iger addressed the "radical changes that have transformed" the media business. But, he stressed, "while the whole business model and the way people consume media are drastically different, what hasn’t changed is the fact that success in this industry is really predicated on one thing, and that is telling great stories." Deadline's Dominic Patten has more here.

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Coppola Accused in Cannes: As the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival commenced Tuesday, "Megalopolis" director Francis Ford Coppola was accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior while on set. The Guardian's Steve Rose reported via unnamed sources that Coppola "came on to the set and tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras." According to the report, the director "apparently claimed" that he was "trying to get them in the mood" ahead of a nightclub scene. Coppola hasn't directly addressed the report, but executive co-producer Darren Demetre said in a statement that he was "never aware of any complaints of harassment or ill behavior" and that he was only aware of the famed director having given "hugs and kisses on the cheek to the cast and background players." The Guardian's report landed as the "Megalopolis" teaser trailer was released and rumors swirled about potential #MeToo stories throwing the festival into chaos. Variety's Zack Sharf has more here.