MAN AND ROBOTS BRIEF: Jan. 2, 2026 🎉
Weekly signals on how AI and automation are reshaping work & creativity.
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1. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman just revealed a new job position at the company called “Head of Preparedness” that pays $555,000 a year. The person will be tasked with “tracking and preparing for advanced AI capabilities that could introduce new risks of severe harm.”
Why It Matters: In Dec. 2025, AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio *wrote, “Even without intentional misuse by bad actors, evaluations and studies highlight instances of deceptive and self-preserving behaviors emerging in advanced models, suggesting that AI may be developing strategies that conflict with human intent or oversight.”*Source: Time Magazine
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2. Adam Sandler’s 2025 Netflix release of Happy Gilmore 2 has been widely lauded as a hit, as the biggest-ever opening for a Netflix film, with 46.7 million views during its first three days of release on the platform. But less acknowledged is the fact that the film used generative AI to de-age characters at the beginning of the film.
How This Trends: Netflix has confirmed that its in-house Eyeline team also used machine learning and proprietary volumetric capture. Netflix also revealed that its Spanish-language series Billionaires’ Bunker used AI for pre-visualization of the cast’s wardrobe. Keep an eye on Eyeline and what other Netflix properties it has a hand in.
