Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment (Sony) want to update a lawsuit against the AI music-generation platform Suno. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, major record labels UMG and Sony, as well as Warner Music Group, accused Suno of “massive and ongoing infringement” in a lawsuit that states it “copied sound recordings from the labels ‘en masse and ingested them into its AI model.” Music Business Worldwide reported that the original complaint listed 560 copyrighted works in a June 2024 filing. As it relates to Suno’s actions, the lawsuit claimed that if there was no copyright violation, “Suno’s service would not be able to reproduce the convincing imitations of such a vast range of human musical expression at the quality that Suno touts,” according to Forbes. Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement at the time that the company “prize(s) originality” and said its technology is “designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing...

Kevin Hart’s plant-based nutrition company has received new funding. In 2022, Hart founded VitaHustle, a plant-based nutrition company that offers an all-in-one protein wellness shake. VitaHustle’s tagline is “Daily Nutrition Simplified” and promises its customers that its offerings will support wellness, gut health, energy, and weight management. The company’s product contains 20 grams of plant protein. It is made with ashwagandha, multivitamins, adaptogens, probiotics, and digestive enzymes, according to its website. It comes in a variety of flavors, including vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cookies-and-cream.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by G A B R I E L L E (@theplayavistamom) “Kevin Hart passionately believes that everyone should have the right to eat right. VitaHustle presents The One, a targeted blend of 86 premium superfoods that unlock your peak mental and physical performance. It’s all built up to this. We put in years of work,” he said in a video...

Anthropic is nearing a trillion-dollar valuation after raising new funding. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Anthropic is an AI safety and research company. It is behind Claude, which recently rolled out its latest model, Opus 4.8. Early testers said the model demonstrates better judgment and is more reliable with agentic tasks, according to information shared by Anthropic. Series H Funding Round Anthropic has been scaling rapidly, with revenue crossing $47 billion in May 2026. To continue meeting demand, the company has raised several rounds of funding since its inception in 2021. Notable names such as 2 Chainz and Tristan Thompson have invested in the company, according to AFROTECH™. Its most recent funding round, as of this writing, is a $65 billion Series H raised in May, according to a press release. The round was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at $965 billion post-money. Anthropic previously raised $30 billion in a...

A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding grants through the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (LCM) program. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the LCM program was funded during Joe Biden’s presidency through the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. Starting in 2023, it has provided nearly $300 million in federal aid to tribes, farmers’ associations, and universities and was created to serve “ underserved producers by increasing land, capital, and market access.” According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, it funded community-based, locally led projects that provided support such as down payment assistance, low-interest loans, beginning farmer training, cover crop seeds, equipment, technical guidance, infrastructure, procurement agreements, and succession planning support. Under the Trump administration, many grants through the program were canceled. Farm Service Agency Associate Administrator Steven...

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league plans to use AI-assisted technology to automate objective calls. Silver was asked on “The Pat McAfee Show” what would be done to mitigate flopping in the league. By NBA standards, flopping is “ an attempt to either fool referees into calling undeserved fouls or fool fans into thinking the referees missed a foul call by exaggerating the effect of contact with an opposing player.” Silver notes distinctions among selling a flop, an exaggeration, and “a true flop.” Nonetheless, he says the league plans to roll out an AI-powered system with cameras around the court that will make instant, objective calls, allowing referees to focus on more difficult ones. He also said the system would mirror the Hawk-Eye system, which is a technology used in tennis to determine if the ball is in or out using multiple cameras , per Topend Sports. “We’re going to move to a system where that whole category of calls will be automatic where you know it’s going to...

Amazon MGM Studios and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have established a fund to support creators with AI production tools. GenAI Creators’ Fund According to a press release, the GenAI Creators’ Fund will provide filmmakers, digital creators, and tech startups with funding and access to “professional-grade AI tools” to support the production of high-quality film and television content. Recipients will use Project Nara, Amazon MGM Studios ’ AI-powered production platform built on AWS , which supports both animation and live-action workflows. According to the release, the platform enables video generation and editing, streamlines feedback sharing, and provides progress tracking throughout the production process. “Creative breakthroughs happen when visionary storytellers are given access to transformative tools,” said Albert Cheng, head of AI Studios at Amazon MGM Studios, in the press release. “The GenAI Creators’ Fund and Project Nara position human creativity at the center of our efforts...

Byron Allen’s acquisition of BuzzFeed has closed. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Allen is a media mogul with an estimated net worth of $1 billion through Allen Media Group, an affiliate of Allen’s family office. Allen Media Group’s portfolio includes nearly 400 local TV broadcast affiliates and a network of 650 free, ad-supported television channels, according to Variety. In May, Allen Media Group announced it would acquire BuzzFeed for $120 million, and Allen would become CEO. Allen succeeds Jonah Peretti, who will step into the role of president of BuzzFeed AI after two decades as CEO.  Peretti carries the belief that AI “will fundamentally transform the media industry and empower creative people to build in new ways, and I believe the opportunity is enormous.” The deal officially closed on May 27 through Allen Family Digital, with an acquisition of nearly 51% of BuzzFeed’s outstanding shares, per Variety. Allen Family Digital acquired 40 million shares of BuzzFeed at $3 per...

Andrew Macdonald is getting candid about Uber’s spending on AI. Previously, Uber Chief Technology Officer, Praveen Neppalli, admitted the company had already reached its AI spending target in just four months, with Anthropic’s Claude Code playing a role, as it was used by around 5,000 of its engineers, according to Fortune. AI has enabled features such as ride pricing and route optimization for the rideshare company. In an interview with the “Rapid Response and Masters of Scale” podcast, Uber President and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Macdonald questioned the company’s AI spending and acknowledged it’s becoming “harder to justify.” “When you hear companies talking about, ‘Hey 25% of code commits over the last quarter were AI driven.” Or ‘Our token usage went from X to Y.’ You know all these sort of numbers, and it’s amazing. I think it’s this massive transformation of society, but then you sometimes go and you talk to your senior engineering leaders and you’re saying ‘Okay how...

Robinhood’s new trading feature and credit card product allow AI agents to operate on users’ behalf. Robinhood revealed two new AI agentic products on Wednesday, May 27, as tech companies continue to rally around the trend of AI agents. The Robinhood Agentic Trading Account allows an agent to trade stocks for users through a dedicated wallet. Additionally, the Agentic Credit Card offers 3% cash back on purchases made by an agent. The trading platform uses its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to connect both the trading account and credit card products to third-party AI agents, according to the company website. An MCP server is a type of software that serves as a bridge between AI agents and external tools. Platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Open Claw, and Cursor support connectivity to MCP servers, the website noted. For those curious about learning more about AI agents, Multi-Grammy award winner will.i.am offers a course in agentic AI at Arizona State University, as previously...

Kevin Hart remains optimistic about Hartbeat’s future. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Hartbeat — a global, multiplatform entertainment company — was founded by Hart, who was appointed CEO in 2025. Hartbeat laid off nearly 25% of its workforce in November 2024 and an additional dozen employees in December 2025. This included Eric Eddings and Lesley Gwam, who had been with the company since 2023 and were to produce audio shows and other projects, as well as Hartbeat’s TV division heads, Tiffany Brown and Mike Stein, according to information from TMZ and Bloomberg. “My executive team is still there. My team of creatives are still there. Did I reduce? Yes. My company was too f-cking big,” he said on “The Breakfast Club.” “I don’t need 80 people to operate how we’re operating now. Downsize. Save the money. Save the f-cking money. I got offices in New York, Atlanta. Why do I need all that? Why am I watching other businesses get smarter? Why is Netflix laying off people but Hartbeat’s...

A medical device for nosebleeds, founded by a Black woman doctor, has reached the WNBA. Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne, who earned her Doctor of Medicine from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, is the founder of NasaClip. This company offers a hands-free nosebleed relief device that stops nosebleeds “quickly, cleanly, and comfortably” for children and adults, according to its website. NasaClip works through several steps. First, clean the nose. Next, open the clip arms, rotate the sponges inward, and insert them into the nostrils. Once the clip is in place, squeeze it firmly so the pad is secured against the face. The device should be worn for 10–20 minutes before removal to check whether the bleeding has stopped. If bleeding continues, repeat the process two to three times. Rinse the sponges before each new attempt. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the idea stemmed from Dr. Clayborne’s time working in the emergency room as a resident, witnessing various patients coming...

TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have signed a new agreement. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the companies previously agreed to a licensing agreement that brought UMG’s recorded music and publishing catalogs back to TikTok. It was described as a “new era of strategic collaboration” at the time of its announcement in 2024, with promises to provide new monetization opportunities and protections for human artistry amid the rise of AI in the music industry, per TikTok’s newsroom. “ We look forward to working together to forge a path that creates deeper connections between artists, creators, and fans. In particular, we will work together to make sure that AI tools are developed responsibly to enable a new era of musical creativity and fan engagement while protecting human creativity,” said Ole Obermann, TikTok’s global head of music business development, at the time. Latest Agreement Explained TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced a new multi-year global...

For students and families gathered at Bowie State University on May 22, 2026, this year’s commencement ceremony was bigger than a graduation. It was a celebration of legacy and possibility unfolding in real time. According to a university press release, Bowie State honored 887 graduates during its Spring 2026 commencement ceremony, making it the largest graduating class in the university’s history. The historic class included 696 undergraduate students, 160 master’s degree recipients, and 31 doctoral graduates. Founded in 1865 as Maryland’s first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and one of the oldest HBCUs in the nation, the moment carried added weight. More than 160 years after its founding, Bowie State continues expanding its impact while preparing students to lead across industries ranging from education and healthcare to technology and business, according to the press release. Bowie State’s Historic Moment Was Bigger Than The Numbers While the record-breaking...

Many AI-generated accounts profiting from the likeness of Black woman influencers have been removed. BBC and AI publication Riddance researchers discovered various accounts on TikTok and Instagram featuring hyper-sexualized Black female digital characters or avatars. These posts failed to provide any disclaimers that the content was AI-generated. It was also noted that 60 accounts, most of which were found on Instagram, had links to paid content on third-party websites that were sexually explicit. Some accounts did not link to paid content. @irzajhonsamith Hi Guys Comment Your Country😍 #viral #trending #short #usareel ♬ original sound – Nia According to the BBC, failing to flag AI-generated content went against both Instagram and TikTok policies. BBC highlighted Black model Riya Ulan, whose content was manipulated in a video posted on TikTok and Instagram, earning more than 35 million views and 173 million views respectively. This was 47 times the number of views she had garnered on...

Slutty Vegan Founder Pinky Cole has made changes to her bankruptcy filing. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, she filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 12, owing $1.2 million to the U.S. Small Business Administration and $192,000 to the Georgia Department of Revenue. At the time of the filing, she did not have an attorney, but now she has brought on Jamie Christy of Schreeder, Wheeler & Flint, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. On May 19, amendments were made to the bankruptcy filing to include debts totaling more than $80,000 in credit card debt and unpaid bills from a real estate agency, a restaurant supplier, several medical providers, and roadway toll authorities, per the outlet. According to the filing, that brings her total debt to $4 million, an increase from a previous amount of $3.6 million. The bankruptcy filing follows Cole reclaiming ownership of her company, which raised a $25 million Series A in 2022, bringing its valuation to $100 million that year. At its...