Nigeria's 'first Yoruba photorealistic AI feature' premieres online

BBC staff push back after the director-general calls an AI-made 'Doctor Who' 'pretty good'

BBC staff asked director-general Matt Brittin whether the BBC should fully reject generative AI after he praised an AI Doctor Who episode. He clarified that humans are leading but did not retract the remark, and BBC policy has not changed.

At a BBC staff town hall on Wednesday, Oct 7, employees challenged director-general Matt Brittin over his Sept 29 remark that a 50-minute AI-generated Doctor Who episode someone sent him was "pretty good." One question, upvoted 86 times, pointed out that Doctor Who is made in Cardiff and said young people "do not want this" content. Another asked whether it was time for the BBC to fully reject generative AI.

Brittin joked that he "got in trouble" but did not retract the remark. He said he was making a point about the pace of change, that he wants to speed up testing and learning, and that "humans are leading." He has not named the episode or who made it.

The timing matters because the BBC is running a competitive tender for the next producer of Doctor Who. Its own supplier guidance already tells producers to confirm any proposed AI use with their commissioner, and to disclose it directly wherever generated output could mislead an audience.

In practice, if a pitch to a UK broadcaster leans on generated footage, clear it with the commissioner before the deck goes in and plan the disclosure line from day one.

Source: Deadline, Oct 8, 2026; BBC AI transparency guidance.

Skydance's Day 1 memo: 'technology must serve the art'

Skydance's first staff memo says AI must serve the art, but the combined studio starts with almost $80 billion of debt and no AI production policy yet.

Skydance, the company formed when Paramount Skydance closed its Warner Bros. Discovery deal on 6 October, used its first staff memo to set an AI rule. David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz wrote that the studio will embrace AI "to make our businesses even more productive," then added the line crews will quote back at them: "technology must serve the art, never the other way around."

The money points the other way. The company starts with almost $80 billion of debt, S&P puts its leverage above seven times earnings according to the FT, and the merger release targets $6 billion-plus in savings over three years, with technology named first. The Ankler reports investors are already pricing Skydance against the AI market through Larry Ellison's Oracle stake, even though Skydance has no data center exposure of its own.

No AI production policy exists yet, and the memo names no tool, pipeline or role. Our read is that a studio carrying that much debt will buy AI that saves money first. In practice, if you build or sell AI tools for film, pitch what artists can make with them rather than hours saved, because the first Skydance pipeline deal will show which half of the memo wins.

Source: Skydance Day 1 memo via Variety, Skydance release, FT, The Ankler, 6 Oct 2026.