Klay Thompson Agrees to Contract Buyout, Reportedly Heading to Miami Heat
Five-time All-Star Klay Thompson’s time in Dallas is officially done. The Mavericks bought out the final year of his contract ($17.5 million), clearing the way for Thompson to join the Miami Heat once he clears waivers. Thompson’s production had declined significantly in his two seasons with Dallas—he averaged just 12.9 points and shot 38.7% from three, far from his Warriors peak. Miami sees him as a spacing piece around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.
Meghan Markle in Talks to Join ‘The Gentlemen’
The Duchess of Sussex is eyeing a return to the small screen with a potential role in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series, marking her most significant acting gig since leaving Suits in 2018. Talks are in very early stages and the show hasn’t been officially renewed for Season 3 yet, but the timing makes sense: Markle and Prince Harry just announced their move back to the U.K., where the series is filmed. She and Harry already have a first-look deal with Netflix through their Archewell Productions banner.
Max Verstappen Commits to Red Bull Through 2030, Ending Speculation
Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen signed a contract extension Thursday that locks him in with Red Bull through the end of 2030, putting to rest months of speculation about a potential move amid the team’s struggles this season. Verstappen had an exit clause in his previous deal if he finished outside the top two at the summer break, but he’s choosing to stay despite Red Bull currently trailing Mercedes and McLaren. He’s been with the team since 2016.
Meta Enters the Vibe Coding Space with Pocket Launch
Meta’s experimental app Pocket is rolling out nationwide after a quiet launch in Brazil last month. The tool lets users generate small interactive games using AI prompts—”gizmos” that respond to touch, phone tilt, and can incorporate music, photos from your camera roll, or live camera access. They land on a scrollable feed where others can save, remix, or repost them. It’s the latest in Meta’s recent app blitz: Zuckerberg credited AI-enabled development for faster shipping, and the company has launched Instagram Instants, Forum, and Seller in the past few months. Pocket is built on the Gizmo team Meta acquired earlier this year, and the original Gizmo app is being shut down.
Slack Introduces ‘Slack Code’ for Native Vibe Coding
On Thursday, the U.S. Tennis Association announced a prize pool of $101 million, a 19% increase over last year’s $85 million, once again making it the richest tournament in the sport’s history. Player remuneration has been a hot topic all year, with protests taking place at other Grand Slams including Wimbledon and the French Open, but this move by the USTA will likely avert similar action at the U.S. event. The players leading the protests have advocated for prize money to represent 22% of the Slams’ earnings by 2030. The $101 million pot is 18% of the USTA’s 2024 revenue; 2025 numbers have not yet been published.
HBO Max Greenlights DC Series ‘The People vs. Gorilla Grodd’
HBO Max picked up the eight-episode series centered on Skyler Gisondo’s Daily Planet staffer Jimmy Olsen, who directs and stars in a true-crime documentary investigating whether Gorilla Grodd was wrongly convicted in Metropolis’ most famous murder trial. Jimmy Tatro plays the superintelligent ape, with the Superman cast reprising their roles—Wendell Pierce (Perry White), Beck Bennett (Steve Lombard), and Mikaela Hoover (Cat Grant). It’s created by American Vandal’s Perrault and Tony Yacenda, who’ll showrun and direct every episode. Gunn and Safran are framing it as “an artifact from” the DCU rather than a full entry into it.
Ava DuVernay’s ’14th’ Heads to Theaters This November, Netflix in December
Following up on her BAFTA-winning, Oscar-nominated 13th, DuVernay is back with 14th, a documentary examining the 14th Constitutional Amendment and due process in America. The film opens in select US and UK theaters November 27 before hitting Netflix globally December 4. It features conversations with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Anna Paulina Luna, former Sen. Jeff Flake, current Sen. Alex Padilla, Stacey Abrams, and others. DuVernay frames it as asking “who gets counted” rather than “who gets caged”—a present-tense inquiry into what kind of country is being written right now. The doc screens at the New York Film Festival October 9 as the closing-night film.
New York City Overtakes San Francisco as Tech Job Capital
For the first time in 13 years, NYC has edged out the Bay Area for the most tech jobs in the country, at least according to CBRE’s annual “Scoring Tech Talent” report. New York has 394,300 tech positions compared to the Bay Area’s 375,730, driven largely by bulked-up AI and finance sectors. Silicon Valley layoffs played a role, but the real shift is structural: AI roles demand full-time, in-person work. Remote job postings in the Bay Area dropped from 24% in mid-2022 to just 7%, below the national average of 18%. Despite widespread cuts at Meta, Amazon, and Google, total tech employment still grew 1.8% last year, with AI accounting for the majority of gains. The sector grew 45% over the past year, adding over 20,000 jobs in both cities.
College GameDay Heading to Oxford for Lane Kiffin’s Dramatic Return to Ole Miss
ESPN’s signature pregame show will be in Oxford on September 19 when Lane Kiffin brings his new LSU team to face his former program in what could be the most-anticipated SEC matchup of the year. Kiffin departed Ole Miss for the LSU job in November, abandoning the Rebels just as they were set to play in the College Football Playoff. The Rebels went 55-19 under him over six seasons before he bounced for Baton Rouge.
Apple Music to Introduce AI-Generated Labels Later This Year
In an email sent to industry partners on Thursday, Apple said it will launch AI transparency labels on songs generated with AI later this year, building on the transparency tags it rolled out in March. Content providers will now be required to include AI labels for any track where AI created a material portion—including AI platform-generated content. The move follows pressure from the RIAA and IFPI, and mirrors similar efforts by Spotify, which is labeling AI artists and removing them from editorial and algorithmic recommendations. Apple Music head Oliver Schusser revealed in January that over a third of new monthly uploads are AI-generated, though actual listening to AI songs remains under 1 percent. The label shift comes as Apple has doubled penalties for streaming fraud to combat the proliferation of artificially created content.
Walmart to Finally Officially Accept Apple Pay and Tap-to-Pay
After more than a decade of holdout, Walmart announced Friday it will roll out tap-to-pay support—including Apple Pay and Google Pay—starting August 24 at select locations, with full integration across all U.S. stores and Sam’s Club by December. The company had backed its own payment ecosystem (Walmart Pay, Scan & Go) and even co-invested in the now-defunct CurrentC, but customer demand finally won out. Fuel stations will get the upgrade by mid-2027.
Walter Thompson-Hernández’s ‘If I Go Will They Miss Me’ Is Heading to Theaters After Sundance Debut
The coming-of-age story set in Watts is expanding from a critically acclaimed short into a feature directed by Thompson-Hernández. It was acquired by Rich Spirit after its Sundance premiere in 2022. J. Alphonse Nicholson and Danielle Brooks anchor the cast as Big Ant and Lozita, parents described as “works in progress,” alongside 12-year-old Bodhi Dell in a narrative that finds beauty wrapped in the pain of family dynamics and growing up in Los Angeles. The film opens in LA on September 11 before a nationwide theatrical release September 18.
Image: Soobum Im/Getty Images
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