Breaking news

Meta’s StoryKit Bets On AI To Automate Bedtime Storytelling

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

July 22, 2026

Meta is testing a new AI-powered storytelling app, StoryKit, that generates personalized children’s books with custom characters, settings, lessons and music. The App Store description promises parents they “don’t need to write a single word.”

What StoryKit Does

First reported by 9to5Mac and later confirmed by Meta to TechCrunch, StoryKit is being tested in select countries to gauge consumer interest. The app allows adults to create personalized storybooks using AI while limiting access to users aged 18 and older. According to Meta, it includes AI safety filters and does not offer social features.

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Users can build a character from scratch or upload a photo of a favorite toy or person, describe the story’s setting and choose a lesson. The app then generates a custom story designed to incorporate themes such as kindness, courage or empathy.

Another Step In Meta’s Consumer AI Strategy

StoryKit is a far less controversial product than some of Meta’s previous AI launches, including image-generation and synthetic media tools that have drawn criticism over authenticity and misuse.

At the same time, the app reflects a broader shift in consumer AI. Rather than focusing solely on productivity, companies are increasingly using generative AI to automate creative and everyday activities, from writing emails and editing photos to planning vacations and now creating children’s stories.

AI Moves Into Everyday Family Life

Storytelling has long been one of the simplest forms of creativity, requiring little more than imagination. For many families, bedtime stories are not just entertainment but a way to build routines, encourage conversation and pass on values.

AI changes that experience by making personalization almost effortless. Parents can generate stories tailored to a child’s interests or a specific lesson in seconds, making the technology particularly appealing when time or energy is limited.

The question is whether convenience changes the role of the activity itself. If AI generates the characters, plot and moral, the parent’s role shifts from storyteller to editor or curator. For some families, that may be a welcome trade-off. Others may see it as reducing one of the few everyday activities built around shared creativity rather than efficiency.

A Growing AI Category

StoryKit also highlights how competition in generative AI is moving beyond workplace software into family-oriented consumer products. Companies are increasingly looking for everyday use cases that encourage frequent engagement rather than occasional productivity gains.

That shift could make AI a more constant presence in daily life, extending its role from helping people work to shaping how they learn, create and spend time together.

The Bigger Question

Whether StoryKit succeeds commercially will likely depend on how parents view AI’s place in family life. Some may embrace it as a creative assistant that sparks new ideas, while others may prefer storytelling to remain a fully human activity.

More broadly, the app reflects the next stage of consumer AI, where the debate is no longer whether the technology can generate content, but which everyday experiences people are willing to delegate to it.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

Paramount Closes $110 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery Deal, Creating Skydance Entertainment Giant

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 6, 2026

Paramount has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing together two of the most powerful names in media under a new combined company, Skydance. The deal, announced Tuesday, creates one of the largest entertainment mergers ever completed and reshapes the competitive landscape across streaming, film, television and cable.

A New Power Center In Global Entertainment

The combined company unites Paramount+ and HBO Max, alongside a broad portfolio of networks that includes CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central and Food Network. It also gives Skydance control over some of the industry’s most valuable franchises, including The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, the DC Universe and Yellowstone.

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For the industry, the scale of the transaction is as significant as the assets themselves. In an era defined by streaming competition and rising content costs, ownership of established intellectual property has become a strategic advantage akin to controlling a premium distribution network in a previous media cycle.

Ellison Expands His Influence

The merger places one of the world’s largest entertainment studios under the control of David Ellison, who only last year completed the combination of Skydance Media and Paramount. With this latest transaction, Ellison is accelerating his rise as one of Hollywood’s most influential executives.

The Ellison family remains Skydance’s largest shareholder, backed by the financial power of Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder and David Ellison’s father. That support gives the company considerable flexibility as it integrates two sprawling media businesses and seeks to compete more aggressively across platforms.

Legal Hurdles Cleared Before Closing

The deal’s completion follows settlements with a coalition of U.S. states and a Hollywood writers’ union, removing the principal legal obstacles that had threatened to delay or derail the merger.

Paramount first announced in February that it would pursue Warner Bros. Discovery after a bidding contest with Netflix, which had earlier struck its own agreement to acquire Warner Bros.’ film and television studios and streaming operations, excluding the cable networks. Paramount strengthened its offer by promising shareholders additional cash if the deal failed to close by a set deadline and by agreeing to cover the breakup fee owed to Netflix.

What Skydance Says Comes Next

“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison said in a statement. “From the start, our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Our focus now turns to the future: building a company that empowers creatives, entertains audiences and rewards shareholders. We couldn’t be more excited to get to work.”

Skydance said the combined company will generate nearly $70 billion in annual revenue. The company’s Class B shares are set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol SKYD.