Hello and welcome to the Times Tech podcast where every week we unpack how technology is reshaping business, culture and everyday life.

I am Danny Forts and out here in Silicon Valley.

And I'm Katie Prescott, Katie in the city, the city of London.

And in this week's episode, we're looking at a new era of AI.

Believe it or not, I know it feels like there's a new era every week.

But at Nvidia's big powwow this week in California,

boss Jensen Huang has predicted that the company could hit a trillion dollars in revenue by next year.

So, as this multi-billion dollar industry, almost a trillion, apparently, races ahead.

We're questioning whether us humans are already being left behind.

That's right. And we're going to do it via one of those things everybody cares about, entertainment.

So at the Oscars this week, Conan O'Brien, very funny, man, joke that he was going to be the last human host of the Academy Awards.

It got a laugh, but it also hit a nerve.

Because AI has come around at a time when Hollywood is really struggling. It's been nearly

three years since the writers went on strike, overpay, and specifically the use of AI,

so did actors. It was one of the longest work stoppages ever. It went on for nearly five months,

virtually shut down the entire town. And the next round of negotiations have begun right now.

Like they're happening. They have begun. And yet again, AI is front and center of those conversations.

And the unions are expected to put forward a new so-called tilly tax.

Amazing.

You must be wondering, what on earth is a tilly tax?

But that is kind of the shorthand for a fee that studios would have to pay them for using an AI actor.

And why is it called a Tilly tax, Danny?

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