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  • HBO’s Casey Bloys on ‘The Penguin’ Season 2, ‘The Last of Us’ Future

    HBO’s Casey Bloys on ‘The Penguin’ Season 2, ‘The Last of Us’ Future

    It was quite a fine morning for Casey Bloys, the HBO and Max content chairman/CEO who saw his combined platform pull off 142 Emmy nominations — a new best for the company. Bloys said he had been prepped by his head of awards, Austin O’Malia, for several different outcomes, “and he was feeling good. So if he feels good, I feel good.”

    And that bore itself out with 24 nominations for “The Penguin” (the most of any limited/anthology series this year), 23 nods for “The White Lotus,” 16 for “The Last of Us,” 14 for “Hacks” and 13 for “The Pitt.”

    “When I think about the team at HBO and all the creatives that choose to work with us, I’m thrilled with the recognition that they get,” Bloys said. “But I’m also really happy for the team internally. When you think about Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller in documentaries, Nina Rosenstein in late night and talk, Amy Gravitt in comedy, Francesca Orsi in drama, Sarah Aubrey with Max originals like “The Pitt.” Across the board, they all put up multiple nominations. It really is a group effort, and it’s nice to see the team’s work recognized.”

    Variety spoke with Bloys on Tuesday morning about the Emmy haul, and what comes next for some of those shows.

    One of your biggest hits of the morning was ‘The Penguin,’ and we’re all still wondering what the future holds. We hear that a Season 2 could be in the works, what can you say today about that?

    The number one thing right now that Matt [Reeves] is dealing with is getting the movie going. I believe they’re making progress there. I know that he and [showrunner] Lauren [LeFranc] have talked about various ideas. So, could another chapter be in the future? Definitely possible. Right now, I think the priority for Matt is the movie. But I know that Lauren is thinking of various ideas that might work alongside the movie. I think it’s possible. I just don’t know at this point.

    It sounds like Colin Farrell is on board.

    Yes, he’s the one that has to play that dark character and sit and sit in the makeup chair for several hours a day. So his buy-in is essential.

    Is there an ETA on when you might be able to announce something?

    No ETA is or anything like that.

    We know right now planning on Season 3 of ‘The White Lotus’ has to be on hold because creator Mike White is off in Fiji competing on ‘Survivor.’

    The great thing about Mike, one of the things I know about him, is whatever is going on in Fiji and ‘Survivor,’ I know that he’s thinking about ‘The White Lotus.’ Maybe he’s even observing his fellow contestants and taking notes and getting ideas. So I’m not worried about any sort of delay. Mike always has the show in his head worked out, so I’m excited to talk to him when he’s back about what he’s what he’s thinking.

    Do you have a sense of what he’s thinking yet? How much have you talked to him about where to place the new season and the timing?

    I have a sense of the ideas that he’s playing with, but the scouting process is really important for him. They’re going to be doing that soon. I don’t know where it’s going to end up. I know it has been reported, Europe in general. But so much could change. It really does depend on when he sees a location, what he thinks about it and how it works with the story he’s trying to tell. So I just don’t know until he actually goes and tours a lot of places, and what excites him and what speaks to him. He will go through that process and we’ll take his lead.

    I think the only thing we know for sure is it’s not going to be a cold place, because he’s pretty adamant that he hates the cold.

    Yes.

    The big news for ‘The Last of Us’ was Neil Druckmann stepping away. Can you talk a little bit about that? From HBO’s perspective, what that meant for you, and talking to Craig Mazin about where things go now in Season 3.

    Obviously it was great to have Neil involved in the beginning. The whole reason that I wanted to do ‘Last of Us’ is after ‘Chernobyl,’ I said to Craig, ‘what do you want to do next?’ And ‘Last of Us’ was what he wanted to do. That’s what was most important to me, Craig’s creative excitement about the show. It was fantastic to have Neil involved. A lot of people don’t realize that Neil has a full time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog. It’s a really big job that he’s got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that. But I believe he’s given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we’ll be in excellent shape. I’m not worried at all.

    Can Season 3 make the 2026-2027 TV season, what’s the timeline? And if it follows the game, will that be the final season?

    The series is definitely planned for 2027. Craig is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season. It hasn’t been decided yet, and I’m following Craig’s lead on that.

    Obviously, since the show follows the game, the characters change. Already with Pedro out, and it’s sort of a question mark how much Bella will be seen in the new season. Is that a challenge?

    Not from a marketing perspective, because I think the title is obviously helped by the video game, and now the first two seasons is pretty well established. I kind of appreciate shows that take things and do a show from a different point of view.

    Speaking of shows with different points of view, Nathan Fielder and ‘The Rehearsal,’ that’s a show that I bet even surprised you with how much attention it got, especially toward the end.

    To be honest, it was not a surprise to me. Obviously, it’s the second we’ve done with him. He is a really, really special talent. I can sometimes tell, and it’s completely anecdotal, but the unsolicited emails or texts I get about how much people love a show, and I was getting a lot of ‘Rehearsal’ love. That season was pretty incredible, and also was highlighting a real problem. I just thought it was brilliant, the way he approached it.

    Would you fly in a plane that Nathan Fielder piloted?

    To be honest, while I was watching it and seeing the actors sign on for it, I don’t know that I would do that. I’m more cautious.

    Any word on a Season 3?

    He and Amy are talking about various ideas. He’s someone where you kind of have to let him come to you with the idea that gets him excited. Obviously, I want to know what he’s thinking and would be excited, but I’m letting him go through his process. I know he’s got a couple of germs an idea.

    Talk about ‘The Pitt’ roll out and how a lot of things really came together with that show, leading to all these nominations this morning.

    I couldn’t be happier for John [Wells] and Scott [Gemmill] and Noah [Wyle], the entire cast, because from the beginning, it was a little bit going back to the basics of television.We had the best in the business in terms of writers and actors and directors. John and his team know how to do this and that expertise. It’s hard to break through the Emmys with any show, especially a first season show. But especially a show that is up against series that do seven or eight episodes every two years, it it makes it harder to compete when you are doing 15 episodes. That’s not even close to what network television used to do, but still impressive. And Season 2 for ‘The Pitt’ is already in production. Working in those sorts of circumstances, it can be harder when you’re competing with shows that have more time, more resources. So it’s all the more impressive that the show broke through. I think a lot of people appreciated that you can still make a high quality show that comes back annually and has a good number of episodes. So it’s a real success story on a number of levels.

    Having 15 episodes helped, the week-to-week rollout seemed to make an impact as it slowly gained an awareness. The hallmarks of classic linear television, but on a streamer.

    So television works!

    There’s been so much speculation about the news that Tracy Ifeachor is departing. What can you tell me from the HBO Max perspective?

    This is a big show with a lot of cast. I wouldn’t read too much into it, other than it’s a show about one shift to the hospital, hour by hour. So there are going to be lots of people coming and going. This new season has new doctors in for this shift. So it’s part of the part of what’s exciting about the format is things can change quickly.

    Speaking of traditional TV models, this is the kind of show that, in success, begets spin offs. Have you been talking to John at all about doing one?

    No, no, no, no. Have not gotten there yet. I think getting the show right and getting it out will be the priority for now. We have not had any conversations about any other spin offs.

    I’m gonna give you a million dollar idea. “Fire Pitt.” Just down the street from the hospital is a Pittsburgh fire station.

    I’ll take it under advisement.

    What’s coming up that you’re excited about?

    A lot to talk about. ‘The Chair Company’ with Tim Robinson is coming up. Rachel Sennott’s comedy is coming up. Bill Lawrence and Steve Carell have a new show for us. We’ve got ‘Task’ coming up in the fall, and the new ‘It’ prequel series is coming. We got a lot of stuff lined up. So I’m excited.

    Anything more to add about what this record tally means to HBO?

    It’s a nice validation. Getting the most nominations isn’t the reason we do this, but it does feel good when it happens.

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  • Fueling The Future: Understanding The EU’s Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF)

    Fueling The Future: Understanding The EU’s Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF)

    On June 25, 2025, the European Commission adopted a new framework that simplifies EU State aid rules to make it easier for Member States to support the development of clean energy, industrial decarbonization and clean technology. This Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) will be in place until December 31, 2030 and replaces the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), which was introduced in March 2023 to address the economic impact of the war in Ukraine and reduce the EU’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

    The CISAF is one of the building blocks of the Clean Industrial Deal (CID), an ambitious policy agenda presented by the Commission in February 2025 (see our previous alert for more details), which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of European industry while at the same time accelerating the decarbonization of the economy. The main objective of the CISAF is to support investment in green energy, clean technology and industrial decarbonization by enabling necessary and proportionate State aid to overcome investment gaps, while “crowding in” private investment.

    The CISAF simplifies the State aid rules in five key areas:

    • the roll-out of renewable energy and low-carbon fuels;
    • temporary electricity price relief for energy-intensive users to ensure the transition to low-cost clean electricity;
    • decarbonization of existing production facilities;
    • the development of clean tech manufacturing capacity in the EU; and
    • de-risking of investments in clean energy, decarbonization, clean tech manufacturing, energy infrastructure projects and projects supporting the circular economy.

    In particular, the CISAF simplifies the compatibility assessment under Article 107(3), point (c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Under this provision, an aid measure must satisfy two conditions: the first being that it must be intended to facilitate the development of certain economic activities (positive condition) and the second being that it must not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest (negative condition):

    • The positive condition requires Member States to identify an economic activity that will be facilitated by the aid measure, as well as the societal benefits of developing that activity (including, where applicable, its relevance to specific EU policies). The Member State must also demonstrate the incentive effect of the aid. Aid is considered to have no incentive effect if it supports the costs of an activity that the beneficiary would anyhow have carried out in the absence of aid, or if it only compensates for the normal business risk of an activity.
    • The negative condition requires the Member State to demonstrate that the aid is necessary, appropriate, proportionate, and transparent and has no undue negative effects on competition and trade.

    Having analyzed these conditions, the final step is to weigh the identified negative effects of the aid measure on competition and trading conditions against the positive effects of the planned aid on the supported economic activities, taking into account any contribution to environmental protection and the objectives of energy policy (balancing test).

    The CISAF simplifies this compatibility assessment by making use of presumptions. Thus, aid measures falling within the scope of the CISAF and complying with all the conditions set out in the applicable sections are presumed to have incentive effect and to be necessary, appropriate and proportionate to support the development of the relevant activities; in addition, their positive effects are deemed to outweigh their negative effects on competition and trade. The compatibility conditions outlined in the CISAF are based on the Commission’s case practice and relevant experience gathered by the Commission from the application of the TCTF.

    Section 3 of the CISAF outlines general compatibility conditions. For instance, it states that an incentive effect can normally only be presumed if the beneficiary submits a written aid application to the competent authorities before starting work on the project or activity. However, aid can also be considered to have an incentive effect even if the start of work occurred before the submission of the aid application, if two cumulative criteria are met: (i) the aid is granted automatically in accordance with objective, non-discriminatory and non-discretionary criteria, and (ii) the measure has been adopted and is in force before work on the project or activity begins. Aid granted for investments that merely ensure compliance with Union standards that are in force at the moment of granting the aid, does not have an incentive effect.

    To avoid a subsidy race between Member States, aid granted under the CISAF cannot be conditional on the relocation of an activity of the beneficiary to the country granting the aid from another (EEA) country.

    Sections 4 through 8 of the CISAF set out the compatibility conditions for aid in each of the five above-mentioned key areas:

    1. Roll-out of clean energy: The CISAF aims to fast-track the roll-out of clean energy by allowing for easier and quicker approval of support for clean energy projects through simplified procedures. The new framework covers support for both renewable energy and low-carbon fuels, which the Commission considers important to reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries such as the transport sector. The aid may take the form of investment aid or direct price support schemes (such as contracts for difference or feed-in premiums). The aid may be granted through a competitive bidding process or, barring some exceptions, administratively. Where the aid is granted administratively, maximum aid intensities apply, i.e., the aid is capped at a certain percentage of total eligible costs, such as 45% for investments in renewable energy or 20% for investments in low-carbon fuels. Higher maximum aid intensities apply for aid granted to SMEs. In addition, Member States must ensure compliance with the “do no significant harm” principle, to ensure that the aided activities, despite making a substantial contribution to climate and environmental objectives, do not have a significant adverse impact on other environmental or social objectives.

      The CISAF also defines a “target model” for capacity mechanisms whereby Member States pay electricity suppliers to maintain standby capacity. Such mechanisms are necessary to ensure reliable supply to end users when intermittent renewable electricity sources (such as wind and solar) account for an increasing share of production. Capacity mechanisms that comply with all the criteria of either of two target models – strategic reserve or market-wide central buyer mechanism – as set out in Annex I to the CISAF, will qualify for fast-track approval, provided the aid measure is approved for a period of no more than 10 years.

    2. Electricity price support for energy-intensive users: The CISAF enables Member States to provide temporary electricity price support for energy-intensive industries, to make them more competitive on global markets. Only companies in sectors that are particularly exposed to international trade are eligible. The CISAF covers price support in the form of reductions from the wholesale price for a certain share of electricity consumption (other forms must be assessed under the 2022 Climate, Environmental protection and Energy Aid Guidelines (CEEAG)). The Commission will consider the aid proportionate if it covers at most a reduction of 50% of the yearly average wholesale market price in the bidding zone in which the beneficiary is connected, for not more than 50% of their annual electricity consumption. Moreover, such reductions must not result in a reduced price below 50 EUR/MWh for the eligible consumption. In return for receiving price support, companies must invest in decarbonization.
    3. Support for investments in decarbonization or increased energy efficiency of existing production facilities: The new framework allows for support for a wide array of decarbonization technologies such as electrification, hydrogen, biomass, carbon capture and storage. Supported investments must result in tangible reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and may not result in the displacement of the emissions to the energy sector or from one industrial site to another. The CISAF defines minimum decarbonization targets and sets maximum aid limits. The aid limits are determined based on pre-defined maximum aid intensities (e.g., 45% for investments in the production of renewable energy or in carbon capture) or a funding gap The method based on maximum aid intensities can only be used for aid amounts up to EUR 200 million. Alternatively, Member States may also determine the maximum aid amount by a competitive bidding process, subject to some additional conditions.
    4. Support for clean tech manufacturing: The CISAF allows Member States to support investments in new manufacturing capacity for all technologies covered by the Net-Zero Industry Act in the form of schemes, as well as other investment projects in clean technologies on an individual basis, where it is needed to prevent such investments being diverted away from Europe. Eligible projects may concern investments in manufacturing of final products or components but may also support the production and processing of critical raw materials necessary for clean technologies. Here too, the CISAF sets maximum aid intensities, with projects in less advantaged regions benefiting from higher aid ceilings. In addition, the framework allows Member States to stimulate demand for clean technology products by offering tax incentives, such as accelerated depreciation of investments.
    5. De-risking private investments: Member States can take measures to stimulate private investments in projects supporting the Clean Industrial Deal, including not only clean energy, decarbonization and clean tech manufacturing, but also energy infrastructure and the circular economy. Such measures must ensure additionality, meaning that through reducing the risks associated with the investment they crowd in private investors that otherwise would not have invested in the same type of projects. Support may take the form of equity, loans and/or guarantees provided to a dedicated fund or special purpose vehicle that will hold the portfolio of eligible projects.

    Finally, Section 9 of the CISAF sets out some transparency and reporting requirements that Member States must comply with.

    Besides the CISAF, other State aid rules relevant to clean energy and decarbonization, notably the 2022 CEEAG, continue to apply in parallel and may be used by Member States for different or more complex support measures. Member States may also continue to rely on the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) to implement State aid measures in this field without the need to notify them to the Commission.

    Although the CISAF does not cover aid for nuclear energy generation, the Commission states that it recognizes the role of nuclear in the energy mix and will conduct a timely assessment of State aid for nuclear supply chains and technologies, including for small and advanced modular reactors.

    Besides implementing this new State aid framework, the Commission also plans to simplify other existing State aid rules:

    • The recently launched review of the GBER is intended to result in a significantly reduced administrative burden on both businesses and Member States;
    • The Commission is also evaluating the 2008 Guarantee Notice, to assess if it is still a sufficiently clear and predictable framework for granting state guarantees.

    Finally, the Commission also intends to work with Member States to speed up the design of new important projects of common European interest (IPCEI), and assess targeted changes to the IPCEI definition to strengthen the efficiency of the tool to support industrial decarbonization and the scale-up of clean tech manufacturing in the EU.

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  • The Walt Disney Company Earns 137 Emmy® Award Nominations

    The Walt Disney Company Earns 137 Emmy® Award Nominations

    The Walt Disney Company proudly announces 137 nominations for the 77th Emmy® Awards across its content brands and studios, including ABC, Disney Branded Television, Disney’s FX, Disney+, Disney Television Studios (20th Television Animation and 20th Television), FX Productions, Hulu, Hulu Originals, National Geographic, and Onyx Collective; and The Walt Disney Studios’ Lucasfilm, Marvel Animation, Marvel Television, Searchlight Pictures, and Walt Disney Pictures. Disney’s streaming platforms Disney+ and Hulu are home to a total of 128 nominations.

    ABC received 38 nominations, the most of any broadcast network. 20th Television’s Abbott Elementary received its fourth consecutive nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, while Jimmy Kimmel Live received its 14th nod for Outstanding Talk Series. ABC dominated the game show categories, receiving four of the five nominations for both Outstanding Game Show and Outstanding Host for Game Show, including Elizabeth Banks’ and Jimmy Kimmel’s first in this category for Press Your Luck and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, respectively. 20th Television’s Will Trent also earned its first nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming.

    Disney’s FX garnered 35 nominations, of which five are for Outstanding Program – Comedy Series (two), Limited Series, Documentary Series, and Unstructured Reality Series. Limited Series nominee Dying for Sex (20th Television) earned nine nominations, including Series, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Writing, and Directing. In its sixth and final season, beloved What We Do in the Shadows received six total nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

    The Walt Disney Studios is home to 25 nominations including Lucasfilm’s Andor, which earned a series-high of 14 nominations for its final season and the studio received additional recognition for Music by John Williams and The Acolyte. Marvel Television earned nominations for Agatha All Along, and Marvel Animation received recognition for What If…?. Additionally, Walt Disney Pictures received recognition for Beatles ’64.

    Hulu Originals earned 22 total nominations. 20th Television’s freshman drama series Paradise from Dan Fogelman garnered four nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and performance nominations for Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden, and Julianne Nicholson. Breakout social sensations The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives swung into the Emmys with its first nomination for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program. Hulu also received its first stand-up comedy nominations for Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years, and 20th Television’s Only Murders in the Building received its fourth consecutive nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. Additionally, Searchlight Pictures was nominated for The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat.

    National Geographic garners five nominations including Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special for Tucci in Italy, Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program for Life Below Zero, the 11th consecutive nomination for the Series in that Category, as well as Outstanding Narrator for Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color with Idris Elba.

    Disney Branded Television continued its recent Emmy success with four nominations; three for live concert special The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl, including Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming, and a nomination for the long-running action-adventure series Doctor Who.

    Onyx Collective, whose debut title Summer of Soul (…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won the Oscar® for outstanding documentary in partnership with Searchlight Pictures, scores again with director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s follow-up documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius).

    ​​Disney Television Studios’ 45 Emmy nominations include six Outstanding Program nominations including 20th Television Animation’s Bob’s Burgers and The Simpsons for Outstanding Animated Program. Additionally, 20th Television’s Outstanding Drama Series nomination for Paradise (Hulu Originals) and Outstanding Comedy Series nomination for Only Murders in the Building (Hulu Originals) makes creator and executive producer Dan Fogelman a double nominee across both Outstanding Series categories in the same year. 20th Television’s Abbott Elementary and Nobody Wants This were also recognized with Outstanding Comedy Series nominations.

    A complete list of all The Walt Disney Company’s nominations is below*:

    Andor (Disney+ / Lucasfilm Ltd.)
    14 Nominations

    • Outstanding Drama Series
    • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Forest Whitaker
    • Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Alan Tudyk
    • Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
    • Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
    • Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)
    • Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour)
    • Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series – Yan Miles
    • Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)
    • Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
    • Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
    • Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie

     

    The Bear (FX on Hulu)
    13 Nominations

    • Outstanding Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Jeremy Allen White
    • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Ayo Edebiri
    • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Ebon Moss-Bachrach
    • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Liza Colón-Zayas
    • Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series – Jon Bernthal
    • Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Olivia Colman
    • Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Disney Legend Jamie Lee Curtis
    • Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series – Ayo Edebiri
    • Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single Camera Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour)
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation

     

    Dying for Sex (FX on Hulu)
    9 Nominations

    • Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
    • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie – Michelle Williams
    • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie – Rob Delaney
    • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie – Jenny Slate
    • Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
    • Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
    • Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
    • Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
    • Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)

    Only Murders in the Building (Hulu / 20th Television)
    7 Nominations

    1. Outstanding Comedy Series
    2. Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Martin Short
    3. Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour)
    4. Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
    5. Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)
    6. Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation
    7. Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Comedy Programming

    Abbott Elementary (ABC / 20th Television)
    6 Nominations

    • Outstanding Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Quinta Brunson
    • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Janelle James
    • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Sheryl Lee Ralph
    • Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series – Quinta Brunson
    • Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling

    The Oscars (ABC)
    6 Nominations

    • Outstanding Variety Special (Live)
    • Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special
    • Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special
    • Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming
    • Outstanding Music Direction – Michael Bearden
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special

    What We Do in the Shadows (FX on Hulu)
    6 Nominations

    • Outstanding Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour)
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single Camera Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling
    • Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)

    Mid-Century Modern (Hulu / 20th Television)
    4 Nominations

    • Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour)
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for a Multi-Camera Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation

    Paradise (Hulu / 20th Television)
    4 Nominations

    • Outstanding Drama Series
    • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Sterling K. Brown
    • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – James Marsden
    • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Julianne Nicholson

    Agatha All Along (Disney+ / Marvel Television)
    3 Nominations

    • Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
    • Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
    • Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour)

    American Idol (ABC)
    3 Nominations

    • Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program
    • Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Reality Program

    Dancing With the Stars (ABC / Disney+)
    3 Nominations

    • Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program
    • Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series
    • Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program

     

    Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
    3 Nominations

    1. Outstanding Talk Series
    2. Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
    3. Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series

    The Lion King at The Hollywood Bowl (Disney+ / Disney Branded Television)
    3 Nominations

    • Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming
    • Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program
    • Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special

     

    Nobody Wants This (20th Television)
    3 Nominations

    • Outstanding Comedy Series
    • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Adam Brody
    • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Disney Legend Kristen Bell

    Welcome to Wrexham (FX on Hulu)
    3 Nominations

    • Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Reality Program

     

    2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (ABC)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special
    • Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Special

    Beatles ’64 (Disney+ / Walt Disney Studios)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program

    Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years (Hulu)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming

    Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Game Show
    • Outstanding Host for a Game Show – Steve Harvey

     

    Jeopardy! (ABC)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Game Show
    • Outstanding Host for a Game Show – Ken Jennings

    Life Below Zero (National Geographic)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program
    • Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program

     

    Music by John Williams (Disney+ / Lucasfilm Ltd.)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program
    • Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program

     

    The Rookie (ABC / 20th Television)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Drama Programming
    • Outstanding Stunt Performance

    Shark Tank (ABC)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Structured Reality Program
    • Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program – Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Daniel Lubetzky


    The Simpsons (20th Television Animation)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Animated Program
    • Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Hank Azaria

     

    Tucci in Italy (National Geographic)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
    • Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program

     

    What If…? (Disney+ / Marvel Animation)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Jeffrey Wright
    • Outstanding Sound Editing for an Animated Program 

    Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (ABC)
    2 Nominations

    • Outstanding Game Show
    • Outstanding Host for a Game Show – Jimmy Kimmel

    The Acolyte (Disney+ / Lucasfilm Ltd.)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour)

    American Horror Stories (FX on Hulu / 20th Television)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

     

    Bad Sisters (20th Television)

    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Sharon Horgan

     

    Bob’s Burgers (20th Television Animation)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Animated Program

    The Boy & The Octopus (The Walt Disney Company)
    1 Nomination

    The Conners (ABC)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Picture Editing for a Multi-Camera Comedy Series

     

    Doctor Who (Disney+ / Disney Branded Television)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming

    Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color (National Geographic)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Narrator – Idris Elba

    Grotesquerie (FX on Hulu)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)

    The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – Cherry Jones

    Only Murders in the Building: Unlocking the Mystery (Hulu)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series

    Patrice: The Movie (Hulu / ABC News Studios)
    1 Nomination

    • Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking

    Press Your Luck (ABC)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Host for a Game Show – Elizabeth Banks 

    The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel (ABC)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series

    Say Nothing (FX on Hulu)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

    The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (Hulu)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program

    Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (Onyx Collective)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

    Social Studies (FX on Hulu)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series

    The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat (Searchlight Pictures)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)

    Will Trent (ABC / 20th Television)
    1 Nomination

    • Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming

    Wheel of Fortune (ABC)
    1 Nomination

    *As some of the nominations overlap, these are grand totals for each entity.

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  • Study Highlights Gaps in Dementia Care That May Lead to Unnecessary Nursing Home Placement

    Study Highlights Gaps in Dementia Care That May Lead to Unnecessary Nursing Home Placement

    Jasmine L. Travers, PhD, RN, AGPCNP-BC, CCRN

    (Credit: LinkedIn)

    A qualitative descriptive study recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia identified distinct categories of unmet needs and barriers that could contribute to avoidable nursing home placements among Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White patients living with dementia. Study authors noted that the need for applying strategies that aim to address these unmet needs and improve community-based services to reduce nursing home placements in this diverse patient population.1

    In the study, researchers recognized 7 distinct categories of unmet needs in patients living with dementia from 61 interviews conducted in New York. These included assistance with activities of daily living and basic home maintenance; access to resources and services; treatment-related services; opportunities for socialization; recognition of individual preferences; home function, such as unaddressed modification needs; and the availability, capability, and support of family caregivers. Notably, barriers to addressing these needs were reported as limited awareness, knowledge, availability, affordability, and acceptability of existing resources, services, and supports.

    “Many people struggled to find the help they needed, such as connecting with home health aides or housekeeping services, did not receive enough hours of care, or could not afford the help they needed. Even when services were available, limitations from insurance, high costs, a lack of available workers, and scheduling at preferred times often left people without sufficient support to stay safely at home,” coauthors Jasmine L. Travers, PhD, RN, AGPCNP-BC, CCRN, assistant professor of nursing, and Aasha Raval, MPH, BDS, research associate, both at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, told NeurologyLive® in a recent interview. “This gap in finding reliable help was a major reason for the nursing home placement. Clinical teams might recognize this gap and be ready to ask their patients these questions and serve as liaison to connect patients with the services that they need.”

    The research involved interviews with patients living with dementia (n = 19), their family care partners (n = 17), and key informants which were nursing home staff from 2 New York facilities (n = 25) and aging policy experts (n = 10). Authors noted that 11% (n = 2), 12% (n = 2), and 8% (n = 2) of patients with dementia, family care partners, and key informants, respectively, identified as Black, whereas 32% (n = 6), 47% (n = 8), and 32% (n = 8) of patients with dementia, family care partners, and key informants, respectively, identified as Hispanic/Latino. All 1-on-1 interviews with each of the participants were conducted by researchers between March 2022 and November 2022.

    READ MORE: Understanding the Root Causes of Cognitive Decline in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods

    “Clinicians face significant challenges because the entire system still favors nursing home care over home- and community-based services, which often have long waitlists, excessive paperwork, and workforce shortages. Even programs designed to help people stay at home, such as Money Follows the Person or the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), are not available everywhere or to everyone who needs them,” Travers and Raval said in the interview. “Additionally, the services covered often depend on complex Medicaid rules rather than what is best for the individual. For Black and Latino families, there is an added layer of disparities and fewer culturally tailored services, making it even more difficult for clinicians to connect them with necessary support. Furthermore, gaps in affordable housing and community resources limit clinicians’ options to keep people safe and supported at home.”

    Aasha Raval, MPH, BDS

    (Credit: Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing)

    Based on the identified distinct categories of unmet needs and barriers from the interviews, the results emphasized that with appropriate support, many patients with dementia could remain at home rather than enter nursing homes. However, the participants in the study and previous studies have underscored that both paid and unpaid assistance options for patients with dementia can be limited, and navigating available community services could remain a significant challenge.2

    Authors also noted that the study’s limitations included potential recall bias in interviews and limited generalizability despite a diverse sample from New York City. Although the sample size exceeded recommendations and included aging policy experts, researchers noted that only nursing home residents with dementia were interviewed. Furthermore, the small sample across racial and ethnic groups may prevent conclusions about differences in unmet needs, though future research could address this.

    “We are currently researching the differences across racial and ethnic groups in more detail. We found that when we spoke with families of Black and Latino older adults, caregivers face bigger barriers such as fewer culturally tailored services, financial challenges, and deep-rooted distrust in healthcare stemming from historical disparities,” Travers and Raval added. “It is not just that care is hard to find, often the available care does not meet their language or cultural needs. Additionally, insurance rules and a shortage of bilingual aides make things even more difficult. This results in families taking on more care themselves on top of full-time jobs, which can be overwhelming and eventually lead to earlier nursing home placements.”

    “To support these families, we need: Increased Medicaid-funded home care hours to ensure services to keep loved ones safely at home. Enhanced training in cultural competence for home health aides and clinical teams (i.e., bilingual communication skills and understanding cultural values). Expanded community-based programs tailored to Black and Latino caregivers, such as culturally specific dementia education workshops, caregiver support groups in preferred languages, and programs like PACE and Community Aging in Place – Advancing Better Living for Elders (​​CAPABLE), which can help families navigate care and avoid crises. Simplified process to sign up for programs such as PACE and CAPABLE by reducing paperwork, clarifying eligibility rules, and providing information in multiple languages and culturally appropriate formats, so families/older adults know what help exists and how to get it,” Travers and Raval told NeurologyLive.

    REFERENCES
    1. Travers Altizer J, Shenoy S, Balaji A, Bergh M, Raval A, Jimenez A. Unmet needs and nursing home placements in Black, Latino, and White people living with dementia. Alzheimers Dement. 2025;21(6):e70265. doi:10.1002/alz.70265
    2. Jutkowitz E, Mitchell LL, Bardenheier BH, Gaugler JE. Profiles of Caregiving Arrangements of Community-dwelling People Living with Probable Dementia. J Aging Soc Policy. 2022;34(6):860-875. doi:10.1080/08959420.2021.1927613

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  • An Iconic NASA Probe Is at Threat of Being Shut Down Due to Trump Cuts

    An Iconic NASA Probe Is at Threat of Being Shut Down Due to Trump Cuts

    On July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, revealing unprecedented close-up views of the complex icy world. The iconic mission is still returning data from the far reaches of the solar system, but a lack of funding now threatens to end the mission prematurely.

    As NASA celebrates the 10th anniversary of the historic Pluto flyby, the space agency is also bracing for budget cuts that threaten the historic New Horizons probe. The White House’s budget proposal, released in May, reduces NASA’s upcoming budget by $6 billion compared to 2025. Under the proposed budget, NASA’s planetary science budget would drop from $2.7 billion to $1.9 billion. The severe drop in funding would kill dozens of active and planned missions, including New Horizons.

    New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006, and traveled 9 billion miles in nine and a half years to become the first spacecraft to reach Pluto. Its journey through the harsh space environment wasn’t the only challenge; members of the space community advocated for nearly 20 years for the approval of the spacecraft, according to The Planetary Society. At the time, NASA missions to Pluto were deemed not worth the cost. As a result, New Horizons was nearly canceled on multiple occasions due to budgeting conflicts. In 2002, the White House tried to kill the mission after NASA had already started developing it, but a massive backlash forced Congress to step in and restore New Horizons’ funding.

    Despite its rocky start, New Horizons is now hailed as one of the most successful planetary missions. Following its close encounter with Pluto, the mission revealed that the icy planet and its moons are far more complex than scientists had initially assumed. New Horizons imaged a giant, heart-shaped icy plain on Pluto, which may sit above a subsurface ocean. It also revealed cryovolcanoes, indicating a geologically active body and not a dead, frozen world. The mission also explored Pluto’s icy, chaotic moons, which rotate chaotically.

    Beyond Pluto, New Horizons continues to explore the outer reaches of the solar system. The spacecraft is shedding light on the mysterious planets and smaller objects of the outer solar system. In January 2019, New Horizons conducted the most distant flyby of a Kuiper Belt object when it explored Arrokoth, a frozen relic in the icy region beyond Neptune. The double-lobed object serves as a relic from the early solar system. The successful Arrokoth flyby earned New Horizons a mission extension, allowing the spacecraft to continue exploring until it exits the Kuiper Belt in 2029.

    “The New Horizons mission has a unique position in our solar system to answer important questions about our heliosphere and provide extraordinary opportunities for multidisciplinary science for NASA and the scientific community,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement at the time.

    New Horizons has enough fuel to carry out another flyby of a Kuiper Belt object, and mission teams are currently searching for its next possible target. If the current budget proposal is approved, New Horizons will be turned off long before its expiration date, which would cost us years of valuable data. After Voyager 1 and 2, the New Horizons spacecraft is the third most distant human-built object from Earth. It would take years for another spacecraft to reach that distance. “We’re the only spacecraft out there,” Alan Stern, principal investigator for New Horizons, told The Planetary Society. “There’s nothing else planned to come this way.”

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  • Gain Lifetime Access to Over 50 Languages for Only $35 With StackSocial’s Massive Deal on Qlango

    Gain Lifetime Access to Over 50 Languages for Only $35 With StackSocial’s Massive Deal on Qlango

    If you’re taking any international trips this summer, learning a new language is a great way to improve your experience and show your appreciation of another culture. In person language learning classes can be expensive and time consuming. The great news is, thanks to a wide variety of language learning apps, you don’t have to deprive yourself of the chance to learn just because you have a lot of obligations

    We’ve spotted an epic deal on this lifetime subscription to Qlango for just $35 at StackSocial right now. That’s a savings of 70% off StackSocial’s list price and saves you $55 when compared with subscribing directly through Qlango. Though there’s no stated deadline attached to this deal, we suggest acting fast to make sure you don’t miss this discount.

    Qlango gamifies language learning in a massive 56 languages and offers games, repetition and resources in your chosen language. With features such as being able to click on a single word for clarity or even customizing how you learn, you can work on your pronunciation and listening skills, as well as focus on the things that might be more challenging for you.

    The app allows you set up a language learning plan that fits your schedule and uses positive reinforcement to make sure you stay on track. AI-assisted learning and parallel books can also help you build your skills and confidence over time.

    Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

    The app’s six levels include common vocabulary words, repetition and emphasis on learning parts of speech. With languages such as Albanian, Portuguese, Chinese and more, you’ll be sure to find the right fit for you. Keep in mind that you need at least Android 6 or iOS 12 in order to use this app, so check your smartphone or tablet’s specs before purchasing.

    Looking for a language-learning app but not sure if this deal is for you? Check out our list of the best language-learning apps so you can find the right one for your needs.

    Note: Though this is advertised as a lifetime subscription, there are no guarantees that purchases will be supported for life. As we’ve seen in the past, a change of ownership, a service shutting down or some other unforeseen circumstance may result in your lifetime subscription ending sooner than anticipated.

    Top deals available today, according to CNET’s shopping experts

    Curated discounts worth shopping while they last.

    Why this deal matters

    Learning a new language can be pricey and cumbersome, but the Qlango app offers games, books and even a certificate once you complete your course. It features 56 languages and offers the most essential things you need to know to start conversing — all for $35 right now. Considering this discount not only saves you a massive chunk of the usual cost but also eliminates recurring monthly fees with its lifetime service, now is a good time to nab this deal.


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  • Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style Found Its Way to ‘The Bear’

    Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style Found Its Way to ‘The Bear’

    The Bear takes a breath in episode five of its fourth season as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto—the perpetually stressed chef who’s spent three and a half seasons trying to save his late brother’s struggling Chicago restaurant—trades his usual anxiety for a peaceful architectural pilgrimage. The episode starts out with Carmy arriving at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park property, where a close-up of the National Historic Landmark plaque introduces his tour. The scene shows Carmy examining Wright’s signature elements: the barrel-vaulted playroom ceiling, the studio’s stained glass skylights, and—appropriate for a chef—the home’s antique stove.

    Wright arrived in Chicago in 1887 as an apprentice to Louis Sullivan, and in 1889, borrowed $5,000 from his mentor to purchase land in Oak Park, a semi-rural village that offered respite from the city. The home Wright built there would become his primary creative space for the next two decades, where he pioneered the Prairie School movement and produced more than a third of his life’s work.

    UniversalImagesGroup//Getty Images

    Illinois, Oak Park, Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio.

    The shingle-style residence initially reflected Wright’s early influences, but the interior revealed his vision of domestic space. Wright abandoned Victorian formality for warm, open central areas that prioritized family life over rigid social hierarchy. The home evolved continuously during his residence: In 1895, he added the barrel-vaulted playroom seen in The Bear episode. Its scale is carefully tailored to a child’s perspective but demonstrates Wright’s intelligent manipulation of space.

    The 1898 studio addition housed Wright’s architectural practice for eleven years, featuring the octagonal, double-height drafting room where he worked alongside 14 associates. During these Oak Park years, Wright designed numerous houses throughout Chicago and the surrounding area with gently sloping roofs, low proportions, sheltering overhangs—all elements that would define his Prairie style.

    Arthur Heurtley House, Oak Park, Illinois

    UniversalImagesGroup//Getty Images

    Arthur Heurtley House, Oak Park, Illinois.

    The episode also showcases two neighboring Wright houses. The Arthur and Grace Heurtley House, completed in 1902, is emblematic of Wright’s mature Prairie Style, with its horizontal emphasis and seamless integration with the landscape. The Nathan G. Moore House was originally built in 1895 in Tudor Revival style with half-timbered upper stories and a pitched roof, but it was completely transformed after a 1922 fire damaged the top two floors. Wright’s redesign added distinctive Mayan and Gothic-inspired motifs that reflect his later experimental period, creating what many experts consider one of his most unusual residential works.

    The production team took exceptional care in filming here. The crew gained access to normally restricted areas, including the kitchen and drafting room balcony, where Wright’s collaborators Orlando Giannini and sculptor Richard Bock once worked.

    Longtime Trust volunteer Lourdes Nicholls told Wednesday Journal that actor Jeremy Allen White was allowed to interact with the home in ways typically off-limits to tourists, like touching the wood and furniture.

    Nathan G. Moore house, Oak Park, Illinois

    UniversalImagesGroup//Getty Images

    Nathan G. Moore house, Oak Park, Illinois.

    After Wright left Oak Park in 1909, the home and studio were eventually divided into separate residences. The property changed hands multiple times throughout the mid-20th century, even being converted into apartments before the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust acquired it in 1974 and undertook comprehensive restoration.

    Today, the home and studio operate as a National Historic Landmark, offering tours to visitors. The Trust anticipates an increase in tourism following the episode’s premiere, introducing a new generation to Wright’s revolutionary ideas about domestic space and the integration of art into daily life.

    Headshot of Julia Cancilla

    Julia Cancilla is the engagement editor (and resident witch) at ELLE Decor, where she oversees the brand’s social media platforms, covers design trends and culture, and writes  the monthly ELLE Decoroscope column. Julia built her background at Inked magazine, where she grew their social media audiences by two million and penned feature articles focusing on pop culture, art, and lifestyle. 

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  • Latest Oil Market News and Analysis for July 15

    Latest Oil Market News and Analysis for July 15

    Oil fell as the dollar strengthened and traders doubted US President Donald Trump’s plan to pressure Moscow would disrupt Russian exports.

    West Texas Intermediate slid 0.7% to settle above $66, extending Monday’s losses. Trump toldBloomberg Terminal reporters the US will impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia after teasing the deal earlier in the day. The dollar strengthened, making commodities priced in the currency less attractive.

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  • UKtech50 2025 winner: Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO, DeepMind

    UKtech50 2025 winner: Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO, DeepMind

    As a child, Demis Hassabis, the winner of the 15th UKtech50, was already somewhat unique. A chess prodigy from the age of four, he taught himself programming on a ZX Spectrum 48K computer by the time he was eight. He began designing and writing video games, gaining his first taste for artificial intelligence (AI), as a teenager, which would later lead to receiving a Nobel Prize and a knighthood in the same year for his work.

    Hassabis wears many hats: chess player, video game designer, neuroscientist, researcher and – most notable – AI entrepreneur. Perhaps best known for co-founding DeepMind in 2010, together with friends Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman, an AI startup which was acquired by Google four years later for around £400m, his knowledge of both science and technology has served him well.

    The two topics go hand in hand. After graduating from Cambridge with a degree in computer science, Hassabis went on to do a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at University College London, studying how memory and imagination are linked to the brain. That thought was what led to the founding of DeepMind.

    In a 2022 TED interview, Hassabis said that the link between the dopamine response in a human brain is replicated in AI, in that finding the right action that will best lead towards the overall goal.

    “One of the things that has been so interesting about the convergence of some neuroscience and AI over the past 20 or 30 years is our understanding of that reward mechanism – the dopamine mechanism that we talk about in the brain,” he said.

    “The popular explanation of it is that dopamine response to reward in the external world, but in fact, it responds to expectations about reward, right? You’re imagining that you’re gonna get $5 and then you get $10, and so there’s a dopamine surge because you exceeded expectations, and vice versa. And that turned out to be relevant in the world of AI as well.”

    The development of AlphaZero

    It was while at UCL that Hassabis met Suleyman and Legg, and the three came up with the idea that neuroscience, AI and machine learning together could create powerful algorithms, thus creating DeepMind.

    One of the company’s first early achievements, before it was bought by Google, was using deep reinforcement learning to create an unbeatable AI model that could win Atari games such as Space Invaders and Pong. DeepMind then moved onto more complex games, gaining the attention of tech giant Google.  

    Following the Google acquisition, Hassabis stayed on as DeepMind’s CEO, and in 2016, the company launched its AI system AlphaGo, which famously defeated world champion Lee Sedol in the complex, ancient board game of Go.

    This showed, for the first time, the true potential of general AI to discover solutions humans may not have even considered, not just in the field of video games, but in areas including medicine and science.

    AlphaGo itself, as well as the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI), led to the development of AlphaZero, a game-playing system which taught itself to master chess as well as other games, without any human guidance. However, the journey of DeepMind’s AI systems has since moved on.

    Scoring a Nobel Prize

    As well as advancing research on AI safety and the development of a partnership with London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital for the use of artificial intelligence to identify and treat degenerative eye conditions, DeepMind developed AlphaFold in 2018, which is a system to solve the protein folding problem. 

    The system accurately predicted the 3D shape a protein will fold up to when it’s in the body, a concept which was first articulated by another Nobel Prize winner, Christian Anfinsen, in 1972. DeepMind used 150,000 proteins whose structure had already been identified to train AlphaFold to predict their shape. This then led to the development of Alphafold2, for which Hassabis won a Nobel Prize.

    It was 2020 when Hassabis, together with DeepMind colleague, American chemist and computer scientist John Jumper, created the second version of the AI model for structure prediction. The model can accurately predict the 3D model of protein structures by taking the protein’s amino acid sequence, not only on single protein chains. There are currently more than 200 million predicted protein structures available in the AlphaFold database, a far cry from the 150,000 that were known before Hassabis created the AI model.

    The AlphaFold database is currently being used by several sectors all over the world, including pharmaceutical research, healthcare and environmental technology. In Singapore, researchers are using it to come up with ways to diagnose and treat Parkinson’s disease quicker, while the US is using it to combat antibiotic resistance. In Norway, researchers have used it to figure out how to increase honeybees’ chance of survival through looking into vitellogenin, a protein fundamental to bees’ immune system. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the UK have screened 100 candidate enzymes to engineer faster and cheaper plastic-recycling enzymes.

    The future of AI

    So, what’s next for Hassabis and AI? Despite progress, he believes there is still a while to go before many of the capabilities of AI will have evolved to live up to its current hype.

    In March 2025, speaking at an event to mark the availability of audio generation model Chirp 3 on the Google Vertex AI platform, Hassabis said that AI will have evolved to AGI, whereby the AI system exhibits “the cognitive capabilities” of humans, within that time. “That’ll be a moment when we have finally arrived with a kind of general intelligence, which is the original aim of the whole field of AI,” he added.

    While AI models have evolved drastically in the past few years, there are still challenges when it comes to combining them with planning algorithms. “If your AI model has a 1% error rate and you plan over 5,000 steps, that 1% compounds like compound interest,” Hassabis said at the event.

    By the time 5,000 steps have been worked through, the compounded error, according to Hassabis, means the possibility of the answer being correct is random. “For a games model, you have the rules of Chess or Go,” he said, which aids the planning algorithm in making the correct decision. “In the real world, you don’t have perfect information. There’s hidden information that we don’t know about, so we need AI models that are able to understand the world around us.”

    For Hassabis, one of the interesting developments expected to appear over the next few years is the deployment of multiple AI agents that work together to solve a problem, and AI agents themselves can be used in a general AI system to solve problems.

    Only a few weeks ago, DeepMind launched its latest venture, the AlphaGenome tool, which accurately predicts how single variants or mutations in DNA sequences affect the biological processes regulating genes.

    However, this too has limitations when it comes to accurately capturing the “distant regulatory elements, like those over 100,000 DNA letters away, [which is] still an ongoing challenge”, according to DeepMind. “Another priority for future work is further increasing the model’s ability to capture cell- and tissue-specific patterns.” 

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  • Pegula, Raducanu and Zheng highlight Washington entry list

    Pegula, Raducanu and Zheng highlight Washington entry list

    The North American summer hard-court swing will kick off with a sparking field at the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C.

    The main-draw entry list for this year’s event was released the week of June 23rd. The main-draw field (including wild cards) currently features three Top 10 players and five Grand Slam champions. Main-draw play in Rock Creek Park kicks off on Monday, July 21.

    World No. 4 Jessica Pegula tops the field in her nation’s capital. Pegula won her first career WTA singles title at Washington in 2019 ranked No. 79, which kickstarted her rise up the PIF WTA Rankings.

    Pegula has been a regular Top 5 player over the last few years and has already won three WTA singles titles in 2025, including last month on the grass of Bad Homburg.

    As of the July 14 rankings, the other Top 10 players on the main-draw entry list are another American, Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova, and Zheng Qinwen of China, a late addition to the field.

    Anisimova made her Top 10 debut on Monday following a run to her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.

    Unfortunately, another Top 10 player, defending champion Paula Badosa, withdrew from action for the next few weeks due to a back injury. Last year in Washington, former World No. 2 Badosa won her first title since 2022. 

    The Grand Slam champions named on the entry list are three titlists from this decade: 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.

    The tournament also announced that a fourth Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, would be at the event as well. Osaka has won four Grand Slam titles: 2018 and 2020 US Open, and 2019 and 2021 Australian Open.

    Also, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams will join the field as a main-draw wild card. The former World No. 1 will return to Hologic WTA Tour action for the first time in 16 months.

    Other Top 25 players on the entry list include Emma Navarro, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Clara Tauson and Magdalena Frech.

    The ATP will also be hosting its own 500-level tournament side by side with the women’s event. This is the only combined WTA-ATP 500-level tennis tournament on the tennis calendar all year.

    The full main-draw player field can be found at the Mubadala Citi DC Open website here!

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