Right on time, it’s The Midas Report.

AI breakthroughs, filtered for people who build, invest, and lead.

And speaking of investing, if AI is the new gold rush, premium content is the bedrock it's built on.

Judging by where Big Tech is sniffing around, Hollywood has officially become ground zero.

The old approach to training AI was “scrape first, ask questions later.” But the lawsuits are landing, and they’re expensive. Anthropic just inked a $1.5 billion settlement with hundreds of authors over how it trained its Claude AI models.

And that’s just the beginning.

Disney, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros. Discovery are all suing Midjourney over similar claims.

The legal victories (and defeats) are clarifying one thing, owning or licensing content is the path forward. Which flips the game.

Instead of quietly scraping the internet, AI companies are now writing checks, or eyeing entire libraries.

Forget the writer’s room. The real action is happening in deal rooms. And it’s not just about short term lawsuits. This is about what Big Tech needs to stay competitive.

OpenAI is reportedly valued at $500 billion. Anthropic is at $183 billion. Models need training fuel to keep growing, and high quality, human made content is premium grade.

That makes IP rich studios, archives, and even publishing houses strategic assets. AI firms need access. Tech giants who don’t want to fall behind will need to own or control the pipelines.

Suddenly, Hollywood doesn’t just make entertainment, it makes training data. And in this environment, that’s king.

For creators and rightsholders, this shifts the power dynamics. There’s a new monetization window.

Licensing proprietary, human authored content for AI training is no longer speculative, it’s a live opportunity. If you’ve got something valuable, you don’t need to sell the whole studio, just lease out the training rights.

But don’t expect this feeding frenzy to go unscrutinized. Lawyers and regulators are circling.

If you’re building AI tools, now's the time to make your sourcing house look immaculate.

That means clear licensing, documentation, and transparency around what goes in, and what comes out.

The next AI arms race won’t be fought with algorithms.

It will be fought with IP rights.

That’s your daily AI Edge for September 22nd 2025.

See you tomorrow!

Midas AI