Last year, I noted that OpenAI’s view on copyright is that it’s fine and dandy to copy, paste, and steal people’s work. OpenAI is far from alone. Anthropic, Google, and Meta all trot out the same tired old arguments: AI must be free to use copyrighted material under the legal doctrine of fair use so that they can deliver top-notch AI programs. Further, they all claim that if the US government doesn’t let them strip-mine the work of writers, artists, and musicians, someone else will do it instead, and won’t that be awful? Of course, the AI companies could just, you know, pay people for access to their work instead of stealing it under the cloak of improving AI, but that might slow down their leaders’ frantic dash to catch up with Elon Musk and become the world’s first trillionaire. Horrors! In the meantime, the median pay for a full-time writer, according to the Authors Guild, is just over $20,000 a year. Artists? $54,000 annually. And musicians? $50,000. Those numbers are all on the high side, by the way. They’re for full-time professionals, and there are far more part-timers in these fields than people who make, or try to make, a living from being a creative. What? You think we’re rich? Please. For every Stephen King, Jeff Koons, or Taylor Swift, there are a thousand people whose names you’ll never know. And, as hard as these folks have it now, AI firms are determined that creative professionals will never see a penny from their work being used as the ore from which the companies will refine billions. Some people are standing up for their rights. Publishing companies such as the New York Times and Universal Music, as well as nonprofit organizations like the Independent Society of Musicians, are all fighting for creatives to be paid. Publishers, in particular, are not always aligned with writers and musicians, but at least they’re trying to force the AI giants to pay something. At least part of the US government is also standing up for copyright rights. “Making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries,” the US Copyright Office declared in a recent report. Personally, I’d use a lot stronger language, but it’s something. Of course, President Donald Trump immediately fired the head of the Copyright Office. Her days were probably numbered anyway. Earlier, the office had declared that copyright should only be granted to AI-assisted works based on the “centrality of human creativity.” “Wait, wait,” I hear you saying, “why would that tick off Trump’s AI allies?” Oh, you see, while the AI giants want to use your work for free; they want their “works” protected. Remember the Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which scared the pants off OpenAI for a while? OpenAI claimed DeepSeek had “inappropriately distilled” its models. “We take aggressive, proactive countermeasures to protect our technology and will continue working closely with the US government to protect the most capable models being built here,” the company said. In short, OpenAI wants to have it both ways. The company wants to be free to Hoover down your work, but you can’t take its “creations.” OpenAI recently spelled out its preferred policy in a fawning letter to Trump’s Office of Science and Technology. In it, OpenAI says, “we must ensure that people have freedom of intelligence, by which we mean the freedom to access and benefit from AGI [artificial general intelligence], protected from both autocratic powers that would take people’s freedoms away, and layers of laws and bureaucracy that would prevent our realizing them.” For laws and bureaucracy, read copyright and the right of people to be paid for their intellectual work. As with so many things in US government these days, we won’t be able to depend on government agencies to protect writers, artists, and musicians, with Trump firing any and all who disagree with him. Instead, we must rely on court rulings. In some cases, such as Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence, the actual legal definition of copyright and fair use has found that wholesale copying of copyrighted material for AI training can constitute infringement, especially when it harms the market for the original works and is not sufficiently transformative. Hopefully, other lawsuits against companies like Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic will show that their AI outputs are unlawfully competing with original works. As lawsuits proceed and new regulations are debated, the relationship between AI and copyright law will continue to evolve. If it comes out the right way, AI can still be useful and profitable, even as the AI companies do their damnedest to avoid paying anyone for the work their large language models (LLMs) run on. If the courts can’t hold the wall for true creativity, we may wind up drowning in pale imitations of it, with each successive wave farther from the real thing. This potential watering down of creativity is a lot like the erosion of independent thinking that science fiction writer Neal Stephenson noted recently: “I follow conversations among professional educators who all report the same phenomenon, which is that their students use ChatGPT for everything, and in consequence learn nothing. We may end up with at least one generation of people who are like the Eloi in H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine, in that they are mental weaklings utterly dependent on technologies that they don’t understand and that they could never rebuild from scratch were they to break down.”

Back in 2010, when Cartoon Network first announced its plan to reboot the beloved 1985 animated TV series Thundercats, the first thought that went through my mind was, “That’s great! Do Blackstar next!” In 2014, when Boat Rocker Media announced its reboot of 1981’s Danger Mouse, same thing: “Huh, interesting, but do Blackstar next.” 2016’s Disney reveal about its reboot of 1987’s Duck Tales? “Rad. But… Blackstar?” And so it went, year after year, with the announcements about 2018’s Netflix reboot of She-Ra: Princess of Power, 2021’s He-Man reboot Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the CG version of Inspector Gadget, the American Voltron update Voltron: Legendary Defender, half a dozen new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers projects, a little-loved second Thundercats series, and every single Smurfs movie. I get it — the kids of the ’80s are producers and writers and showrunners now, with enough clout to get their childhood memories turned into new shows. But apparently none of them watched Blackstar, easily one of the coolest animated series of the 1980s, built around the coolest sword. There’s a direct genetic line between the success of 1977’s Star Wars and the wave of space-set, fantasy-themed Saturday morning cartoons that closely followed. Star Wars beget ABC’s popular Thundarr the Barbarian, a post-apocalyptic dystopian-future fantasy about a muscular hero who fought oppressive magical villains while wearing a fur skirt, hanging out with a leotard-clad sorceress, and more or less carrying a lightsaber and traveling with a Wookiee. Thundarr helped inspire Blackstar, CBS’ equivalent show, about a muscular hero who fought oppressive magical villains while wearing a fur skirt, hanging out with a leotard-clad sorceress, and carrying his own form of laser sword. (No Wookiee, though — instead, series hero Blackstar got to ride a dragon.) Both shows were on the leading edge of the post-Star Wars dark fantasy wave, leading to movies like Excalibur, Conan the Barbarian, and Dragonslayer. But unlike most of those ’80s fantasies — Flash Gordon aside — Thundarr and Blackstar kept a foot in Star Wars’ science fiction roots, hanging onto the idea of worlds where technology and mysticism met and clashed. Thundarr was more popular, but Blackstar was more compelling: a weirder, darker, richer world with a lot more going on, and a much more imaginative sword that wasn’t just a lightly reskinned lightsaber. Though the show only managed a single season and 13 episodes (compared with Thundarr’s two-year, 21-episode stint), Blackstar’s potential still sticks with me decades later. The story in brief: An astronaut from a future Earth, John Blackstar, enters a black hole in his experimental timeship, and winds up trapped on an ancient alien world, full of magic and monsters. (It’s essentially an isekai series, decades before isekai was the hottest trend in anime and manga.) The local Sauron equivalent, the Overlord, dominates the planet Sagar with an artifact called the Powerstar, a huge two-handed crystalline energy sword. Somehow, the Powerstar gets broken into identical halves, producing two badass weapons: the Power Sword, which the Overlord still holds, and the Star Sword, which falls into Blackstar’s hands. Blackstar winds up as the figurehead in a growing rebellion against the Overlord’s. Meanwhile, the Overlord wants not just to squash this budding rebellion, but to reclaim the Star Sword and take up the Powerstar again. In a series of interviews for Blackstar’s 2006 DVD release, the creators and writers cop to some of their influences in writing the show: The protagonist is a little bit John Carter of Mars (the original Edgar Rice Burroughs version, not the 2012 fantasy-movie version) and a little bit Flash Gordon, though he also closely resembles the protagonist of the 1979 live-action series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The Trobbits — tiny comedy-relief people who find and rescue Blackstar after his timeship crashes — take a little inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien’s hobbits, and a lot more from Disney’s seven dwarfs, complete with the “one personality trait apiece” dynamic, and a youngest member who never speaks. (There are also seven of them.)  The Overlord is somewhere between Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless, while Blackstar’s sorceress companion, Mara, is basically just a reskin of Thundarr’s Princess Ariel, with very similar powers, a similar elegant, educated personality and role as party historian, and similar obvious crush on the oblivious hero. Although these characters rarely feel unique, the mythology and setting of Blackstar’s world very much do, and the central plot device of the Powerstar is unique in fantasy animation. The symmetry of the central villain and hero each having half of the world’s most legendary weapon — which is to say, half of the power left in a world struggling to define itself — is a clever riff on the idea that heroes and villains should mirror each other for maximum thematic impact. Their connection through the sundered Powerstar gives the protagonist and antagonist an intimate personal connection, a reason to clash again and again. It also helps define their characters, and what they do with power. It’s no coincidence that in the Overlord’s hands, the Power Sword is all blunt force, used solely to blast or slash, while Blackstar uses the Star Sword as a finesse weapon with flexible magical abilities. (Too flexible, really: Its magic is ill-defined, and the show’s writers invented new Star Sword powers in nearly every episode.) The idea of these two swords as yin and yang, perfect halves that assemble into a greater whole, is unusually elegant for an ’80s cartoon — and one of the series’ many ideas that was never really explored to full advantage. For modern viewers Blackstar is fairly close to unwatchable. Its production company, Filmation, emerged from a series of commercial jobs in the 1960s, but by the 1980s, it specialized in budget-priced television animated entirely in America, rather than in cheaper overseas production houses. That necessitated a lot of cost-saving devices, like recycling the same hand-drawn sequences many times over, often within the same episode, and using a hilariously limited library of sound effects. Blackstar’s sound design is garish and repetitive, with vocal work that sounds like almost everyone is shouting. The scripts are clunky: Blackstar is conceived as a quippy hero who peppers his foes with snarky one-liners, but his jokes are cataclysmically stiff. About the best he can muster is a jaunty “Putting on a little weight, aren’t you, Rocko?” when hefting one rock elemental to toss it onto another during a battle. And the series is designed for the syndication of the era, meaning that episodes might re-air in any order. So there’s no story development, no character arcs, not even an opening episode to establish Blackstar’s origins. Continuity glitches, inconsistent design and storytelling, and budget-saving slow pans across paintings abound. But the world it’s set in is fascinating. There are hints here and there of ancient technologies and centuries-old civilizations buried under what’s become a verdant forest, centered on the magic of the gigantic central Sagar tree, a mystic font of power the Trobbits live in and tend to. Sagar is a world full of weird creatures that seem either like evolutions of familiar animals, or like magical constructs — shark-bats and frog-rabbits and monkey-birds, long before Avatar: The Last Airbender made these kinds of amalgams a running joke. Those slow-pan, cash-saving painting backgrounds are rich, elaborate, and colorful, suggesting a world with the darkness and detail of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.  While so much of 1980s animation was about the clear line between good and evil, there’s a sense throughout Blackstar that most of the world of Sagar isn’t aspected in such a black-and-white way. It’s just a chaotic ruin, where hungry monsters, prim but weary civilizations, and barbaric enclaves all exist side by side, divided by lethal geography. Every scattered outpost and wandering monster is equally dangerous to Blackstar and the Overlord, but ripe for either of them to exploit for an advantage in their ongoing war. There are even hints at a nuanced system for magic, where the mental power of sorcery and the elemental power of nature magic are different things that work in different ways. After Blackstar’s single season ended, Filmation immediately followed it with the Mattel-backed and far better funded He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a series based on an existing toy line, but just as clearly based on elements borrowed from Blackstar. Once again, there’s a muscular hero in a fur skirt with a magic sword, battling a sorcerous villain in a chaotic technofantasy world packed with environmental hazards and weird, wildly diverse humanoids. Filmation regular Alan Oppenheimer voiced both Blackstar’s Overlord and He-Man’s Skeletor; similarly, Linda Gary voiced Blackstar’s leading lady Mara and He-Man’s Teela. Filmation staff writer Tom Ruegger developed the series bible for both shows, and it shows, in everything from the similar heroes’ and rogues’ galleries to the sprawling high-and-low-tech world where magic and robots co-exist. One He-Man episode, “The Remedy,” even reused several Blackstar sequences, reintroducing Blackstar’s dragon-horse Warlock as a beast He-Man saves from a giant spider, then rides around. While He-Man had many of the same budgetary and aesthetic limitations as Blackstar — frequently recycled animation, obnoxious sound design, goofy and often ineffectual comedy relief — He-Man was immediately more popular. So popular, in fact that toy maker Galoob tried to nab some of Mattel’s sales success by putting out a weirdly modeled toy line for Blackstar, two full years after the show was canceled. (Those toys did not do well.) Now, we’re in an era where He-Man gets reboot after reboot — an all-ages animated version, a CG version for kids, a new live-action movie scheduled for 2026 — while Blackstar is all but forgotten. And I find that so strange. The bid to reboot and update every hit cartoon of the 1980s seems like a natural enough progression for an era of media fueled by nostalgia, but I’ve never understood why there isn’t more of it for Blackstar, a series that was more imaginative and ambitious than either the predecessor it was trying to outdo or the follower that got all the glory. In the way of so many other ’80s cartoons, my interest in a reboot is much less about re-creating an often janky, limited, cheaply made TV series, and much more about realizing the potential these characters and this world couldn’t take advantage of in the 1980s. A modern version with up-to-date animation could give John Blackstar a proper backstory, and actually make some sense of the biggest hero/villain themes the ’80s version lightly touched on. It could take advantage of the retro-future magic setting and the sprawling original world of Sagar in ways Filmation never dreamed of.  And most importantly, a proper modern update could finally dig into the event that split the Powerstar and turned its two halves into thematic weapons. There are so many story possibilities for that particular cool sword, just waiting to be discovered by a new generation.

Finally, an original Soulslike.

Finally, an original Soulslike.

Forward-thinking businesses – and even nations – are upskilling mid-career professionals to help them not only survive but prosper in the era of widespread enterprise artificial intelligence (AI). As businesses and public sector organisations adopt AI at a lightning pace, white-collar professions face huge disruption, not unlike that experienced by nineteenth century blue-collar workers. According to research by OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania, roles that will be affected include accountants, legal assistants, financial analysts, journalists, translators and public relations professionals. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs published figures in March 2023 that spoke of 300 million jobs exposed to AI across all sectors. Although it’s a concept dating back decades, the widespread take-up of generative AI (GenAI) began around 2022 with the release of ChatGPT. It was a wake-up call for governments and businesses alike, which must prepare for inevitable disruption. According to Tram Anh Nguyen, co-founder of the centre for finance, technology and entrepreneurship (CFTE), people over the age of 40 in mid-career professional roles are the most at risk of major job disruption as businesses integrate AI into their operations. CFTE is a global education platform that specialises in training in the finance sector, including teaching AI in finance. Nguyen, who is also Global Women in AI chair, spent decades working in the finance sector in business roles, said: “AI is no longer a future concept. It’s here and it’s affecting everyone at every level.” But this does not mean professionals will be replaced if they are re-trained – and this does not just mean technical training. Training on AI for non-technical roles will encompass professionals learning underlying knowledge about AI, the AI tools available to them and the use cases for AI in their roles, said Nguyen. In its whitepaper titled The AI-fication of talents, CFTE said three groups of professionals will emerge. It reported that there will be: “mass displacement” of roles centred on execution which will be increasingly automated; “supercharged professionals” will emerge who use AI to expand scope and scale; while “creative disruptors” will be small group inventing new models, products and systems. Nguyen warned that the UK is behind in readying the workforce for AI. “We are not preparing people in the right way because the focus is not on adult education at scale,” she told Computer Weekly. She cited a project in Singapore which CFTE helped to design. It involves supporting mid-career transitions, particularly focusing on technology and finance sectors, while providing financial support to help people switching careers. All Singaporeans aged 40 and above received funds to refresh their skills, with a large proportion taking up IT-related courses in areas including artificial intelligence. Around 555,000 people participated in programmes supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) in 2024 and 520,000 in 2023, according to Singapore newspaper The Straits Times. These are significant numbers for Singapore, which has a population of around six million, but the same challenge is faced globally. One sector being heavily affected is financial services, which leads the way in AI innovation and investment. For example, Bloomberg Intelligence recently put the number of jobs set to be replaced by AI in the US finance sector – Wall Street specifically – at hundreds of thousands. CIOs questioned by the organisation expected 3% of their workforce to be cut on average. Around a quarter of respondents expect the workforce to be cut by between 5% and 10% as AI takes over roles, with the back and middle offices to be most affected. According to research by banking industry benchmarking firm Evident, AI-related roles could be the only “safe jobs” in the banking sector as financial organisations “relentlessly” press on with AI-led transformation. It’s banking industry report found that recruitment of AI development professionals grew by 6% in the last year, hiring of data engineers increased by 14%, and the number of AI and software implementation experts hired increased by 42%. But while the finance sector finds itself on the front-line of the AI revolution, the technology’s rapid spread goes way beyond. Bloomberg’s head of AI, Amanda Stent, recently told Computer Weekly in an interview that there has been “no revolution in history that has not led to job transformation”. “Some types of job change, some types of job go away,” they added. “But there’s also no revolution in history that hasn’t led to more jobs created overall, I think that is true with AI, which will augment a lot of people.” Stent said all workers, regardless of their roles, will have to learn to use AI: “We can teach people how to be effective users of AI without needing to know all that maths.” The legal sector is an example of a traditional industry adapting to AI. The UK regulator of solicitors, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, recently authorised the first law firm to provide legal services purely through AI. Mark Lewis, a lawyer at Stephenson Hardwood, specialised in technology, said most, “if not virtually all, serious law firms” are deploying AI and GenAI operationally. “Typical use cases include document review, analysis and summarisation, legal research, case research and predicting the outcomes of cases, reviewing and reporting on the application of regulations around the world, and, of course, in law firm back-office operations – for example, in client due diligence and acceptance.” But he added that AI is not “yet” causing “major disruption” in the legal sector: “As with talk of AI disrupting many sectors, including doing away with the work now done by paralegals, junior lawyers, and even senior lawyers, this hasn’t really happened yet in the legal markets here – or, I think, anywhere. “There is a good deal of the usual tech hype about it. No doubt AI will become integral to legal process and lawyering at all levels, but, as in many other sectors, even that is going to take time and the maturing of legal use cases.” He said firms are, however, preparing for the impact of AI: “We, like many firms, have made available to all our lawyers GenAI tools developed specifically for us, to be used within certain parameters and in accordance with our AI/GenAI policies. “We want our lawyers to use these GenAI tools, to become accustomed to the way it processes work, to understand its strengths and limitations, and to become expert in creating and refining prompts. “For me, there is an even more important – existential – point: the single biggest challenge is how we as a society learn to understand, live and work with AI. It should start as early as possible and continue through our lives.” In the IT sector, AI is a huge business opportunity, but the technology is also transforming how suppliers operate. Workers in the IT sector will also have to learn to work with AI. Amrinder Singh, head of EMEA and APAC operations at Indian IT services firm Hexaware, told Computer Weekly that all the company’s staff, around 30,000, will be trained how to harness AI. He put it in startling terms the risks to workers that are not trained up. “We said that there is no future for single-skilled people,” he said. “Unless you are multi-skilled with domain understanding, as well as understanding how to use AI and technology, you will not survive.” Read more about GenAI

14 winning schemes include a retrofitted telephone exchange, Passivhaus almshouses and a converted barn Source: Jack HobhouseYoungs Court Development at Emmanuel College by Stanton Williams An infill development for Emmanuel College, Cambridge by Stanton Williams has been named RIBA East Building of the Year 2025. The scheme includes new accommodation and communal facilities for students. The Young’s Court Development was praised by the jury for how it “sits comfortably and effortlessly on site” and “subtly elevates the experience of student life”. The panel also described it as a “model for how to conserve and enhance a historic place for future generations”. Source: Jack HobhouseThe Entopia Building, Cambridge, designed by Architype with Feilden and Mawson and Eve Waldron Design Among the 14 winning projects is The Entopia Building, also in Cambridge, designed by Architype with Feilden and Mawson and Eve Waldron Design. The project involved the reuse of a 1930s telephone exchange as a new home for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. It was also recognised with the Sustainability and Project Architect of the Year awards. Source: Valentin LynchJankes Barn by Lynch Architects Jankes Barn by Lynch Architects was awarded both a regional award and the Conservation Award. The project involved the conversion of a disused barn in Essex into a contemporary rural home. Source: David ButlerDovehouse Court Almshouses by Mole Architects Dovehouse Court Almshouses by Mole Architects, a new Passivhaus development in Cambridge for residents over 55, also featured among the winners. The project delivered energy-efficient later-life living within a setting designed to promote social interaction. RIBA Central Regional Director Matt Blakeley said: “Congratulations to all the Award winners in the East region. This year, the breadth of schemes recognised is a remarkable statement to the ambition and vision of the region. “These projects exemplify not only admirable excellence in design and beauty, but a bold commitment to architecture’s vital role in our environmental goals and social impact.” The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog & de Meuron with BDPSource: Hufton+Crow Sunspot by HAT ProjectsSource: Jim Stephenson Cast Corbel House by GraftedSource: French+Tye Knights Park by Pollard Thomas Edwards and Alison Brooks ArchitectsSource: Paul Riddle Knights Park by Pollard Thomas Edwards and Alison Brooks ArchitectsSource: Alison Brooks Architects Harpenden House by Emil Eve ArchitectsSource: Taran Wilkhu Housestead by Sanei Hopkins ArchitectsSource: Peter Landers Photography North Sea East Wood by Hayhurst & CoSource: Kilian O’Sullivan Mill Hide by Poulson ArchitectureSource: Nick Guttridge Clayworth by ArkleBoyce ArchitectsSource: Jim Stephenson Clayworth by ArkleBoyce ArchitectsSource: Jim Stephenson Amento by James Gorst ArchitectsSource: James Retief 1/12 show caption The other winning projects were: The Discovery Centre (DISC) by Herzog & de Meuron with BDP, a medical research facility for AstraZeneca in Cambridge Sunspot by HAT Projects, a coastal community hub in Essex with flexible units, a café and market hall Cast Corbel House by Grafted, an extension to a Norwich home Knights Park by Pollard Thomas Edwards and Alison Brooks Architects, a large-scale housing scheme in Eddington delivering 249 net-zero homes Harpenden House by Emil Eve Architects, the renovation and extension of a Victorian villa previously used as a nursery Housestead by Sanei Hopkins Architects, a coastal home in Suffolk North Sea East Wood by Hayhurst & Co, a reworking of a 1980s bungalow in Norfolk, also named Small Project of the Year Mill Hide by Poulson Architecture, a low-energy single-storey villa designed to meet future accessibility needs Clayworth by ArkleBoyce Architects, a contemporary family home Amento by James Gorst Architects, a single-storey rural dwelling Regional award winners will now be considered for a RIBA National Award, which will be announced on 10 July.  The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning projects later in the year.

Other buildings recognised include schemes by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Tim Ronalds Architects, Artefact, Kaner Olette Architects and Liddicoat & Goldhill Sheerness Dockyard Church by Hugh Broughton ArchitectsSource: Dirk Lindner Hugh Broughton Architects' Sheerness Dockyard ChurchSource: Dirk Lindner 1/2 show caption The RIBA has announced the eight winners of the 2025 South East Awards, including residential, educational and cultural buildings across Kent, Sussex and Surrey. Among the winners is Sheerness Dockyard Church by Hugh Broughton Architects, which was also named RIBA South East Building of the Year. The project involved the restoration and adaptation of a Grade II* listed church damaged by fire in 2001, and was recognised by the jury for its transformation into a new community facility. It also received the Conservation Award and Project Architect of the Year. The jury noted that the scheme had been “exquisitely restored and transformed” and praised the design team for demonstrating that “a historic building in an extreme state of decay can have a very good future”. The Brighton Dome Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was awarded both a regional award and RIBA South East Client of the Year for Brighton and Hove city council. The project involved the careful reconfiguration of two listed performance venues to create new arts spaces in the city’s cultural quarter. Bury Gate Farm by Sandy Rendel ArchitectsSource: Ståle Eriksen The Spencer Building, by Tim Ronalds ArchitectsSource: Jim Stephenson Brighton Dome Corn Exchange & Studio TheatreSource: Richard Chivers Hastings House by Hugh Strange ArchitectsSource: Rory Gaylor Knepp Wilding Kitchen and Shop by Kaner Olette ArchitectsSource: Richard Chivers Triangle House by ArtefactSource: Lorenzo Zandri Sea, Sky House by Liddicoat & GoldhillSource: Sam Grady 1/7 show caption Other winners include Triangle House by Artefact, a small-scale extension to a 1950s home in Surrey, and Knepp Wilding Kitchen and Shop by Kaner Olette Architects, which adapted a set of farm buildings to serve a 3,500-acre rewilding estate in West Sussex. The Spencer Building, a new low-carbon timber school building by Tim Ronalds Architects, received an award for its efficient use of space and daylight. Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects, Sea, Sky House by Liddicoat & Goldhill, and Bury Gate Farm by Sandy Rendel Architects were all acknowledged for their residential design, materials handling and responses to their respective sites. In a statement, jury chair Lisa Shell said the region’s winning projects represented “a heartening direction in sustainable development within a region typically celebrated for new houses”, adding that “the majority involve the inventive re-use and conservation of existing structures”. Regional award winners will now be considered for a RIBA National Award, which will be announced on 10 July.  The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning projects later in the year. >> Also read: AHMM’s Tower Hamlets Town Hall wins RIBA London Building of the Year >> Also read: Let Queen Elizabeth II’s memorial serve the whole nation

As the Muppets’ presence at Disney Parks continues to evolve, the beloved Jim Henson Company characters are marking their 70-year anniversary at the same time as Disneyland. With that in mind Disney Experiences and Muppet Studios collaborated on a special show to fit perfectly along with the celebrations across the Disneyland Resort. io9 was present for the premiere of the Muppets’ special greeting before the first showing of World of Color: Happiness, the nighttime water spectacular at Disney California Adventure. Before the show, representatives and producing teams from Disney Experiences discussed the latest collaboration between Disney and Henson. “Well, there’s a lot of hijinks I can tell you that for sure,” said Susanna Tubert, creative director of Disney Live Entertainment. “But it quickly became apparent to us that the Muppets are actually celebrating their 70th anniversary as well. So when we reached out to our partners at the Muppet Studios and said, ‘Hey, do the Muppets want to play with us? It was also resounding: yes.” Tubert added, “I will share that Miss Piggy had a lot of requests, there were a lot of wardrobe requests. There are a few special outfits that may have been made for her for this. Gonzo got into some hijinks [and] it all kind of went rolling down hill very quickly, but we had a lot of fun.” © io9 Gizmodo The Muppets moment before World of Color presents some classic Muppet Show-style shenanigans, as they’re there to give audiences instructions on how to spectate the show they’re about to watch. All of the iconic characters get in on the action and it makes you wish they’d just run the rest of the show. There’s music and classic gags. Be sure to watch out for Gonzo the Great making a death-defying jump over the water, and of course there’s enough Mayhem to go around with Dr. Teeth and friends. What’s interesting is that World of Color: Happiness heavily features Paul Williams’ iconic Muppets tune “Rainbow Connection” covered by Boys II Men—but the characters themselves don’t appear in the show, which is such a wasted opportunity. Inside Out fans will be happy to know all of Riley’s emotions handle the mix-tape tinged new water show that fits the chaotic tone that takes you on a real rollercoaster of feelings with new and nostalgic Disney musical moments. But we wanted more Muppets! We lost their 3D show in California years ago and Disney World’s version just followed suit. While we look forward to the Muppets coaster on the East Coast, we hope the West Coast isn’t forgotten. The World of Color intro got some good cheers and showed how even projected on water, the Muppets energy cannot be contained. And as they celebrate 70 years of timelessness, that is something we shouldn’t take for granted. World of Color: Happiness with a special message from the Muppets will be projected on scheduled nights during Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary at the Disneyland Resort. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Krysten Ritter will reprise her role as Jessica Jones in season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, Disney announced Tuesday at its upfronts presentations, according to Variety report from the event. The return of Ritter’s version of Jones will come nearly a decade after her most recent on-screen appearance as the character in Netflix’s The Defenders. Ritter starred as Jessica Jones, a former superhero with PTSD who starts her own detective agency, Alias Investigations, for three seasons when Netflix was making street-level Marvel superhero shows. Ritter’s Jones also appeared in The Defenders, a mini-series that brought together Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny “Iron Fist” Rand to battle criminal organization the Hand. “It’s so great to be back, returning to Jessica after three seasons and ‘The Defenders’ and now joining the MCU,” Ritter said, according to Variety’s account of Disney’s presentation. “I’m so excited to bring back this iconic character, and without giving too much away, there is much more in store for Jessica Jones. This is going to be an incredible season!” Daredevil: Born Again season 2 will see Matt Murdock/Daredevil rallying an army of vigilantes and police officers to take down mayor Wilson Fisk and his anti-vigilante task force. Having the super-powered Jones on his side would obviously be a boon for Murdock; he’ll likely have Frank Castle/Punisher at his disposal, but whether any other Defenders are available to pitch in is unclear. Luke Cage actor Mike Colter has said he “would love to explore” a return to the MCU, as has Iron Fist actor Finn Jones. “I’m very aware of the critiques of the character and my role in it. My response to that is, ‘Give me a f*cking chance, man,’” Jones reportedly said earlier this year. “I’m here and I’m ready, and I wanna prove people wrong.” Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again is expected to debut on Disney Plus in early 2026. Confirmed to return in the second season are Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Wilson Bethel as Bullseye, Clark Johnson as Cherry, Genneya Walton as BB Urich, and Michael Gandolfini as Daniel Blake. Elden Henson will also return as Foggy Nelson… somehow.

Labubus have captivated the world under a spell of mischievous fantasy that is making the plush purse baubles a must-have collector’s toy. And if you’re a Jim Henson creature fan (think Labyrinth and Dark Crystal) or grew up on Where the Wild Things Are with a dash of Donnie Darko’s Frank the Bunny, you’ll find them hard to resist. Much like the lucky spirits of forest folklore that inspired them, Labubus are everywhere all at once and yet hard to find if you’re trying to buy one. Pop Mart, which distributes artist Kasing Lung’s beloved characters in vinyl and plush collectible form, releases drops that immediately sell out. Cutesy toy collectors are often having to turn to re-sellers at a steeper mark-up than the $20-30 the keychains usually go for, with prices often reaching hundreds of dollars for elusive variants. And while Pop Mart encourages fans to shop through official outlets, many fall for the trap of the Lafufus—faux Labubus, many of which are so cursed-looking, with eyes that fall out or bald peeled heads, they’ve garnered their own cult following as well.  “The Monsters,” as the series that spawned Labubu is called, continue to gain global recognition through popularity in the fantasy cottagecore realms of the internet. Labubu is the breakout species of the Monsters crew; the main character is also named Labubu and became the standout of the group thanks to the extreme ugly-cute quality that made her a viral sensation. Other characters in the Smurf-like tribe of Labubu include the rare pink Mokoko and the Labubu leader Zimomo (who has a tail), who also have a cult following of their own. Toy collectors love them, including celebrities like Blackpink’s Lisa (The White Lotus), What We Do in the Shadows‘ Harvey Guillén, and Madame Web’s Emma Roberts. io9’s conversation with Labubu figure creator Kasing Lung, conducted over email, delves into how Nordic supernatural folklore inspired the fuzzy elven creatures. Also—as fans ourselves, often awake at all hours of the night trying to nab an official Labubu on the Pop Mart app—we were excited to explore with Lung why he thinks the Monsters’ enchanting whimsy has taken over the world. Sabina Graves, io9: I’ve read that the creation of the Monsters was inspired by your time in the Netherlands when you were young. What about that experience inspired the Monsters story book idea, and how did that shift to making them into a physical art form? Kasing Lung: That’s right—Labubu was born from my fascination with Nordic mythology and European folklore, which I was surrounded by while growing up in the Netherlands. I’ve always been drawn to creatures that live in the space between fantasy and reality—figures that are both familiar and mysterious. I wanted to create a character that embodied that duality: mischievous yet endearing, strange yet deeply human. Labubu, like all the characters in the Monsters universe, has an emotional depth that makes her feel alive. When I partnered with Pop Mart, I was able to bring that imagination into the physical world—transforming Labubu from a storybook figure into something people could collect, connect with, and make their own. io9: What makes Pop Mart the ideal collaborator to share the Monsters with the world? Were you a part of collector culture growing up, and if so, what toys did you collect? Lung: Pop Mart’s design-forward philosophy makes them an ideal collaborator for any artist. They prioritize artistic integrity and allow creators like me the freedom to develop characters without compromise. That kind of trust is rare. It means every figure stays true to its roots—from concept to final collectible—and collectors can feel that authenticity in every piece. As for collecting, yes—I have always been interested in that world. I was drawn to toys that sparked imagination, whether it was action figures, miniature creatures, or things with unexpected personality. I think that fascination with small, expressive objects has stayed with me. The Monsters are really just a grown-up extension of that childlike wonder. [TK unboxing IG reel link] io9: I’d love to get your perspective on seeing your creations begin to appear in so many places on a global scale, even on fashion and music icons like Lisa. What do you think about the current fashion craze that the Monsters are a part of? Lung: Seeing Labubu embraced by fans worldwide, from dedicated collectors to global icons, is surreal and incredibly humbling. When I first started sketching Labubu, I wasn’t thinking about fame or fashion trends. I was just following a feeling, creating something that felt true to me. So to now see people lining up for drops, customizing their collections, and making Labubu part of their daily lives—it’s overwhelming in the best way. What’s happening in fashion feels like a natural evolution. Today, people want to wear their personalities, to show the world who they are through what they carry, collect, and wear. Labubu speaks to that desire for something playful, expressive, and a little bit rebellious. The fact that the Monsters are becoming part of that cultural language means the world to me. It pushes me to keep expanding the universe, to keep creating characters that surprise people and give them something they can connect with—emotionally and personally. io9: What are your plans to continue to expand the stories for the Monsters characters alongside the figures release? Are there any collaborations and projects related to them coming up that you can share that will open up their story to more fans around the world? Lung: Right now, I’m letting the Monsters story evolve naturally. These characters are always growing in my mind, and every new figure is a chance to explore a different side of their world. I never want to force their direction—it’s more about following the emotion behind them and letting that guide the creative process. In terms of collaborations, there are definitely exciting projects in the works. Most recently, we collaborated with One Piece for the Monsters × One Piece Series Figures. While I can’t reveal too much just yet, I’m always looking for opportunities to expand the Monsters into new mediums and formats, so fans can experience them in deeper and more immersive ways. © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart © Pop Mart To see Pop Mart’s selection of the Monsters’ blind box offerings and collaborations, visit the retailer’s official site. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.