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It's Thursday and Switzerland is giving ChatGPT a run for its money (or at least for its francs) with the release of its very own AI chatbot. |
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Today's News |
😂 SNL taps internet talent 📈 Four stars break 2M monthly subs 🗓️ 20 Years of YouTube: In 2021… 💸 Creators get a tax deduction 💥 Short-form science goes viral
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THAT'S SHOW BIZ |
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SNL's latest cast members are internet standouts |
The strategy: After celebrating its 50th anniversary last season, Saturday Night Live is saying farewell to some long-term cast members and welcoming aboard a few fresh faces. |
Several fan favorites have exited ahead of Season 51's October 4 premiere, including Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, and John Higgins (a member of the Please Don't Destroy trio that has spent the last few seasons making viral digital shorts). |
Among SNL's incoming cast members are Dropout regular Jeremy Culhane, Kill Tony regular Kam Patterson, Canadian actress and TikToker Veronika Slowikowska, Please Don't Destroy member Ben Marshall, and LinkedIn/Cameo vet-turned-comedian Tommy Brennan. |
The crackdown: Those new additions suggest that SNL—like a growing number of other established comedy entertainment entities—has begun mining social media for rising talent. Dropout (formerly CollegeHumor) has become a top SVOD service under CEO Sam Reich, producing successful shows like Game Changer (which Culhane previously guest-hosted). |
Meanwhile, weekly episodes of Kill Tony—an anti-woke stand-up show in which aspiring comedians attempt to impress Tony Hinchliffe—have regularly been some of the top-watched sponsored content on YouTube. Before helping Patterson land a spot on SNL, that attention nabbed Killy Tony a deal with Netflix. |
Slowikowska has achieved her own success in the streaming world, having appeared in several Amazon Prime Video productions and two seasons of What We Do in the Shadows. The actress' fanbase of ~700,000 TikTok followers could prove to be a major boon for SNL, which likely hopes to appeal to younger, internet-savvy viewers with its latest slate of digital native stars. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
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2O YEARS OF YOUTUBE |
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20 years of YouTube: In 2021, MrBeast brought blockbuster TV to YouTube |
In February 2025, YouTube turned 20. The video site has gone through a lot over the past two decades, including an acquisition, an earnings glow-up, and multiple generations of star creators. In our 20 Years of YouTube series, we'll examine the uploads, trends, and influencers that have defined the world's favorite video site — one year at a time. Click here for a full archive of the series. |
The origin story: Between Jimmy Donaldson's first brush with viral fame and his Squid Game-inspired apex, YouTube's most-subscribed creator turned the journey from aspiring influencer to cross-platform star into a speedrun. |
Videos first began showing up on the MrBeast channel in 2012—but MrBeast as we know him didn't exist until 2017, when Donaldson first courted viral fame by recording himself counting to 100,000. The resulting wave of 32 million views marked the beginning of the creator's break-neck rise; months later, his "subscribe to PewDiePie" billboard had made headlines and the cash-driven competitions that define the MrBeast brand of today had taken off in a big way. |
By 2019, Donaldson had signed with management company Night and carved out a recurring role at the digital media conference VidSummit. His view counts moved into ten-digit territory, and the #TeamTrees campaign established charity as a driving force on the MrBeast channel. |
The impact: And so, by the end of 2021, Donaldson had produced what is arguably the biggest blockbuster in YouTube history. His take on Squid Game hit 100 million views in just four days, a feat that no non-music video has ever outpaced. YouTube eventually named the Squid Game remake its top trending video of 2021, and Donaldson raked in $54 million that same year. |
Nearly four years later, MrBeast's unprecedented rise has upended the creator economy. Influencers are earning more than ever before and diversifying their revenue through creator products, investing, and brand partnerships—all verticals in which Donaldson set the pace. |
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TAX TIPS |
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Trump's tax deduction for tips lets creators keep the change |
The stipulation: Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" includes one significant perk for creators: the ability to claim new deductions as part of a "no tax on tips" stipulation. |
When the bill first passed in July, conversation surrounding the temporary "no tax on tips" deduction mainly focused on restaurant servers—but a close reading of the fine print reveals that "digital content creators" also qualify (among an array of other eligible professions). |
By taking advantage of that policy (which is set to expire in 2028), creators will be able to claim a deduction that covers up to $25,000 of tip money. That will be an option on this year's tax forms, although the deduction phases out for individuals making more than $150,000. |
The context: "No tax on tips" sounds good in theory, but it's not totally clear how the deduction will actually apply to creators. |
Is any direct payment from a fan to a creator, for instance, considered to be a tip? Or does it matter if the payment comes as a Super Thanks on YouTube or through a paywall-unlocking transaction on OnlyFans? And if claimants must "produce and publish on digital platforms original entertainment or personality-driven content," where do creator-led companies fit in? |
Digital creators must also contend with the possibility that the potential benefits of Trump's "no tax on tips" policy won't materialize at all. The president promised to reward creators after they assisted his return to the Oval Office, but some of the proposed perks have yet to materialize. A deal to safeguard TikTok's U.S. operations, for example, is still in limbo nearly 20 months later. |
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WATCH THIS |
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This creator followed the short-form wave from fitness to STEM |
The trendsetter: Hafu Go's YouTube hub has gone through several phases over the years—and his 14.7 million subscribers are more than happy to follow along. The Canadian creator's latest pivot includes a transition from fitness and lifestyle content to short-form science spectacles. |
But whether he's testing Hollywood cigarettes, dyeing shoes with smoke, or dropping bricks, Hafu Go seems to have mastered the "teaser-and-payoff" format behind YouTube's most viral Shorts. In August alone, that strategy allowed him to snag 1.5 million new subscribers and hit a lifetime view count of 4.6 billion. |
Check out one of Hafu Go's biggest hits here to see what all the hype is about. |
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