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In the animation world, Japanese stop-motion film Hidari has landed an unexpected collaborator. Keanu Reeves joined the project after watching its pilot film, with his team reaching out roughly a week later to arrange a Zoom call with director Kawamura Masashi. The news broke at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where Kawamura also gave updates on the film's ongoing fundraising effort.
Across the Pacific, the University of Oregon's new Knight-funded engineering school is generating real friction in the state's higher education landscape. Leaders at Oregon State fear the initiative is drawing resources and attention away from their own established programs, raising broader questions about what happens when private philanthropy reshapes public institutions in ways the institutions themselves didn't ask for.
And on a lighter note, Iceland's tourism board has a pointed response to the AI notetaker boom. Rather than send a bot to your meeting, Visit Iceland is offering to dispatch an actual human knitter to sit in for you, take notes, and produce something useful in the process. It is a gentle provocation, but it lands.
Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
