By now, just about every television and film fan is well aware of the genre-defining legacy of Shonda Rhimes. The prolific showrunner has created and served at the helm of multiple hit series’, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Scandal,” and several others, and executive produced hit Netflix outings such as “Bridgerton,” “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” and “Inventing Anna.” Through these efforts, Shonda Rhimes has received universal acclaim, a Golden Globe , and a net worth of over $240 million, per Celebrity Net Worth . Shonda Rhimes’ generational wealth is truly a success story we can all admire, and her net worth tells a tale of her hard work and resilience. Beyond her financial successes in entertainment, Rhimes also maintains a diverse portfolio of real estate investments and other lucrative holdings. So, let’s take a moment to examine the life and work of the Emmy special honoree, and dissect the multiple streams of income she has utilized to create such...

A new powerhouse has joined forces with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused golf league, TGL. Shonda Rhimes revealed that she has become a part of the ownership group for the California-based Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC), TGL’s first team. “I’m beyond excited to announce my involvement as the newest owner of Los Angeles Golf Club, the inaugural team in the @tglgolf league,” Rhimes wrote in an Instagram post. “I can’t wait to bring my passion for golf to this incredible venture.” She continued, “Joining this team is an honor and, as someone who believes in the power of storytelling and community, I’m eager to see how we can elevate the game together. Let’s tee off on this new journey. We are LAGC.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shonda Rhimes (@shondarhimes) The renowned TV producer and creator is now standing alongside fellow Los Angeles Golf Club owners Serena and Venus Williams, Alexis Ohanian Sr., and Antetokounmpo brothers Giannis, Thanasis, Kostas, and...

The battle between artificial intelligence (AI) software and the music industry continues in a new lawsuit against two AI music startups. Top record labels Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records are accusing AI music creation programs Suno Inc. and Udio AI of “massive and ongoing infringement.” The lawsuit claims that the entities “copied sound recordings from the labels ‘en masse and ingested them into its AI model,’” a practice that the plaintiffs say violates copyright laws, Forbes reports. Moreover, Suno and Udio AI are accused of using artists’ songs to “train their AI services.” In the suit against Suno, the filings allege that if the company hadn’t “violated copyrights on such a large scale, Suno’s service would not be able to reproduce the convincing imitations of such a vast range of human musical expression at the quality that Suno touts.” Similarly, the accusations against Udio AI hold some of the same weight, noting that “since the day...

Google is awarding Black and Latino startup founders who are disrupting the artificial intelligence (AI) space. The tech giant established the Google for Startups Founders Funds to ensure Black and Latino entrepreneurs receive financial assistance and necessary support to influence multiple sectors. According to information provided to AFROTECH™, each recipient will receive $150,000 in non-dilutive cash awards and $100,000 in Google Cloud credits. Recipients also receive mental health resources and mentorship from Google’s experts across AI and sales. This is Google’s fifth year in funding, and it has allocated more than $50 million t o 570 Black and Latino founders. Moreover, founders who received funding support have later secured more than $590 million in additional investments. Google has unveiled its latest round of recipients, whose work encompasses using AI in preventative wildfires, keeping fast fashion out of landfills, and education. The 2024 Google for Startups cohort...

Paid Moment By American Express and Delta. If you’re a small business owner, optimizing your time is something you’ve mastered. Whether sending an important email while on a work call or meeting a prospective client while traveling to a conference, determining the best use of your time is often necessary to keep things thriving. Although choosing which priority should come next can sometimes seem challenging, it doesn’t always have to be. When you become a Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business Amex Card Member, you can give new meaning to optimizing time by maximizing benefits with every purchase. If you’re ready to level up and see how to make the most of your business purchases, follow our top three tips for working smarter and maximizing the benefits of being a cardholder. 1. Turn Expenses into Experiences As a savvy business owner, you’re always looking for unique ways to get the most out of your business expenses. For instance, you already know you need to buy a new printer for the...

Once again Morehouse College is bringing innovation to the classroom. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) made history in 2022 for being the first college to offer classes in the metaverse. Less than two years later, it is now poised to disrupt the education landscape for the better through the launch of reportedly the world’s first fully spacial artificial intelligence (AI) teaching assistants. Muhsinah Morris, a senior assistant professor in education and metaversity director at Morehouse College, developed the technology in spring 2021 with the assistance of faculty such as Ovell Hamilton, Ethell Vereen Jr., and Tanya Clark, she mentioned on LinkedIn. She also benefited from a partnership with VictoryXR and received backing from Southern Company, Qualcomm, Meta, Unity, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and T-Mobile. “I am so proud of Morehouse College Metaversity Faculty and MetaHouse Scholars who keep this work going full...

50 Cent claims his social accounts fell victim to a cryptocurrency scheme. Fox News reports the rapper’s X account had been hacked to promote a cryptocurrency token called $GUNIT. The token’s name suggests his former Hip-Hop group G-Unit. On Friday, June 21, 2024, the scammer allegedly wrote on 50 Cent’s account, “$GUNIT for winners only…” Complex reports 50 Cent’s Instagram account included screenshots of the $GUNIT crypto, which showed under $1 million in market value, and that number quickly increased. The message gained popularity, accumulating 57,000 likes on June 22 and drawing hundreds of users to the comments section, with some even making purchases. Despite this, 50 Cent stated he was not associated with the venture, and his accounts were later locked, Fox News notes. 50 Cent claims the hacker made $3 million within 30 minutes from the scam. It’s not possible to verify 50 Cent’s assertions, nor is there a way to confirm if the hacker earned the alleged $3 million. “My...

Half the battle of achieving career goals is being in the right room at the right time. For Black professionals in tech, AFROTECH™ Executive is a time to get the ball rolling further to learn what it takes to reach new career heights. As a reminder, AFROTECH™ Executive is an event that brings founders, executives, and techies together to join discussions revolving around today’s pressing topics and gain important knowledge that is imperative for the community. In addition to the engaging fireside chats, AFROTECH™ Executive has time carved out specifically for networking. During the networking reception, attendees can connect with fellow professionals from the local area of the events, as well as from across the U.S. “It was a really great opportunity to bring people together in the community, and it was also really great to see people fly out for the event,” shared Christina Tymony, senior diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) strategist and enablement manager at...

Will.i.am believes diversified voices will be necessary for artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. While in conversation with The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Last at Journal House during The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the artist unveiled an AI-generated Black woman host named Felicia from his SiriusXM show. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the show spotlights AI innovation at the crossroads of pop culture, music, entertainment, world news, and technology. At the event in Cannes, France, Felicia introduced herself to the audience and shared a call to action on the importance of representation in technology. “Now, when we talk about AI, it’s crucial that we dive into the real deal. Representation, empowerment, and breaking those barriers in tech. Because let’s face it, you ain’t going to see much of our faces if we don’t get involved and steer that ship,” Felicia told the audience. “AI is more than just cool tech. It’s like a new frontier where we got to make...

Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” could have an earlier release date thanks to non-fungible token (NFT) collective PleasrDAO. In 2015, the legendary Hip-Hop group auctioned off only one physical copy of their seventh studio album, and former “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli reportedly bought it for $2 million, according to The New York Times. PleasrDAO then acquired the album for $4 million in 2021 from the U.S. government after Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud. Previously, Wu-Tang Clan’s sales contract with Shkreli stated that “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was prohibited from being publicly released until Oct. 8, 2103, which was 88 years into the future. However, the album isn’t as inaccessible now. The New York Times reports that on June 13, PleasrDAO started giving listeners access to a five-minute sampler of an encrypted digital version, an NFT, for $1 in addition to fees. The collective stated it was part of an experiment and posed the question: “Do people still...

Ancestry.com has been helping families trace their roots for nearly three decades. Now, the genealogy company is using technology to further assist Black Americans in discovering their ancestry. On June 11, 2024, Ancestry announced the publication of a free collection of 38,000 newspaper articles related to more than 183,000 enslaved people in the U.S. from 1788 to 1867, according to a press release. Ancestry’s mission in launching the new newspaper article collection is to help descendants expand their family history research and discover connections. “Greater access to these records on Ancestry will enhance understanding of how chattel slavery and the forced movement of enslaved people became normalized in the United States,” said Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, assistant professor of Africana studies at Morehouse College, per the press release. “This collection is invaluable for providing descendants of enslaved individuals with insights into their ancestral histories and their...

After dedicating years to researching Black women’s health, Dr. Leeja Carter has developed a device to assist them. As a professor and a scholar, C arter had a desire to do more work within the community beyond the standard work on publications and presentations. Even in her academic role at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY, she said she felt like a spectator to the issues that were important to her. That all changed in 2020. “My research and work were really social determinants of physical activity and its impact on Black women’s health,” Carter told AFROTECH™. “And being in academia for 15 years as a Black woman researching Black women’s health, while I definitely had spaces of comfort, care, and support, I would say there were greater experiences where I still definitely felt like an outsider and felt that it was still an uphill battle to gain support to do the work that was so close to my heart.” She added, “When you’re in an academic space, what is currency is...

Robert F. Smith’s internXL has launched a collaboration with Will.i.am to provide access to AI tools. According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, internXL announced that it has partnered with Will.i.am’s FYI (Focus Your Ideas), an AI-driven collaboration platform. Co-founded by tech entrepreneur Sunil Reddy, FYI works to provide creatives with messaging, collaboration tools, file management, and content publishing features to increase productivity, per its website. Now the new partnership’s goal is to provide college students and recent graduates from underserved communities with exposure to artificial intelligence as well as facilitate engineering industry work opportunities. “Joining forces with Robert F. Smith, alongside internXL and FYI, is a dream come true because it shows people from our communities what our future will look like with the support of purpose- driven tech,” Will.i.am shared in a press statement. “By being solution-oriented, we prepare today’s generation...

By now, just about every person on Earth has a passing familiarity with Mike Tyson. You may know him as the former Heavyweight Champion , the media personality, or the hilarious on-screen presence appearing in such films as “The Hangover.” Any way you slice it, Mike Tyson is a veritable superstar, with a legendary net worth to show for his decades in entertainment. According to Celebrity Net Worth , Mike Tyson currently has a nest egg of over $10 million. While this is a far cry from the net worth that Mike Tyson once held many years ago, it serves as a testament to the retired boxer ‘s longevity and resilience. After facing financial struggles throughout the late 1990s, Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003. For most others, this would have put the nail in the coffin for the fighter’s career. So how did Tyson manage to bounce back, regain his legacy, and eventually rehabilitate his image to the point that more people know him as the face of the animated series “Mike Tyson Mysteries”...

By now, most office environments allow employees the option of working from home for at least some portion of the week. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic proved that working from home was a viable strategy for many industries, a wide array of employees have expressed that they actually prefer it over commuting into the office. Despite this trend, many executives, land developers and middle managers prefer to have some face time with their employees, believing that in-office standards are responsible for keeping productivity in check. While this may be true for some employees, many others have taken to a new trend called coffee badging, which appears to boost their productivity, while actually reducing the total amount of work they complete in a given day. Coffee badging is the latest cultural buzzword floating around office environments, centering on the flexible nature of the hybrid workspace. In order to break down how it impacts a return-to-office schedule, we’ll first have to...