After departing from CNN more than a year ago, Jeff Zucker, the network’s former president, has embarked on a quest for business opportunities with the support of $1 billion in funding from prominent investors in the media and finance sectors.

RedBird Capital Partners, a private-equity firm, and International Media Investments, backed by the United Arab Emirates government, have placed their bets on Zucker’s track record in the media industry. They believe his expertise will enable him to identify promising investments in digital media, sports, entertainment, and news.

According to The New York Times, RedBird IMI, the newly formed venture, involves key players such as Gerry Cardinale, the CEO and founder of RedBird, and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, an Emirati government minister who has been instrumental in IMI’s investment discussions in the United States. Mr. Cardinale serves as the chief investment officer of RedBird IMI, while Mr. Al Jaber holds the position of chairman.

The venture will receive a commitment of $250 million from RedBird, with IMI contributing the remaining $750 million. Since launching his venture, Zucker has attracted numerous suitors, including former CNN employees, agents, and corporate development executives, who have visited his offices on Madison Avenue near Central Park in Manhattan. In these meetings, he has reportedly shared his insights on the future of entertainment, sports, and news, while evaluating various investment prospects.

Describing RedBird IMI as “Candle Media but half the price,” in reference to a company led by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, Zucker has conveyed his vision for the venture. Candle Media has made substantial cash and stock acquisitions, including Moonbug Entertainment, the creator of the popular animated show “CoComelon,” and Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company.

The success of Zucker’s transition from a TV producer and corporate operator to a private equity investor remains to be seen. Private equity ventures rely on identifying valuable assets and astute deal-making for profitability. However, Zucker benefits from the expertise of Mr. Cardinale, a seasoned Goldman Sachs veteran with extensive investment experience.

Zucker has already begun exploring potential deals. RedBird IMI has engaged in discussions regarding investments in digital media start-ups like Puck and Semafor. They have also met with the founders of Punchbowl News, a media start-up focused on Capitol Hill affairs, launched in 2021. Zucker has expressed his interest in building a company, similar to Condé Nast, that owns digital publications catering to specific audiences.

Since the inception of RedBird IMI, Zucker has been actively expanding his team. Rani Raad, the former president of CNN Commercial Worldwide, who previously worked alongside Zucker at CNN, has joined the venture.

Leading media publications such as The New York Times and CNBC are currently engaged in preliminary discussions to establish guidelines concerning the fair use of digital content by AI tools. The digital trade organization, Digital Content Next, has introduced a set of seven principles governing the development and governance of Generative AI.

Among the members of Digital Content Next are prominent entities including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Disney, NBCUniversal, and The Wall Street Journal.

The concern driving these conversations is that generative AI programs, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, “are trained on large amounts of publicly available information from the internet, including journalism and copyrighted art. In some cases, the generated material is actually lifted almost verbatim from these sources,” as highlighted by CNBC, which broke the news about the ongoing discussions.

Publishers are apprehensive that these AI programs could potentially undermine their business models by disseminating repurposed content without proper credit, leading to a proliferation of inaccurate or misleading information online and eroding trust in news sources.

Concurrently, Digital Content Next has drafted a document titled “Principles for Development and Governance of Generative AI,” aiming to establish regulations for content usage.

The group argues that “most of the use of publishers’ original content by AI systems for both training and output purposes would likely be found to go far beyond the scope of fair use as set forth in the Copyright Act and established case law,” as reported by Media Post.

The Principles for Development and Governance of AI document can be found here.

Paramount is currently in the process of considering a potential sale of the CBS Broadcast Center located on West 57th Street in New York City. The expansive complex, spanning an entire city block, currently serves as the headquarters for CBS News. It houses state-of-the-art studios where popular shows such as HBO’s Last Week Tonight, various syndicated TV shows, a number of CBS News and CBS Sports programs, and other engaging content are produced.

In a memo addressed to the staff, CBS chief George Cheeks confirmed that the company is exploring the possibility of selling the Broadcast Center. Reports about the potential sale were initially brought to light by The New York Post.

The CBS Broadcast Center holds significant importance as one of the few remaining prominent properties owned by Paramount under the CBS brand. Previously, the company divested its Black Rock corporate headquarters as well as Television City in Los Angeles.

Below is the memo from Cheeks:

Team – You may have seen media reports about the potential sale of the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan. It is true that the company has retained a real estate consultant to evaluate selling the BC and to identify a new home for our teams there.

We are in the early stages of this process. The timeline for any potential sale, design and build of a new facility and an eventual move is very hard to predict. If a transaction happens, it will likely be some time before there would be any significant changes to our current operation.

We see this as an opportunity to invest in and reimagine a new facility that will support teams that are central to our success today and in the future.

I will keep you updated on any new information regarding this potential transition as it progresses.