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Michelin stars: The best cities for foodies, as told by a tire company

Michelin stars: The best cities for foodies, as told by a tire company

David Crowther

The Michelin guide, the essential foodie bible, now includes Toronto — making it the first Canadian city to be featured in the guide. The tire company awarded a total of 13 Toronto restaurants a coveted Michelin star, with one even getting 2 stars.

‍The best of the best‍

‍Toronto’s 13 restaurants are an impressive starter, but the city has some way to go to compete with foodies #1 bucket-list location, Tokyo. The Michelin guide loves the land of cherry blossoms, with 201 restaurants claiming an award in Tokyo, and two other Japanese cities (Kyoto and Osaka) joining the capital in the top five. Home-favorite Paris takes the second spot with 118 restaurants, London grabbed 70 and New York claimed 65.

Initially a guide to help motorists plan their trips, the Michelin guide was a list of places to eat and take shelter for the night. The first stars were awarded in 1926, expanding to the 3 star system now known around the world in 1933. Since its expansion outside of Europe the guide now rates over 30,000 establishments in over 30 territories.

Along with geographical expansion, the guide is also modernizing. Recognizing the growing environmental concern, the guide now has an award for sustainable gastronomy. Although not new, there is also the Bib Gourmand for those that prefer prices closer to their local pizzeria, with awards going to food at moderate prices, usually less than $35 a meal.

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Netflix is staffing up an apparent AI animation studio called INKubator

According to several public job listings, streaming giant Netflix appears to be building a GenAI animation studio called INKubator.

First reported by journalist Janko Roettgers in the Lowpass newsletter, INKubator seems to have launched in March and aims to “develop feature-quality content in a creator-led environment.”

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

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Netflix confirms a “KPop Demon Hunters” world concert tour is on the way

Netflix has a “Golden” mine and it's digging deeper.

At its fourth annual TV Upfront presentation on Wednesday, Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard announced a partnership with AEG Presents to create a “KPop Demon Hunters” world tour that will bring the phenomenon to life.

In March, Bloomberg previously reported Netflix was planning a global world tour sometime next year ahead of the sequel in arenas that would hold 10,000 to 20,000 fans, though the news had not been confirmed by the company nor had a partner been in place at the time. 

“KPop Demon Hunters” is Netflix’s most watched film of all time, racking up 481.6 million views globally during the second half of 2025. Since its release, the HUNTR/X trio of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami has appeared and performed at several major events including late-night talk shows, award ceremonies, and most recently at Coachella, where they were a surprise guest for Katseye. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the trio will be on the tour.

The announcement of the tour comes after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos shared in a recent blog post that the company spent $135 billion on licensing and original film and TV over the last 10 years.

This year, Netflix has a projected content spend of $20 billion, up 10% year over year, while its annual revenue forecast is between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion. The streaming giant has brought in more than $46 billion in profit over the past decade.

Netflix said more details around cities and tickets for the concert tour are expected to come out later this year.

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