Category: Tech News
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The Golden Globes’ AI Rulebook: Humans Still Need to Be in Charge
The Golden Globes published new eligibility guidelines for AI use that boil down to: AI won’t automatically disqualify a film or show, as long as “human creative direction, artistic judgment, and authorship remain primary throughout the production process.” The rules explicitly cover generative AI and put submissions on notice that the Golden Globes Eligibility Committee…
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When Product Ships Weekly, Marketing Becomes the Bottleneck
HBR’s premise is blunt: AI sped up engineering first, and marketing is now stuck doing quarterly-era coordination in a continuous-release world. Citing Anthropic research, the piece notes that software engineering accounts for “nearly 50% of all agentic activity.” That helps explain why product teams are shipping continuously, and why marketing — with its cross-functional handoffs,…
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AI Agent Sprawl: When Everyone Gets a Bot, IT Gets a Headache
As tools like Anthropic’s Claude Cowork make it easy for nontechnical employees to spin up task-specific AI “agents,” some large companies are discovering a new flavor of shadow IT: too many bots, doing too many overlapping things, in too many places. The Wall Street Journal flags “AI agent sprawl” as the problem, fueled partly by…
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YouTube Moves the AI Label Into Daylight
YouTube says it will start automatically detecting and labeling videos with “significant photorealistic AI-generated content,” shifting away from the creator self-disclosure system it introduced in 2024. The automated labels begin rolling out gradually in May 2026, using internal signals YouTube has not fully specified. For anyone who has ever gone spelunking in a video description:…
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Agency Account Teams Are Turning AI Into Client-Specific Utilities
Coming back from maternity leave in 2024, Wendy Owen, (Senior Account Manager Publicis Pro) says the biggest surprise wasn’t staffing changes. It was how casually AI had slipped into day-to-day agency operations, especially in client services, where ambiguity and speed are basically the job description. In this telling, AI’s main impact isn’t “automation” so much…
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The Trade Desk Lets Claude Fill Out the Paperwork—Just Don’t Call It “Buying” Yet
The Trade Desk is talking to agency execs about Koa Agents, a set of agentic features meant to automate large parts of programmatic setup and troubleshooting. The system connects with whatever AI model a partner is using — including Anthropic’s Claude — through an interoperability layer called Open Agentic Kit. According to an agency exec…
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The $31.5% Question: When Does “AI” Need a Label?
AI disclosure in ads sounds simple until you start counting what qualifies: a generated background, a synthesized soundtrack, a digital human, a product demo that never happened. That nuance matters because labeling isn’t just a legal checkbox—it can be a performance tax. Research from NYU Stern and Emory University suggests AI disclosure can cut ad…
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Claude as a Timeclock: What 100,000 Chats Say About Productivity
Anthropic ran a privacy-preserving analysis of 100,000 real Claude.ai conversations to estimate how long people’s tasks would take with vs. without AI help. Claude’s own scoring says the typical task would take about 90 minutes unassisted, and that using Claude cuts completion time by roughly 80% on average. They also mapped tasks to O*NET occupations…
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Stagwell Unveils Adtech, AI-Focused Incubator
Stagwell just set up an incubator fund aimed squarely at adtech and AI-powered marketing tools. The vehicle is called Quarter Creek Ventures, and the model is straightforward: Stagwell takes a minority stake in selected projects, then backs them with seed funding (amounts not disclosed) plus practical help getting products built and into market. Beyond the…
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Google’s Project Genie Lets You Build AI-Powered Worlds Without Leaving Your Desk
Google is offering AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S. a sandbox full of pixels and possibilities with Project Genie—a web-based prototype that lets users create and navigate interactive, responsive worlds in real time. Built on Genie 3, Google’s most advanced “world model” to date, the system dynamically generates environments based on user input, predicting physical…
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From Billable Hours to AI-Driven Value in Advertising
The ad game is looking a lot less like Don Draper’s boardroom and a lot more like an API call. As AI reshapes the fundamentals of media buying, creative development, and performance optimization, agencies are building platforms instead of just campaigns. Stagwell’s The Machine, Omnicom’s Omni, and WPP’s Open Pro are just a few of…
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AbelsonTaylor Hits Fast Forward with AT Studio
AbelsonTaylor Group just rolled out AT Studio, its new production-centric division tailored to crank out high-volume healthcare marketing assets at a much faster clip—without dropping the ball on quality. Think of it as a hybrid assembly line and art studio: a production engine that fuses manual craftsmanship with AI-assisted workflows to churn out everything from…
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Brands wrestle with authenticity vs. AI
As AI-generated marketing proliferates—and fumbles—some brands are reaping rewards by leaning hard in the opposite direction: showing off the real, the tactile, the definitely-not-CGI. A spec Pepsi ad from filmmakers Luke Barnett and Noam Kroll pokes fun at synthetic storytelling with a self-aware script featuring six repetitions of the word “real” in just 60 seconds.…
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Cue the Algorithms: AI Pool Hall Breaks Rack in London
The team behind Topgolf and Puttshack is trading clubs for cues with Poolhouse, an AI-powered pool hall opening in early 2026 at 100 Liverpool Street. Spanning two Vegas-inspired floors, each digital pool table doesn’t just track shots—it adapts gameplay to the user’s skill level. Whether you’re a novice or a hustler in disguise, the tables…
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Galaxy Brain: Samsung and Google’s $1,800 XR Headset Lands with Eye-Tracking, Iris Login, and AI Chops
Samsung and Google have officially entered the XR arena—and they didn’t skimp on specs. Priced at $1,800, the new Galaxy XR is the first headset powered by Android XR and Google’s Gemini AI. Visually, it packs more pixels than the Apple Vision Pro and offers better color range too, though its refresh rate tops out…
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Why Your SEO Strategy Needs to Embrace AI and GEO
WPP’s chief AI officer Daniel Hulme makes a compelling case: SEO may not be dead, but it’s no longer the sun around which brand visibility orbits. As chatbots and personal AIs take charge of shopping behaviors, traditional keyword-centric strategies are losing relevance. Instead, we’re stepping into the era of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), where a…
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S4 Capital Bets on Bots, Not Bodies
S4 Capital is shifting its operations to focus on AI-powered agents, automating traditional agency tasks like content production, which reduces timelines significantly. Executive director Wes ter Haar claims that 65% of agency work can already be managed by AI. The company envisions an “AI workforce” that integrates strategy, content, and media into tech-led services while…
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The Rise of AI Influencers: Meet Bruce Ryder
AI-generated surfer Bruce Ryder is gaining attention in a retro-inspired short film, showcasing advancements in virtual influencer technology. Created by Emma Barbato, Bruce embodies a lifelike character thanks to tools like Kling and Midjourney. The phenomenon raises questions about the future of AI influencers and their impact on human connections and influencer markets.
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The Rise of AI Avatars in Digital Marketing
TikTok has introduced AI-generated avatars, allowing brands to utilize the likenesses of real people for advertising, as seen with Scott Jacqmein, who licensed his image for $750. These avatars help streamline ad production for businesses but raise concerns among actors about contracts that grant unlimited use of their virtual selves across platforms without royalties. While…
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Cat Fights, Space Babies, and Algorithm Mush: AI “Slop” Is Eating YouTube
In July, nearly 10% of the fastest-growing YouTube channels featured solely AI-generated content, showcasing bizarre storylines and attracting millions of subscribers. Channels like Super Cat League exemplify this rise, amassing significant followings through surreal yet captivating videos. Experts criticize this trend as “AI slop,” driven mainly by ad revenue. In response, YouTube is attempting to…
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Google Says AI Isn’t Eating the Internet
Google asserts that its AI-driven search results do not cause significant drops in website traffic, despite concerns in the publishing industry. Search chief Liz Reid claims traffic remains steady overall, but unevenly distributed. While AI Overviews may reduce clicks, intentional user engagement could be increasing. The media landscape faces pressure from algorithm changes and competing…
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Measuring the environmental impact of AI
French AI startup Mistral revealed the environmental impact of its “Large 2” language model, indicating that 86% of its carbon emissions come from model training and prompts. Over 18 months, emissions reached 20,400 tons of CO2. Mistral highlights the need for businesses to consider environmental costs alongside financial returns in AI use.
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David Jones Says Agencies Are Sleepwalking Through the AI Revolution
Brandtech’s David Jones advocates for generative AI in advertising, asserting it offers significant efficiencies. His company’s AI tool, Pencil, generated 235,000 assets at lower costs and faster speeds for major clients. Jones promotes a hybrid model blending tech with services, emphasizing AI’s potential to enhance, rather than replace, human creativity.
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R/GA Makes AI-focused Acquisition
R/GA just closed its first buy since splitting from Interpublic Group, scooping up AI studio Addition—a tight team of about a dozen that’s already punched above its weight with work for Google, The New York Times, and others. Founded in 2021, Addition excels in AI strategy, personalization, and rapid prototyping, thanks mainly to its “AI-native”…
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The Trade Desk Gets Into the Virtual Set With AI-Driven Product Placement
The Trade Desk is stitching branded goods into content—literally. Through a new partnership with startup Rembrand, advertisers can now buy programmatic product placements inside existing video content across the open internet. Rembrand’s generative AI scans scenes frame by frame, then inserts branded objects like signage or packaging post-production, no filming required. The integration plugs directly…
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When the Pope in a Puffer Jacket Sings, You Might Learn Something
The Columbia Journalism Review is tackling AI misinformation with a beat you can hum. Their new campaign, “The PSAi,” turns viral AI-generated images—like a stylish Pope Francis or a Zuckerberg lurking outside a window—into animated, lip-syncing cautionary tales. Developed with TBWAChiatDay New York and scored by Pickle Music, the music video doesn’t just entertain, it…
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Shop ‘Til Your Avatar Drops: Roblox Ties Real-World Retail into Virtual Play
Roblox is taking in-game buying power to a new level by letting avatars and their human counterparts shop for actual physical products. Now, creators and brands can sell real-world items directly through Roblox experiences via new Commerce APIs, while a separate program adds digital perks to real-life purchases. With 97.8 million daily users already snapping…
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Built for Bots: Inside the First Agentic-First Agency
10,000 Robots (10KR) isn’t just a catchy agency name—it’s a literal headcount. The newly launched agency is powered by more AI agents than human employees, and its founders (all former YML executives) intend to keep it that way. With AI handling tasks typically farmed out to junior staff, 10KR relies on a lean team of…
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Ammunition Fires Up Venture Studio for Startups and Agencies
Atlanta-based creative agency Ammunition is throwing more than just clever campaigns into the mix—it’s launching a full-blown venture studio. Dubbed Ammunition Ventures, the initiative aims to give early-stage startups and creative agencies a much-needed boost, combining up to $500,000 in capital and agency services per investment. The plan? Select two to three strategic partners over…
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Google’s Meridian: A Free Marketing Mix Model for Smarter Ad Spend
Google has announced that its marketing mix modeling measurement system, Meridian, will now be available to all marketers and data scientists worldwide. This open-source platform aims to help advertisers better understand the impact of their marketing efforts by providing transparent and customizable tools. To support the implementation of Meridian, Google is also launching a certified…
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Adobe and Brandtech Team Up to Elevate AI-Powered Marketing
Brandtech Group has partnered with Adobe in a bold move aimed at redefining the marketing landscape through generative AI. This collaboration integrates Adobe’s Firefly Services into Brandtech’s Pencil Pro, a marketing platform already leveraged by brands like Miller Lite and Durex. Pencil Pro users gain access to Adobe’s creative suite, allowing them to create, analyze,…
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4A’s Noteworthy News – 22nd Edition
THE BIG STORY As AI-enhanced search engines become more prominent, tech giants and upstarts alike are racing to define sustainable advertising models that are effective, non intrusive, and rewarding for publishers. Earlier this month, Google began rolling out ads to its AI-generated search overviews, marking a key step in monetizing AI search. This shift suggests…
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4A’s Noteworthy News – 21st Edition
Greetings from 35,000 feet on my way back home after another great week in NYC ad Advertising Week 2024. I’m still processing everything, but wanted to share a few highlights from my experience there: Firstly, it’s not AI-related, but I was honored to moderate a fun panel called Play it Forward: How Gaming Immersion Unlocks…
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AdAge Top 5 Metaverse Moments – Oct 2024
Check out the latest roundup from AdAge on the Metaverse, featuring: Roblox’s branded virtual world Nike ditches NFTs Hyundai ditches NFTs in a fun way Meta showcases new AR products Roblox takes heat from new report Full story here.
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4A’s Noteworthy News – 20th Edition
NOTE: this post first appeared on LinkedIn here. THE BIG STORIES OpenAI continued to make headlines this week, starting with its annual Dev Day. The AI leader tried to temper expectations heading into the event, still managed to generate buzz with a Realtime API and a new fine-tuning API that can handle images as well…
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4A’s Noteworthy News – 19th Edition
NOTE: this post first appeared on LinkedIn here. THE BIG STORY: How AI, AR and Wearables Will Transform Brand Experiences Meta Connect 2024 unleashed a whirlwind of announcements, showcasing Meta’s next steps in AI, AR and wearables—highlighting developments that could dramatically impact how consumers interact with brands, unlocking potential new advertising formats, and further blurring…