Welcome to Week In Review
From new tools transforming creative work, to campaigns reshaped by automation, we track the biggest shifts at the intersection of AI, media, and marketing. This week, ByteDance launches cinematic video generation tool, the European Publishers Council (EPC) files an antitrust complaint against Google, and ads come to ChatGPT.
Top Stories of the Week
ByteDance Launches AI Video Generation Tool
TikTok parent company ByteDance has launched a video generation tool called Seedance 2.0 that went viral online this week. The multimodal video model processes images, videos, audio, and text at the same time. The new video model went viral primarily because of its ability to generate high-fidelity cinematic video clips that users claim are indistinguishable from Hollywood productions.
Why it matters: Users took to social media to create their own film-ready scenes and Elon Musk commented “It’s happening fast,” which fuelled global discussion about the tool, framed as another ‘Sputnik moment’ – like Deepseek – for Chinese AI tech.
Publishers File EU Complaint Over Google AI Overviews
The European Publisher Council (EPC) has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, over the wrongful use of publisher content to fuel AI summaries on Google. Google’s AI Overviews – the AI summary of a search answer at the top of a Google page – has come under scrutiny for using publisher content to power its content, often without permission or payment.
Why it matters: Many critics have raised concerns about this practice, which is also common from other AI models, threatening traffic to publisher websites and threatening the business model that sustains the open web. The complaint with the European Commission claims Google is abusing its dominant position in the market.
ChatGPT Tests Ads
On Monday, OpenAI said it had started testing ads in the US for those subscribed with ChatGPT free accounts and to its cheapest $8 per month Go tier.
Why it matters: The appearance of ads in AI chatbots like ChatGPT has been a widely debated subject online since OpenAI announced it would be introducing ads in its AI chatbot in mid-Jan. Competitor Anthropic famously threw shade on OpenAI in a series of Super Bowl commercials saying it wouldn’t put ads in its own chatbot Claude, while consumers have voiced concern over their data being used to fuel ads – OpenAI has said conversations will be kept private from advertisers and won’t influence conversational answers.
Quote of the Week
Brands & Agencies
Gucci Launches ‘Sponsored AI Lens’
Gucci launched ‘Sponsored AI Lens’ on Snapchat, which lets users change their photos into characters inspired by the high-fashion brand’s recent La Famiglia campaign. Snapchat’s Sponsored Lens leverages AI to let brands connect with customers through immersive digital content – for Gucci this means wearing the classic styles from the campaign.
WPP to Create Ad Agency Brand Entity
WPP announced it plans to create WPP Creative, a new entity within WPP to house its advertising agency brands – like Ogilvy, VML, AKQA – under a single entity. The new unit will sit alongside the holding group’s media planning and buying unit WPP Media and content production unit WPP Production.
Agency Holding Co’s Stock Slide
Shares for the major agency holding companies fell, reportedly as a result of AI’s impact on the advertising industry. Shares in Omnicom Group fell 9.27 percent on the New York Stock Exchange, WPP shares declined 8.32 percent, Publicis shares declined 4.25 percent and Havas fell 11.59 percent. Analysts said the fall was, in part, because of AI models embedding deeper into traditional agency workflows.
Visa Creates AI-Generated Character in Ad
Visa created an AI digital character called V in a recent campaign produced by Saatchi & Saatchi Italy, BRW, Warner Music Italy, and Dogma. The project shows the character featuring in her own music video – a real track from the singer Shorelle. It also shows scenes from winter sports to feature alongside the Winter Olympics 2026.
Media
Half of Search is Now Zero-Click, Research Finds
The Datos State of Search Q4 2025 report, produced with Rand Fishkin, indicates that 56 percent of desktop searches are now zero-click, with major platforms like YouTube and Reddit receiving increased clicks. Despite the rise of zero-click search, traditional desktop searches are stable, the research found.
Amazon to Launch AI Content Marketplace for Publishers
Amazon is reportedly launching a marketplace for publishers to sell their content to AI companies and product developers. The content marketplace, first reported by The Information, was disclosed from presentation slides ahead of an Amazon Web Services (AWS) conference that referenced a marketplace publishers can sell or license their content for use in AI tools and systems.
Reach Taps Taboola’s Publisher AI Answer Engine
Reach plc, the parent company of major publications Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Liverpool Echo, and OK!, will tap into Taboola’s GenAI answer engine directly on its publisher websites. Taboola is a native advertising and content discovery platform that recommends content, products and services within publisher articles through pay-per-click ads and sponsored links.
India Creates New Takedown Rules of AI Content on Social Media
India has created new rules that state all unlawful content on social media must be removed from platforms within three hours of receiving a court or government order, including AI-generated content. The new three hours rule is an update to an existing 36 hours rule, meaning social media platforms – like Meta, YouTube, and X – will be under pressure to remove unlawful content much faster.
Tech
Canva Launches AI Connector
Visual design platform Canva revealed ‘Canva AI Connector’, which links brand assets to LLMs like ChatGPT. With the connector, brands will be able to get Canva’s Brand Kit – including their own colours, fonts and logos – right inside the ChatGPT platform.
Oracle Introduces Role-Based AI Agents
Oracle launched new role-based AI agents embedded in its Fusion Cloud Applications to enhance efficiency in Supply Chain, Marketing, Sales, and Service. The agents will feature as part of Fusion Cloud Applications where 50 role-based agents have been launched.
Evertune Partners with Index Exchange and The Trade Desk
Evertune, a Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) company, announced new integrations with Index Exchange and The Trade Desk to enable programmatic AI targeting campaigns. The move allows marketers to connect AI visibility intelligence with media activation.
Google Sued by Autodesk Over AI Filmmaking Tool ‘Flow’
Tech giant Google is being sued by 3D design software company Autodesk over claims it impinged on its ‘Flow’ trademark. The federal lawsuit filed last Friday in San Francisco, claims that Google used the brand name ‘Flow’ to promote its own AI-powered video creation tools to TV, film and video game audiences.
Startup of the Week
Simile, a California-based AI startup focused on predicting human behaviour, has raised $100 million in funding after emerging from stealth mode in February 2026. The funding round was led by Index Ventures, with major marketing use cases being simulating audiences and generative agents – digital twins of real humans.
Number of the Week
Advertising association ISBA’s latest Generative AI member survey shows rapid growth in GenAI adoption among marketers, but highlights a gap in AI skills training. In just over a year, the share of advertisers with at least one live GenAI use case has risen from 9 percent in April 2024 to 41 percent in July 2025. A further 27 percent are experimenting, while 28 percent are still exploring.
