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, ChatGPT reveals its approach to ads in its interface, Comcast finds most TV advertisers aren’t seeing results from AI, and Adobe partners with entertainment companies to power bespoke AI models.
Top Stories of the Week
ChatGPT Reveals Approach to Ads
In a blog post last Friday, ChatGPT owner OpenAI released a statement saying it would be putting ads into its chatbot interface. This week, the company started to offer ad placements, which are rumoured to feature as banners, to advertisers.
Why it matters: ChatGPT’s ads are set to launch in early Feb, with the company reportedly charging based on ad views rather than ad clicks. OpenAI has asked a small group of advertisers to participate in a trial period, with each of them spending less than $1 million. According to reports, ChatGPT could be offering a self-service solution to advertisers soon. All of this marking a pivotal moment in the shift towards advertising in AI chatbots.
Comcast Report Finds 61% of TV Advertisers Not Seeing Results from AI
Comcast’s Annual Advertising report found that many TV advertisers are still not seeing return-on-investment when it comes to their AI initiatives, with six-in-ten saying they’ve not seen meaningful results yet. Despite this, the report also found that eight-in-ten (77 percent) advertisers say AI is transforming how TV advertising is bought, making it more efficient (60 percent) and easier to buy (37 percent).
Why it matters: A famous MIT report from last year stated that 95 percent of corporate GenAI pilots have failed, forcing enterprise leaders to question if they are approaching initiatives effectively. The Comcast report reinstates the idea that AI pilots might not be working how businesses had hoped, largely because of scaling issues, and cultural and learning failures.
Adobe Expands Firefly Foundry for TV and Film
Adobe has announced a number of new partnerships with organisations in the media and entertainment industries, through a product called Firefly Foundry – custom, proprietary AI models for businesses trained on their own IP. Adobe has partnered with Hollywood talent agencies, visual-effects studios and production companies to create video for film shoots and marketing posts.
Why it matters: Adobe said Firefly Foundry will enable creative enterprises to “collaborate directly with Adobe engineers and scientists to create brand-specific GenAI models, responsibly trained on their own IP and designed for safe commercial use,” marking a shift to the company’s AI products becoming integrated even further into company’s creative production.
Quote of the Week
Brands & Agencies
WPP Launches Production Platform
WPP has launched WPP Production, a new global production platform consolidating Hogarth – the company’s global production arm – and production teams across the group. Designed to unify creative production at scale, the move integrates AI, virtual production and data-driven workflows, mirroring similar plays by rivals and reinforcing WPP’s push toward more integrated, performance-led content creation.
Clarins Introduces AI Skin Observer
Clarins has launched its AI Skin Observer, an in-store device using AI and multi-light imaging to analyse 22 skin parameters during consultations. Rolling out across 20 global locations, the launch reflects Clarins’ broader Beauty Tech strategy, blending AI-driven personalisation with high-touch retail experiences in physical and digital environments.
Traditional Search Still Crucial, Says Gartner
Gartner’s report, Diversify AI Search Strategies for Consumers’ Broadened Research Habits, finds GenAI is reshaping search behaviour without replacing traditional channels. AI overviews are extending the research journey, with consumers spending more time searching, scrolling beyond summaries, and considering more products. These findings reinforce the need for marketers to optimise across classic search, social and AI tools.
L’Oréal Launches Global Tech Hub
L’Oréal has announced plans to establish its first global technology hub in Hyderabad, India positioning it as a flagship centre for AI-powered beauty innovation. The company will invest over 3,500 Indian rupees (£300 million) through 2030, focusing on data, generative and agentic AI, and creating around 2,000 high-skilled tech roles.
Publicis Groupe Stresses Shift to Agentic Commerce
Publicis Groupe has warned brands not to fixate on AI-driven efficiency at the expense of a larger shift toward agentic commerce. Speaking at the NRF Big Show, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer Jason Goldberg said AI systems acting on consumers’ behalf to anticipate needs and make purchases could fundamentally reshape how people shop—and how marketers influence decisions.
Media
Chris Pratt Dismisses AI Actor Fears
Hollywood actor Chris Pratt has dismissed fears that AI performers will replace human actors, calling the panic around synthetic creations like AI-generated actor Tilly Norwood “all bullsh*t.” Speaking at a New York premiere, Pratt said AI may disrupt filmmaking but believes it will remain a tool, not a substitute, arguing human creativity, emotion and artistry cannot be replicated by machines.
LA Times Article Slams AI in Ads
Writing in the Los Angeles Times in response to the Trump administration’s use of an AI-generated version of Donald Trump’s voice in an ad for mortgage company Fannie Mae, writer Courtney Wilcox argues that synthetic advertising strips campaigns of the human emotion and authenticity that make marketing effective. While AI may be cheaper and faster, Wilcox warns it produces work that feels “static, soulless and forgettable,” risks spreading false information, and ultimately undermines consumer trust by replacing real people and genuine storytelling with imitation.
News Corp Signs Deal with Journalism AI Company
News Corp has signed a deal with Symbolic.ai, an AI journalism startup founded by former eBay CEO Devin Wenig and Ars Technica co-founder Jon Stokes. The company builds AI tools designed to support journalists with research, fact-checking, headline optimisation, SEO guidance, transcription and newsletter production, claiming major productivity gains for complex editorial workflows.
Tech
Adobe Unveils AI Upgrades to Products
Adobe has unveiled a wave of AI-powered upgrades across Premiere, After Effects and Firefly ahead of Sundance, aimed at speeding up post-production and expanding creative control. Alongside new generative and 3D capabilities, Adobe is deepening its investment in the creator economy, committing nearly $10 million to fund, train and support the next generation of AI-enabled filmmakers.
Stagwell Launches Tech Incubator
Stagwell has launched Quarter Creek Ventures, a new incubator fund backing early-stage adtech and AI-driven marketing products. Taking minority stakes, the fund will provide seed funding, operational support, client access and senior mentorship – formalising Stagwell’s strategy of incubating and scaling emerging marketing technologies from within its network.
Spotify Gives Listeners Direct Control Over AI Playlists
Spotify has rolled out Prompted Playlist in the US and Canada, an AI-powered feature that lets Premium users actively shape playlists using commands and listening habits. The launch extends earlier tests and supports Spotify’s push to drive paid subscriptions, pairing greater user control over algorithms with a recent price increase across key markets.
PayPal Acquires Agentic Commerce Platform
PayPal is set to acquire marketplace automation platform Cymbio, deepening its push into agentic commerce. The deal strengthens PayPal’s ability to make merchant product catalogs discoverable across AI platforms like Copilot, ChatGPT and Gemini, while preserving merchant control – signalling how payments, AI assistants and commerce infrastructure are converging at scale.
Omnichat Launches Agent Studio
Omnichat has launched Omni AI Agent Studio, a platform enabling brands to build custom AI agents for WhatsApp spanning customer service, marketing and conversational commerce. The launch underscores WhatsApp’s evolution into a full-funnel engagement and sales channel, as brands increasingly use AI-driven chat to manage discovery, transactions and CRM within a single conversation.
Start-Up of the Week
Humans&, a three-month-old AI startup positioning itself around human-AI collaboration, has raised $480 million in seed funding at a $4.48 billion valuation. Backed by Nvidia, Jeff Bezos and leading VCs, the company aims to create AI systems that act as participants in human communication – similar to an AI-native messaging or collaboration platform – where the AI can ask users questions, retain context over time, and support ongoing projects.
Number of the Week
ChatGPT owner OpenAI is reportedly charging for ads in its platform based on CPMs (cost per thousand impressions), with the cost being $60 CPMs, Ad Age reported citing info from numerous people familiar with the matter. This CPM cost is the same as what Netflix charges, marketing the service as a premium type of advertising.
