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, OpenAI released a new image generation model, Virgin Voyages equipped its travel advisors with AI tools in Canva, and Magnum Ice Cream chose Publicis to fuel its AI-powered campaigns.
Top Stories of the Week
OpenAI Releases New Image Generation Model
OpenAI released a new flagship image generation model this week, giving users the ability to edit and generate images up to four times faster than its previous model. The move is said to be an attempt to counter concerns the AI giant is falling behind competitors.
Why it matters: The release of OpenAI’s new image model gives Google’s Nano Banana a run for its money. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman recently declared a ‘code red’ to the company’s workforce, in a bid to encourage staff to develop ChatGPT in the face of growing competition. This ‘code red’ halted rumoured ad integrations into the AI company’s chatbot interface.
Virgin Voyages Gives Canva to Travel Advisors
Virgin Voyages has partnered with Canva to roll out AI-powered marketing tools across its travel advisor network. The initiative equips “First Mates” with AI-driven content creation to boost sales, speed to market and brand consistency, supported by training programmes and a planned rollout to 1,000 advisors by early 2026.
Why it matters: The move highlights a growing trend of democratising AI tools beyond marketing teams to drive revenue – ITV also revealed it was giving its sales team access to GenAI ad creation tools. By empowering frontline sellers with branded, AI-enabled content creation, Virgin Voyages could improve brand control and sales.
Magnum Ice Cream Chooses Publicis to Power AI Campaigns
The Magnum Ice Cream Company has named Publicis Groupe its global media agency of record following a competitive pitch, marking a key step after its spin-off from Unilever. The data and AI-led partnership aims to improve consumer engagement, real-time marketing and strengthen the brand’s identity as a standalone company.
Why it matters: Publicis said that 80 percent of its connected media offering is now supported by AI. Winning the Magnum account adds to a successful year for the holding company, winning the Coca-Cola and Mars accounts, which were both previously handled by WPP. Publicis is widely recognised as the leading agency holding group, having consistently outperformed rivals, in part due to its AI strategy.
Quote of the Week
Brands and Agencies
Tesco Taps Mistral in 3-Year Deal
Tesco has entered a three-year partnership with Mistral AI to develop advanced AI solutions, including enhanced personalised Clubcard offers. The deal provides Tesco with access to Mistral’s commercial models and engineers, supported by a joint AI lab to deploy GenAI across retail operations, data analysis and content development.
Virgin Wines Uses AI For Personalised Recommendations
Wine retailer Virgin Wines partnered with recommendation software company Preferabli to deliver tailored wine suggestions to online shoppers. The AI analyses customers’ preferences and previous purchasing data to help shoppers discover new products across its digital platform.
Russell & Atwell Launches AI Ad
Chocolate brand Russell & Atwell has launched an AI-produced Christmas ad created by Charismatic.ai in just over 31 hours. Using generative video and storytelling tools, the campaign promotes the brand’s “fresh” chocolate made with organic double cream, debuting across digital and social platforms this week.
WPP and Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi Create AI Social Media Campaign
WPP used GenAI to create a unique promotional campaign for Experience Abu Dhabi and the new Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. The campaign features one of the museum’s highlights, the Tyrannosaurus rex, as a social media influencer. WPP and Oglivy’s AI arms leveraged social insights to create a campaign that combined pop culture with science.
Media
OpenAI Launches Academy for Journalists
OpenAI has launched the OpenAI Academy for News Organisations, a learning hub to help journalists and publishers integrate AI into daily workflows. The academy offers training, playbooks and newsroom case studies covering reporting, production, governance and responsible AI use across global newsrooms.
NBCUniversal Unveils AI Ad Tools
NBCUniversal has unveiled new AI-driven advertising tools ahead of CES in Las Vegas, introducing live contextual targeting, new Peacock ad formats and enhanced discovery features. Timed around major events including the Olympics, Super Bowl and World Cup, the initiatives aim to boost real-time ads for brands.
NMA Responds to Government’s State of Progress
The News Media Association (NMA) has responded to the Government’s Statement of Progress on AI and copyright urging the UK government to mandate licensing for AI training and rule out any new copyright exception. Citing consultation results showing 95 percent support for licensing, the NMA says clear policy would end uncertainty, compel AI developers to license content and strengthen the UK media and creative sectors.
Creative Form Responsible AI Initiative
A group of film industry professionals, including Daniel Kwan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Natasha Lyonne, formed the Creators Coalition on AI – an initiative that aims to establish clear standards for responsible AI use. The coalition is backed by over 500 members of the industry, as they request better transparency and compensation amid growing AI use in creative sectors.
Prorata.ai Strikes Licensing Deals
Prorata.ai established licensing agreements with a new set of publishers, including Danish publisher DPCMO. The AI startup previously struck deals with other major publishers, such as Fortune, Sky News, and Reach PLC.
Amazon Removes AI Recap After Users Spot Errors
Amazon removed an AI-generated recap of the TV show Fallout, after viewers flagged it had made multiple errors, including plot inconsistencies and incorrect character names. The tool debuted in November, and seems to have been removed from Amazon Prime Video at this time.
Cloudflare Year in Review Highlights Internet Use Trends
Internet security company Cloudflare released a Year in Review, sharing data around internet habits for the year of 2025. The report shared that AI bots made up 4.2 percent of html requests in 2025, and that training is the most common reason for bot crawlers.
Tech
Adobe Sued Over AI Copyright Infringement
Adobe faces a proposed US class action alleging its AI tools were trained on copyrighted books without permission. Filed in California by author Elizabeth Lyon, the lawsuit claims pirated works were used to train Adobe’s SlimLM models, marking the first AI copyright case brought against the software giant.
Snap Shares Jump from Perplexity Partnership
Snap shares jumped 18 percent after the company revealed a $400m deal with Perplexity AI alongside its third-quarter earnings. The agreement will see Perplexity’s AI features integrated into Snapchat from early 2026, as the platform seeks to reignite growth after a difficult year for its stock.
Google Expands ‘Portraits’ to YouTube
Google is expanding its Portraits AI to YouTube, enabling users to interact with AI versions of participating creators. Portraits are conversational models built from a creator’s own approved content, designed to answer questions in their voice and expertise. The feature will initially roll out to US desktop users.
Adobe Firefly Expands AI Video Creation Tools
Adobe Firefly announced new improvements to Firefly, its AI-powered creative platform. The upgrades include the launch of the full beta of Firefly video editor, a new tool for generative storytelling. Adobe also announced new prompt-to-edit controls for video editing, and advanced video footage enhancement and restoration features.
Amazon to Invest £7.5bn in OpenAI
Amazon is reportedly considering investing more than £7.5bn in OpenAI, potentially valuing the AI company above $500bn. The funding would help OpenAI finance vast cloud computing commitments, including long-term spending with Amazon Web Services and use of its Trainium chips, according to The Information.
Startup of the Week
Fluency, a Vermont-based digital advertising operating system, has raised $40m in Series A funding led by Integrity Growth Partners. The platform helps brands and agencies manage and automate paid media across major channels including Meta, Google and TikTok. The company said it will use the funds to expand its agentic capabilities that can autonomously manage and optimise parts of digital ad campaigns.
Number of the Week
Two-thirds of CMOs (62 percent) say they lack the skills, budget or resources to compete with AI-enabled challengers, according to research from agency 3Thinkrs. The report ‘How to win influence in B2B tech: A CMO’s marketing and communications playbook for 2026’ also found that roughly one-third (35 percent) are concerned rivals are outpacing them, particularly around Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) – the act of optimising to appear in AI search.
