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, SpaceX plans $60bn acquisition of Cursor, Adobe launches CX Enterprise Coworker, and Canva reinvents itself as an AI platform.
Top Stories of the Week
SpaceX Plans $60bn Acquisition of Cursor
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has struck a deal that gives it the option to acquire code-editing startup Cursor for $60bn. SpaceX said the companies were working together “to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI”, while Cursor will use SpaceX’s massive computing resources to continue developing Composer, its agentic coding model launched late last year.
Why it matters: The move marks an attempt by Musk to catch up with AI rivals months before SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO), by bringing in Cursor’s customer base of software engineers and expertise in AI coding tools.
Adobe Unveils CX Enterprise Coworker
Announced at Adobe Summit on 20 April, CX Enterprise Coworker is a fully agentic AI system that plans, executes, and monitors campaigns end-to-end — replacing the Experience Cloud umbrella with a single AI-first platform. Major agency groups including WPP, Publicis, and Havas are already using the new system.
Why it matters: With more than 1,770 customers already on Adobe’s agentic platform and a new credit-based pricing model, the shift from software to orchestration infrastructure is well underway.
Canva Launches AI 2.0
Canva is introducing Canva AI 2.0, which the software company is calling “its most significant product evolution since launching in 2013.” Powered by its own Canva Design Model, users can now generate fully editable designs from a single prompt, with new workflows connecting Slack, Gmail and Google Drive.
Why it matters: Canva’s latest AI update transforms the platform from a template tool into a conversational, agentic creative system.
Quote of the Week
Brands & Agencies
WPP and NVIDIA Deepen AI Partnership to Power Creative Workflows
WPP announced an expanded collaboration with NVIDIA to increase computing power for global creative teams, targeting AI production workflows specifically for retail and wholesale use cases. The partnership also includes a joint AI toolkit for autonomous creative agents, developed alongside Adobe.
Babybel Owner Bel North America Is Using AI to Stay Ahead
CEO Peter McGuinness this week outlined how Bel North America is deploying predictive analytics to align product distribution with evolving consumer snacking habits — using AI to anticipate demand rather than react to it.
Sledge Warns Brands to Stop Using AI as a “Badge of Honour”
Live events agency Sledge released its Q2 trend forecast on 20 April, cautioning that most brands are treating AI as a signal of modernity rather than a driver of results. The agency called for a shift to project-specific AI strategies with measurable ROI.
Media
Japan’s Publishers Call on Government to Regulate AI Search Services
Japan’s Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association released a statement urging the government to introduce binding rules over AI-powered search, warning that platforms are systematically ignoring publishers’ refusals to allow their content to be used in AI training.
Germany’s Broadcasters and Publishers Unite For AI Protections
A group of German media companies and trade bodies, comprising ARD, ZDF, VAUNET, BDZV, and MVFP, issued a joint statement warning that global tech platforms are becoming “AI gatekeepers” that threaten media plurality and democratic discourse. The coalition is calling for copyright reform, fair remuneration, and guaranteed visibility for journalistic content across AI-driven platforms.
News Organisations Cut Ties with AI Company Nota Over Alleged Plagiarism
Media non-profit Poynter has updated its investigation into AI company Nota, which shut down a network of 11 local news sites after over 70 instances of plagiarism were found across 29 outlets and 53 journalists. The case has become a flashpoint in the broader debate around editorial oversight of AI-generated journalism.
Tech
Anthropic Launches Claude Design
Anthropic has entered the design space with Claude Design — a new Labs product that lets marketers and product teams generate prototypes, decks, and marketing assets through conversational prompts.
Shoplazza Launches AI-Native Commerce OS
Global ecommerce platform Shoplazza has released a unified suite of AI agents covering store creation, content production, and campaign execution — replacing fragmented workflows with a single system that translates merchant intent directly into action across its 650,000-strong merchant base.
Tamatem Acquires Playable Factory to Build an AI-First Ad Tech Stack
Tamatem announced the full acquisition of Istanbul-based Playable Factory, adding interactive ad tech with claimed 8x higher install conversion rates to its platform. Backed by new investors including Square Enix and $25M in total funding, Tamatem is positioning itself as a fully integrated AI-first gaming company.
Microsoft Rebuilds Its Ads Platform Around AI-Driven Discovery
Microsoft is rolling out AI Max for Search campaigns, expanding query matching and personalised ad delivery across Copilot and Bing. New Copilot Checkout enhancements allow users to complete purchases directly inside the AI interface — a direct signal that Microsoft sees the future of commerce happening inside AI answers, not after them.
Startup of the Week
AI Maverick Intel is a Beverly Hills-based AI company that automates full-funnel sales engagement — replicating SDR-level interactions at scale across healthcare, biotech, insurance, and transportation. The company rebranded in April 2025 following its acquisition of the AI Maverick platform (formerly Bionoid Pharma), and has since grown its ARR by $70 million in just 20 months by automating two-way communication from initial prospecting through to renewals.
Number of the Week
96% of B2B companies are invisible in AI-driven buyer discovery, according to the 2026 AI Visibility Index by 2X. Only 4.3% appear during early-stage exploration — the rest surface only when buyers already know the brand name, meaning most companies are absent from the AI-generated shortlists shaping vendor selection before a sales conversation ever starts.
