This week’s Week In Review: The Independent launches AI news summaries, Cate Blanchett and Ben Stiller call for Trump to protect creatives, AI chatbots are wrong most of the time, and more.
Agency & Brands
Shopify Acquires AI Search Startup Vantage Discovery
E-commerce platform Shopify has acquired Vantage Discovery, a startup specialising in AI-powered search for retailers. Founded in 2023 by former Pinterest engineers Lance Riedel and Nigel Daley, Vantage Discovery enhances product searches using generative AI to deliver more personalised results. Riedel announced that the startup’s technology will be integrated into Shopify’s platform. This deal is part of Shopify’s broader push to acquire AI talent, with six startup acquisitions in 2024 aimed at strengthening its AI capabilities.
Motorpoint Boosts Digital Marketing with AI-Powered Ads
UK car retailer Motorpoint has integrated AI-powered video ads from content creation platform Phyron, supposedly speeding up content creation from two days to five minutes. The AI technology enables Motorpoint to generate customised vehicle ads at scale, improving efficiency and lead quality. Since adopting Phyron, Motorpoint has seen up to an 80 percent increase in leads and a 30 percent reduction in advertising costs. The system allows for quick updates to ad content as inventory changes, optimising campaigns across platforms like Meta, YouTube, and TikTok. Phyron’s AI-driven ad tech is used by 3,500 dealers in 30 countries, and has helped Motorpoint enhance engagement while reducing marketing costs.
Estée Lauder Partners with Adobe for AI Tools
Estée Lauder Companies has partnered with Adobe to integrate its AI-powered creative tool, Firefly, into its design process. MAC Cosmetics was the first of its brands to explore Firefly, aiming to streamline creative workflows and allow designers to focus more on other tasks. This collaboration follows Estée Lauder’s recent partnership with Microsoft to leverage AI for marketing insights, as part of its ‘Beauty Reimagined’ strategy. Launched in February, this initiative aims to enhance efficiency, innovation, and growth across the company’s brands. CEO Stéphane de La Faverie emphasised AI’s role in transforming operations and reinforcing the company’s leadership in the beauty industry.
Publicis Groupe Expands AI Partnership with Adobe
Publicis Groupe has extended its partnership with Adobe, integrating Adobe’s Firefly into its CoreAI intelligence system. Announced at the Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, the collaboration aims to enhance personalised content creation for businesses. With Firefly AI’s generative capabilities, Publicis users can format content for specific audiences, while Publicis Sapient continues leveraging Adobe’s marketing tools for better content reach. The expansion aligns with Publicis’ €300 million AI investment, reinforcing its commitment to AI-driven creativity.
Media
The Independent to Launch AI-Powered News Platform ‘Bulletin’
The Independent is set to launch Bulletin, an AI-assisted news platform, later this month. Sponsored and distributed by social media platform WeAre8, the service will first be available via The Independent before expanding to its own website. Bulletin will use Google’s Gemini AI to generate news summaries, which will be edited and verified by journalists.
Amid industry concerns over AI-generated news, The Independent assured that Bulletin will be journalist-led, with AI supporting rather than replacing traditional reporting. CEO Christian Broughton emphasised that the platform will provide “trusted, verified journalism for those times when you are in a hurry.”
Hollywood Stars Urge Trump to Protect Artists from AI Copyright Threat
Over 400 actors, filmmakers, writers, and musicians, including Cate Blanchett, Ben Stiller, and Paul McCartney, have called on Donald Trump to protect artists’ copyrights from AI companies like Google and OpenAI. In a letter to the administration’s ‘AI Action Plan’ consultation, they warn that Silicon Valley’s push to use copyrighted works without permission threatens America’s cultural and economic strength. OpenAI and Google argue that unrestricted access to creative works is in the national interest and have even urged Trump to pressure the UK and EU to follow suit. Critics, however, caution that such policies could devastate the creative industry without benefiting key AI advancements in defence, health, or science. Trump is set to announce his AI policy in July.
Adobe Introduces AI Agents to Enhance Website Experience
Adobe has launched AI-powered “agents” to help brands personalise website interactions and marketing efforts. These tools, part of Adobe’s business software suite, use AI to tailor content based on users’ online behaviour, such as adjusting recommendations for visitors arriving via TikTok ads versus search engines. Adobe has also introduced AI tools that help marketers optimise websites for digital sales by suggesting and implementing changes, aiming to streamline online marketing and improve user engagement.
Italian Newspaper Il Foglio Publishes AI-Generated Edition
Italian newspaper Il Foglio has released an edition created entirely by AI, claiming to be the first in the world to do so. Editor Claudio Cerasa described it as part of a month-long experiment exploring AI’s impact on journalism and media careers. Covering topics from politics to youth culture, the AI edition includes stories on “Italian Trumpians,” Putin’s “broken promises,” and the rise of “situationships” among young adults. AI generated every element, from headlines to quotes, with no human attribution. Despite the lack of human input, Cerasa insists the edition stays true to Il Foglio’s spirit: “It is just another Foglio made with intelligence. Don’t call it artificial.”
Tech
OpenAI Pushes for Easier Access to Copyrighted Material in AI Training
OpenAI has urged the U.S. government to ease copyright restrictions for AI model training as part of its submission to President Trump’s AI Action Plan. The company argues that loosening regulations would help U.S. AI developers stay competitive by expanding AI models’ knowledge base and improving their performance. The proposal comes amid legal challenges from media organisations like The New York Times, which have sued OpenAI over copyright infringement concerns. Critics worry that relaxed policies could harm the creative sector, while proponents argue they are necessary to maintain U.S. dominance in AI.
Trump’s administration has already reversed Biden-era AI policies, favouring a more “freedom-focused” regulatory approach. The push aligns with Stargate, a $500 billion U.S. AI initiative involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. The debate unfolds as China’s AI advancements, including the DeepSeek R1 chatbot, challenge U.S. leadership in AI. OpenAI’s VP of Global Affairs, Chris Lehan, warned that restricting AI’s ability to learn from copyrighted material could give China the edge in the global AI race.
Survey Finds AI Chatbots Becoming Integral to Daily Life
A new survey from Elon University reveals that 52 percent of US adults have used AI language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot, with 34 percent of users engaging with them daily. ChatGPT remains the most popular, with 72 percent of respondents reporting usage, followed by Google’s Gemini at 50 percent. Beyond productivity, AI chatbots are increasingly seen as social companions. The survey found that 38 percent of users believe AI will form deep relationships with humans, and 9 percent already use them primarily for casual conversation or companionship. Many users noted AI’s ability to display personality traits like confidence and humour. Despite this, about 63 percent of respondents fear AI could replace human communication, and 59 percent worry about job losses.
Study Finds AI Search Results Are Wrong Over 60 percent of the Time
A new study by the Columbia Journalism Review reveals that AI-powered search tools frequently provide incorrect answers, with eight major AI models—including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini—getting over 60 percent of queries wrong. Perplexity AI’s search tool was the most accurate but still had a 37 percent error rate, while Elon Musk’s Grok 3 performed the worst, answering incorrectly 94 percent of the time. Researchers warned that AI search engines don’t just misinform but also cut off traffic to original news sources by repackaging information without proper attribution. The study tested AI search accuracy by asking the models to identify article headlines, publishers, and publication dates from reputable sources. Many AI tools not only failed at basic fact-finding but also frequently provided misleading or entirely fabricated answers.
Typeface Launches Content Optimisation Platform
The AI marketing platform Typeface has unveiled a new Marketing AI Platform designed to transform the content lifecycle with AI-driven marketing agents (Arc Agents), a dynamic brand intelligence system (Brand Hub), and a collaborative workspace (Spaces). The platform aims to streamline marketing by eliminating traditional inefficiencies – such as scattered assets and siloed teams – while enhancing content creation, personalisation, and performance optimisation.
US Court Rules AI-Generated Works Cannot Be Copyrighted
A US appeals court has ruled that creative works made entirely by AI, without human involvement, cannot receive copyright protection. The decision upholds a previous rejection of a copyright request for A Recent Entrance to Paradise, an artwork created by AI system DABUS, developed by scientist Stephen Thaler. The court reaffirmed that only human-created works qualify for copyright, aligning with past rulings. While AI-assisted works with significant human input may be protected, fully AI-generated content is not, the court ruled. Thaler, who describes DABUS as “sentient,” strongly disagreed with the ruling, but the U.S. Copyright Office maintains that copyright law applies only to human creators.
AI Marketing Startup Billy Grace Secures €3M Investment for Expansion
Amsterdam-based AI marketing startup Billy Grace has raised €3 million from Fortino Capital and angel investors to accelerate its growth. The funding follows Billy Grace’s 700 percent growth in 2024, building on 800 percent growth in 2023. The company said it will use the investment to expand further in the UK, US, and Germany. Founded in 2021 by Robin Friend, Mitch Voskuilen, and Tjadi Peeters, Billy Grace helps marketers optimise ad spending by using AI to track, analyse, and automate campaigns across multiple channels.
Meta AI Chatbot Launches Across Europe
Meta has rolled out its AI chatbot, Meta AI, to 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, following a delay over privacy concerns. The tool, already available in the US since September 2023, was initially paused in Europe after Ireland’s Data Protection Commission raised concerns about user privacy. Now live on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, Meta AI supports six languages and helps users with tasks like trip planning and web-based queries.
Number of the Week
475. That’s how many AI researchers were surveyed in a recent report from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, which revealed that a majority of experts doubt scaling alone will lead to super intelligence or artificial general intelligence (AGI). About 76 percent of respondents believe it is “unlikely” or “very unlikely” that scaling alone will achieve AGI. The report highlights concerns that recent AI models have plateaued in performance despite increased data training. Meanwhile, 80 percent of surveyed researchers believe public perceptions of AI capabilities are inflated, noting that AI still makes fundamental mistakes in coding and mathematics. These researchers caution that alternative approaches beyond scaling will be necessary to make real progress toward AGI.
