The news: We recently covered Wells Fargo’s early entrance into the agentic AI realm. And we recommended that other financial institutions (FIs) explore how they could implement it, too—regardless of size. Now a smaller FI, Michigan-based Family Financial Credit Union, has announced its partnership with fintech start-up Algebrik AI to implement a new digital lending suite, per a press release. Why this matters: Family Financial Credit Union will be one of the first smaller FIs to go public with its agentic AI offering. If it proves successful and customers like the experience—which could in turn draw more business to its loan products—it could inspire other institutions to pursue similar partnerships and offerings. We expect many more FIs of all sizes to announce agentic AI pilots in the near future.
Pinterest reported a breakout Q2 2025 with $998 million in revenue, up 17% YoY—beating guidance and analyst expectations. Monthly active users hit an all-time high of 578 million, with profitability improving and ARPU rising globally. Gains were driven by GenAI tools like auto-collages, stronger commerce integration via Instacart, and a lean ad tech approach powered by Magnite. Pinterest’s ad business continues to grow steadily, with advertiser spending up and margins expanding to 25%. While still underweight in media plans, Pinterest is proving itself as a differentiated, performance-ready platform with rising traction among Gen Z and global users.
The news: Apple Intelligence could integrate OpenAI’s GPT-5, its latest model that combines traditional ChatGPT capabilities with deepo3-series reasoning, as early as next month, per 9to5Mac. Updates for a more personalized and intelligent Siri, originally expected in the iOS 18.4 update, were delayed in March until sometime “in the coming year.” GPT-5 could accelerate that timeline and give Apple a more robust foundation for a truly conversational, autonomous assistant Our take: Marketers and publishers should prepare for reduced visibility through traditional search if assistants like Siri can effectively answer user queries directly. Focus on generative engine optimization (GEO) for conversational AI discovery—think FAQs on websites and succinct answers that large language models (LLM) can easily surface.
53% of marketers in North America cite data analysis and insights as the top bottleneck slowing down marketing cycles, according to an April GrowthLoop and Ascend2 survey.
The news: Wells Fargo is partnering with Google Cloud to equip the bank’s 215,000 employees with advanced generative and agentic AI tools, per American Banker. The phased implementation will span the next few months. Why this matters: If Wells Fargo sees greater efficiency, a better customer experience, and savings from the wide AI rollout, it could set an industry trend. Competitors should at least begin exploring how they can implement agentic AI in their own operations. And Google Cloud’s involvement serves as a reminder that these solutions don’t need to be developed internally. Third-party partnerships may be especially valuable for smaller financial institutions that want to catch up on AI innovation.
The news: Google claimed that its AI summaries do not impact referral traffic from search after a Pew Research report showed that AI Overviews cut the number of users who clicked on links from overall search results by nearly half. Our take: Despite Google’s objections, AI Overviews inevitably harm sites that rely on search results and SEO for visibility. But with AI summaries showing no signs of going away, what matters is how brands adapt. Traditional keyword strategies are no longer sufficient in the age of AI.
The news: Startup ElevenLabs launched Eleven Music, a platform that gives brands and creators copyright-safe tools to generate custom music and audio. Users can enter prompts in plain English—such as “make me an upbeat disco track with background vocals”—and get a track within minutes, per The Wall Street Journal. Our take: Services like ElevenLabs can democratize music creation for video campaigns and empower smaller brands to create original campaign content with minimal effort. But with growing concern over AI’s role in creative industries, brands should remain transparent about AI use, keep human creatives on staff as backstops, and use AI when it can complement rather than replace human work.
The news: Cohere wants to ease enterprise concerns around AI adoption with the launch of North, its new flagship platform. North is a privately deployable agentic platform that lets companies create, manage, and deploy AI agents entirely behind their own firewall. Our take: With the frenetic pace of AI model launches and the pressure for quick enterprise adoption, data governance and security can’t be an afterthought. Platforms like North give enterprises a path to adopt powerful AI tools without giving up control over sensitive information.
The news: OpenAI is bringing its newest models to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the first time, marking a major milestone in the ongoing battle for AI cloud dominance. Its open-weight models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b—available via Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker AI platforms—are able to handle complicated text-based operations and integrate into cloud-based systems. Our take: OpenAI’s models are getting easier to access, meaning lower costs and fewer technical hurdles to trying powerful AI tools. AWS customers should start testing oss-120b and oss-20b for things like generating subject lines, social copy, and campaign variations and explore ways to fine-tune the models with company data.
In an EMARKETER interview, Reddit COO Jen Wong shared optimism following the platform’s strong Q2, highlighting its focus on delivering ad outcomes over increasing ad load. Despite capturing just over 1% of US social ad spend, Reddit is growing ARPU through investments in machine learning, creative tools like Memorable AI, and advertiser infrastructure. Wong emphasized Reddit’s auction model supports full-funnel goals, while global expansion is underway through localized insights and self-serve adoption. She spotlighted Reddit Community Intelligence as a milestone, enabling brands to tap into decades of authentic discussion data. The company’s long-term bet: authenticity will outperform algorithms.
The news: Google is gearing up for a wide release of ads in AI Mode search as advertisers grapple with concerns over brand safety and performance erosion in AI-curated environments. Our take: Even as concerns over Google’s ad dominance linger and advertisers consider competitors, cutting spend on Google entirely remains highly unlikely—but the dominoes are stacking up against Google. Ads in AI mode shows the search giant is taking steps to protect itself in an increasingly competitive ecosystem.
The news: Big Tech’s Q2 2025 earnings reveal Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Meta, and Amazon are expected to spend up to $364 billion to $400 billion collectively on capital expenditures in their 2025 fiscal years, with the vast majority targeted toward AI-related infrastructure, per The Wall Street Journal. Our first take: Big Tech is doubling down on generative AI (genAI) as its next growth engine. This massive buildout is already squeezing cloud margins, straining data center capacity and igniting a talent arms race.
The news: Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed plans to “significantly” increase AI investments, including acquisitions. The iPhone-maker acquired seven firms this year, some focused on AI, and remains open to deals of any size to boost capabilities, per Business Insider. Our take: Apple’s focus on efficiency and partnerships suggests incremental but impactful AI-driven tools will emerge, especially around privacy-first and device-dependent personalization. Prepare for evolving Apple AI features that emphasize user privacy. Balance campaigns between Apple’s controlled environment and more open, AI-reliant ecosystems like Google’s and Meta’s to optimize reach and precision.
The news: YouTube is giving connected TV (CTV) users the ability to skip to the most-viewed part of a video, helping them avoid slow moments or sponsored content. The feature was previously available on mobile and web for Premium subscribers and is now rolling out to Premium users who watch YouTube on its CTV app, per Android Authority. Our take: Influencer sponsored content spots are becoming more invisible and avoidable. Brands should pivot toward native product integrations within core content or have creators place sponsorships in pre- and post-roll messaging, which may be less likely to be bypassed by AI. The era of passive viewing is over. Viewers have more control, and brands need to adapt to stay visible.
The news: Amazon plans to put ads in its AI-powered Alexa+ voice assistant to boost product discovery and profits. Our take: If Amazon rolls out sponsored answers to Alexa+ user queries or in-conversation ads, the voice assistant’s vast trove of personal user data will help marketers target consumers on a micro level. However, if hallucinations arise and lead to irrelevant or inaccurate product recommendations, Amazon risks eroding both user trust and brand confidence.
The news: OpenAI abruptly discontinued a ChatGPT “share” feature after widespread criticism of its opt-in functionality surfaced thousands of unintended private chats in Google Search results. If a user checked a box to “make this chat discoverable” (sometimes accidentally or not fully understanding the warning), Google and other search engines could “see” these chat links and add them to public search results. Our take: The AI industry’s “move fast and break things” ethos is clashing with the non-negotiable demands of data protection. For marketers reliant on AI for strategic planning and analysis, security and data privacy are paramount. Companies demonstrating a strong security focus could stand out from competitors.
Reddit posted a standout Q2 2025, with revenues jumping 78% year-over-year to $500 million—including $465 million in ad revenue, up 84%. Net income reached $89 million with strong EBITDA and free cash flow. Global DAUs grew 21% to 110.4 million, and US ARPU climbed 59% to $7.87, signaling improved monetization. Reddit is now a billion-dollar US ad business a year ahead of forecasts, driven by growth in AI ad tools. Yet challenges remain: Reddit still holds only 1.1% of US social ad spend and relies heavily on Google Search traffic. Sustaining growth means reshaping advertiser perception and boosting direct engagement.
LinkedIn posted 9% YoY revenue growth in its June-ending quarter, fueled by rising engagement, B2B ad demand, and AI-powered tools. Despite soft hiring trends, sessions rose 11% YoY as more creators and professionals use LinkedIn for content, networking, and branding. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the platform’s evolution from a resume archive to a dynamic business hub. AI continues to drive efficiency and creativity across features, benefiting both users and advertisers. With strong identity data and a trusted audience, LinkedIn is carving out a stable, differentiated space in social media—positioning itself for long-term relevance beyond recruitment cycles.
The news: Merck is teaming with McKinsey for a generative AI (genAI) program that streamlines clinical study reports (CSRs). The takeaway: GenAI is ideal for time-intensive precise medical writing and frees content creators for oversight and strategic tasks. While Merck and some others are already using it for regulatory filings, those who stall or keep their pilots in the experimentation phase risk losing valuable time-to-market advantages.
The news: Reddit is positioning itself as a full-fledged search engine, with over 70 million weekly active users (WAUs) using its search functionality. As part of its strategy to house a full-fledged search engine within its website, the company is expanding its AI-powered conversational interface, Reddit Answers, and making it a central feature on the platform around the world. Reddit Answers has grown to 6 million WAUs from 1 million in December. Our take: If Reddit succeeds in becoming a self-sustaining search platform, it will become an even more valuable asset for marketers looking to target niche audiences and get in on the consumer purchase journey early. Advertisers should start identifying specific subreddits where their audience are already active, experiment with Reddit’s ad formats, and optimize content to surface in the platform’s search results.