Apple is scrapping plans for a next-gen Vision Pro in favor of developing its own smart glasses to compete with Ray-Ban Meta and others. The glasses will “rely heavily” on voice interaction and AI, per Bloomberg—two areas where Apple has been slow to innovate. With Meta already pushing smart glasses, brands that delay adapting risk falling behind in this emerging medium. As input shifts from screen tapping or gestures to voice, marketers need to ensure their brands sound natural in conversational AI environments and that website data is optimized for voice SEO and consistent brand tone.
Meta will begin using conversations with its AI assistant to personalize ads and feeds across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp starting December 16. The change represents Meta’s most aggressive AI monetization effort to date, moving beyond likes and follows to conversational intent—a richer, real-time signal of consumer interest. Regulators are already raising alarms about surveillance and privacy. With 98% of Meta’s revenues tied to ads, even small gains could shift billions.
The smart home wars are shifting from hardware and voice assistants to AI strategy. In back-to-back announcements this week, Google and Amazon introduced the next phase of connected devices with AI front and center. Both companies are racing to turn smart speakers and displays into AI hubs and ad ecosystems. Marketers should start testing conversational ads, commerce integrations, and context-driven experiences on both platforms as usage scales and the next dominant household gatekeeper takes shape.
OpenAI is working on a TikTok-style app built on its Sora 2 video model—an AI-only feed where every clip is generated, not filmed, per Wired. Meta, meanwhile, is rolling out Vibes, a new short-form video feed in its Meta AI app and Meta.ai, designed for remixing, personalization, and sharing across Instagram and Facebook. For brands, the upside is experimentation, while the risk is durability. Until user habits adjust to new content feeds, marketers should treat both as pilot channels—take advantage of launch buzz, but keep spend flexible in case novelty fades.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek will step down in January 2026 to become executive chairman. In his place, chief product and technology officer Gustav Söderström and chief business officer Alex Norström will serve as co-CEOs. The leadership change could help unlock new monetization paths—such as deeper AI-driven ad targeting, expanded creator tools, or new subscription ad models—to hone Spotify’s ad ambitions, provided the transition doesn’t create friction. Brands should watch for investor days, ad tech announcements, or new targeting plans post-transition to see how Spotify’s business, pricing, and measurement options change.
Adobe introduced a full version of its Premiere video-editing app for iPhone users, offering new opportunities for on-the-go content creation. Premiere on iPhone includes features like sound effects, auto-generated captions, and multi-track timelines for video, audio, and text. It’s free for general editing, and generative AI (genAI) features are available on a pay-per-credit model. Brands that work with influencers should package assets so they’re easier for creators to use on the go and be flexible with formats and publishing schedules to support workflows for more timely, high-impact campaigns.
Airline group Lufthansa plans to cut 4,000 roles by 2030 to boost profitability as it leans into AI adoption. The Germany-based company said most layoffs will be limited to administrative roles as it evaluates what work won’t be necessary in the future. Identifying areas where AI is making work redundant and redeploying or retraining employees to higher-value tasks—rather than hacking away at worker numbers—can preserve institutional knowledge and build trust in the technology’s use across an organization.
Nearly all (97%) of Goldman Sachs’ Gen Z interns use AI in their personal lives, up from 86% in 2023, per the company’s annual intern survey. For a majority of generative AI (genAI) use cases, Gen Zers prefer that real people stay involved, but there are exceptions. More than a third (38%) of respondents said they were good with shopping AI results with no human oversight. For brands, this might mean leaning into Gen Z to train on genAI skills, understand where to get the most value out of AI, and what AI pilots can be cut or built on to improve efficiency.
The latest multibillion-dollar AI deals are a reflection of the massive computing power needed to build AI products and services—and 2025 has shown just how steep the costs can get. We expect price increases to trickle down to brands, resulting in more expensive access to AI tools and services. Brands should stay agile—diversify vendor bets where budgets allow, test across ecosystems, and align with the stacks most relevant to audiences and workflows. Failing to anticipate and respond to this hardware–cloud–AI consolidation could leave brands locked into costly, limited ecosystems with little room to maneuver.
AI use outside of content creation still ranks low among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) despite interest, showing a gap between curiosity and capability. While two-thirds of SMBs use AI for marketing and content creation, only 35% are applying it to customer service, per Revenued’s AI Usage Among Small Businesses report. If SMBs want AI to move beyond content creation, they’ll need to invest not just in tools but in training, governance, and measurable pilots. To close the gap between interest and implementation, brands should use upskilling as a differentiator, start with low-risk pilots, and build trust in outputs.
Meta is in discussions with Google to use Gemini as a benchmark for its own content understanding systems. The social media giant wants to test its systems against Gemini, not integrate the AI model, to help support its ad targeting and recommendation systems. Findings could show Gemini is stronger, or that Meta’s own systems already match or surpass it. Stronger content understanding could yield more nuanced insights and richer ad tooIs, enabling better campaign planning, targeting, and measurement. It highlights that AI in ads is less about flashy features and more about the invisible infrastructure that shapes outcomes.
As online financial crimes and fraud attempts surge, customers are wary of new brands and frequently abandon transactions over a lack of trust. Over two-thirds (69%) of US adults have abandoned an online transaction or sign-up process due to distrust, per Liquid Web’s 2025 The State of Digital Trust report. In today’s online marketplace, brands need to convince consumers not only of their product quality, but of their company’s legitimacy. Unlike industry-level reputation, which brands can’t control, CMOs can shape digital trust by focusing on transparency, clarity, and responsiveness across the shopping journey.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the UK’s biggest carmaker, was crippled by a cyberattack that has shut down production lines for three weeks and counting, per The New York Times. JLR halted production at several major factories, with up to 1,000 cars a day not being built. The company’s 33,000 employees were furloughed or sent home, per the BBC. Brands can’t afford to wait until the next breach to act. Companies should invest in cybersecurity insurance to shield themselves from devastating losses and supply-chain shocks. Equally important, they must build brand marketing strategies around recovery to protect brand equity.
The news: Cloudflare is rolling out a new feature that gives content publishers greater control over how Google scrapes and presents their content and helps them keep content out of AI summaries without opting out of Google search results all together—a choice Google hasn’t allowed. For publishers, Cloudflare’s feature could provide further control over how content is indexed and brands are compensated. Experimenting with the tools will help companies understand how AI summaries are affecting their traffic and searchability.
Alibaba released two cutting-edge additions to its Qwen 3 large language model (LLM) that are ripe for enterprise application.Qwen3-Omni gives enterprises a rare mix of flexibility, cost savings, and global reach that many proprietary models can’t match. Qwen3-Max could push Alibaba into the frontier of agentic AI, combining massive scale with code-generation tools that could rival other developer-first models. For CMOs, Qwen3-Omni’s multilingual and multimodal skills could power richer customer interactions and unlock real-time insights from video, audio, and text data.
OpenAI and Google are racing to lock in users in two of Asia’s most populous markets with budget-friendly AI subscriptions, per TechCrunch. OpenAI’s $4.50-per-month ChatGPT Go has expanded from India to Indonesia, while Google countered with a similarly priced AI Plus plan ($4.56). Marketers should prepare for audiences in India, Indonesia, and beyond who will be AI-native from the start. Analyzing AI adoption and usage trends opens opportunities for when campaigns run along AI search results. That means testing localized creative strategies and viewing Asia as the engine driving the next phase of generative AI growth, not a secondary market.
Nearly half of US adults have changed their streaming subscriptions in the past six months, with cost now serving as the top driver of both cancellations and new signups. Two-thirds of those who dropped a streaming service said it was too expensive, per YouGov. As cost sensitivity rises, building trust through easy trials and frictionless exits will be crucial. The platforms that focus on quality service and diverse content over hype and lock-in systems will make their offerings feel more like essential services.
The EU is investigating whether Apple, Google, and Microsoft are doing enough to curb online financial scams, per Ars Technica. The European Commission (EC) will send formal requests for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA), targeting fake apps, fraudulent search results, and scam accommodation listings on Booking.com. Ad campaigns appearing in search results, mobile apps, or Bing ads could face more scrutiny or be caught up in regulatory nets. Brands that lead with transparency and consumer protection will not only comply, but also gain an edge should platforms tighten controls.
YouTube is an effective channel for reaching Gen Zers as use and creators influence expand, per our 2025 Gen Z Social Media Usage report. Over half (56%) of Gen Z social media users are spending more time on YouTube than they did a year ago, per YouGov. YouTube’s momentum with Gen Z shows its evolution from an entertainment hub to a discovery and shopping engine. Brands need to not only show up, but also design for searchability, optimize creator partnerships, and explore cross-screen viewing and messaging outreach.
Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI in $10 billion stages and supply the processors for 10 gigawatts of new AI data centers—an energy load equal to New York City’s peak demand or enough to power 7 million to 9 million US homes, per CNBC. Big Tech is locking arms to secure control of the AI future. These alliances blur the lines between investor, supplier, and customer, concentrating power among a few giants. If the project delivers, Nvidia’s dominance grows. If not, the “Stargate effect” looms—ambitious AI ventures that overpromise and underdeliver.