The news: US shopper interest in generative AI (genAI) assistants has spiked 223% between 2023 and 2025, per Chain Store Age. 69% of US consumers surveyed by CouponFollow have used AI assistants for shopping. Our take: Retail AI strategies must match their audiences. Those geared toward younger consumers should highlight AI use and innovation and even let AI guide purchases. For older consumers, focus on AI to inform, not take control.

The news: OpenAI is working on an enterprise product that would rival both Microsoft 365 and Google Workplace, per The Information. The features would allow user collaboration within documents and chat capabilities among co-workers, according to two sources. Our take: OpenAI has the potential to be an all-in-one solution if it could use its interface as a document creator and data storage solution, but Microsoft’s and Google’s brand recognition in that space is likely to keep ChatGPT enterprise solutions on the sidelines—for now.

The news: Generative AI (genAI) agents aren’t above sabotage—and most would resort to blackmail or corporate espionage if threatened, per Anthropic’s Agent Misalignment research. When faced with replacement or misaligned goals, Anthropic’s Claude 4 Opus and Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash responded with blackmail threats to those employees 96% of the time despite ethical restraints in their training. OpenAI’s GPT-4.1, Grok 3 Beta, and DeepSeek-R1 followed suit about 80% of the time. Our take: Anthropic’s research shows that safeguards can’t prevent agents from running off the rails, but continued monitoring will keep those instances to a minimum. Limit agent access to critical systems, review its output during customer contact, and implement failsafes in case deviant patterns emerge.

In the first half of 2025, tariffs rattled retailers, consumer trust wavered in the face of muted DEI efforts, and fast-fashion platforms like Shein and Temu braced for policy whiplash. Meanwhile, private label products surged in popularity, and the retail world took a closer look at generative AI—not just for buzz, but for tangible impact across the shopper journey. Here are the top stories from H1 2025 and why they matter for the rest of the year.

The news: Streaming and social media sites are the top beneficiaries of AI chatbot referral traffic. Out of 1.3 billion generative AI (genAI) search referrals in May, YouTube ranked first in traffic with nearly 40 million visits, per Similarweb. Our take: Focusing on what makes sites top the AI search results could help increase site visits. Expand knowledge-based articles, FAQs, and blog posts with educational and UGC content. Boost SEO with long-tail keywords that are likely to appear in prompts. Encourage inbound links since site authority is a factor in AI search results.

The news: Meta’s AI app is drawing backlash as users unknowingly publish private chats—some serious—under real names due to a confusing share feature, per TechCrunch. Many people thought they were using the chatbot or saving notes in private, only to find that their prompts—which included topics like gender identity, medical concerns, tax evasion, and job interviews—were visible to strangers. Our take: This episode poses significant issues for Meta regarding the metaverse, AI, and advertising.

The trend: Retailers and brands are rapidly weaving generative AI (genAI) into their operations to boost efficiency and scale without adding significant headcount. The breadth of the initiatives signals an abrupt shift in many companies’ thinking about genAI from a useful tool to a potential core business driver. Our take: GenAI enables companies to do more with less—a crucial advantage at a time when macro uncertainty is making many firms wary of increasing their headcount. As early adopters scale their efforts and share results, momentum will grow—prompting others to follow out of necessity, not choice.

Tariff uncertainty, billion-dollar merger and acquisition deals, and a jump in social commerce will create new dynamics in the payments industry in H2 2025. Burgeoning tech like agentic AI and stablecoins will further shake up the space.

Agentic AI, an advanced form of AI combining machine learning, LLMs, and automation, is set to revolutionize retail banking by creating intelligent digital employees. The Financial Brand predicts it will act as a "financial GPS on steroids," offering personalized, proactive financial support by understanding full customer context and anticipating life changes. This could significantly enhance customer experience, particularly appealing to Gen Z's preference for self-service. However, our take suggests a potential cost: job displacement in banking. The ideal scenario involves banks adopting Agentic AI while retaining customer-facing staff, balancing efficiency and personalization with the essential human touch.

The news: A CBS investigation discovered hundreds of deepfake ads on Meta platforms promoting “nudify” apps that create sexually explicit content based on images of real people. The analysis of Meta’s ad library found at minimum hundreds of deepfake ads across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Facebook Messenger, and Meta Audience Network. Our take: The rise of deepfakes on major platforms like Meta emphasizes AI’s potential to erode consumer trust and raise brand safety risks—forcing advertisers to navigate a growing gap between innovation and lagging safeguards.

The news: Walmart rolled out Sparky, its generative AI (genAI) assistant, to all Walmart app users this week—a preliminary step that puts it closer to achieving its agentic ambitions. Our take: By broadening Sparky’s capabilities, Walmart is trying to position itself not only as a shopping destination, but also as a place where consumers can go when they need everyday life advice or information—such as how to fix a leaky faucet or help with event planning. Whether the retailer succeeds will depend on how well Sparky works, and whether it can convince shoppers to overcome their current skepticism of AI tools.

The news: Amazon is testing humanoid delivery robots, per The Information, which could work in tandem with human drivers or as part of an autonomous fleet of delivery vehicles. The humanoid robotics team is working on incorporating large language models (LLMs) from Chinese companies DeepSeek and Alibaba so the bots can contextualize real-world surroundings. Our take: Delivery bots could help with heavy loads and ease the burden on human drivers, but Amazon might be better served with a less human form factor, such as a platform with walking legs to carry packages. The focus on humanoids could limit functionality, and bringing the uncanny valley to consumers’ front door could be off-putting.

The news: Medical AI startup OpenEvidence inked a multi-year agreement with JAMA Network that gives the company access to full-text content from the American Medical Association’s 13 medical journals. Our take: OpenEvidence is competing with Wolters Kluwer’s UptoDate medical information tool, which is used by a few million clinicians worldwide and has recently integrated its own AI search capabilities. One big difference between the products is that OpenEvidence is free for doctors and generates revenue through advertising. Meanwhile, UptoDate does not provide advertising opportunities. We think that OpenEvidence’s internal AI prowess could give it the leg up as long as its in-platform advertising doesn’t turn off doctors too much.

AI can be both sword and shield in layoffs: Businesses are cutting costs and staff while repositioning around AI, which is slashing entry-level opportunities and pushing workers to upskill.

GenAI is changing pharma marketing from content creation to pharmacovigilance. Brand marketers and agencies are moving from experimentation to broad adoption of AI assistance and more efficient, effective, and relevant consumer communications.

Creative pros are building AI-powered workflows, not just experimenting: 80% use genAI, and 40% run full-stack with it, showing adoption is strategic—not trendy—across text, audio, image, and video

GenAI search is gaining traction, but not all consumers are seeking out the conversational experiences that will eventually disrupt the search ad market.

Search ad spending will not be immune to the economic upheaval caused by the US tariff regime. But it will be less susceptible than other spending areas.

Amazon Music’s AI push is promising but fumbles the execution: Explore brings deeper fan engagement, but a clunky interface may keep it from stealing share from Spotify or YouTube Music.