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Investors are aggressively courting AI researchers to build startups that can make AI more reliable and efficient. Yu Su, an Ohio State professor leading an AI agent lab, said he initially resisted the pressure from VCs to commercialize his work. He finally took the leap last year and spun out his work into a startup when he saw that foundational model advances could make agents truly personalized. NeoCognition, a startup Su describes as a research lab developing self-learning AI agents, has just emerged from stealth with $40 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Cambium Capital and Walden…
Amid a raging debate over the impact that new AI models will have on cybersecurity, Mozilla said on Tuesday that its Firefox 150 browser release this week includes protections for 271 vulnerabilities identified using early access to Anthropic’s Mythos Preview. The Firefox team says that it has taken resources and discipline to adjust to the firehose of bugs that new AI tools can uncover, but that this big lift is necessary for the security of Mozilla’s users, given that the capabilities will inevitably be in attackers’ hands soon.Both Anthropic and OpenAI have announced new AI models in recent weeks that…
This post was created in partnership with Inmar MediaCreator-led social content can add authenticity and reduce friction to keep audiences engaged, but it works best when there’s brand collaboration. A Social Media Week session co-hosted with Inmar Media put that notion to the test in front of a live audience. The unique interactive session featured a user-generated content (UGC) creator with two special guests working in real time to capture and edit the perfect social image based on an impromptu creative brief.The creator economy, live onstageThe session began with Heather Riccobono, senior manager, social solution engineer with Inmar Media, making the…
After 15 years at the helm, Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO of Apple and handing over the reins to the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus. Cook, who joined Apple in 1998, succeeded Steve Jobs in 2011 and went on to transform Apple into a powerhouse worth $4 trillion. With his time as CEO coming to an end on September 1, let’s take a look at some of the highlights of Cook’s 15 years as the leader of one of the most influential companies in the world. Financial growth Apple was already an influential company…
Tim Cook’s tenure as CEO at Apple, which is coming to a close September 1, will likely be defined by operational efficiency and financial growth, ushering Apple into its trillion-dollar era.But his most significant achievement might be in doubling down on Apple’s services business, which includes iCloud, the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, News+, and more. It’s the subscription layer on top of iOS, and almost all of the service apps are tightly integrated with Messages, the glue that keeps people stuck to their iPhones.During Apple’s most recent earnings report, for the quarter ending December 2025, its services business…
Every brand needs an enemy. A competitor you choose to benchmark against and beat. Not every rival in the market. Not the whole category. Just one brand, one that overlaps most directly with your business, performs well enough to be worth studying, and is close enough to be attacked credibly.The concept forces prioritization.Once you make that choice, competing becomes more disciplined. Instead of asking what’s happening in the market, you start asking harder and more useful questions: Which rival matters most to us? Why this one? Where can we beat them? What would winning actually look like? And which actions deserve…
The AI platform Clarifai deleted 3 million photos that it says it got from OkCupid to train its facial recognition AI, according to Reuters. The company also deleted any models that were trained using that data. Per the FTC’s investigation, Clarifai asked OkCupid — whose executives had invested in the company — to share data in 2014. The dating app then provided these user-uploaded photos, reports say, along with other demographic and location data. Per OkCupid’s own privacy policies, this behavior should have been prohibited. “We’re collecting data now and just realized that OKCupid must have a HUGE amount of…
On Tuesday, the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the way the social networking giant handles scammers on its platforms violates Washington, DC’s consumer protection laws.While many online scams involve direct outreach to victims by scammers (who are often themselves human trafficking victims trapped in scam compounds), CFA’s lawsuit focuses on fraudulent advertising that CFA alleges Meta profited from and allowed to “proliferate on its platforms,” despite publicly promising that it takes cracking down on fraud and scams seriously.In its complaint, CFA points to ads found in Meta’s ads library that CFA claims are…
Mars Petcare’s global chief growth officer Najoh Tita-Reid is exiting the company after two and a half years for a new opportunity in AI, ADWEEK has learned.Tita-Reid expressed gratitude for her time at the company. “Mars is a very unique place, as a family owned business that does not think in years, but in generations,” she told ADWEEK. “To be able to play any small role in helping steward the business and the brand so that we can be here for generations from now is an honor.” In particular, she said she was pleased to be able to implement “capabilities…
If you’ve ever played a role-playing game (RPG), you know how fun it is to create your character in any way you choose and embark on epic adventures. Now, picture an AI-powered, text-based RPG where every interaction with a non-player character (NPC) is completely unscripted. Latitude, the startup known for its open-ended text adventure games featuring “infinite storylines” generated by AI, recently unveiled its new platform that allows users to step into the role of game designers. This AI-driven RPG platform, called Voyage, enables players to design their own gaming worlds with the help of AI. Players can describe their…
What you can hear is delivered through technology that’s been around for some time now. Bone conduction works by firing sound vibrations up your cheekbones and towards your inner ear. There’s no companion app or EQ modes, so what you get out of the box is what you’re stuck with. The sound quality is fine. It’s not terrible, but it’s also not going to blow your socks off.It’s best to accept that with bone conduction you’re not going to get the same sound quality as you would from a similarly-priced set of in-ear or on-ear headphones. Instead, the aim is…
When Tim Cook took over as CEO of Apple in 2011, many questioned whether he could fill the very big shoes of co-founder Steve Jobs.Jobs was not only a visionary entrepreneur and tech revolutionary, but also a master marketer. Through his close collaboration with legendary creative leader Lee Clow — who established Apple’s dedicated agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab (MAL) in 2006 — Jobs helped shape the brand’s iconic advertising. Cook, by contrast, was seen as a more reserved, operations-focused leader. Yet under his tenure, Apple’s marketing evolved into more values-driven, human-centric, and globally-minded storytelling. In 2016, he appointed former advertising executive…
YouTube is expanding its new “likeness detection” technology, which identifies AI-generated content, such as deepfakes, to people within the entertainment industry, the company announced on Tuesday. The technology works similarly to YouTube’s existing Content ID system, which detects copyright-protected material in users’ uploaded videos, allowing rights owners to request removal or share in the video’s revenue. Likeness detection does the same, but for simulated faces. The feature is meant to help protect creators and other public figures from having their identities used without their permission — a common problem for celebrities who find their likenesses have been used in scam advertisements.…
Devin Stone never intended to become one of the internet’s most recognizable legal analysts. Instead, he was supposed to follow a predictable path: graduate, grind it out in Big Law, make partner, and spend the next several decades enjoying a conventionally successful career as a lawyer.But a bout of burnout early in Stone’s career led him to YouTube, where he started publishing explainer videos under the name Legal Eagle. Stone’s channel, which now boasts nearly 4 million followers, started out pretty fluffy, with videos dissecting legal representations on popular TV shows and movies becoming an early audience favorite. While those…
Paramount’s upfront dinners are underway, and ADWEEK has a sneak peek at what’s new on the menu.This year marks a change for Paramount’s annual client dinners. Though the company has been conducting the more intimate events since dropping out of upfront week in 2023, these are the first dinners following the close of Skydance’s $8 billion merger with Paramount last year.Also, these are the first events under new ad sales leader Jay Askinasi, who, while previously serving as CEO of Publicis Media’s PMX US, had attended Paramount’s dinners in the past.Dinner and a showThe dinners kicked off last week in…
British neobank Revolut seems to be eyeing a major valuation bump when it eventually goes public. The company is targeting a market cap between $150 billion and $200 billion in an initial public offering, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous investor sources. The fintech giant, which secured a full banking license in the United Kingdom in March after years of waiting, was most recently valued at $75 billion, up from $45 billion in 2024, in a secondary share sale that made it one of Europe’s most valuable private tech companies. Revolut’s co-founder and CEO, Nik Storonsky, last week…