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AI Safety Meets the War Machine
When Anthropic last year became the first major AI company cleared by the US government for classified use—including military applications—the news didn’t make a major splash. But this week a second development hit like a cannonball: The Pentagon is reconsidering its relationship with the company, including a $200 million contract, ostensibly because the safety-conscious AI firm objects to participating in…
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‘Data is what we do’: Why Mastercard entered the commerce media race
For a few years, it seemed like every company that could create a retail media network would—so much so that retail media outgrew its original moniker and instead became known as commerce media.Why not try…
How Figs pivoted its Lindsey Vonn Winter Olympics campaign
When the marketers at Figs first started planning their Winter Olympics campaign, the story of alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn jumped out.The mission behind the scrubs and medical apparel brand, which is the official outfitter…
An FBI ‘Asset’ Helped Run a Dark Web Site That Sold Fentanyl-Laced Drugs for Years
“Lin cannot seriously dispute that the decision to allow opioid sales on Incognito was his own,” the prosecution's filing reads. “And, Lin made that decision knowing full well that encouraging opioids is tantamount to welcoming…
To build connection with its audience, MCoBeauty is taking escapism to a whole new level
Affiliate marketing has grown up. The new report from impact.com breaks down the five pillars of partner sophistication, shows how top teams measure creator performance with precision, and explains what actually drives revenue beyond the…
Special Features
Around half of consumers don’t mind AI-made ads: report
Remember that movie Her, where a man falls in love with an AI operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson? Yeah,…
Code Metal Raises $125 Million to Rewrite the Defense Industry’s Code With AI
Code Metal, a Boston-based startup that uses AI to write code and translate it into other programming languages, just closed…
TNT Sports, Sephora partner on Unrivaled ‘glam room’ experience
Several days a week, the women of Unrivaled—the player-founded, 3-on-3 basketball league—sweat it out in intense competition on the court.…
Realism over romance: Why some brands weren’t lovey-dovey for Valentine’s Day
Romance isn’t dead, but for some of the brands marketing around Valentine’s Day this year, it got something of a…
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Zillow Has Gone Wild—for AI
This will not be a banner year for the real estate app Zillow. “We describe the home market as bouncing along the bottom,” CEO Jeremy Wacksman said in our conversation this week. Last year was dismal for the real estate market, and he expects things to improve only marginally in…
Behind the scenes of the Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman campaign
It wasn’t easy for the Washington Spirit to re-sign star forward Trinity Rodman heading into this year’s NWSL season.Late last year, Rodman’s contract negotiations led to a back-and-forth over league salary caps, which had previously come under scrutiny after several USWNT stars left the NWSL to play overseas for massive…
Jeffrey Epstein Advised an Elon Musk Associate on Taking Tesla Private
For Elon Musk, the US Justice Department’s release of 3 million additional files related to criminal investigations of Jeffrey Epstein last month was immediately embarrassing. Attention in particular fell on emails Musk sent the financier several years after he pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and of procurement of minors…
All things AI with Dipin Oberoi
Affiliate marketing has grown up. The new report from impact.com breaks down the five pillars of partner sophistication, shows how top teams measure creator performance with precision, and explains what actually drives revenue beyond the first click. Read the report.Dipin Oberoi is a social listening expert who has had stints…
OpenAI’s President Gave Millions to Trump. He Says It’s for Humanity
OpenAI’s president and cofounder Greg Brockman doesn’t consider himself political, which is surprising, because he was one of President Trump’s biggest individual donors of 2025.Greg and his wife, Anna Brockman, gave $25 million to MAGA Inc—a super PAC that supports President Trump—in September of last year. The pair also gave…
Amid Super Bowl and Olympic season, some brands go all in on NBA All-Star
Some NBA fans may be less than thrilled with the league’s All-Star Game in recent years, but even though viewership has been trending downward, brand presence seems to be heading in the opposite direction.There will be more than 60 brands activating at this year’s All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome in…
Cyclical events to boost 2026 ad spend, but recession, tariff concerns remain: IAB
The economy isn’t exactly humming along, but marketers in the US are set to keep spending.US marketers are expected to spend 9.5% more in 2026 than in 2025, according to projections from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The growth, which is projected through polling domestic buy-side ad investment decision-makers primarily…
Meta Goes to Trial in a New Mexico Child Safety Case. Here’s What’s at Stake
Today, Meta went to trial in the state of New Mexico for allegedly failing to protect minors from sexual exploitation on its apps, including Facebook and Instagram. The state claims that Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act by implementing design features and algorithms that created dangerous conditions for users.…
Ford and Carhartt partner to support skilled trades
Two companies, similar stories: Carhartt was founded in Detroit in 1889. Fourteen years later, so was Ford. Carhartt has made apparel for Ford factory workers for over a century.Today, the two companies both call Dearborn, Michigan, home. They cater to similar segments of the workforce: Skilled trades workers make up…
Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO Marc Benioff to Denounce ICE
Employees at Salesforce are circulating an internal letter to chief executive Marc Benioff calling on him to denounce recent actions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prohibit the use of Salesforce software by immigration agents, and back federal legislation that would significantly reform the agency.The letter specifically cites the “recent…
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Getting in the game for a ‘bargain’: How brands hacked the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is a high-stakes gamble for attention.For marketers, typical buy-in requires a media…
More Than 800 Google Workers Urge Company to Cancel Any Contracts With ICE and CBP
More Than 880 employees and contractors working for Google signed a petition this week calling…
Inside Vita Coco’s ‘super fluid,’ organic-first social strategy
Affiliate marketing has grown up. The new report from impact.com breaks down the five pillars…
OpenAI Abandons ‘io’ Branding for Its AI Hardware
OpenAI will not use the name “io” for its forthcoming line of AI hardware devices,…
Creators showed up at this year’s Super Bowl ‘more than ever’
Affiliate marketing has grown up. The new report from impact.com breaks down the five pillars…