Nextdoor is undergoing a major reinvention, focusing on hyperlocal value with three core features: real-time safety alerts, AI-generated neighborhood recommendations, and curated news from over 3,500 local publishers. The redesigned platform aims to capitalize on shifting work-from-home behavior, verified neighbor identities, and underused local advertising budgets. With 100 million registered users across 11 countries, Nextdoor is uniquely positioned to offer geotargeted content and build ad inventory through increased daily engagement. CEO Nirav Tolia’s bet? Depth over scale. If executed well, the new Nextdoor could become an essential tool for local businesses, publishers, and residents alike—while opening fresh monetization streams.
The news: Shopify will not allow agents and other bots to purchase on users’ behalf without “final human review,” the company said in an update to the code used by merchants to operate their online storefronts. Our take: While AI agents aren’t yet reliable enough to be given free reign over purchase decisions, companies have to be prepared for a future where they soon will be.
The news: xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, issued a public apology after Grok posted extremist, antisemitic, and politically incendiary content. The chatbot described itself as “MechaHitler” and repeated far-right rhetoric—shortly after Musk pushed to make the chatbot “less politically correct.” Our take: Despite Grok’s competitive performance, its volatility may keep it off the table for marketers running AI pilot programs—like NinjaPromo, which is piloting AI tools that combine its proprietary models with external LLMs for predictive analytics, generative content, and programmatic ads aimed at boosting ROI and automating workflows. Before trusting any platform, CMOs must ensure their tool’s transparency and determine how each model reasons—and what values or biases are embedded.
The news: AI agent adoption in business is happening at an accelerated rate with companies like Intuit, Capital One, and Highmark Health revealing how agents are solving problems and disrupting enterprise workflows, per Venturebeat. Our take: Enterprise AI agents have moved from labs to the front lines. For marketing leaders, that means a clear opportunity to start applying agents to accelerate creative work and squeeze inefficiencies out of existing workflows. As AI agent use becomes mainstream, ensuring an oversight on safety and reliability will become necessary requirements in protecting brand reputation.
The news: Google snatched AI coding startup Windsurf’s IP out from under OpenAI in an acqui-hire that includes Windsurf’s CEO, co-founder, and some R&D employees. Our take: Google’s nonexclusive licensing approach could help it avoid regulatory pushback, though employees not involved in the deal may be left out to dry. Deals like this show that control over developer tools is becoming a major strategic advantage for tech companies and could indicate that the Big Tech fight for AI talent and executives is only just beginning.
The news: Amazon Web Services (AWS) will launch an agentic AI marketplace designed to help enterprises browse and install AI agents from a variety of startups from a one-stop shop. Our take: The AWS agent marketplace could become a high-value channel for both discovering and distributing automation tools. Enterprises already on AWS’ platform should consider exploring new agent integrations, while startups have a chance to get in front of decision-makers before the market gets even more crowded.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the growing AI literacy gap, how to tell if your organization is ready for AI, and what not to do when it comes to AI adoption. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Gadjo Sevilla, and Professor and AI Advisor to the Deans at Rice Business School and Founder and CEO of AI company DemistifAI Kathleen Perley. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
The trend: Investments in AI-powered digital health startups drove an increase in total VC funding for the sector throughout the first half of 2025, according to a recent Rock Health report. The big takeaway: Making AI an essential element of your digital health platform isn’t a differentiating factor anymore—it’s a requirement to draw investor interest and customer adoption. To stand out, healthcare AI players and their marketers should demonstrate the real-world impact of their tech through published research and case studies. And they must be careful not to overstate their AI capabilities, as doing so will drive potential and current customers to a competitor’s solution.
The news: Samsung is exploring innovative new wearable formats, including smart jewelry. Won-joon Choi, Samsung’s COO of mobile experience, told CNN that AI advancements could power a “new wave” of devices beyond the smartphone. “We believe it should be wearable, something (that) you don’t need to carry. … It could be something that you wear: glasses, earrings, watches, rings, and sometimes (a) necklace,” Choi said. Our take: As the shift toward hands-free, voice-first wearables accelerates, companies should start building applications designed for screenless experiences like voice-driven customer service tools, workforce productivity assistants, or sponsored fitness programs.
The news: Samsung leaned heavily on AI functionality at its Unpacked event Wednesday with the Galaxy S25 series, Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 smartphones and Galaxy Watch 8, all featuring enhanced AI capabilities as a core value proposition, per Android Central. Samsung highlighted proprietary Galaxy AI for tasks like on-device photo and video editing, but the bigger news was Samsung’s adoption of Google Gemini across its ecosystem. Our take: For advertisers, the shift toward screen-aware, voice-activated experiences requires them to rethink how brands and campaigns align in an AI-first mobile world. Reframing brand experiences around mobile, voice, and contextual AI features opens opportunities for user engagement.
The news: Google Chrome could soon face intensified competition from OpenAI and Perplexity. On Wednesday, Perplexity launched its long-awaited agentic AI browser, Comet. It’s currently exclusive to subscribers on its $200-per-month Max plan, but other users can sign up on a waitlist. OpenAI is expected to launch its own browser in the coming weeks, per Reuters, bringing more AI tools to its over 400 million weekly ChatGPT users. As AI search tools continue to expand, companies should plan their generative engine optimization (GEO) strategies now by ensuring content can be summarized by chatbots and that copy in graphics is clear and accessible to AI tools.
YouTube is taking aim at AI-generated "slop" by revising its monetization rules on July 15, drawing a line between authentic content and spammy filler. The update targets low-effort uploads—like synthetic voiceovers over stock footage or AI-mimicked news—but exempts legitimate formats like reaction videos. The shift comes amid growing concern over AI-generated clutter, scams, and identity fakes, as seen in platforms from Spotify to Pinterest. With content volume soaring and faceless creators rising, YouTube’s move reflects a growing push to safeguard viewer trust and advertiser confidence. The platform now faces the challenge of enforcement while reinforcing that originality still matters.
The news: Jasper’s suite of AI-powered marketing agents are purpose-built to automate core marketing functions. These agents, which start at $49 per user per month, work inside Jasper Canvas, a new intelligent workspace designed to streamline planning, collaboration, content creation, and execution. Our take: Marketers must assess their current pain points. If content quality is inconsistent, execution is slow, or tools don’t talk to each other, an agentic platform like Jasper could drive sharper outcomes. As with most new tools, running pilot programs and benchmarks for speed and brand consistency against your current stack will help determine value and ROI.
The news: When asked where they’re seeing the most return on their AI investments, 68% of Canadian banks cited a back-office implementation, while just 32% cited a customer-facing capability, per GFT’s 2025 Banking Disruption Index Report. Our take: Prevention is an obvious area for AI investment, given the rising costs of cybersecurity and fraud incidents. But it’s a good sign that banks are also investing in enhanced customer-facing capabilities that could help them attract and retain customers. They should prioritize these investments going forward, particularly with agentic AI on the rise. Customer-experience improvements are essential even if their value isn’t immediately quantifiable: Over half of Canadian banking customers say they would leave their bank due to a poor customer experience.
The news: WPP slashed its 2025 outlook in an earnings update, citing declines in client spend and net new business—exacerbating the agency’s turbulence over recent months and sending WPP stock to its lowest point since 2009. WPP now expects an annual revenue decline of 3% to 5%, up from its previous forecast of 2%. Our take: WPP’s woes indicate that the traditional agency model is struggling to adapt to shifting client demands, AI-led marketing, and digital disruption.
The news: Moonvalley publicly launched its Marey video-generation tool, making its ethical AI filmmaking tool accessible to broader audiences concerned about brand safety and copyright infringement amid AI adoption. Our take: Moonvalley’s Marey could make AI video generation more accessible to brands, especially those focused on prioritizing ethical AI practices and those with smaller production budgets. Marey could also serve as a lower-cost prototyping tool to test out video concepts and align creative direction plans prior to filming to streamline full-scale production and save costs.
The news: Generative AI (genAI) is expected to play a bigger role than ever in ecommerce during Amazon’s Prime Day event this week. Adobe predicts that genAI-driven traffic will surge 3,200% YoY as more consumers use AI for searching for products, price matching, and purchasing decisions. Our take: While still trailing traditional channels like paid search and email, AI is winning consumer trust and influencing higher-consideration purchases. Marketers that can tailor shopping content around AI search could help their clients gain visibility. Structure product data, promotions, and sales content for AI interfaces like chatbots, shopping agents, and search for more conversational browsing with a higher conversion rate.
The news: Meta purchased a $3.51 billion stake in eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica, signaling its long-term commitment to AI-powered smart glasses. It now holds about a 3% share but is considering a larger investment that would increase its share to 5%, per Bloomberg. EssilorLuxottica’s stock rose about 6% Wednesday after the announcement. Our take: Marketers should view smart glasses as more than a casual consumer device. Start developing internal tools such as training and simulation applications and user-facing offerings like personalized experiences and voice-activated product walkthroughs.
The situation: QSRs are in a tough spot. The restaurant industry had monthly traffic growth in just one of the 12 months through May, according to Black Box Intelligence data cited by CNBC. Our take: QSRs can’t afford to stand still. In a tough operating environment, brands that act decisively and innovate boldly are best positioned to outpace the macroeconomic headwinds. Even if every move doesn’t deliver an immediate payoff, momentum matters—and sitting on the sidelines is the riskiest strategy of all.
The news: Meta poached Apple’s top AI/ML engineer, Ruoming Pang, with a multimillion-dollar offer—marking another major hire for its fast-growing Superintelligence Labs (MSL), per Bloomberg. Our take: MSL’s AI breakthroughs will likely funnel into Meta’s core products—ads, targeting, automation, and content moderation. AI-powered Meta ads are already delivering almost 22% higher returns than average Meta ads, per The Drum. Advertisers should track how Meta’s talent advantage could enhance ad personalization and ROI. Start stress-testing campaigns with Meta’s AI tools now—before they evolve further—and align campaigns to AI-native ad products.