Pinterest is introducing new ad formats along with an updated ad manager tool. Currently in beta, the debuting Top of Search ad configuration aims to leverage visual search by inviting advertisers to perch atop search returns and results for Related Pins queries. The company is also making local inventory ads generally available so local merchants can highlight products available in nearby stores. Also unveiled at the Pinterest Presents summit last week was Pinterest Media Network Connect, which allows advertisers to securely link campaigns to media networks on the platform. Continue reading Pinterest Introduces New Ad Tools Ahead of Holiday Season

Google has launched its Gemini-powered AI search tool Search Live in the United States. The mobile integration for iOS and Android can look at the world through your phone’s camera and respond to questions conversationally, in real time, while also offering helpful Web links for a deeper dive. “Just open the Google app and tap the new Live icon under the search bar,” Google explains. Camera sharing will be activated by default and the app also accepts video input. If you’re already pointing your camera with Google Lens, you can select the Live option at the bottom of the screen. Continue reading Google Launches Conversational ‘Search Live’ for U.S. Mobile

OpenAI is taking ChatGPT beyond the question-and-answer phase with the introduction of ChatGPT Pulse, which has agentic abilities, proactively doing research to deliver personalized updates based on chats, feedback, and connected apps like calendar. Users can curate the results by indicating what’s useful. ChatGPT will be working while you’re not, delivering up to 10 “briefs” designed to help start your day. Available in preview to ChatGPT Pro users on mobile, OpenAI plans to “learn and improve from early use before rolling it out to Plus, with the goal of making it available to everyone.” Continue reading OpenAI’s Agentic ChatGPT Pulse Aims to Help Start Each Day

Artificial intelligence has proven to be a creative enabler, though also a headache when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights. And for some, like Spotify, it is both. Even as the platform takes pains to accommodate AI-powered bands like The Velvet Sundown it is simultaneously “waging war” against content-farmed AI tunes. In the past 12 months Spotify says it has removed over 75 million spammy tracks. Now it is rolling out an even more robust spam filtering system while stepping up enforcement of impersonations and mandating AI disclosures for music with industry-standard credits. Continue reading Spotify Is Allowing for Creative AI Use While Filtering Out Slop

Qualcomm has released two new chips within the Snapdragon X Series portfolio. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite are “the fastest and most efficient processors for Windows PCs,” according to the company. The 3nm chips boast up to 43 percent less power consumption than the prior generation. They were unveiled at the Snapdragon Summit in Maui, where Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon talked about the 6G future, which he described as a “dynamic, adaptive network of intelligence” that will be contextually sensitive, feeding across an ecosystem of personal devices from phones and laptops to smart glasses and connected cars. Continue reading Qualcomm Debuts Chips, Explores 6G at Snapdragon Summit

Google Labs is experimenting with a new AI feature called Mixboard that lets people explore and develop design ideas. Users can visualize concepts ranging from home decor to event themes, or just about anything, for DIY projects or other creative pursuits. New projects can be launched from a text prompt or selected from pre-populated boards and developed by uploading images or using AI to generate them. “Create new versions of your ideas with one-click options like ‘regenerate’ and ‘more like this’,” explains Google, noting you can generate text based on content from any of the board’s images. Continue reading Mixboard: Google Labs Testing Gemini AI Design Tool in Beta

Instagram has hit 3 billion monthly users, parent Meta Platforms announced this week, an increase of one billion since the company last disclosed figures in October 2022. Meta’s other social platforms, Facebook and WhatsApp, both crossed the 3 billion mark earlier this year. The milestone coincides with a redesign of the Instagram app’s homepage putting more emphasis on Reels short-form videos and private messaging that have largely driven the platform’s growth. Meta has begun testing a version of the app in India that opens directly into Reels instead of a traditional feed. Continue reading Instagram Touts 3 Billion Global Users, Redesigns Homepage

OpenAI has laid out plans for five new U.S. data centers to bring its Stargate AI infrastructure project to a total of 7 gigawatts of capacity within three years. The company says that puts OpenAI on track to formalize its $500 billion, 10-gigawatt plans for Stargate by the end of 2025, ahead of schedule. The disclosure follows media coverage critical of OpenAI for moving too slowly toward its goals. There is also a SoftBank-imposed deadline of January 1 to corporately restructure in a way that allows investors to more fully participate in profits or risk losing $20 billion in funding. Continue reading OpenAI’s Five New AI Data Centers to Bring Capacity to 7 GW

Google TV is introducing Gemini as a conversational AI assistant to help find content and get more information about a favorite TV show or movie. Gemini on Google TV goes beyond the simple queries and commands of Google Assistant, which has been around since 2017, and allows “free-flowing conversations with your big screen,” the company explains. “Just say ‘Hey Google’ or press the microphone button on your TV remote” to tap into Gemini for TV to activate the new feature. Gemini is now available on the TCL QM9K series, with more TCL models coming onboard later this year. Google says additional functionality for Gemini on TV is coming soon. Continue reading Google TV Adding Conversational Intelligence with Gemini AI

Google is giving the Play Store an AI makeover with a new strategy behind Play Games and a new You tab for personalized content. A new Guided Search feature will help users find apps and games by typing in keywords or a generalized description rather than the app’s name. The hope is that artificial intelligence can turn the mobile marketplace into more of a destination rather than just a place to download apps. More than 4 billion people use Google Play, and the company would like to have them spend more time there. Play’s integrated gaming platform and You tab will begin rolling out this week, starting with select Play Points markets, and will be adding additional countries on October 1. Continue reading Google Optimizes Play Store for Games, Adds Personalization

Nvidia is investing up to $100 billion in a partnership with OpenAI that will result in what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicts will be “the biggest AI infrastructure deployment in history.” The project will use about 10 gigawatts worth of Nvidia systems — including the upcoming Vera Rubin platform — power equivalent to 4 million to 5 million GPUs. “This partnership is about building an AI infrastructure that enables AI to go from the labs into the world,” Huang said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report,” explaining the $100 billion will be invested in stages as each gigawatt is deployed. The investment will be all-cash with Nvidia receiving an undisclosed amount of OpenAI equity. Continue reading Nvidia Investing $100 Billion in OpenAI Data Center Build-Out

Alibaba Cloud’s newest AI model, Qwen3-Omni-30B-A3B, has debuted with a splash. The Chinese company is touting it as “the first natively end-to-end omni-modal AI unifying text, image, audio & video in one model.” While Qwen3-Omni can accept prompts of text, image, audio and video, it only outputs text and audio. Alibaba Cloud has released the three versions of Qwen3-Omni so users can select based on their needs, choosing between general multimodal capabilities, deep reasoning or specialized audio understanding. Alibaba has also developed an AI chip called T-Head that performs comparably to Nvidia’s H20. Continue reading Alibaba’s Qwen3-Omni AI Ingests Text, Images, Audio, Video

EBay has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Norway-based consumer-to-consumer (C2C) social marketplace Tise, which specializes in secondhand fashion and home furnishing goods and is popular with Gen Z and Millennial shoppers. Founded in 2014, Tise currently has about 2.5 million registered users in the Nordic region and has raised $45 million over three funding rounds. EBay says Tise’s community engagement features, including the ability to follow sellers and receive personalized product recommendations by ‘liking’ and commenting on listings, will enrich the eBay C2C experience. Financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. Continue reading eBay Set to Purchase Norway’s Social Shopping Platform Tise

In less than three years, generative AI has evolved from an experimental toy to a regular presence in studio pitches, previs workflows, and even the festival circuit. Yet one challenge has stymied the full adoption of generative AI in long-form storytelling: establishing and maintaining control over outputs. This challenge also fuels many of the anxieties surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in media production. How can artists maintain their creative voice when a machine is doing all the artistic work, and often doing so with inconsistent results? The Entertainment Technology Center at USC set out to tackle these and related challenges with a new film project, “The Bends.” Continue reading Consistency Is Key: Lessons on Generative AI via ‘The Bends’

After five years of spadework, ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV is ready for its close-up with the fall football season and growing HDR interest across the sports world. The August 23 NFL preseason game between New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos was an inflection point, the first time a local U.S. broadcaster delivered an over-the-air show in native HDR from “glass to glass” — camera lenses to NextGen TV home screens. Now the NextGen coalition Pearl TV is gearing up for a marketing push to promote the benefits of HDR in the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Continue reading Sports Helping Propel ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV to New Heights