Your weekly guide on everything AI marketing. Covering everything from AI marketing news, tips, deep dives, events, podcasts, jobs and much more. Never miss a beat with our 5-minute newsletter.
In todayâs email:
Hashtag ban on X ads sparks creative chaos.
IBMâs âtrust-firstâ AI ad messaging.
Metaâs adâautomation by 2026 revealed.
Plus: Microsoft backs smart regulation, we listen to a podcast that explains how marketing and tech should work together on AI and 3 new AI marketing jobs hot off the press.
The Weekâs Top Stories
1. Hashtag ban on X adverts
On 26 June, Elon Musk announced that hashtags are now banned in all ads on X, calling them an âaesthetic nightmareâ. The move aims to shift towards AIâdriven content discovery and away from userâgenerated tags
Why it matters: Marketers will need to rethink ad copy visibility and platform optimisation as AI starts dictating the narrative flow. đ° Mashable
2. Metaâs plan: fully automated ads by 2026
Meta is reportedly building tools to let brands create and target ads entirely via AI by endâ2026 - no human input needed.
Why it matters: Marketers must brace for postâcreative workflows, focusing instead on AIâprompting and oversight.đ° Reuters
3. Agentâstyle AI makes further inroads in fashion sphere
âAgentic AIâ â autonomous, goalâoriented bots â are gaining traction in luxury fashion houses like LVMH for everything from virtual styling to supplyâchain planning
Why it matters: This signals a shift from assistance to autonomy - a future scenario where AI runs operational and marketing engines independently. đ° Vogue Business
4. Disney & Universal sue Midjourney
Major studios Disney and Universal have filed a joint lawsuit against Midjourney, accusing the AI image generator of infringing on iconic IP like WallâE and Darth Vader. This marks a significant legal escalation in how generative AI uses legacy content
Why it matters: Expect copyright caution to move from theory to boardroom strategy - marketers must now vet AI asset provenance before going live.đ° Wired
5. WPP launches âOpen Intelligenceâ marketing model
WPP has unveiled Open Intelligence, the industryâs first âlarge marketing modelâ designed to predict audience behaviour across 75 markets and serve 5âŻbillion consumers.
Why it matters: The push to proactive, dataâled targeting could eclipse traditional ID-based tactics - marketers need to upskill in modelâled decisioning. đ° Marketing Dive
Tweet of The Week
âSpend more time talking to customers and using AI to find UNIQUE angles and strategies the market is missing.
This is the key to workflows that produce something worthwhile.
Everyone else is focused on pumping out volume, youâre focused on creating what people actually want.â
â @boringmarketer
Deep Dive
Microsoft backs smart regulation
This week, Microsoftâs chief scientist, DrâŻEricâŻHorvitz, argued that âregulation, done properly, can help, not hinder, AI progressâ, speaking at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence conference. His comments respond directly to the Trump administrationâs push for a 10-year federal moratorium on state-level AI regulations - a move backed by tech giants to avoid fragmented oversight. Horvitz emphasised that guidance, reliability controls and oversight can actually speed up innovation, not slow it down. With growing scrutiny over AIâs misuse, such as misinformation or biological threats, he stressed that ethical guardrails are no longer optional
âŻSmart regulation builds trust and boosts investment
DrâŻHorvitz noted that clear, well-designed rules give marketers the confidence to invest in advanced AI tools, knowing they wonât be blindsided by sudden legal risks. Such frameworks offer predictability, making long-term planning easier. Trust from consumers and clients also rises when brands openly follow industry-backed standards. Without that foundation, scaling ambitious projects becomes a gamble.Federal consistency vs. state chaos
Microsoft and other tech leaders support the moratorium to prevent a patchwork of 50 differing state laws - a potential nightmare for campaign execution. A unified federal approach ensures brands can launch AI-powered campaigns across the U.S. without falling foul of unique state restrictions. But critics argue this centralisation limits statesâ ability to innovate and protect their citizens . Marketers should weigh whether uniformity truly outweighs potential downsides of a âone-size-fits-allâ federal rule.Ethics no longer optional - instead competitive advantage
Horvitz highlighted rising societal concerns around AI misuse from political persuasion to biosecurity threats . This shift means clients and consumers expect brands to follow ethical protocols, not just pay lip service to them. Agencies that bake transparency, accountability and fairness into AI-driven campaigns will attract more trust and budgets. A strong ethical stance is a powerful differentiation point.Watch for regulatory capture by Big Tech
Although Microsoftâs scientist urged smart regulation, the company is also lobbying for federal rules that benefit incumbents like itself, Google, Amazon and Meta. Thatâs a classic tech-industry play: shape the rules youâre already prepared to follow. Marketers should stay alert as overly cosy regulation could entrench giants and lock out smaller innovators. Advocacy wins could easily tip into regulatory capture if checks arenât in place.Our Takeaway:
A well-structured federal AI policy can let marketers innovate at scale with confidenceâas long as it champions transparency, prevents monopolistic ruleâwriting, and doesnât stifle state-driven creativity. đ Read the more on The Guardian
What To Watch
IBM emphasises trust in AI ads
At Cannes, IBMâs marketing SVP Jonathan Adashek unveiled a dual approach: educate internally on AI and externally demystify watsonx through storytelling and transparency. Watch it here.
Podcast
Sandeep Seeripat: The CTO's perspective â AI, Alignment & Accountability
Twiningsâ Tech boss breaks down how marketing and tech should co-lead AI rollâouts by balancing innovation with control, risk management, and strategic alignment. Expect insider insight on cross-functional collaboration that keeps AI scaling without losing oversight.
AI Marketing Events
Oracle Agentic AI Workshop 2025
Oracle is hosting a one-day, hands-on workshop in London that dives into the emerging world of agentic AI - autonomous systems designed to execute marketing strategies with minimal human input. Expect expert-led sessions on use cases, ethical concerns, prompt engineering, and live demos showing autonomous AI in action. Workshops will offer actionable takeaways for marketers considering agentic tools in campaign deployment.
đ July 1, 2025
đ London, UK
The Job Board
Smart gigs for marketers who speak fluent AI.
Three new roles we think are perfect if youâre ready to upgrade your title and your tech stack:
Marketing Specialist â AI TrainerâŻâ DataAnnotation, Remote (London-friendly)
Help train AI models by reviewing and annotating marketing data to improve algorithm performance. Fully remote with flexible hours.
View jobSenior Product Marketing ManagerâŻII â Generative AIâŻâ Smartsheet, Remote Eligible (US-based)
Lead go-to-market for a generative AI product line, crafting messaging, positioning, and campaign strategy for enterprise customers. Remote option with an estimated salary between $135Kâ$180K USD annually.
View jobAI-First Marketing Content SpecialistâŻâ IgniteTech, Fully Remote
Create engaging, AI-enhanced marketing content across digital channels, collaborating with internal teams to drive strategy execution. Full-time remote role with compensation around $100K USD per year.
View job
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
