TikTok's coming for Twitch (and Google's charging $1800/hr for AI videos 🤯)

_{Day 12/100}

A happy Monday to you all today. Trying something new today.
I set up an AI script to pull all the marketing news over the last week or so into a slack channel, and this is the best of it. If anyone wants to know how I did this, I can break it down in a newsletter next week.

If there is only thing you watch this week it’s Andrej Karpathy, one of the co-founders of OpenAI literally telling you how he uses LLM’s to make himself superhuman. No fluff, no BS, just straight into it.

Here’s all the fun stuff going on :D

Major Platform Shifts to Watch

Instagram rolling out "Testimonial ads" for creator brand endorsements - Quick, text-only endorsements under 125 characters that let brands add creator comments to their ads. Perfect for when you need social proof but your creators have the attention span of a goldfish. Check it out

X introducing AI-generated advertising - Two new features using Grok to create ad copy and analyze campaigns. Because nothing says "trust our platform" like letting an AI with the personality of a teenage edgelord write your ads. More info

YouTube appears close to releasing a lighter Premium subscription option - New Premium Lite plan coming to US, Australia, Germany and Thailand. For when you want to skip ads but don't need to download that 10-hour loop of "Baby Shark." Get the details

WhatsApp facing stricter EU regulations - Now classified as a "Very Large Online Platform" under EU rules. Turns out 45 million monthly active users is the regulatory equivalent of "that's what she said." Read more

Creator Economy Updates

TikTok pushing forward with e-commerce expansion globally - Moving into European markets despite US uncertainty, with sales up 153% year-over-year. The platform that Congress loves to hate is still crushing it everywhere else. Learn more

TikTok extending paid subscription options to more creators - New customizable subscription tiers with exclusive content and perks, just as they kill off their Music app. The circle of life, TikTok style. See how it works

TikTok's desktop redesign now supports landscape gaming livestreams - Full-screen game streaming in both orientations with redesigned navigation. Twitch and YouTube streamers, look out—there's a new kid on the block with better dance moves. Get streaming

LinkedIn experimenting with comment impression metrics - Now you can see how many people viewed your comments. Perfect for when you need data to prove your witty reply is actually changing lives. View stats

AI Content Technology Advancements

Spotify teaming with ElevenLabs on AI audiobook narration - Authors can now create AI-narrated audiobooks in 29 languages. Finally, a way to hear your romance novel narrated by a soothing robot that doesn't judge your content. Listen up

Google pricing its Veo 2 AI video generation at $0.50 per second - That's $30 per minute or $1,800 per hour for ultra-realistic 4K AI videos. When your marketing budget is bigger than your common sense. Do the math

Apple reportedly working to integrate Gemini into Apple Intelligence - Code leaks suggest Apple will offer both Google's Gemini and ChatGPT. Siri's about to get some serious competition in the "misunderstanding what you actually meant" department. Get the scoop

Adobe unveiling new tool for brand-publisher data collaboration - Real-Time CDP Collaboration lets brands and publishers work together securely. Like a corporate dating app, but for your customer data and with better privacy controls. Collaborate now

Content Distribution Channels

LinkedIn expanding marketing capabilities with new ad and CRM tools - Enhanced analytics and integrations like Hootsuite's OwlyWriter AI. More ways to optimize your "I'm humbled to announce" posts for maximum engagement. Upgrade your game

TfL's Digital Billboards acquired by Wildstone in £80 million agreement - 99-year lease for 13 iconic London billboards seen by over 1 million vehicles daily. Nothing says "tech disruptor" like buying the rights to concrete and pixels for a century. See the deal

Chipotle leveraging Roblox for sustainability-focused campaign - "Unfolded" campaign runs on national TV and within Roblox's Carnitas Cinema. When your burrito brand cares more about sustainable farming than most actual farms. Order up

Microsoft quietly releasing ad-supported free version of Office App - Free Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with ads and limited features. When you need to create a spreadsheet but also want to be reminded about car insurance every 15 seconds.
Free-ish Office

Please let me know if this is helpful. Happy to make all Mondays this little flash update of what’s going on.

✌️ Tim "charging $1800 to dance on TikTok" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

P.S. Lemme know what exciting things you’re working on. I would love to know.