If robots wrote the news, would they write about other robots? I ask because there’s been a suspicious burst of items about AI-powered writing tools, just when live journalists might have set things on autopilot so they could sneak out early for the holiday. Top of the list: writing-suggestion platform Grammarly just raised $200 million at a $13 billion valuation, doubling total funding to $400 million.
ADNOC Distribution, the company’s retail arm has opened ADNOC Oasis outlet, a fully autonomous shop in the UAE, as the beginning of its rollout of AI-powered stores. Customers can buy goods without using a scanner or interacting with a cashier, and they can pay by tap, either with a bank card, doing a QR code scan, or by using their Emirates ID.
Also recently, marketing copy generator Anyword raised $21 million, bringing its total to $30 million. They say their system can be trained to copy your brand voice and/or to tailor copy versions for different customer segments. Just a few days before that, writing assistant Writer reported its own $21 million round. Then we have this (hilarious) piece about – and partly by – writing assistant Sudowrite and its $3 million seed round.
After years of thinking they were in the business of selling things to people, retailers have realized they’re actually in the business of selling people to advertisers. Retail media networks are the most obvious result, but why stop at ads sold directly by the retailer? Walmart has hooked up with Disney Advertising to test letting advertisers on Disney+, Hulu, and other Disney outlets use Walmart audience information to improve targeting and measure results.