AI-powered personal companions are apparently a bad idea whose time has come. The FTC and California both have them in their cross-hairs, while two new entrants – Clyx and Born – have just raised money. We might also note a new whistleblower claim that Meta stifled research into how its products might harm kids.
DeepIntent helps healthcare and pharma brands buy advertising. The ads may be under attack in Washington, but that didn’t stop private equity investor Vitruvian from spending $637 million to buy a majority share.
It barely feels like news when industry giants add AI features, since that’s what they’re expected to do. But lots of people use their products, so their announcements are probably of higher interest than most. With that in mind, let’s note that Adobe has just announced general availability of agents for audience creation, journey orchestration, experimentation, journey insights, website optimization and agent support.
The economy may be sputtering (or not), but funds are flowing more freely for martech and adtech acquisitions. Video platform Vimeo has just agreed to be acquired for $1.38 billion in cash. The buyer is Bending Spoons, a Milan-based mobile app developer.