In other obscure but probably important adtech news, Criteo is negotiating a $380 million deal to buy IPONWEB, a major developer of ad exchange, marketplace, and bidding technologies.  The deal will help Criteo replace its third-party-cookie-based retargeting business with something more suited to the future – possibly using retail media networks as an alternative to the Facebook/Google/Amazon walled gardens.

CX management platform Sprinklr is introducing “digital twins.” Not your average chatbot, a Sprinklr digital twin is more like an AI-powered employee, able to plan actions, create workflows and make decisions, but at speed and at scale. They are said to be more easily trained than chatbots and can operate within brand policies and guardrails.