Lab Weekly - 01/24/2025
Outlook 2025: Ports in a Storm; Plus, the latest news on Instagram Reels, OpenAI’s new AI Agent, and more
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Outlook 2025: Ports in a Storm
We are proud to present our latest annual Outlook report, which highlights the macro trends in tech and media that we expect to break out in the next few years. In an era marked by relentless upheaval, people are seeking refuge in “havens” — spaces, both physical and digital, that offer solace, connection, and a sense of control.
Written by our Managing Director, Adam Simon, this report covers the rise of post-text, hyper-personalized media diets, the reshuffling of social media audiences, the impulse-driven consumer behaviors, and the deployment phase of AI.
In case you missed it…
CES 2025 Recap
As the biggest consumer tech show in the world, CES remains a reliable reflection of the tech industry, as well as a harbinger of emerging trends across industries.
2024 Innovation Trend Recap
A major year of deployment for multimodal AI and Mixed Reality, as well as major behavioral and landscape shifts in search, streaming, and social media.
What the Trump Administration Means for Tech & Innovations
Everything from antitrust & AI regulations to trust in legacy media, this presidential election’s effects will be felt across every sector of the tech world.
Instagram Will Show Your Friends What Reels You’ve Liked [The Verge]
As TikTok’s fate continues to hang in the balance, competitor platforms are jumping at the chance to poach creators while updating their features to better accommodate and prioritize short-form video content. Case in point: Instagram users will now see which videos their friends have liked or added commentary to in a new tab, Reels now can be up to three minutes long, and the iconic square profile grids on Instagram are being changed to rectangles to better showcase vertical videos. All these platform updates point to a big grab at the TikTok audience. Besides Instagram, Bluesky and X launched a custom feed for vertical videos on their platforms over the past week.
As we pointed out in the 2025 Outlook report, consumers today are gravitating toward post-text media diets, which prioritize commentary over original reporting. The takeover of short-form video over text and images on UGC-based social media platforms in recent years exemplifies this trend toward post-text, algorithm-driven media diets that keep people scrolling. As various platforms aggressively court short video creators in case of a real TikTok ban, brands should tap into influencers' reach and authenticity to stay agile and competitive.
Related: Instagram profile grids are going to feature rectangles instead of squares [The Verge]; Users can now upload Instagram Reels up to three minutes long [The Verge]; Instagram, Facebook offer $5,000 to entice TikTok creators [The Wrap]
OpenAI Unveils AI Agent “Operator” That Can Use Websites on Its Own [NYT]
OpenAI launched its new AI agent that can use websites on your behalf to complete tasks. In a live demo at its launch event, OpenAI showcased some basic use cases for Operator: shopping for groceries on Instacart, hunting for concert tickets on Stubhub, and booking a reservation at a local restaurant through OpenTable. Operator is currently available only to users of the $200-a-month ChatGPT Pro tier, but OpenAI says it plans to release it to lower-tier paid subscribers in the coming months.
As AI agents like this become more widely available, consumers may grow accustomed to delegating repetitive tasks to AI, potentially reducing the time spent browsing ecommerce sites or booking apps directly. This could lead to increased trust in AI-selected options and less brand loyalty, as consumers prioritize efficiency and value over familiarity.
Should that come to be, brands will need to grapple with the potential loss of direct engagement with their consumers, as AI agents act as intermediaries. Smart brands should collaborate with AI platform owners to understand how AI agents like Operator prioritize results and ensure that the brand maintains visibility, even in an AI-mediated environment.
Related: Google Gemini now works across multiple apps in a single prompt [The Verge]; Goldman Sachs rolls out an AI assistant for its employees [CNBC]; OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank ignite AI’s next frontier with $500 billion AI infrastructure deal [CNN]
Galaxy S25 Users Get 6 Months Of Gemini Advanced For Free [9to5Google]
The inclusion of Google's Gemini Advanced model as a value-add for Samsung Galaxy users points to native, OS-level integration as a new battleground for AI adoption. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Samsung is teaming up with Google. Apple, of course, has famously integrated ChatGPT as the first third-party AI provider for Apple Intelligence. Of course, Google still needs to ensure that Gemini Advanced delivers compelling value during the six-month trial period to convert free users into paid subscribers.
Bundling premium AI tools with flagship smartphones can lower barriers to AI adoption. Just as camera quality and display innovation once drove smartphone sales, AI capabilities could now become a core differentiator. Consumers may begin selecting devices based on the AI ecosystem they offer, leading manufacturers to prioritize partnerships with AI providers.
Related: Google’s AI Overviews in Circle to Search is being expanded to more visual searches and will have new one-tap actions [Android Faithful]; Visible URLs in Google’s mobile search results will now only show the domain instead of including “breadcrumbs.” [The Verge]
Situational Awareness:
Netflix leads all studios with 16 feature film Oscar nominations [LA Times]
Netflix’s Oscar nomination success is mostly buoyed by the 13 nominations for Emilia Perez — a controversial movie that has plenty of detractors, including LGBTQ media watchdog group GLAAD. Hip indie studio A24 follows with 14 nominations, ten of which are for its top contender, The Brutalist. Overall, streaming services that’s not Netflix underperformed this morning, with Amazon getting two noms for Nickel Boys, and Apple receiving zero.
Perplexity launches Sonar, an API for AI search [TechCrunch]
This new API service from Perplexity allows developers to easily integrate AI search tools into their apps. Brands can prioritize trusted, brand-safe sources or their proprietary content to ensure search outputs align with their messaging and goals.
Google buys part of HTC’s XR business for $250 million [TechCrunch]
Given the recent launch of Android XR, this new acquisition certainly gives more credibility to the reports that Samsung and Google are developing AR glasses together, perhaps even a revival of its Project Iris AR glasses that it prematurely killed off in 2023?
Epic will expand its mobile game store by helping cover developer iOS fees [The Verge]
Despite the limited success of its mobile game store in the US so far, Epic commendably remains committed to fighting for app store competition and user choice.
Interest-based social sites are making a comeback as a safe haven for fans to congregate online. Case in point: film review site Letterboxd has grown from 1.8 million to 17 million users in four years, Variety reports. The company’s 2024 year-end metrics show huge growth in engagement as well, with over 700 million films logged by users.
Netflix reported its biggest quarterly subscriber gain in history, buoyed by its first major live sporting events and the return of Squid Game. The global streamer gained 18.9 million subscribers worldwide during Q4 2024, more than doubling Wall Street estimates, to a total of 301.6 million global subscribers, Bloomberg reports.
Scaling AI operations ain’t cheap — just ask TikTok’s current owner ByteDance. The company reportedly plans to spend more than $12 billion on AI infrastructure this year, with $5.5 billion slated for buying AI chips in China, per Financial Times. That’s about half of its $25 billion spending budget that Reuters reported.
If you find our insights valuable and would like to have a deeper conversation on technology and media innovations, or need to sound smarter in a client meeting or a pitch, please feel free to reach out to Chelsea Freitas, our VP of Strategy, at chelsea@ipglab.com.
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