Lab Weekly - 12/08/2023
New AI products from Google & Meta; New Floor 9 episode; plus, the latest news about video AI model, streaming bundles, and more
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Decoding the Latest AI Products from Google & Meta
With Google and Meta both rolling out new AI products this week, the AI arms race paradoxically enters its hurry-up-and-wait era.
In case you missed it…
Event Recap: OpenAI’s Inaugural Developer Conference
At its first-ever developer conference, OpenAI announced significant updates to ChatGPT and beyond, including the launch of custom GPT bots, a Builder tool that requires no coding, and an upcoming GPT store that recalls Apple’s launch of the App Store.
2023 Holiday Shopping Trends
Let’s take a look at the retail trends emerging out of this early stage of the holiday season, in particular, how a year’s economic uncertainty and a summer of “funflation” has impacted shopper behavior this year, and what innovative experiential retail may help win over shoppers.
Gen Z and the Financial Revolution
This week, we explore Gen Z's unique financial habits, focusing on their increased spending on experiences, flexible income management preferences, and digital-native approach to ownership and investment, highlighting the need for innovative financial services tailored to their needs.
Episode 151: 2023 Holiday Shopping Trends
In case you missed our annual holiday shopping trends episode that came out last week — This year’s holly jolly discussion is led by Chelsea Freitas, VP of our Strategy team, and she is joined by two other members of our strategy team, Adam Simon and Katy Geisreiter. In this episode, the trio shared some must-know stats about this year’s holiday shopping trends and consumer behaviors, highlighted their favorite tech-enabled retail holiday campaigns, and debated the effects of funflation and other marco-economic forces on holiday shopping behaviors this year.
Runway ML Partners With Getty Images To Train AI Video Models [VentureBeat]
Runway ML, a video AI startup backed by Google and Nvidia, has partnered with Getty Images to develop a new generative AI video model called Runway <> Getty Images Model (RGM), set to be commercially available in the coming months, The model will allow companies to build their own custom video content models and make it easier to produce video content. It primarily targets companies in Hollywood and advertising, signifying a significant step in AI and video generation, with RGM The partnership is particularly notable as it brings legitimacy to Runway's AI models by pulling a rich data source from Getty Images. However, it raises concerns about the use of Getty Images' photographers' work in AI development, echoing similar issues faced by Adobe Stock.
Related: McDonald’s will start applying generative AI to optimize its operations [The Verge]; Apple joins AI fray with release of model framework [The Verge]
Verizon Offers Bundle Of Netflix And Max [THR]
The remaking of the cable bundles in streaming land is becoming closer to reality this week with a new offer from Verizon this week that bundles together access to ad-supported Netflix and Max plans for only $10 per month. Add in the recent reports that Apple and Paramount are in early talks to bundle their streaming services together at a discounted combined price, and that Disney agreed to let Charter cable customers access Disney+ and ESPN+ as add-ons to their cable bill, you get the larger picture of media companies trying to fight against subscription fatigue and high churn rates with discounted bundling offers. It is notable that throughout this re-bundling, a good portion of streaming viewers would be pulled back to ad-supported viewing.
Related: Apple and Paramount Discuss bundling their streaming services [WSJ]; Instacart partners with Peacock to offer streaming content to US subscribers [Reuters]
Doritos Created “Doritos Silent” To Removes The Sound Of Chewing From Voice Chats [Washington Post]
This is a great example of a brand recognizing new consumer pain points in digital culture, and deploying innovative solutions to address them. As the WaPo reporter points out, the crunching sound of eating chips is “amplified when people are using headsets, which are often worn by gamers, many of whom spend hours at a time playing multiplayer video games” where players primarily communicate via voice chats. So, to help the gamers out, Doritos created a software that uses machine learning to detect and remove the sound of crunching chips from voice chats. Simple yet outside-the-box, this new creation applies a unique digital use case for the gaming audience that remains largely underserved.
Related: YouTube Premium subscribers can now find “Playables” through new gaming hub [TubeFlter]; Twitch is using AI to detect streams featuring Mount Dew branding, which then triggers a bot that promotes Mountain Dew in a streamer’s chat [AdAge]
The National Retail Federation reported it expected holiday sales to increase 3% to 4% from last year, without adjusting for inflation, on a par with the pre-pandemic 2019 season. About 52% of consumers plan to watch for deals and special offers online and 39% plan to hunt for sales in stores this year, according to a survey by the research firm Forrester.
The global smartwatch market rebounded with a 9% YoY rise in Q3 2023 shipments, continuing the upward trend from the previous quarter, per the latest data released by Counterpoint. The primary drivers of this growth were the sustained strong performance of the Indian market led by Fire-Boltt, as well as Huawei’s tremendous rebound in China.
Meta saw its revenue grow 23% year-over-year to $34.1 billion in Q3 2023, according to an earnings statement, but warns of market volatility that could soften advertiser demand. Daily and monthly use of its family of apps both increased 7% year-over-year. The total number of ad impressions served across Meta’s services increased 31% while the average price per ad decreased 6% due to strong impression growth.
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 our Group Director Josh Mallalieu!
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