This week, we recap major advancements in the AI and advertising industries. In today’s MadTech Daily, we unpack possible tariff reductions, Google’s antitrust hearing, and copyright lawsuits 

The AI race is heating up with major players rolling out significant upgrades. OpenAI announced its first major upgrade of ChatGPT’s image generator in over a year. Google also launched Gemini 2.5, boosting its ability to interpret text, audio, video, and code. Meanwhile Microsoft unveiled two new ‘deep reasoning’ AI agents, Researcher and Analyst for Copilot.

Speaking of AI’s expanding influence, the UK government is pushing forward with a controversial AI copyright proposal, sparking backlash from musicians, filmmakers, and publishers. Under the plan, AI companies could train on copyrighted works by default, forcing creators to opt out if they want protection. 

While AI policy stirs debate, its adoption in the advertising sector is skyrocketing. A new IAB State of Data Report reveals that 50% of agencies, brands, and publishers plan full-scale AI adoption by 2026.