Meta's ad biz booms with AI

Face(book) value: In the first half of 2024, Meta set a record with each employee generating over $1 million in revenue on average. Despite significant staff cuts in late 2022 and early 2023, Meta's business has continued to grow, largely due to AI-enhanced improvements in its recommendation system and advertising platform.

After being caught off guard by Apple's 2021 privacy changes, which severely impacted its ad business, Meta has rebounded by integrating AI tools like Advantage+ to optimize ad targeting and placement. These tools have helped increase ad returns for businesses and boosted user engagement, leading to a 10% year-over-year increase in ad impressions and prices.

AI-driven recommendations now play a significant role in Meta's user experience, especially on platforms like Instagram, where over 50% of content is AI-recommended. The company is also experimenting with AI features to assist businesses in customer interactions.

Meta's success in adapting to challenges underscores the critical role of AI in its business model, with plans to further develop AI-driven advertising tools that could eventually automate the entire ad creation process based on business objectives and budgets

Shein & Temu Escalate Legal Battle

Shein has filed a lawsuit against Temu, accusing the rival retailer of counterfeiting, stealing trade secrets, and deceptive marketing practices in a heated ongoing dispute. Shein's latest legal battle involves a heated lawsuit against Temu, accusing it of operating as an unlawful enterprise engaged in counterfeiting, intellectual property theft, and fraud. The complaint asserts that Temu exerts total control over its sellers, directing product listings and prices, encouraging IP infringement, and blocking sellers from removing infringing items.

This lawsuit is part of a broader ongoing conflict between the two fast-fashion giants, with past disputes including accusations of intimidation and false statements. Both companies are fiercely competing in the U.S. market, with Shein's valuation plummeting after Temu's entry and Temu outpacing Shein in sales.

Shein, which has its own history of being accused of design theft and other legal issues, faces criticism from Temu for its allegations, with Temu arguing that Shein is deflecting from its own misconduct. The intense rivalry highlights their aggressive tactics and the low-price competition driving their business models.

LVMH’s Arnault backs AI startups; Launches Whisky Brand with Beyonce named SirDavis

Bernard Arnault, founder and CEO of LVMH and renowned luxury mogul, has made a slew of investments in AI this year. Arnault’s family office, Aglaé, has a tech-focused venture arm that’s backed more than $300 million in funding across five AI startups from Borderless AI (a human resource management platform), to Meero (an AI-powered photo creation company), to Proxima (an AI-powered digital marketing company).

Arnault isn’t new to the venture space and has had massive wins backing tech companies in their early days: Airbnb, Netflix, Slack, and Spotify. However, unlike his previous investments, AI has the potential to disrupt any industry, including luxury. His bullish support of AI leads us to believe that the LVMH holding companies will soon find a way to combine artificial intelligence with traditional, human craftsmanship to offer even higher-quality products and services.

LVMH’s new collab with Beyoncé's whisky brand, SirDavis, is a unique entry in the celebrity spirits market. Created in collaboration with Moët Hennessy, this Japanese-style whisky reflects Beyoncé's deep involvement in its development. The name honors her great-grandfather, Davis Hogue, a moonshiner from the Prohibition era.

YouTube Expands Shopify Partnership to Compete with TikTok Shop

YouTube is enhancing its partnership with Shopify, significantly increasing the number of brands available for its YouTube Shopping affiliate program. This expansion allows eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the U.S. to join the program, offering creators access to thousands of brands and boosting their ability to earn through shopping videos.

The move is part of YouTube's strategy to strengthen its e-commerce presence and compete with TikTok Shop, which is rapidly growing in the U.S. The expansion includes a new Chrome extension for creators to easily save and tag products. This effort aligns with YouTube's goal to bolster revenue through increased e-commerce activities amid a slowdown in digital advertising.

Moon was once covered with Magma

Soil tests of the moon's south pole conducted by India's trailblazing Chandrayaan-3 mission last August confirmed theories the moon was once covered in magma, according to new research yesterday. The study builds on mineral tests from NASA's Apollo era, where similar tests indicated the presence of magma in the crust at the moon's equatorial regions.

The lunar magma ocean theory builds on the hypothesis a Mars-sized planet collided with Earth 4.5 billion years ago, releasing a massive debris field, which coalesced into a magma-covered moon. As denser minerals sank in the roughly 100-mile ocean, lighter so-called anorthosites rose to the surface. Chandrayaan's Pragyan rover identified a variety of anorthosites at the moon's south pole as it traversed more than 300 feet over two weeks not far from the moon's largest crater, the South Pole-Aitken Basin (see images).

Chandrayaan-3 became the first rover to successfully land at the moon's south pole. India is one of four countries to have landed a spacecraft on the moon, alongside China, Russia, and the US.