We’re still at the beginning of the age of generative AI, and the technology has already led to several new applications that have dramatically changed the way marketers do their jobs. But OpenAI, the company credited with setting off the AI revolution, hasn’t just been launching new tools. It’s been tiptoeing back as well, recently discontinuing its video creation and in-app shopping initiatives to concentrate on other projects.

OpenAI has consistently been among the first to make several consumer AI applications possible—and it’s also inspired its peers in the tech space to pursue some of the same functions. But even though the company is now worth $852 billion, it still isn’t profitable. It makes sense for OpenAI to concentrate on the things it can do best now, as AI technology is still being established. After all, it took many years for Google, Microsoft and Apple to create the sprawling tech ecosystems they oversee today—and they got some of their capabilities through acquiring companies that concentrated on areas like online video, gaming and digital advertising.

Laws governing digital marketing are always changing, with national, state and local government action requiring more protection of user data and privacy. These new regulations can create many layers of difficulty for some marketers, though not all. Those who have worked with marketing regulated industries—including cannabis, politics, pharmaceuticals and gambling—are used to navigating a number of barriers. James Ramelli, a partner in martech company Fyllo, told me that as laws change, every brand will need to know how to market like those in regulated industries. I talked to him about this narrowing gap, and an excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

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The world’s largest record label could soon be in new hands. On Tuesday, billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square made a roughly $64 billion offer to buy Universal Music Group. The label, which is home to musicians including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Bob Dylan and Elton John, has a market share of more than 30% of the world’s recorded music. It’s currently traded on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.

The deal would combine UMG with Pershing’s SPARC Holdings, and would shift UMG’s primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange. Pershing currently has a 4.7% stake in the company, and is already one of UMG’s largest shareholders. In a statement about the offer, Ackman said that UMG’s stock price “has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”

Ackman has been angling for ownership of UMG since 2021, using different kinds of investment vehicles to take stakes in the business, the Wall Street Journal reported. The latest ownership bid was unsolicited, and UMG was not putting itself forward for a potential sale. The transaction needs to get UMG shareholder approval.

It’s not clear at this point how a deal would impact creators and their use of UMG’s music, though Ackman praised CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and his leadership at UMG in the announcement of the offer. In 2021, he told the Wall Street Journal that music was third in the hierarchy of human needs—behind food and water—but it was a worthy investment because music pays royalties.

Electronic shelf labels are hailed across retail as a time-saver in physical........

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