A new PYMNTS Intelligence report reveals a growing chasm in B2B embedded finance. While two-thirds of billion-dollar firms see direct revenue increases, one in four smaller platforms still lacks a single embedded capability.
Merchants are losing an estimated $50 billion to wrongly declined orders. A new report details how fragmented fraud tools are creating friction and failure, pushing the industry toward unified “fraud orchestration” platforms to fight back.
Google is finally giving its highest-paying AI customers a reason to subscribe. NotebookLM, its AI research assistant, now offers exclusive, massively expanded limits for users on the $200-per-month AI Ultra plan.
President Trump has signed an executive order creating a federal task force to sue states over their AI laws. The move seeks to establish a single national framework, arguing state rules hinder innovation.
President Trump has signed an executive order aiming to preempt state-level AI regulations, calling them a “cumbersome” patchwork. The order establishes a litigation task force and could withhold federal broadband funds from states.
Google announced a major upgrade to its Gemini Deep Research agent, built on Gemini 3 Pro. The launch was strategically timed against OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 release, highlighting the intense, tactical battle in the AI agent space.
OpenAI has released GPT-5.2, touting major improvements in how it handles conversations about suicide, self-harm, and emotional distress. This comes amid lawsuits alleging ChatGPT contributed to users’ mental health crises. The update also tweaks filters for mature content.
Shopify just made a huge move to future-proof its merchants. The company is launching “Agentic Storefronts,” which publishes product catalogs directly to AI platforms like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. This lets shoppers ask questions and buy products entirely within an AI chat.
After a bizarre AI-generated Christmas ad went viral for all the wrong reasons, McDonald’s issued a strange response blaming its Netherlands branch and trying to memory-hole the spot. The incident highlights the growing tension between cheap AI content and public backlash, with ad agencies like TBWA
AI-generated “slop” is everywhere in 2025, and researchers are measuring its damaging effects. From reduced brain activity to ruined productivity, the consequences are piling up. The fightback might be in nonsense like “6-7.”
