“Meta’s vision is to bring personal superintelligence to everyone,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a letter published July 29, outlining his ambitions for AI’s next big leap—superintelligence, a system that surpasses human intelligence in virtually all domains.

Zuckerberg framed Meta’s approach as different from current AI thinking. Rather than building centralized systems to automate work, he envisions deeply personal AI assistants that help individuals pursue their own goals.

“This is distinct from others in the industry who believe superintelligence should be directed centrally towards automating all valuable work, and then humanity will live on a dole of its output,” he wrote. 

To get there, Meta is investing heavily in computing infrastructure and recruiting top researchers with jaw-dropping paychecks—part of an escalating AI arms race with rivals like OpenAI.

In June, the company announced a $14.3 billion investment in data-labeling startup Scale AI and hired its CEO, Alexandr Wang. Soon after, Meta also unveiled its Superintelligence Labs, a new division focused on building foundation models, including its open-source Llama family of AI systems.

Although Zuckerberg did not disclose any specific products Meta plans to build—or what his vision means for the company’s ad business—he described superintelligence as a tool for “personal empowerment.” He added that “personal devices like glasses that understand our context because they can see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day will become our primary computing devices.”

The letter also mentions how Meta has seen “glimpses” of its AI systems improving themselves. Elsewhere, Meta plans to fully automate advertising with AI by 2026, aiming to reduce reliance on agencies and streamline campaign creation.

“As profound as the abundance produced by AI may one day be, an even more meaningful impact on our lives will likely come from everyone having a personal superintelligence that helps you achieve your goals, create what you want to see in the world, experience any adventure, be a better friend to those you care about, and grow to become the person you aspire to be,” Zuckerberg wrote. 

Google is expanding the capabilities of its experimental AI-powered search tool AI Mode, with a slate of updates it claims will supercharge the back-to-school season for students and teachers. 

Starting Tuesday, users can upload images into the AI Mode interface, a chat tab in the Search window to interact with Google’s AI search tools, and ask follow-ups. Users will also soon be able to upload PDF documents on desktop, with the ability to search through and summarize document contents, the company said.

Canvas—an interactive workflow and project management tool—will also be added into AI Mode on desktop, the company said. By clicking a new Create Canvas button, users can assemble various pieces of information into a dynamic side panel. 

The addition of image and PDF uploads will make Canvas a welcome tool for students, the company said. “It’s like a more advanced version of a full-screen companion, where, if you’re wanting a study guide, we can now have these more immersive experiences,” Robby Stein, vice president of product at Google Search, told ADWEEK.

Google debuted AI Mode in late May. Designed for longer, more complex queries than traditional search, AI Mode can conduct multiple searches at once across the web and interacts with users to enable deeper follow-ups. The tool has rolled out in the U.S. and India, and expanded to the U.K. market Tuesday. 

As part of the slate of new updates, Google announced that its Search Live tool, which allows users to ask verbal questions about what they’re seeing in real time using their device’s camera, will add video input directly within AI Mode on mobile starting this week. 

Taken together, the developments signal Google’s intent to expand AI Mode across its product suite. 

“We’re quickly approaching a period where people expect AI experiences and capabilities across everything they use,” Stein said.

Google’s new search experiences, including AI Mode and AI Overviews—the automated blurbs that appear atop some search results—have “significantly contributed” to year-over-year growth in search query volume, CEO Sundar Pichai said on a call with investors last week as part of the company’s quarterly results. The tech giant has pledged to spend $75 billion on AI this year.

Microsoft is testing a new Copilot Mode inside its Edge browser that turns it into a multitasking AI concierge, the tech giant announced today, as rivals charge ahead with AI-powered browsers and search features.

The experimental feature brings the Copilot chatbot directly into the browsing experience, allowing it to scan all open tabs and assist with tasks like booking a dinner reservation, comparing hotels, or choosing the best product to buy, marking Microsoft’s latest push to redefine how people browse and shop online.

It’s “our first step in reinventing the browser for the AI age,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on X. 

Microsoft’s announcement comes on the heels of Google integrating its Gemini AI assistant into Chrome, as the company faces antitrust scrutiny over its search dominance. Meanwhile, AI-native challengers like Perplexity have already launched their own browsers—such as Comet—and OpenAI is reportedly developing a similar product. (Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI.)

The AI-powered mode also supports voice navigation, letting users jump to specific locations on a webpage or a particular timestamp in a YouTube video. It can also surface and compare products across multiple open tabs. The browser mirrors how Perplexity operates, offering capabilities to complete purchases on behalf of users.

The update underscores how major tech platforms are rushing to embed transactional capabilities into AI tools, with the browser quickly becoming the next frontier for AI-driven commerce. At the same time, brands are rethinking their search strategies to remain visible in these new ecosystems—where AI assistants bypass traditional SEO and direct users straight to a purchase.

Copilot Mode is free for a limited time across all Copilot-enabled markets on Windows and Mac. Users can also turn it off anytime via Edge’s settings.

The numbers

$96.4 billion — Alphabet’s revenue for Q2, up 14% year-over-year. 

$54.1 billion — Q2 ad revenue generated by Google Search and affiliated properties like Gmail and Google Maps.

$9.8 billion — YouTube’s Q2 advertising revenue, driven primarily by direct response and brand advertising.

450 million — Monthly active users of the Gemini app.

The watercooler talk

It’s AI or bust at Google.

In Q2, the tech giant updated its family of Gemini reasoning models, rolled out a premium $249.99-per-month AI subscription offering, launched its advanced ​​Veo 3 video-generation model and an image-to-video tool embedded within Gemini, and unveiled its browser-based AI agent Project Mariner. 

The company also enhanced AI search with an AI Mode for complex searches and, of course, ads in AI Mode.

During the call with investors, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also touted the growth of AI Overviews, which are AI-generated summaries that appear on top of some search results, noting they now have over 2 million monthly active users globally.

“We know how popular AI Overviews are because they are now driving over 10% more queries globally for the types of queries that show them, and this growth continues to increase over time,” Pichai said.

This traction is necessary, as the company’s search business is facing challengers including OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic, who are chipping away at Google’s dominance in web search. Last month, about 5.6% of all U.S. desktop search traffic was owned by AI engines rather than Google, according to new data from Semrush’s clickstream data company Datos. 

Google has also been shuffling its AI talent as it goes full-throttle on product development.

Earlier this month it snagged Varun Mohan, cofounder of AI coding startup Windsurf, as part of a $2.4 billion talent deal, and in June named DeepMind alum Koray Kavukcuoglu its first chief AI architect. Meanwhile, the company offered buyouts to some employees within its search and ads division last month—eight months after Alphabet CFO expressed a need for cost-cutting as the company’s AI investments surge. 

The company said on a call with investors in February that it plans to spend $75 billion on AI this year. 

The key quotes

“We see AI powering an expansion in how people are searching for and accessing information, unlocking completely new kinds of questions you can ask Google,” Pichai said. “Overall queries and commercial queries on Search continue to grow year over year, and our new AI experiences significantly contributed to this increase in usage. We are also seeing that our AI features cause users to search more as they learn that search can meet more of their needs. That’s especially true for younger users.”

After largely sitting out the AI licensing land grab, Google is now approaching news publishers with deals to train its models—signaling a shift in strategy as rivals like OpenAI and Perplexity race ahead with content partnerships.

The tech giant is recruiting 20 national news outlets as part of a licensing “pilot project,” according to Bloomberg. 

“We’ve said that we’re exploring and experimenting with new types of partnerships and product experiences, but we aren’t sharing details about specific plans or conversations at this time,” a Google spokesperson told ADWEEK in a statement.

The search giant is partnering with news outlets to explore the role of AI through initiatives like its Pinpoint research tool, the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, and newsroom training for its Gemini App, NotebookLM, and SynthID tools.

“As we continue to explore how AI can enable new experiences and capabilities for people around the globe, we’re identifying specific types of data and content delivery methods that can help enhance our models and services,” Google said in its blog post.

Until now, the tech giant has only struck agreements with the Associated Press and Reddit. Meanwhile, AI upstarts like OpenAI and Perplexity have moved quickly to lock in licensing deals with major publishers, offering money, traffic, or visibility in exchange for access to journalism that can train or power their models.

OpenAI has partnered with media organizations including Condé Nast, Dotdash Meredith, and The Atlantic. Meanwhile, Perplexity, through its Publisher Partnership program, has struck deals with The Los Angeles Times and The Independent, among others. 

Google’s AI Overviews—automated summaries that often appear above traditional search links—frequently pull from publisher content. Some media companies worry the feature could slash their organic search traffic by as much as 60%, arguing that users may get the information they need directly from the summary without clicking through to the source.

According to Similarweb data, The Wall Street Journal’s share of overall search traffic fell to 24% from 29% over the past three years. The New York Times saw its share of traffic from organic search decline to 36.5% in April 2025, down from nearly 44% three years earlier.

At the same time, Google’s grip on the global search market is loosening: Its share has dropped below 90% in six of the past seven months, as users explore alternatives like ChatGPT. That shift may be adding pressure on the company to repair its relationship with publishers, whose content underpins not just Google’s traditional search, but its AI future.

On this episode of TechMagic, hosts Cathy Hackl and Lee Kebler welcome Jeff Shardell, founder and CEO of Humble Brands, to hear about his journey from leading at Google to redefining sustainability in the CPG world. 

Jeff shares how his tech background shaped his approach to eco-friendly product design, scaling consumer goods, and building an authentic celebrity partnership with Jason Momoa. 

Cathy and Lee also dive into cutting-edge mixed reality news, from ByteDance’s lightweight Pico headset to Oakley’s NASA visor collaboration. Plus, how Gen Z’s gaming habits are reshaping career paths. 

With updates on AI’s impact on gaming jobs and Roblox’s new adult dating features, this episode bridges the worlds of innovation, sustainability, and immersive tech. The hosts also preview what’s coming in Season 3 after their summer break.

Come for the tech, stay for the magic!

Episode highlights:

Mixed Reality Momentum — Cathy and Lee dive into the latest in XR hardware, spotlighting ByteDance’s lightweight Pico headset and Oakley’s visor developed for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission. They discuss how sleek design, enterprise collaboration, and immersive functionality are signaling a shift toward mainstream adoption of mixed reality across both consumer and professional environments. 

Gaming Meets Career Building — Gen Z’s gaming isn’t just play; it’s preparation. Cathy and Lee examine how platforms like Roblox and Minecraft are training future professionals in design, systems thinking, and collaboration. They also unpack Roblox’s adult dating features and the growing impact of AI on gaming jobs, including layoffs at studios like King, developer of Candy Crush.

From Google to Clean Beauty — Jeff Shardell reveals how his experience as a Google executive helped him launch Humble Brands, a sustainable personal care company. Cathy and Lee explore how Jeff applied tech-industry thinking to CPG, built an authentic partnership with Jason Momoa, and navigated the challenges of scaling eco-conscious products in a crowded market.

Developing Authentic Celebrity Partnerships — Jeff explains how Humble Brands built a successful collaboration with Jason Momoa by prioritizing authenticity over traditional endorsements. Cathy and Lee explore how the partnership began with Momoa as a real customer, evolved over a year of co-developing products, and resonated with consumers through shared values and genuine connection.