TLDR: Social Media Headlines – 9 October 2025

• Gap Inc. recruits micro-influencers for new affiliate program: On the heels of its “Better in Denim” campaign, the apparel retailer is turning to community connections to burnish its cultural influence.
• Ikea operator acquires AI logistics platform: Ingka Group’s investment arm bought U.S.-based Locus to help improve delivery, something the home retailer previously outsourced.
• Amazon Fresh decides to shutter 5 stores: The chain is pruning its fleet even as the company expands its grocery business on other fronts.
• Harry’s debuts cologne collection: The brand, initially known for its shaving products, said the launch marks “its permanent entrance into the fragrance category.”
• How to run A stores in a B mall: Retailers in lower-traffic shopping centers require excellent associates, individualized operations and realistic expectations, experts say.
• For years, backlinks were the gold standard of SEO. Marketers poured time and budget into link building, chasing domain authority. But in the age of generative AI, a bigger signal has emerged: mentions. Put simply, if your brand isn’t being talked about, you risk being invisible in AI answers.
• Former X communications chief Dave Heinzinger is speaking out about Elon Musk’s “You are the media” refrain, warning that social media is not a replacement for journalism.
• The Bank of England has warned that stretched valuations for artificial intelligence companies and challenges to the Federal Reserve’s independence have fueled the risks of a “sharp market correction.” In its quarterly financial stability update, the UK central bank said asset valuations had continued to rise and credit spreads tightened since its June review. This is despite “persistent material uncertainty around the global macroeconomic outlook.” Worries about a potential AI bubble have grown as a record-breaking rally in US stocks has lifted valuations.
• US Approves Some Nvidia UAE Sales In Step of Trump AI Diplomacy.
• Google’s New Foldable, Smartwatch Emphasize AI Rather Than Hardware Changes.
• As we descend towards slop-based social media, where the videos are fake and the people are bots, we might be rounding up our time with algorithmically generated feeds.
• The key signal seems to be in young people’s usage. It looks like usage plateaued for 16- to 24-year-olds and has been inching its way down. Although usage over two and a half hours per day is still a lot. Also when broken out by continent, North American usage still looks like it’s going up.
• PPC in the age of zero-click search: How to stay profitable: Fewer clicks mean higher stakes. Win visibility with precise targeting, value-based bidding, and authority across paid and organic search.
• Google’s virtual try-on adds shoes, expands internationally: The AI-powered feature offers advertisers new ways to engage shoppers with interactive, personalized experiences.
• Campaign Type added to Google Ads Channel Performance report: Google’s new “Campaign Type” hint suggests the Channel Performance report will expand beyond Performance Max.
• Sam Altman’s ChatGPT pivot: From ‘I hate ads’ to ‘maybe they don’t suck’: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman used to hate ads. Now it seems he’s warming up to them as OpenAI builds the tech to power ChatGPT’s future ad business.
• AI tools can streamline paid search campaigns – but only with the right prompts, privacy settings, and human oversight.
• Google Wants Right to Bundle Gemini AI App With Maps, YouTube: Google wants to retain the right to bundle Maps and YouTube with its Gemini AI service. It claims that there is no evidence that it has gained a monopoly or market power in the AI market. Maps and YouTube have not been found to be monopoly products. Google says its bundle of Gemini with YouTube and Maps is similar to Microsoft’s inclusion of its Copilot AI within its Office productivity software.
• Amazon launches prescription vending machines at One Medical clinics in Los Angeles: Amazon is launching prescription drug kiosks at some One Medical offices in Los Angeles. They will work similarly to a vending machine and distribute prescriptions for patients within minutes of their doctor visit. Each machine can stock hundreds of prescriptions. By bringing the pharmacy directly to the point of care, Amazon is allowing patients to start treatments right away. Amazon plans to also deploy its prescription vending kiosks at pharmacy chains like Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens.
• Planet Labs to Launch Satellites Promising Images in an Hour: Planet Labs PBC’s Earth observation satellites promise to deliver high-resolution, AI-analyzed images within the hour. The new Owl monitors will track changes ranging from the impacts of natural disasters to the movements of vessels and aircraft. Owl satellites are equipped with Nvidia chips, enabling them to use AI to identify objects and detect events faster. Planet Labs plans to build and deploy about 40 Owl satellites in the next few years, with an initial test launch slated for the end of 2026.
• How ultrasound is ushering a new era of surgery-free cancer treatment: Histotripsy is a cancer treatment in which ultrasound waves are concentrated onto a small area of a tumor to destroy it. The ultrasound is delivered in quick bursts, creating tiny microbubbles that expand and then collapse in milliseconds, breaking apart the tumor tissue as they do. The patient’s immune system then cleans up the remains. The treatment is fast, non-toxic, and non-invasive. Patients receiving it can usually go home on the same day, with most procedures over in one to three hours. Histotripsy has been approved by the US FDA for the treatment of liver tumors.
• Introducing the React Foundation: The New Home for React & React Native: React has grown into one of the world’s most popular open source projects since Meta open-sourced the project over a decade ago. The incredible growth is thanks to its community. The React Foundation was created to help the React community and its members. It will maintain React’s infrastructure, organize React Conf, and create initiatives to support the React ecosystem. The React Foundation will be part of the Linux Foundation.
• A pragmatic guide to modern CSS colours: A lot about colors in CSS has changed over the last few years, including updates to the syntax of familiar features and all-new ways of working with colors. These new features can help developers who don’t necessarily focus on design. This article looks at the most useful features for developers who aren’t trying to pick their own colors or do any color manipulation.
• An Interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman About DevDay and the AI Buildout: In the last seven months, OpenAI has unveiled GPT-5, launched the viral video app Sora, and made several announcements about a massive AI buildout with a variety of partners. This article contains an interview with OpenAI’s Sam Altman, where he discusses all of those infrastructure announcements, why Altman’s investor skills are particularly useful as CEO, apps in ChatGPT, Instant Checkout, Sora, and how OpenAI thinks about user feedback. Altman and OpenAI are presenting an increasingly coherent vision about what OpenAI is building towards. The interview is also available as a podcast.
• Shayne Coplan Becomes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire After Polymarket’s $2B Investment: Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket, a blockchain-based prediction market, has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at 27. His company will receive as much as $2 billion in investment from Intercontinental Exchange. Polymarket lets users wager on real-world outcomes using cryptocurrency. Users wagered more than $3 billion on potential outcomes during the 2024 US presidential election.
• OpenAI’s Rising Tide Strategy: OpenAI’s strategy may create a virtuous cycle where AI demand funds AI build out, which fuels AI demand.
• In defense of ruthless managers: While most engineers would prefer an empathetic manager, there are still several upsides to having a ruthless manager.
• Toyota aims to launch the ‘world’s first’ all-solid-state EV batteries: Toyota claims its all-solid-state batteries, which could arrive as soon as 2027, significantly enhance driving range, charging times, and output.
• The remarkable rise of eBird—the world’s biggest citizen science project: eBird allows ornithologists around the world to document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends within a simple scientific framework.
• How Wi-Fi Signals Can Be Used to Detect Your Heartbeat: Pulse-Fi, a new heart rate monitoring technique that uses ambient Wi-Fi signals, is low-cost and easily deployable, and it removes the need for people to wear devices on their bodies.
• Human-oriented Markup Language: Human-oriented Markup Language is a serialization language for documents, datasets, and configuration that prioritizes strict form for human readability.
• TikTok rolls out smart automation features for ads.
• Vibe marketing was a joke, until OpenAI got involved.
• In-house or outsourced? Both… this is co-sourcing.
• Domino’s gets a yummy brand refresh (and we need the merch apron).
• Gap launches cross-brand content creator and social media advocacy program.
• The Trader Joe’s viral Halloween mini totes are back.
• The blogging game has changed recently: According to Orbit Media’s 12th Annual Blogger Survey, the average post is now 1,333 words—shorter than in previous years—and most creators publish just two to four times per month.
• The New Berlin Public Library in Wisconsin wins Instagram for bending over backward in a viral video. A few of the library’s ladies gather for a classic trust fall gone wrong. Then, the punchline—”You can’t trust everybody, but you can trust the New Berlin Public Library”—really hits… the floor. It’s racked up nearly 900,000 likes and thousands of comments. To quote a commenter, “And just like that, I’m following a library 2,000 miles away.”
• CX leaders need to drive AI governance before it’s too late: Businesses are moving full steam ahead without it, damaging their customer experience, loyalty and brand reputation in the process.
• For luxury brands, brick-and-mortar reigns, but online experience falls flat: Luxury clients said personalized suggestions that fit their style and enhanced product visualizations would make their online experience more rewarding.
• Why brands should stand firm on their values despite the fear of backlash: Executives discussed the importance of brand values in growing loyalty and the future of inclusive strategies during Advertising Week New York.
• Trump Sacrifices Alaska Wilderness to Help AI Companies: Trump’s approval of the 211-mile Ambler Road Project through Gates of the Arctic National Park hinges on winning an “AI arms race.”
• LinkedIn is looking to beef up its company page subscription offering.
• Instagram’s got a new Reels algorithm control tool — but will people actually use it?
• Meta’s AI targeting tool will now be able to test out more placement options.
• TikTok is implementing a range of new measures, including AI-powered age checking.
• YouTube has also provided some new details on its bizarre “Extend with AI” feature.

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