SpaceX's record-shattering public debut has become the first major test of whether investors will continue funding AI companies that burn billions while chasing distant profitability. The rocket company's $75 billion raise, larger than all US IPOs combined over the past two years, signals both the enormous capital requirements of AI development and growing uncertainty about returns. "The move itself is a kind of a double-edged sword for xAI," said our analyst Jacob Bourne on a recent episode of "Behind the Numbers," referring to Elon Musk's AI startup that SpaceX acquired earlier this year. "On the one hand, it now has access to SpaceX's resources and clout. The downside is that xAI now is part of SpaceX's lack of profitability story."

As AI becomes more embedded in everyday life, a growing number of brands, including Polaroid, are marketing the opposite. At the center of Polaroid's recent "The best of summer is analog" campaign is a billboard overlooking Coney Island Beach that reads, "Go jump in some water before the data centers drink it all up." While the campaign references AI, its target is consumers' increasingly always-on relationship with technology. "It's not a campaign against AI or against data centers," said Patricia Varella, Polaroid's creative director. "Data centers were the perfect metaphor that talks about the scale of this overuse of digital in our lives."

APIs let banks embed insurance in loans, making integration a key edge for carriers seeking distribution.

Google doesn’t penalize AI use in search: But human-created content still outperforms AI, suggesting quality over quantity should be the goal.

Chat controls speed up campaign work: PropellerAds moves campaign management into chat, simplifying control but lacking dashboards' visual checks.

Tech firms launch new coalition: The group backs open-source models, which could give marketers more AI options but deepen industry divide.