This week, the race to monetise AI gathered pace, with major technology and advertising players investing in new capabilities, expanding their businesses and rethinking the future of consumer relationships. In today’s MadTech Daily, we discuss Google generating $100bn in quarterly ad revenue, Channel 4 bringing live TV and new shows to Disney+, and commercial radio reaching 40 million weekly listeners.

Anthropic is making a bigger play for the European enterprise market through a new partnership with London-based private equity firm Hg. The venture will establish an independent AI consultancy, embedding engineers and consultants within businesses to develop AI-powered products and support existing projects. 

The company is also putting serious money behind its brand ambitions. Its latest IPO filing revealed that advertising expenditure more than quadrupled from USD$33m (£24.9m) in 2024 to USD$147m (£111m) in 2025, with spending increasing further in the first half of 2026. 

Meanwhile, the advertising industry is beginning to consider how AI agents could change the relationship between brands and consumers. WPP's Chief AI Officer Daniel Hulme warned that shopping agents could soon make product recommendations and purchasing decisions on behalf of consumers.

That shift is unfolding alongside an enormous investment race. Meta is seeking to raise USD$95bn (£71.73bn) to finance its AI ambitions, with the funds earmarked for data centres and the development of what it calls personal superintelligence. 

On the advertising front, Stagwell has strengthened its position in the supply side of the industry by acquiring Freestar, a publisher monetisation platform working with titles including Fortune and Boston Globe Media. The acquisition will bring Freestar into Stagwell’s Owned Media division, giving publishers access to a broader network of advertisers and programmatic advertising tools.

Meanwhile, UK advertising continues to demonstrate resilience despite wider economic uncertainty. The latest Advertising Association/WARC forecast projects total advertising investment will reach £51.3bn in 2026, representing 9.9% annual growth. Retail media, social media and addressable TV are expected to lead the expansion, with retail media recording particularly strong growth following a 31.2% increase in the second quarter.

Finally, Meta is facing renewed pressure from publishers over its proposed changes to advertising and business terms, which could allow broader scraping of websites associated with business accounts and potentially enable the use of that content in AI development.