In today’s Digest, we cover the EU greenlighting Omnicom’s IPG acquisition without conditions, YouTube usage reaching 84% of adults, and Alibaba’s Qwen topping 10 million downloads.

EU greenlights Omnicom’s IPG acquisition without conditions

The European Commission has given unconditional approval to Omnicom Group’s USD$13.25bn (£10.11bn) all-stock acquisition of Interpublic Group. Announced last December, the deal will merge two of the world’s largest advertising holding companies. The combined entity will become the largest global advertising agency network, as traditional players seek to strengthen their position against Big Tech.

YouTube usage hits 84% of adults

According to new findings from the Pew Research Center, YouTube and Facebook remain the most widely used social media platforms in the US. The survey of over 5,000 adults shows 84% use YouTube and 71% use Facebook, cementing their position as the top destinations for online engagement.

Instagram has reached a major milestone, now used by half of US adults, while TikTok continues its upward trajectory with 37% adoption, nearly double its 2021 figure. Reddit is also expanding its reach, climbing to 26%. In contrast, newer entrants like Threads, Bluesky, and Truth Social remain niche, each attracting less than 10% of adults.

Age and gender strongly influence social media habits. Younger adults dominate platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit, while older users lean heavily on Facebook and YouTube. According to the findings, women favor Facebook and Instagram, whereas men show higher engagement on Reddit and X. 

Alibaba’s Qwen tops 10m downloads

Alibaba Group Holding’s new artificial intelligence app, Qwen, has made an impressive debut, surpassing 10 million downloads within its first week of public beta testing. The rapid uptake outpaced early adoption rates of rivals like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DeepSeek, signaling strong momentum for Alibaba’s push into consumer AI.

Alibaba’s Qwen was designed for both personal and professional tasks such as research, image creation, and slide generation. Built on Alibaba Cloud’s open-source AI model family, the app aims to challenge Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT that remain unavailable in mainland China.