This week saw mounting regulatory pressure across streaming and social media, while advertising and retail delivered record-breaking performances. In today’s MadTech Daily we cover WPP unveiling a £500m cost-cutting plan in an AI-led overhaul, ByteDance being valued at $550bn in a proposed General Atlantic stake sale, and UK news giants launching a ‘NATO for News’ AI coalition.

In the UK, streaming platforms are set to face stricter oversight. The government has advanced legislation under the Media Act 2024, bringing major video-on-demand services with more than 500,000 UK users under enhanced Ofcom regulation as designated “Tier 1” providers. 

Age verification is also climbing the regulatory agenda globally. Apple has rolled out new compliance tools as laws tighten across multiple markets. The company will block downloads of 18+ rated apps in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore until users confirm they are adults, while implementing additional measures in Utah and Louisiana.

Europe’s debate over child safety online intensified further in Germany. The ruling Christian Democratic Union has backed a proposal to ban social media use for children under 14, alongside stricter age checks for teenagers and fines for non-compliant platforms. 

Intellectual property disputes are also resurfacing in the AI era. The Motion Picture Association has issued a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that its generative AI video tool, Seedance 2.0, has produced content replicating copyrighted characters and studio-owned works.

Amid the regulatory clampdown, the advertising sector showed resilience. The UK out-of-home market recorded its highest ever annual revenue in 2025, rising 2.6% year on year to £1.44bn. Growth was driven primarily by digital formats, which accounted for 69% of total OOH revenue by the end of last year

Finally, a significant shift occurred in global retail rankings. Amazon overtook Walmart in annual revenue for the first time, reporting USD$716.9bn (£530.5bn) in 2025 compared with Walmart’s USD$713.2bn (£527.8bn). The milestone ends Walmart’s decade-long dominance at the top of the Fortune 500 revenue table.