Reddit Acquires AI Startup; Google Improves Performance Max Transparency; UK Shelves Tech Project Funding

On today’s news digest: Reddit Acquires AI Startup; Google Improves Performance Max Transparency; UK Shelves Tech Project Funding

Ad tech acquisitions continue in full swing, with Reddit swiping up Memorable AI to help it improve its ad performance. Launched in 2021, the startup harnesses AI to predict which images and videos are most likely to catch people’s attention, detect which are most memorable and discover what will get a user to click on an ad. The deal is said to have closed at around USD$40m (£31.40m), although the terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. Following the integration of Memorable AI’s tech, Reddit expects to see performance benefits from creative insights and enhanced creative effectiveness, among other benefits. Brands already using the startup’s tech include Unilever and L’Oréal.

Google is also taking measures to improve its Performance Max features for advertisers, increasing their control over where ads appear. This follows some criticism from advertisers over a lack of controls and overall transparency. With the objective of increasing transparency, Google is introducing conversion metrics in asset-level reporting, YouTube videos in placement reporting to ensure ads appear in brand-suitable places, and third-party verification to further validate the brand suitability of video placements. For Display placements, advertisers can request third-party measurement implementation. Additionally, new AI-powered image editing features have been introduced.

Zooming in on the UK, the new Labour government has shelved £1.3bn of funding which the Conservatives intended to allocate to tech and AI projects. The projects in question include the creation of an exascale supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, as well as further investment directed towards AI Research Resource, which funds computing power for AI. The AI Research Resource has already received about £300m of this funding. The exascale supercomputer would be the first in the UK, working at a rate fifty times faster than any of the existing machines. As well as aiding the development of AI, it would also be used for drug discovery, testing scientific theories, climate change research and advanced engineering. The future of the new supercomputer is now uncertain. Archer2 is the UK’s current national supercomputer, hosted by The University of Edinburgh.