Big news in the tech and marketing world this week.

AI search leader Perplexity stunned the industry with a $34 billion offer to buy Google Chrome. Is this just a headline-grabbing PR stunt… or could it actually give Google a way out of its ongoing antitrust mess?

Meanwhile, OpenAI is scrambling to turn lemons into lemonade after the botched ChatGPT-5 launch. Did they completely miss the mark with their audience, or has their technology hit a temporary wall — giving Google, Anthropic, X, and others a window to catch up?

Over on YouTube, creators who target children are sounding alarms over the platform’s new age verification and machine learning plan, which goes into effect this week. Many fear it could hurt discoverability and revenue.

Marketing Winners this week include Marketing AI Institute and the sweet, unexpected Oreos/Reese’s mashup.

Rants and Raves feature the surprisingly catchy Hampton Jitney Bus Song and a look at the Wall Street Journal/McKinsey partnership.

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