Model Wars, AI Ads, and Adobe's $2 Billion Bet on Search

Three major model releases in a single week, ads arriving in AI search results, and a landmark acquisition that signals where SEO is heading. Paul and Martin cut through the noise.

This week saw an unprecedented flurry of model releases: Google's Gemini 3 Pro stormed the benchmarks, only for Anthropic's Opus 4.5 to arrive days later with superior coding performance. We unpack what these advances mean for marketers, from Nano Banana Pro's near-production-ready image generation to Opus's orchestration capabilities for multi-agent workflows. Beyond the model wars, we examine Gartner's 2026 predictions—including a warning about critical thinking atrophy—and debate the implications of ads appearing in AI overviews. Adobe's $1.9 billion acquisition of SEMrush closes the episode, raising questions about the future of generative engine optimisation.

Key Takeaways

• Gemini 3 Pro benchmarks: Scored 45.8% on Humanity's Last Exam versus the previous high of 26.5%, and doubled ScreenSpot Pro accuracy to 72%—critical for agent-based computer use.
• Opus 4.5 efficiency: Achieved 81% accuracy on software engineering tasks using 12,000 tokens, while Sonnet 4.5 needed 22,000 tokens for 77% accuracy.
• Nano Banana Pro: Now handles up to 5 consistent characters and 14 objects in a scene, making product imagery workflows increasingly viable.
• Gartner's lazy thinking warning: Predicts 50% of organisations will require AI-free skills assessments by 2026 as critical thinking atrophies.
• B2B procurement shift: Gartner forecasts 90% of B2B buying will be AI-agent intermediated by 2028, pushing $15 trillion through agent exchanges.
• Ads in AI search: Google has begun placing sponsored links in AI overviews; reports suggest ChatGPT may follow.
• Adobe acquires SEMrush: The $1.9 billion deal validates generative engine optimisation as a strategic priority.

What to Do Now

• Test your own use cases: Benchmarks are directional; run Gemini 3 Pro and Opus 4.5 against your specific workflows before switching daily drivers.
• Experiment with Nano Banana Pro: If you need consistent product imagery, trial multi-character and multi-object prompts to assess production readiness.
• Protect critical thinking: Build review processes where humans form independent judgments before consulting AI—especially for strategic decisions.
• Prepare for agent-readable content: Convert key product documentation from PDFs to markdown to ensure AI procurement agents can parse your information.
• Monitor AI ad placements: Track emerging ad formats in Google AI overviews and prepare to test early for potential first-mover advantages.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Models: Gemini 3 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Opus 4.5, Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5, GPT 5.1, DeepSeek 3.2
• Platforms/Features: AI Overviews, AI Mode, Veo 3.1, Claude Code
• Companies: Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, Adobe, SEMrush, Microsoft, HSBC, McKinsey, Gartner
• Benchmarks: Humanity's Last Exam, ScreenSpot Pro, VendingBench, SWE-bench, GPQA Diamond

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