Sunday Snacks – Volume 8: New Waves of AI, Business & Creator Culture

🍿 Quick Takes

• Italy writes its own AI law: On 10 October 2025, Italy’s Senate passed Law No. 132, which bars AI from deciding who gets healthcare and requires employers to disclose AI monitoring.

• Arduino & Qualcomm unite: The new UNO Q board pairs a Dragonwing processor with a microcontroller for AI‑accelerated projects.

• Creator agencies grow up: U.S. brands are expected to spend $13.7 billion on influencer marketing by 2027, forcing agencies to become more strategic and data‑driven.

• Brands turn to episodic series: Cava, Zola and Hot Topic are posting dating shows and sitcoms on TikTok, making creators both producers and distributors digiday.com.

• Samsung’s profit boom: AI server demand has driven DRAM prices up 171.8 %, putting Samsung on track for a record quarter.

• Brands turn to episodic series: Cava, Zola and Hot Topic are posting dating shows and sitcoms on TikTok, making creators both producers and distributors.

• Creator agencies level up: U.S. brands are on track to spend $13.7 billion on influencer marketing by 2027, up from $10.5 billion this year. Marketers like Unilever’s Casey DePalma McCartney say agencies of record must be highly strategic and insights‑driven to keep up.

🛒 Walmart taps OpenAI to build shopping into ChatGPT

Walmart announced a partnership with OpenAI allowing shoppers to use ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout to browse and buy products from within the chat. Customers can ask the bot to find gifts or restock essentials, and the agent completes the purchase without leaving the app. Walmart’s CEO said the aim is to move beyond a traditional search bar to a proactive, conversational shopping experience.

🇺🇸Nvidia & TSMC unveil the first U.S.‑made Blackwell wafer

Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company showcased the first Blackwell wafer produced at TSMC’s Phoenix facility. Nvidia said the move bolsters America’s AI supply chain and onshores the technology stack needed for next‑generation chips. TSMC’s Arizona plant will fabricate 2‑, 3‑ and 4‑nanometre chips, supporting AI and telecom applications.

🇪🇺 EU proposes voluntary AI code of practice

The European Union unveiled a draft code of practice to help companies comply with its forthcoming AI Act. The voluntary code asks signatories to publish summaries of training data, respect copyright by excluding protected works without permission, and establish systems to mitigate systemic risks. New general‑purpose AI models must meet the act’s requirements by Aug 2 2026; existing models have until 2027.

⚠️ Samsung family sells $1.2 billion stake

The mother and sisters of Samsung Electronics chairman Jay Y. Lee plan to sell 17.7 million shares—worth 1.73 trillion won ($1.22 billion)—to pay inheritance taxes. The sale follows a 48% rally in Samsung’s stock after securing chip deals with Tesla and OpenAI and expectations that it will supply high‑bandwidth memory to Nvidia.

📰 CNN enters the creator economy with ‘CNN Creators’

CNN International launched a multiplatform initiative called CNN Creators. The 30‑minute weekly show, debuting Oct 23, features a team of digital‑native storytellers who will explore AI, tech, art and social trends. It will later move to CNN’s new Qatar studio and produce content across TV and social platforms.

🔬 Tech & AI

🍎 Apple’s M5 iPad Pro: On‑Device AI Goes Mainstream

Apple’s latest iPad Pro debuts the M5 chip, a 12‑core processor with a 38‑core GPU that makes on‑device AI practical for everyday tasks. The tablet’s AI performance is 3.5× faster than the M4 and 5.6× faster than the M1, giving it enough headroom to run local generative models. With support for Wi‑Fi 7 and a new Ultra Retina XDR display, Apple signals that AI‑powered creativity doesn’t have to live in the cloud.

🤖 EU’s Voluntary AI Code

Europe’s draft AI code of practice serves as a pre‑compliance pathway. Companies signing on agree to publish training data summaries, honor copyrights, and build risk‑mitigation systems. Although voluntary, the code will likely influence global AI standards ahead of the AI Act’s binding deadlines in 2026/2027.

💼 Business & Markets

🏆 AI Infrastructure Deals Go Big

Reuters reported a flood of mega‑deals involving AI firms and chipmakers. A consortium including BlackRock, Nvidia, xAI and Microsoft is buying data‑center operator Aligned for $40 billion. AMD will supply AI chips to OpenAI in a deal that could generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue, while Nvidia may invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI to secure data‑centre chips. CoreWeave signed a $14 billion compute deal with Meta and Tesla inked a $16.5 billion chip‑supply agreement with Samsung.

📈 Markets Hit New Highs and Lows

Over the past two weeks, U.S. stocks pushed higher initially — the S&P 500 rose about 1.7% in a week, giving the market a bit of breathing room. Then, worries over the government shutdown, trade tensions and bank credit issues hit sentiment, and the S&P dropped about 2.8% in one five-day stretch. Meanwhile in crypto, Bitcoin slipped under $105,000, down roughly 9% this week alone as the broader crypto market cap fell below $3.8 trillion. So if you’re just getting up to speed: markets started off strong, but macro risks have crept in and pushed both stocks and crypto lower from recent highs, reminding us how sensitive things are right now.

📈 Creator & Platform Economy

💸 Pay Transparency Boosts Creator Rates

Digiday’s Alexander Lee reports that creators’ sponsorship rates have doubled in some cases, fueled by a culture of openness around pay. Creators now share detailed information about what they charge and why, giving peers better leverage when negotiating with brands. Tools like Sevensix Agency’s pricing reports and conferences like Press Publish NYC are helping establish benchmarks

⌗ L’Oréal Builds a Data Backbone

The cosmetics giant is building a unified data layer across all its creator campaigns. According to Digiday, L’Oréal works with roughly 70,000 creators across 35 brands and is seeking partners to stitch together payment data, campaign performance and sales to better understand ROI. The move underscores how creators have become performance‑driving partners rather than just storytellers. Over half of content‑driven ad revenue now comes from user‑generated platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

📱 CNN Leaps Into Creator Land

CNN International’s new series CNN Creators signals legacy media’s push into creator‑driven storytelling. The show will introduce a roster of digital‑native reporters covering topics that “feel real, relevant and relatable,” with a focus on AI, tech, art and culture. It will eventually broadcast from a custom‑built studio in Doha and produce content across TV and social platforms.

🎙️ Flightcast Takes Video Podcasts to New Heights

Podcaster Steven Bartlett and former MrBeast engineer Rox Codes have turned their production workflow into a product. Flightcast lets creators upload a video podcast once and automatically distributes it to YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. AI transcribes the audio, generates titles and descriptions, suggests chapters and even auto‑clips highlights. For creators drowning in post‑production, this could be a game changer.

🧠 Final Bite

In closing, this week’s stories remind us that we’re living through a rare convergence of breakthrough technology, evolving business models and a maturing creator landscape. It’s thrilling to see AI move from labs into our devices and shopping carts, but equally important to watch how lawmakers, brands and creators navigate the ethical and practical implications. As you head into the week, I invite you to reflect on where you fit within this shifting ecosystem — whether you’re a consumer, a creator or a builder — and how you can help ensure that the tools we’re racing to adopt ultimately serve human connection, creativity and well‑being.

That’s it for this week. Stay weird, stay learning.

—Fahad

www.linkedin.com/in/fahadaldulaimi/