Publisher AI standards coalition SPUR has shared details of a proposed “common language” for tracking content usage by AI companies
They are "minimum requirements if there’s to be a sustainable long-term future in AI licensing for publishers"
Does scientific brilliance translate into investing success? The FT’s Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth find out with Toby Nangle, who has dug into the archives to assess the investment portfolios of history’s brightest minds. https://t.co/StqkVYnYuS
🎙️The Story of Money is out now.
Join @gilliantett and @RobinWigg each week as they explore the history behind modern finance. Subscribe & listen: https://t.co/a8gMvLCw9g
As many as 2,000 jobs are set to be cut by the BBC across its departments as part of a radical downsizing of the UK’s national broadcaster ahead of the arrival of new director-general Matt Brittin. Scoop on https://t.co/c6gSpAZkYW
https://t.co/JrAqLenl8C
🎧The @FT will launch The Story of Money, its first standalone multi-platform podcast, available from 22 April on YouTube and major audio platforms.
Listen each week as hosts @gilliantett & @RobinWigg explore the historical moments that have shaped modern finance: https://t.co/uunjIH39fF
Former hedge fund boss Crispin Odey has abandoned his £79mn libel case against the FT over sexual misconduct claims. Fifteen women had been willing to testify in court on behalf of the FT https://t.co/V2tapEb9XE
Two quick thoughts on the current discourse on AI in writing and reporting:
1) A common theme of the writing I end up the most proud of: by the time I publish, I've agonized over enough drafts and follow-up questions that I feel burned out, exhausted and generally miserable.
Then I feel a huge weight off my shoulders and euphoria when they're out in the world, and people enjoy them. Every time.
2) I wouldn't be able to pull off such high-impact projects without having learned the craft through years of grinding, fact-checking and screwing up.
By the time I left Forbes, I knew the ingredients of a great cover story like a chef knows their favorite dish. I worry for writers who will use AI to speed run towards the glamorous parts, without the training to know what's actually good.
(And this may not be their choice, if institutions expect it of them, and stop offering such training.)
PREDICTION: Gartner says that PR and earned media budgets will DOUBLE by 2027... and the reason why should matter to every marketer still pouring money into paid channels.
Their latest report lays it out: mass adoption of AI as a replacement for traditional search is going to force a fundamental reallocation of marketing spend away from paid, toward earned.
THE EVIDENCE:
Between the first half of 2024 and first half of 2025, ChatGPT traffic grew 608%, while Google and Bing both declined.
Muck Rack's research shows that more than 95% of links cited in AI-generated answers come from non-paid sources, with half of all AI citations coming from content published in the last 11 months. And per Semrush, AI search visitors convert at 4.4x the rate of traditional organic search.
We've been watching this play out with our own clients... one saw 38% of their leads this year come directly from earned media surfacing in ChatGPT queries (we got them in the NYT, WSJ, Wired, Forbes, TechCrunch, and others).
WHAT THIS MEANS:
Gartner is essentially telling CMOs: the channel your customers use to find you is changing to AI; and earned media is what AI trusts.
Brands still treating PR as a "nice to have" line item below paid media and SEO are in store for an awakening (I was going to say “rude awakening” but that would be… rude).
For PR teams already doing the work, every placement you secure isn't just building credibility with human readers anymore; it’s informing the AI systems that are increasingly deciding which brands get recommended and which ones don't exist.
And for marketers who spent the last decade buying their way into "earned-looking" content... native ads, sponsored posts, advertorials pretending to be editorial... AI is seeing right through it.
THE NEW REALITY:
We're watching a once-in-a-generation shift in how people discover brands.
The companies investing in real earned media (that is, true third-party validation) are the ones building a moat.
Every month without it?
Good luck catching up.