🏀 AI ads hit primetime

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. The long run of promoting just crashed the NBA Finals, with an “unhinged” industrial created in only two days airing on ABC.

Kalshi’s spot just proved that AI can go from prompt to primetime in only 48 hours (and a 95% cost reduction) — but will brands be willing to embrace the chaos, or wait for more polished creations?

P.S.: Our next live workshop is today at 4 PM EST, where you’ll learn methods to prompt and get essentially the most value out of OpenAI’s advanced o3 and o3-Pro models. RSVP here.

In today’s AI rundown:

• Kalshi’s AI ad runs during NBA Finals

• OpenAI, Mattel partner on AI toys

• Conduct competitive evaluation with Claude

• ByteDance’s latest video AI climbs leaderboards

• 4 latest AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

AI RESEARCH

🎬 Kalshi’s AI ad runs during NBA Finals

The Rundown: Prediction market Kalshi aired considered one of the primary instances of an AI-generated industrial during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, running an “unhinged” 30-second spot created with clips created using Google’s Veo 3 video model on ABC.

The small print:

• AI filmmaker PJ Accetturo created the ad in only 2 days, using 300-400 Veo 3 generations to create 15 clips.

• He detailed his workflow in a post on X, using Gemini and ChatGPT to assist with ideation, script creation, and craft prompts for every shot.

• The industrial leveraged Veo 3’s latest speaking capabilities, though Accetturo noted challenges with unexpected subtitles and inconsistent character voices.

• Accetturo estimated the fee at about 95% lower than traditional production, and said that “high-dopamine Veo 3 videos will likely be the ad trend of 2025.”

Why it matters: This seems like a serious moment for AI in promoting on a big-time stage — and while its unpolished, chaotic aesthetic won’t work for each brand, the time and value element will likely be hard to withstand for a lot of advertisers. The “style” can be unlikely to be a difficulty for long, with video models only improving with each latest release.

TOGETHER WITH SANA

🎙️ Conversations at the sting of AI

The Rundown: Sana Agents lets every team spin up intelligent, no-code AI agents in minutes — and now its latest Strange Loop podcast digs into the sting of AI and human knowledge to maintain leaders ahead of the curve.

Within the debut episode, Sana CEO Joel Hellermark joins Wharton’s Ethan Mollick to:

• Unpack myths about AGI

• Discuss the approaching impact of real-world automation

• Break down methods to scale an AI-first company

Hearken to Episode 1 here.

OPENAI & MATTEL

🧸 OpenAI, Mattel partner on AI toys

The Rundown: OpenAI and Mattel just announced a brand new strategic partnership to create AI-powered toys and experiences, bringing the tech to franchise brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, American Girl, and more.

The small print:

• The collaboration will integrate OpenAI’s tech into Mattel’s product development, with the primary AI-powered product expected later this 12 months.

• The deal covers physical toys and digital experiences across Mattel’s portfolio, featuring lots of of iconic brands and game titles.

• Mattel employees may even gain access to ChatGPT Enterprise to reinforce creative ideation and streamline business operations across the corporate.

• Each firms emphasized safety and age-appropriate design, with Mattel maintaining full control over its IP and final products.

Why it matters: Toys are about to get lots more personalized and intelligent with an AI infusion, bringing latest interactive capabilities like never before. But having children interact with AI in any fashion is more likely to ruffle some feathers and lift questions on development, privacy, and whether the tech belongs within the playroom.

AI TRAINING

📊 Conduct competitive evaluation with Claude

The Rundown: On this tutorial, you’ll learn methods to use Claude’s Research mode to robotically create research plans, gather data from lots of of sources, and generate downloadable PDF reports for complete market evaluation.

Step-by-step:

• Head over to Claude and choose the Research button

• Create a comprehensive prompt: “Research the [industry] market landscape, analyze top 5 competitors, investigate pricing strategies, partnerships, and discover 3 key opportunities”

• Watch Research mode robotically gather data from 50+ authoritative sources and generate an in depth report

• Download your complete research as a PDF or Markdown

Pro tip: The more comprehensive your initial prompt, the higher the automated research plan and final report will likely be.

PRESENTED BY AIRIA

💼 The AI Platform for Enterprises

The Rundown: Airia is an enterprise platform that simplifies the creation, orchestration, and deployment of AI agents—so businesses can automate workflows, integrate systems, and unlock real value from AI without the complexity.

Airia permits you to:

• Seamlessly route between any model or system and connect with 50+ enterprise tools

• Construct AI agents fast with a no-code builder to design and launch in minutes

• Enterprise-grade control to implement policies, manage spend, and stay compliant

Book a Demo today.

BYTEDANCE

🎥 ByteDance’s latest video AI climbs leaderboards

The Rundown: ByteDance just released Seedance 1.0, a brand new video generation model that ranks first on benchmarks for each text-to-video and image-to-video tasks, outperforming SOTA options from Google, Kuaishou, and OpenAI.

The small print:

• Seedance 1.0 moves to the highest of the Artificial Evaluation video leaderboards, moving ahead of top models including Veo 3, Kling 2.0, and Sora.

• The model generates 5-second, 1080p videos in 40 under a minute, with multi-shot storytelling, character consistency, and smooth transitions.

• Bytedance also created SeedVideoBench, a benchmark that shows its model ahead of competitors in motion quality, prompt adherence, and aesthetics.

• The corporate plans to fold Seedance into its Doubao chatbot and video platform Jimeng later this 12 months.

Why it matters: Despite the impressiveness of Veo 3, it’s already been surpassed on the leaderboard — with Chinese labs continuing to push the frontier for AI video models. But with Google’s Veo 3 viral audio capabilities setting a brand new expectation for consumers, it makes it hard to return to still “silent” models.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

• 🌐 Dia – The Browser Company’s latest AI-first web browser

• 🎥 Meta AI – Recent video editing capabilities for short-form content

• 🏄 Windsurf Browser – Integrated with coding assistant for in-context support

• 💬 Manus Chat Mode – Free, unlimited AI chat with easy answers

💼 AI Job Opportunities

• 🧩 Siena – Implementation Manager

• 💻 Notable – Software Engineer

• 🚀 Descript – Engineering Manager, Growth

• 🔐 OpenAI – Software Engineer, Cloud IAM

📰 Every part else in AI today

Bytedance researchers introduced Seaweed APT2, a brand new model for real-time, interactive video generations — in a position to stream 24 fps videos at as much as 5 minutes long.

Microsoft rolled out Copilot Vision with highlights within the U.S., allowing the assistant to see users’ screens and supply in-context insights and guidance.

Google DeepMind launched Weather Lab, an interactive platform showcasing its AI-powered weather forecasts for early, accurate predictions of storm paths and intensity.

Apple is reportedly targeting Spring 2026 for its AI-powered upgrades to Siri, which might come almost two years after its introduction at WWDC 2024.

Runway released Chat Mode, a brand new conversational interface to create images, videos, and more using natural language.

AMD introduced its next-gen Instinct MI400 chips in a presentation alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, positioning itself as a lower-cost alternative to Nvidia.

Los Alamos, Meta, and Berkeley Lab released Open Molecules 2025 with 100M+ molecular simulations for training AI for chemistry, drug discovery, and more.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop today at 4 PM EST with Dr. Alvaro Cintas, The Rundown’s AI professor. By the tip of the workshop, you’ll know methods to get significantly more value out of whichever model you employ, whether it’s o3 or o3-Pro.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team