Editor’s Note: Tech marketers are under pressure—and not just from competitors. Buyers have changed. They now spend months researching independently, bypassing promotional campaigns in favor of trusted, editorial-style content. In response, leading B2B technology firms are overhauling their marketing models, moving away from traditional campaign calendars toward newsroom-inspired operations that prioritize speed, consistency, and journalistic
A Defining Start to 2026 for Online Travel: China Probes Trip.com, Airbnb Expands Its Hotel Ambitions and Google Unveils Its Agentic Booking Protocol
Good Sunday evening from a sunny Seattle . . . Our first Online Travel Update for 2026 is below. This week’s Update features new stories on China’s possible crack down on Trip.com, an update on Airbnb and its plans for hotels and the latest from Google and its rapidly evolving agentic platform. I hope you
Why Data Inventories Fail (and What Privacy Teams Actually Need Instead)
While I know you’re excited to read ALL about data inventories, I’m most excited to tell you that I’ve been recording a training session all week in California. It’s something I’ve been working on for over a year, and I can’t wait to have it released soon!
Oh, and if you want to hear all
Google’s biggest AI advantage is that Google already has all of your data!
Computerworld.com reported that “Google this week announced the public rollout of a beta Gemini feature called Personal Intelligence. It gives Gemini access to your Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, and Google Search data, if you grant permission, which you can do individually (for example, you can grant permission for YouTube access but not Gmail).” The
The GenAI Siren Song, the Danger of Enshittification and Tying Ourselves to a Mast
Ads are “like a last resort for us for a business model…ads plus AI is sort of uniquely unsettling”. Sam Altman May 2024 as quoted in Hacker News.
“To start, we plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.” OpenAI, January 16, 2026, also from Hacker News.
And so it begins.
TikTok’s AI-Powered Age Verification: Europe’s Digital Reckoning for Information Governance
Editor’s Note: Age verification is no longer a checkbox—it’s a regulatory battleground shaping the future of digital governance. TikTok’s deployment of AI-powered age detection across Europe signals a defining shift in how platforms must operationalize regulatory expectations under the Digital Services Act and GDPR. For professionals in cybersecurity, data privacy, compliance, and eDiscovery, the implications
Introducing the Half Million Dollar Job
OpenAI has decided that the most valuable hire they make in the new year is “Head of Preparedness,” an interesting if oblique title. What king of job would that be?
The job description describes the leader of a team responsible for “tracking and preparing for frontier capabilities that create new risks of severe harm” and
OpenAI Unveils ChatGPT Health, Connecting Medical Records to Conversational AI
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Health, a new health‑focused capability within its generative AI chatbot that allows users to connect their medical records and wellness app data to generate more personalized health‑related responses. This feature represents a shift from using AI for general health information toward deeper, context‑aware insights grounded in individuals’ own data.
What
Trump Administration and Mid-Atlantic Region Governors Announce Emergency Reliability Action Targeting Data Center Load Growth
by Stephen J. Humes and Jason Drogin Atwood
On Friday, President Donald Trump—together with governors across key Mid-Atlantic Region states—announced a new initiative aimed at addressing soaring electricity demand driven by large‑scale AI and cloud‑computing data centers. This joint federal-state initiative directs the regional wholesale power grid operator, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM)1, to
The Briefing: The 2026 Entertainment Law Forecast: Navigating Fair Use, AI Training, and Trademark Trends
The year 2025 left the media and entertainment industry with a series of significant, unresolved legal questions. As we move into 2026, several high-profile cases are poised to redefine the boundaries of fair use, the legality of AI training, and the application of the Rogers Test in trademark law.