• Amazon.com Inc. paused construction on its second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia — where it has committed to investing $2.5 billion and hiring more than 25,000 workers by 2030 — just weeks after the company’s biggest-ever round of layoffs. The delay affects the second phase of the project, which includes three, 22-story office buildings, while a restart date has not yet been specified. (Bloomberg)
• Meta Platforms Inc. announced Facebook will now support Reels of up to 90 seconds in length, expanding beyond the previous 60-second limit. The update to the short-form video format comes as part of the launch of several new creative tools — many of which mimic features native to ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok. (TechCrunch) 
• Amazon is reportedly threatening to withhold advertising payments from Twitter Inc. because the social media platform has not paid its Amazon Web Services cloud computing bill for months. Alongside huge headcount reductions, terminating or reneging on supplier contracts has been central to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting plan since assuming ownership of Twitter in October. (The Information) 
• Victoria’s Secret & Co. said it will bring back its year-end fashion show in 2023 after a four-year hiatus. The lingerie retailer canceled the event in 2019, kicking off a massive marketing shift aimed at making the brand more inclusive. (Retail Dive)

Gen Z gives social media ads far more attention than TV commercials

Insider Intelligence

New Tool Helps Publishers Avoid High Block Rates For Direct-Sold Ads, Firm Says

Ray Schultz, MediaPost 

A new form of advertising campaign automation is being offered to publishers by Double Verify, a provider of measurement and analytics software.

Big media is gearing up for battle with Google and Microsoft over AI chatbots using their articles for training: ‘We are actively considering our options’

Lucia Moses, Insider

Major publishers are calling AI-trained chatbots an existential threat to their business.

The TV Industry Flounders Under Economic Pressure And Fiery Competition

Alyssa Boyle, AdExchanger

TV budgets are often the first to get cut during economic downturns, the streaming wars are raging, and the axe of supply-path optimization is hovering.

Rupert Murdoch, Fox Corp. Sued For Sharing Biden’s Presidential Ads Before They Aired

Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter

The complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission alleges Murdoch and Fox violated campaign contribution laws.

Heads Up: A Better Movie Seat May Cost You

Brooks Barnes, The New York Times

As the film business changes rapidly, multiplexes are experimenting with prices in ways that may seem shocking to theatergoers.

Paramount Will Pay $122.5M to Settle CBS-Viacom Merger Lawsuit

Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter

Paramount Global has agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit that claimed that the 2019 CBS-Viacom merger was unfair for shareholders. According to a securities filing Friday, Paramount will pay the shareholders $122.5 million to settle the claims, subject to a long-form settlement agreement and approval by Delaware’s Chancery Court.

The Washington Post looks to bring in new subcribers with its first in-house game, “On the Record”

Alexander Lee, Digiday

Last week, the Washington Post launched its first in-house gaming product, just over a month after announcing the closure of Launcher, WaPo’s gaming and esports vertical. The move shows that national publications like the Washington Post still believe games are a good business — even if they remain unconvinced about the long-term sustainability of gaming journalism.

Chris Rock Slaps Back in Netflix’s First Live Comedy Special

Ellen Gamerman, The Wall Street Journal

The Netflix performance, which ran over an hour, was a streaming and comedy high-wire act. Mr. Rock was testing a live technology that the platform was rolling out for the first time to its more than 231 million global subscribers, bringing the idea of appointment TV to the audience of anytime TV watchers it helped create. The show started at 10 p.m. Eastern time at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre and is now on the site for viewing.

Why Lawmakers Aren’t Rushing to Police A.I.

Andrew Ross Sorkin et al., The New York Times

Artificial intelligence tools are proliferating throughout society, and getting more powerful. Washington has failed to keep pace.

Facebook revamps controversial content moderation process for VIPs

Clare Duffy, CNN

Facebook-parent Meta on Friday announced a revamp of its “cross-check” moderation system after facing criticism for giving VIPs special treatment by applying different review processes for VIP posts versus those from regular users.

Twitch’s New Streaming Rival Kick Tests Waters of Lighter Moderation

Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg

For about a decade, Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch has dominated video game livestreaming. Others have tried to dethrone it – Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Facebook Gaming, TikTok Live, Microsoft Corp.’s now-defunct Mixer and, of course, YouTube Gaming, which has offered highly lucrative deals to lure top personalities away from Twitch.

Tech platforms struggle to verify their users’ age

Ashley Gold, Axios

Social media and streaming platforms are trying to figure out the best ways to verify a user’s age as parents and lawmakers grow increasingly concerned about the way children and teenagers use online services.

Behind Clairol’s Nostalgic Partnership with Amazon Prime’s ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’

Jack Neff, Ad Age 

Brand banks on nostalgia for characters’ ’70s hairstyles but avoids trying to drop Clairol boxes into the show.

Balenciaga Displays Restraint in First Fashion Show Since Child Ad Backlash

Nick Kostov, The Wall Street Journal

Creative designer Demna aims to reset brand’s image after consumer protests.

The Laundress seeks to toss lawsuits filed over bacteria exposure

Melissa Daniels, Modern Retail

Unilever, the parent company of luxury laundry care line The Laundress, is asking a federal court to toss legal claims filed over a potential bacteria exposure that triggered a company-wide recall in late 2022.

Nestle, Tyson and other food giants bet on air fryer boom to grow sales

Amelia Lucas, CNBC

In 2022, U.S. consumers spent nearly $1 billion buying air fryers, up 51% from 2019, according to market research firm The NPD Group. Sales of the cooking appliance have been soaring since 2017, and they received an extra boost during the early days of the pandemic as people cooked more at home.

More Big Brands Brave the Rocky Terrain of Endorsement Deals With College Athletes

Patrick Coffee, The Wall Street Journal

Novel deals known as NILs—for ‘name, image, likeness’—have marketers excited at having a new raft of young influencers, but concerned by the unsettled legal issues as well as the perils of using amateurs as endorsers.

Toblerone can no longer claim to be Swiss-made

Hanna Ziada, CNN

Toblerone bars, sold in over 100 countries, can no longer be called Swiss chocolate because the brand’s US owner is moving some production out of Switzerland.

The rise of the chief AI officer

Cloey Callahan, Digiday

Fear over robots taking jobs has long been a concern, but the rapid growth of the global artificial intelligence market has left white space for strong AI leadership. In particular, the role of chief AI officer is starting to pop up more across companies.

Here Come the Zoomers: Silicon Valley Greets a New Generation of Teen Founders

Marguax MacColl, The Information

Covid-19 lockdowns chained a generation of teenagers to their computers. For a lucky few dozen, it opened up a world of opportunity.

Bars, Hotels and Restaurants Become the Economy’s Fastest-Growing Employers

Nate Rattner et al., The Wall Street Journal

Hospitality companies revive their hiring after pandemic cuts, offsetting slower growth in tech jobs.

Remote workers are adopting a new practice called ‘body doubling,’ in which they watch strangers work online

Chloe Berger, Fortune

To some, watching someone work on a laptop might seem as boring as watching paint dry. And others might find it unsettling, considering the workers are strangers. But with more people struggling with ADHD and a loneliness epidemic, body doubling is seen as a way to assuage both conditions.