Will Showrunner Be The Next YouTube?

Plus: WSJ's zero-click battle plan, AI slop creators are cashing in, and Adobe just can't win.

Sep 02, 2025

👋 Happy Tuesday AI Marketers. While the entertainment industry zigs, Amazon-backed Showrunner is zagging big time. Love them or hate them, AI slop videos are actually working. And Google takes a bite out of Adobe. Let’s get you caught up…

Showrunner Netflix of AI Homepage UI — Image: Fable Studio

Meet Showrunner: the Amazon-Backed Startup Inventing a New Media Paradigm

While much of Hollywood sees AI as a way to make movies and shows cheaper to produce, Showrunner is using it to develop a new form of media: user-generated entertainment. It’s a sandbox where anyone can create their own shows. Enter a prompt and you can generate a scene, remix an alternate ending, or spin up a full episode. Start with one of Showrunner’s originals, like the animated Silicon Valley satire Exit Valley, or build your own show from scratch. Think YouTube meets Roblox meets Netflix.

Now in public alpha, it’s still early days. But Amazon is already backing the vision, and founder Edward Saatchi is inviting both major studios and independent creators to license their IP… and get paid every time fans generate content. Just imagine millions of creators publishing their own episodes of The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones, or The Simpsons and you get a sense of the potential. And it won’t just be studios and fans. Brands will want in too, seeding their products, content, and ads into this untapped channel for audience engagement.

The Verge →

How WSJ is Preparing for ‘Google Zero’

As publishers and brands come to terms with declining traffic at the hands of AI, the Wall Street Journal’s SEO lead details its evolving strategy for pulling audiences into their ecosystem. Traditional SEO tactics are still essential. But so is a deeper understanding of how AI answer engines operate. Developing content with query fan-out in mind, monitoring crawl data from LLMs, and leaning away from “commodity content” that’s available everywhere are a few highlights in this Digiday piece.

Digiday →

Sorry Humans, AI Slop Videos are Working

Nonsense kitten shorts and other AI-generated videos are flooding social media, pulling in millions of views and real ad revenue while squeezing out content from human creators, marketers, and brands. Critics call it slop. But algorithms are still rewarding it, despite various platforms tinkering with rules and labeling some content. Even YouTube’s latest policy tweak, aimed squarely at “mass produced,” “repetitive,” "inauthentic” videos didn’t seem to make a dent.

NPR →

Google Has Adobe Against the Ropes

Adobe built its empire on creative tools like Photoshop, but AI is eroding the moat. Google’s latest Gemini update (the oddly named “nano banana” model) gives everyday users near-pro image editing skills with simple text prompts. No steep learning curve. No hefty monthly fee. For many, it’s even free. Adobe is pushing its own AI tools with Firefly, but Google has better models and less friction. If pro-level design becomes a commodity, what does that mean for creative software?

Business Insider →

Consumers Aren’t in Love with AI Marketing

Marketing teams are embracing AI, but trust is waning on the customer side. Shoppers say marketing emails are irrelevant, many feel misunderstood, and a growing majority just don’t trust AI with their data. That’s a flashing red light for brands. AI is an essential piece of GTM and ongoing customer engagement, but so are transparency, clear value exchange, and human-credible signals.

Artificial Intelligence News →

Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative was first announced in 2019. But as AI-generated content becomes harder to distinguish from the real thing, its mission feels more urgent than ever. The idea is simple but powerful: digital “nutrition labels” that show how a piece of content was created, edited, and published, supported by a cross-industry coalition. Is this the trust layer the internet needs?

More →

🎙️ My top 3 podcast episodes this week:

THE AI DAILY BRIEF

Workers Don’t Trust Their Companies on AI

Stanford research shows entry-level workers in high AI-exposure jobs face a 13% employment drop. Kyla Scanlon’s survey finds over a third of employees have zero trust in their employers’ AI strategy. Companies offering little training risk fueling resistance instead of adoption.

Listen →

AI DRIVEN MARKETER

Google Gemini vs ChatGPT: Images, Videos, Automation Battle

Dan and Travis Sanchez pit Gemini against ChatGPT after Google’s summer upgrades. Gemini impresses with photorealistic images, fast video, and automations, while ChatGPT still wins on design and research. They close with real-world use cases and a look at blockbuster-style ads built on scrappy budgets.

Listen →

BIG TECHNOLOGY

Did OpenAI Break ChatGPT, Apple’s New iPhones, Saving Intel

Writer M.G. Siegler joins to debate whether OpenAI bungled the GPT-5 rollout, Apple’s rumored iPhone Air, foldable, and curved models, and why the U.S. government now owns a stake in Intel. A sharp, fast-moving take on Big Tech’s latest power plays.

Listen →

Have a favorite podcast to recommend? Shoot me the details.

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