It's Tuesday and a game built for AI players has produced an unexpected result: a new religion dreamed up by AI agents.

Today's News

🤝 YouTube's BrandConnect hub evolves
🤖 Zuckerberg makes his own AI assistant
🎤 Google presents at the 2026 NewFronts
🚀 The Drive Agency creates founders
👋 Tom Scott explains his return

NEWFRONTS NEWS

A look at YouTube's new creator marketing experience.

YouTube just unveiled the next evolution of BrandConnect

The evolution: YouTube is leveling up its creator marketing toolkit. During its NewFronts presentation, the video hub announced the launch of a platform called YouTube Creator Partnerships.

The newly unveiled platform is essentially an evolution of BrandConnect, the creator marketing hub that emerged out of YouTube's 2016 acquisition of FameBit. While the old BrandConnect already allowed brands to initiate campaigns across multiple creator channels and formats, the Creator Partnerships control center enhances that process by incorporating AI, updated measurement solutions, and other perks.

The new hub—which is powered by Google's Gemini LLM—will offer AI-generated suggestions to help brands sort through the three million creators in the YouTube Partner Program and identify the spokespeople who best suit their campaign goals.

Additional scale is available through creator partnerships boost, the product formerly known as Partnership ads. By turning creator videos into Shorts and in-stream advertisements, advertisers can earn an average conversion lift increase of 30% (per YouTube data).

The context: YouTube's effort to reimagine BrandConnect came into focus last year, when the platform started promoting the redesigned version of its creator marketing hub. That push was spurred on by the increasing value of influencer-focused campaigns and the rising number of partnerships tied to YouTube.

According to stats shared at the NewFronts, 83% of Gen Z viewers prefer watching their favorite creators over traditional shows, and 78% of viewers believe YouTube has the most trustworthy creators. More details about YouTube's NewFronts announcements can be found here.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

Zuck wants to help himself out.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly developing an AI agent that would act as his personal assistant while simultaneously speeding up the data retrieval process. (TheNextWeb)
OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky, who purchased the platform in 2018, has passed away at the age of 43. (Engadget)
As legislators seek to limit betting on prediction markets, Kalshi is introducing new "guardrails" to "preemptively block" insider trading by political candidates and athletes. (The Verge)
A new lawsuit accuses Meta of disproportionately targeting "employees 40 and older" during a wave of layoffs in 2025. (Gizmodo)

AD WORLD

Managing Director of Google Marketing Platforms in the Americas, Marta Martinez talks up live sports advertising options at the Google NewFront. (Photo by our very own Joshua Cohen)

Google's ads reach consumers "across every touchpoint"—including live sports

The presentation: YouTube's creator partnerships hub isn't the only Google-owned marketing service getting a glow-up. The tech giant is also optimizing its campaign management solution, Display and Video 360, to let advertisers target a variety of formats.

That process will be streamlined by Gemini, which will provide automated assistance to campaign managers by curating media packages. The resulting campaigns can then be pushed across multiple marketing channels.

One touchpoint receiving increased attention is live sports. As YouTube adds more sports broadcasts to its portfolio, its parent company is helping advertisers buy into those streams. A product previewed during the Winter Olympics, for instance, offers biddable buys on live sports.

The tracking tools: Google is also considering connected TV traffic and retail impact in other ways. Confidential Publisher Match brings added controls and tracking to CTV buys, and Kroger Precision Marketing will show marketers how their activity on platforms like YouTube translates to retail activity.

"This really changes how brands think about YouTube and its direct impact on sales. Now, advertisers can reach Kroger shoppers on the most-watched video platform in the world—and measure how their spend drives sales at the SKU level."

- Christine Foster, Kroger Group VP of Commercial Strategy & Operations

Google's message here is clear. Brands looking to expand their reach need to be active across formats, and Google is the corporation best equipped to power that multi-platform approach. The tech giant reported that advertisers who added an extra Google marketing platform product to their mix saw a 76% lift in return on ad spend.

THE BIZ

Patrick Zielinski and Leila Marsh have their eyes on creator businesses

The Drive Agency is building "diversified, creator-led companies"

The firm: The Drive Agency is turning its clients into founders. The year-old talent management firm is building what CEO Patrick Zielinski and Chief Talent Officer Leila Marsh describe as "diversified, creator-led companies" by offering services like brand partnerships, product development guidance, speaking gigs, staffing solutions, and digital revenue streams.

"We started representing these experts to help them unlock the knowledge they have in their heads and help them monetize it whether that be through paywalled platforms, newsletters, digital products, and courses."

- Patrick Zielinski and Leila Marsh

The origin story: The Drive Agency was born out of its leaders' desire "to help this next generation of subject matter experts monetize their expertise." To aid the creators on her client roster in developing sustainable revenue streams, Marsh—who spent seven years as the Founder and CEO of PRIZMA MGMT—teamed up with Zielinski, an early Collab and Cameo hire who went on to hold a creator-facing role at LinkedIn.

Since its launch last year, The Drive Agency has executed over 1,000 brand partnerships on behalf of 30+ clients. According to Zielinski and Marsh, those deals range from "one-off pilots to long-term ambassadorships of three to six months," with some clients taking home "over six figures with a single brand partner."

Zielinski's work at LinkedIn—including his curation of the platform's Top Voices list—built a foundation for LinkedIn's future creator-focused endeavors, and the platform now serves as the "home base" for many Drive clients.

Ultimately, however, The Drive Agency's work goes far beyond a single platform, with each creator's business tailored to its leader's strengths and interests. Marsh's longtime client Brad Mondo is working with Drive to expand his haircare line XMONDO, while Nana DelRey has built "a sorority for female entrepreneurs" through Kynn. Another Drive client, "work hype man" Sho Dewan, is sharing his expertise through speaking engagements at events like Adobe MAX.

WATCH THIS 👀

Tom Scott is here.

Tom Scott just revealed more details about his return to YouTube

The return of Tom Scott: After posting every week for ten years, YouTuber Tom Scott announced his retirement in 2024. Then, on March 16, Nebula revealed in a 15-second video that Scott would be bringing new content to its creator-focused streaming platform.

Now, we know more about what Scott's return to YouTube and arrival on Nebula will look like.

The creator addressed fans in a YouTube video posted yesterday to offer a few insights into his new project—a series that will follow his journey as he embarks on "a road trip to every county in England"—and announce the (probable) return of The Technical Difficulties podcast later this year.

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