In his posters celebrating Paris 2024, Ugo Gattoni vividly depicts the city with micro-stories centered around the iconic Eiffel Tower and Stade de France, symbolic landmarks in the French capital. The illustrations also represent several sports, including the four new modalities added to this edition of the games: breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding, and surfing. Using Art Deco influences as inspiration, the Olympic Poster and Paralympic Poster have been designed together for the first time.
Thursday, March 7, 2024France's competition authority slapped Google with a hefty $270M fine for allegedly using news publishers' data to train Gemini without proper notification.
Encasing fusion plasma inside tungsten allowed a tokamak in France to set a new record by sustaining plasma at about 50 million degrees Celsius for six minutes. Tungsten has an extraordinarily high melting point. Using a tungsten-wall environment is for more challenging than using carbon, but the material allows physicists to sustain hot plasmas for longer and at higher energies and densities. While research into nuclear fusion has been slow, the field has made significant strides over the last few years.
H, which aims to build action models and was started by DeepMind scientists, raised a monster seed round. Another win for French AI talent.
Mistral, a Paris-based AI startup, turns 1 year old today. It announced a monster series B funding raise.
France-based Zephalto, Florida-based Space Perspective, and Arizona-based World View are just three of the startups currently building balloons to hoist tourists to the stratosphere. Most of these balloons will reach heights of 15 to 19 miles above the Earth's surface. At that height, the outside of the capsules will be essentially a vacuum and the sky will be a deep black. Passengers will not experience weightlessness. There will be no physical requirements for passengers to board the balloons. Seats on the balloons range from $50,000 to around $184,000.
Coca-Cola aims to promote togetherness at the Paris Olympic Games with specially designed cans that look like they're hugging. A collaboration with three French artists, the campaign underscores the power of sports to unite people by featuring the iconic hug motif on the beverage company's packaging and advertisements. Coca-Cola plans to extend this theme by showcasing real-time hugs captured in Paris and across social media and metro stations during the Games.
Coca-Cola's new cans for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games feature a design with two arms locked in an embrace, symbolizing hope and inclusivity. This innovative packaging aligns with Coke's branding strategy, suggesting a visually unified presence in Paris during the event. Critical to successful brand activations, these cans exemplify thoughtful design in sponsorships.
Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested at an airport in France by the country's National Anti-Fraud Office. He was allegedly put into custody for offenses related to terrorism, drugs, fraud, money laundering, and other charges related to individuals' activity on the messaging app.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been indicted by a French court on charges related to facilitating illegal activities on the messaging app, including the spread of child pornography and drug trafficking. He must remain in France under judicial supervision and is required to pay a 5 million euro deposit.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov says that innovators should not be personally liable for the potential abuse of the tools they create. He says that growing pains on Telegram made it easy for criminals to abuse the platform, but that he aims to significantly improve the platform. French authorities arrested Durov in part due to Telegram's apparent lack of response to requests related to criminal investigations, but Durov says Telegram has official representatives in the EU and that he had personally helped French authorities establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France. Telegram is expected to announce changes to address the abuse of its platform very soon.
French AI startup Mistral has launched Pixtral 12B, a 12-billion-parameter multimodal model capable of processing both images and text. Available via GitHub and Hugging Face, the model can be fine-tuned and used under an Apache 2.0 license. Its release follows Mistral's $645 million funding round and positions the company as a significant player in Europe's AI landscape.
In 2025, marketing professionals will have numerous opportunities to enhance their strategies and network at various conferences. As the marketing landscape evolves, driven by trends such as retail media and artificial intelligence, these events will serve as platforms for sharing innovative ideas and insights. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), taking place from January 7-10 in Las Vegas, is a key event for those in the consumer technology sector. It provides a venue for global brands to connect, showcase new products, and engage in immersive experiences. Another significant gathering is the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, scheduled for March 7-15 in Austin, Texas. This event unites professionals from technology, film, music, and television, offering a rich mix of networking, discovery, and professional development through various sessions and showcases. In late April, the Possible conference will occur in Miami Beach, Florida. Co-founded by notable figures in the marketing industry, this event focuses on networking, masterclasses, and workshops tailored for the marketing ecosystem, encompassing brands and technology. The ANA Brand Masters Conference, set for May 7-9 in Los Angeles, aims to equip marketers with actionable strategies to foster brand growth. Attendees will have the chance to engage with industry leaders and learn from past speakers from well-known companies. The IAB NewFronts, scheduled for spring with the location yet to be determined, will act as a digital content marketplace, bringing together various stakeholders in the media and advertising sectors to discuss upcoming innovations. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, taking place from June 16-20 in Cannes, France, is another highlight. This prestigious festival attracts thousands of advertisers and thought leaders from around the world, celebrating creativity and impactful work in the industry. In the fall, Advertising Week New York will gather marketing and advertising professionals to explore the latest trends and insights shaping the industry. This four-day event has previously featured speakers from major brands, providing practical knowledge for attendees. The Digital Marketing Exposition & Conference (DMEXCO) in Cologne, Germany, is another essential event, focusing on digital marketing and technology. It offers a platform for industry leaders to engage in discussions about the future of the digital economy. The ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, scheduled for October 21-24 in Orlando, will delve into the future of marketing, featuring workshops and discussions on industry challenges and opportunities. Lastly, the Programmatic I/O conferences in Las Vegas and New York will focus on the latest trends in commerce media, connected TV, and privacy, helping professionals refine their programmatic strategies. These conferences represent valuable opportunities for marketing professionals to stay informed, network, and gain insights into the rapidly changing landscape of the industry.