Neema launched Dynamic Routing, an innovative technology designed to enhance every transaction by maximizing both success rates and cost efficiency. Neema’s extensive cross-border payments network empowers financial institutions across the globe to effortlessly process transactions in over 120 countries. It accommodates the most widely used payment methods and currencies specific to each destination, ensuring that users experience a localized payment environment. The introduction of Dynamic Routing further extends Neema’s vision of building a globally connected financial ecosystem. Dynamic Routing, along with Neema’s vast network of financial partners, enables a smarter method for global money movement. Rather than depending on a single pathway, Dynamic Routing establishes multiple real-time routes between countries. Each transaction it powers undergoes instant analysis, taking into account factors such as exchange rates, speed, and reliability to identify the optimal route. Every payment is personalized, with transfers between the same countries often utilizing different, optimized routes. Additionally, Neema’s AI-driven security infrastructure and expansive international reach provide enhanced visibility into coverage and technical vulnerabilities, allowing the company to effectively address potential gaps while offering one of the most robust quality assurance systems in the industry.
Microsoft’s marketplace allows users to browse, install and try from over 70 AI agents tailored for specific tasks and come auto-embedded within the user’s work environment
Microsoft has unveiled the Agent Store, a centralized marketplace where users can “shop” for AI agents tailored for specific tasks. Integrated into Microsoft 365 Copilot, the Agent Store serves both developers and non-technical users who want to use artificial intelligence (AI) agents to streamline workflows, automate tasks and enhance productivity across the workplace. “The Agent Store is your one-stop shop for the next generation of AI assistants,” Principal Product Manager Siffat Hingorani and Senior Product Manager Olive Hu said. Through the marketplace, users can browse, install and try agents from Microsoft and its partners and customers. OpenAI has also introduced a similar marketplace for GPTs that offer bots designed to perform specific tasks. Users can pick from a selection of GPTs or make their own. What’s different between the two is that Microsoft’s agents are embedded within the user’s work environment, with the user’s data as context. OpenAI’s GPT marketplace offers more general tasks to the public. Microsoft’s Agent Store launched with more than 70 agents, which it said would grow over time. Developers can build their own agents and publish to the store using Microsoft Copilot Studio and Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit.
Levi’s reports 12 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth driven by 2X rise in e-commerce business to 10% of total net revenue in 2014; DTC take 52% share in total revenue
Levi Strauss & Co. is citing efforts to develop next-generation e-commerce solutions as a key component of its financial success. The denim giant has recorded 12 consecutive quarters of global double-digit growth, including a strong first quarter of fiscal 2025 it credited in part to global direct-to-consumer net revenues increasing 9% on a reported basis and 12% on an organic basis, as well net revenues from e-commerce growing 13% on a reported basis and 16% on an organic basis. DTC comprised 52% of total net revenues in the quarter. In addition, during the last five years, Levi’s e-commerce business has doubled, growing from 5% of total net revenue in 2019 to 10% in 2024. Jason Gowans, chief digital and technology officer, Levi Strauss & Co., said “We’re creating a global digital flagship experience that not only is expanding our loyal fan base but also is giving them a reason to return, steadily improving the overall health of our e-commerce business with global net revenues and EBIT margins improving double-digits on a compound annual growth rate over the last three years.” Gowans cited several specific digital commerce solutions it has developed, including a new search tool, high-quality content images, and more videos on product pages designed to create a dynamic online shopping experience and showcase items as they look in real life. Visitors to the site can also use a new fit quiz tool, which lets shoppers answer a series of questions on fit preferences, returning a number of personalized recommendations.
Comscore adds consumer AI tool usage data to its reporting suite; data shows >30% of the U.S. online population uses AI tools actively each month, reflecting the rapid rise of this category
Comscore announced the addition of consumer AI tool usage data to its industry-leading suite of reporting. This new data set captures site visitation metrics for 117 AI tools and features across nine distinct categories, spanning both PC and mobile platforms. With this launch, Comscore is providing advertisers, agencies, and brands with a clearer picture of how consumers are interacting with AI tools, from fully AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to mainstream applications with AI features, like Canva. This data set is designed to track real-world usage, providing actionable insights into how these tools are reshaping consumer behavior. Key Insights from the new data Include: Widespread Adoption: Over 30% of the U.S. online population uses AI tools actively each month, reflecting the rapid rise of this category. Top AI tools include Open AI Gen AI, Microsoft Gen AI and Canva Gen. Cross-Platform Growth: 67 million U.S. consumers engage with AI on mobile devices, indicating strong momentum beyond desktop. Category Leaders: Beyond AI assistants, creative tools led the top categories with Audio (23.8 M projected visitors), Image Generation (23 M), Design (23 M), and Video Generation (22.4 M).
Authenticity, trust and relatability outweighing aesthetics and clout in influencer marketing with 40% of consumers picking relatability as the top reason they trust an influencer, as against their fame or follower count
Typeform, the conversational data collection platform, today released Get Real: The Data on Influencer Marketing, a first-of-its-kind report blending data and video storytelling from more than 1,300 influencers, marketers, and consumers. The report reveals a clear shift in audience expectations: authenticity outweighs aesthetics, and connection matters more than clout and curated content. Key findings include: Reach doesn’t equal resonance: As marketers shift from chasing scale to building connection, trust is becoming the new currency. To mitigate the credibility crisis, brands should prioritize creators with resonance and relatability over follower count. Half of consumers would unfollow an influencer if they knew they bought followers. One-third of influencers admit to buying followers or engagement. Nearly 40% of consumers say relatability is the top reason they trust an influencer—not their fame or follower count. Authenticity over AI: Consumers are no longer swayed by high production value or overly polished content, and the surge of AI-generated content is accelerating the credibility crisis. 81% of influencers are using AI to assist with content creation, yet 35% of consumers distrust AI-generated influencer content. 61% of consumers believe influencers should disclose when they use AI. Trust can’t be scripted: When brands hand influencers rigid scripts or products they don’t believe in, the content can feel forced. Audiences tune out, and creators feel frustrated and creatively constrained. Consumers’ number one “ick” when watching influencer content is inauthentic engagement, followed closely by lack of transparency. Influencers say the most frustrating part of working with brands is being forced to sound inauthentic, with 1 in 4 influencers citing it as their biggest challenge. Only 1 in 3 consumers believe influencers use the products they promote, and 56% of influencers admit to promoting products they don’t actually like. 71% of consumers have regretted a purchase based on an influencer’s recommendation.
Charles Schwab to provide guidance and expertise to develop the 4-H financial literacy curriculum targeted at schools in rural areas; also a training program for its employees who wish to become a financial literacy volunteer
Charles Schwab in partnership with 4-H is bringing investing and finance curriculum to hundreds of thousands of kids in the state. The comprehensive leadership program offers several curricular options in addition to the traditional skills of rural life. Technology, engineering, health, and, thanks to Charles Schwab, financial literacy are also integral to the program. The collaboration with 4-H and its rural-leaning population balanced the firm’s Boys & Girls Clubs assistance, which were usually in more urban settings. Through its 65,000 members and other relationships with schools, 4-H reaches between 600,000 and 800,000 kids each year. Schwab provides guidance and expertise to develop the 4-H financial literacy curriculum, which is delivered through the organization’s network of clubs and school programs. “Schwab also offers a training program for its employees who wish to become a financial literacy volunteer at one of the company’s nonprofit partners or a location of the employee’s choice. The digital training course prepares them to deliver the resources that the company has developed in collaboration with partners. The company has a robust culture of volunteering. Last year, 2,400 employees based at Schwab’s Westlake headquarters contributed nearly 33,000 volunteer hours to a variety of causes, with many focusing on financial literacy. Nationwide, 12,300 employees volunteered 160,000 hours last year. Schwab has committed significant resources to its financial literary program with 4-H, called Smart Sense. The program is delivered at in-person 4-H events and is also available digitally through 4-H’s free online program, Clover. The online platform gamifies financial education to make it more engaging and accessible to this generation of digital natives. Over the past two years, Schwab has invested more than $1 million in the program and its educators, adding six new personal finance courses, a mobile app, educator training, and a national promotion effort. The Charles Schwab Foundation contributed more than $21 million to nonprofits nationwide last year, including $3.3 million to local organizations. The 4-H collaboration helps to build on its reputation and diversify the youth organization’s curriculum. Its programs provide a comprehensive leadership and educational development program that covers all types of topic areas.
Gmail can now automatically show “Gemini summary cards” which summarizes all the key points from the email thread and refreshes it when people reply to retain freshness
Last year, Gmail for Android and iOS introduced a summarize feature, and Gemini can now surface summary cards automatically. At launch, the Gemini-powered “Summarize this email” capability was a button underneath the subject line that you had to manually tap. Doing so would slide up the Gemini sheet with the requested bullet points. On mobile, Gmail will now show “Gemini summary cards” automatically “when a summary could be helpful, such as with longer email threads.” You can collapse the card from the top-right corner if it’s not helpful. Google notes how “Gemini summarizes all the key points from the email thread and refreshes it when people reply,” so it’s always fresh. This launch was detailed in the “May Workspace feature drop.” Google also highlighted the availability of Gemini summaries in Google Chat’s Home view and for documents. There’s also the Google Docs summary building block. Google is also recapping Mind Maps and Discover sources in NotebookLM. In Meet, Google is highlighting Dynamic layouts, as well as Studio look, lighting, and sound.
Peer, an AI-native platform reinvents the internet as a persistent, explorable universe, where users show up as avatars, connected by location, and building relationships in a living, spatial network
Peer, the AI-native platform reinventing the internet as a persistent, explorable universe, launched its Global Simulation—a real-time digital Earth where users show up as avatars, connect by location, and build relationships in a living, spatial network. Peer is designed as a native environment for agentic AI—an operating system where AI can move, perceive, and act within a shared world. By giving AI form and placing it in a common, persistent, and spatial environment, Peer creates a natural interface for human-AI interaction. It can be a Web3 or Web2 experience, said Tony Tran, CEO of Peer. Every user is paired with their own AI agent—an intelligent companion that learns, evolves, and operates alongside them. This makes AI feel personal, useful, and embodied—an essential step toward making AI adoption universal and seamlessly woven into daily life. At the core of Peer is a dynamic 3D map of the world—a new substrate where digital experiences are anchored to real places. This isn’t a game world or escapist simulation—it’s a living layer that blends the physical and digital into one continuous environment. Users appear as avatars tied to real-world and virtual locations, with full control over their visibility and presence. Powered by GPS and VPS (Virtual Positioning System), Peer transforms the map into an interactive space where people can explore, drop content, discover others, and build communities. Unlike traditional apps or games, this is a digital reality that starts from the real world—making it feel authentic, grounded, and alive. By combining a simulation of Earth with generative AI, avatars, and real-time spatial interaction, Peer creates a new operating system for human-AI coexistence. Peer is currently rolling out its first phase and will expand into AI agents, immersive worldbuilding, and custom hardware.
BaaS Griffin is creating an agentic bank enabling an MCP server to have agents that can open accounts, make payments, and analyze historic events
Banking-as-a-Service bank Griffin is opening up access to a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, providing a way for AI agents to autonomously perform tasks on behalf of customers. Griffin, which secured a full banking licence in March last year, says the initiative is the beginning of massive technological platform shift, which will see people delegating more and more of their work to AI. “We think there is much further to go…but to get there, the financial system has to be fundamentally rewired to accommodate a world in which agents can freely transact — while still retaining appropriate safeguards.” Potential use cases cited include end-to-end wealth management, payment admin and transactional capabilities. “This is early for us – we’re in beta – but it shows the power of what’s possible,” says the bank. “You can use the Griffin MCP server to have an agent open accounts, make payments, and analyse historic events. You can also use it to build complete prototypes of your own fintech applications on top of the Griffin API – which we’re already seeing customers doing in real time.”
Santander applied for a European cryptocurrency license under the Mica Regulations and may enable retail access to digital assets and stablecoin, crypto offering
Banco Santander is mulling introducing euro and dollar stablecoins, or potentially making a third party coin available to clients, citing sources. This move aligns with broader crypto ambitions, as its digital bank, Openbank, has reportedly applied for a European cryptocurrency license under the Mica Regulations and may enable retail access to digital assets. Should Santander confirm plans to launch a stablecoin, it will be the fourth global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to do so. Santander’s involvement could extend beyond an individual initiative. The bank is a shareholder in The Clearing House, where US banks are exploring the potential to create a joint stablecoin. If a US initiative took that route it could involve nine more G-SIBs including Bank of America, Barclays, BMO, BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan, TD Bank and Wells Fargo.