Axios

🇫🇷 ICYMI: Axios hosted four days of events at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity spotlighting trends shaping audience attention, brand-building, the influencer economy, AI & more. Catch up quick on our biggest takeaways from #AxiosCannes25 👇 1️⃣ Brands that engage authentically with niche-oriented “internet lore” and micro-influencers are finding success in today’s fragmented online media landscape, said TikTok creator Robyn DelMonte and Savage X Fenty CMO Vanessa Wallace. 🛍️ 2️⃣ Sports are winning audience attention, and media companies are clamoring for sports rights that are soaring in value. Two-time Olympian and rugby star Ilona Maher said that fans are connecting to the personality and star power that women athletes bring to the table. 🏅 3️⃣ Business Insider's recent layoffs and changes were “very difficult” but necessary to put the business back on track, CEO Barbara Peng said. ✍ 4️⃣ Publishers face an existential threat in the AI era as search traffic declines and people increasingly rely on AI summaries, according to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince. 🤖 5️⃣ X CEO Linda Yaccarino dismissed a recent The Wall Street Journal report that alleged X pressured advertisers to buy ads and threatened lawsuits if they didn’t. 💰 6️⃣ Creator-led brands and engaged fandoms are cash cows, at least in the case of Paris Hilton and Bravo stars Kyle Cooke & Amanda Batula. ⭐ Watch the full conversations here: https://bit.ly/43Ua8li 📸 Photo credit: Nicolas Gavet on behalf of Axios

🤖 Chief executives are giving employees an AI fright — warning them the new technology could make many workers obsolete, while at the same time urging them to start using it right away.

Knowledge workers get interrupted by various chat, calendar or email pings 275 times over the course of an 8-hour-day, basically every 2 minutes!! So more of us just work all the time in an effort to just get something done. How flexibility has become a curse:

📣 Just released: Our exclusive Communicators Pro report by Eleanor Hawkins explores how top brands leverage passionate fandoms. It features generational insights, case studies like American Express and Formula 1, plus predictions on fandom culture trends. 📩 Become a Communicators Pro member for access. https://lnkd.in/eVW_Y9nq

Congrats to CRO Jacquelyn L. Cameron, who has been named a 2025 Top Women in Media & Ad Tech honoree by AdExchanger!

Dealmakers: Navigating the Post-Deal Dynamic Axios hosts an event looking at navigating the post-deal dynamic

#BREAKING: The Walt Disney Company and NBCUniversal have teamed up to sue Midjourney, claiming copyright infringement. — This is a huge deal. — It's the first legal action that major Hollywood studios have taken against a generative AI company — It suggests #Hollywood will try to focus its copyright fight on platforms over users (meaning the tech firms that distribute stolen IP, not users that may use that IP to make a birthday card or a custom hat) More on Axios: https://lnkd.in/gEx7B9UC

Axios' AI+ NY Summit Axios hosts our second inaugural AI+ NY Summit live from New York City

Congrats to COO Allison Murphy for being named to the Adweek 50 list of 2025! She’s leading Axios through Axios Local’s growth with 34 cities and 2M+ subs, expansion into paid membership programs and AI-driven innovation.

Axios' Lessons from Louisiana: Powering Up to Meet Market Changes Axios hosts an event in Baton Rouge looking at lessons learned in times of economic volatility