September 4, 2026  |  SIGN UP

Jim Cooper
DIGIDAY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Despite all the hyperventilating and handwringing about hallucination and brand safety, most companies are ploughing ahead with AI implementation without usage policies.

This, of course, includes bottom line guardrails. Brand marketing leaders specifically are less likely to place token usage controls on their team’s AI rollouts and daily activity, according to an April survey of 1,300 senior execs conducted by Gartner. The consultancy estimates that 60% of organizations using AI will face AI-based cost overages due to an absence of cost of compute tracking.

As we reported this week, some of the agencies at the forefront of AI agent development, see below, are attempting to get ahead of that problem with variety of new tracking and auditing tools.

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THE BUSINESS OF AI

Media agencies build audit tools to prevent AI agents from overcharging

As agentic tools developed to aid audience targeting, campaign set-up or media execution proliferate, some agencies are beginning to build tracking or auditing tools. The hope is that they'll allow staffers to check that AI tools aren’t hallucinating or burning through tokens.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Future of Marketing: Brands want creators who can win over humans and machines at once

Two things drive creator spending now. Whether they move audiences and whether they move algorithms inside AI platforms. The second piece is moving fast enough that marketers are already building it into briefs, even though it hasn’t touched pricing yet.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM CONTENTFUL

While AI helps marketers change how work gets done, it’s not changing who does it yet

Only 18% of CMOs say AI has reduced their reliance on developers or data teams, despite its core promise to free up the modern marketer. The focus is on improving workflows while maintaining the human component of creatives.

THE CREATOR ECONOMY

Why brands are turning to older creators for authenticity AI can’t fake

Elder millennial and Gen X creators bring mortgages, burnout, parenting, health scares, and mid-career pivots into their feeds: real-life problems that are hard to fake and increasingly valuable to brands looking for credibility with older, higher-spending audiences. 

A MESSAGE FROM DMEXCO

The biggest names in digital business meet at DMEXCO

Join thousands of decision-makers, brands and innovators at DMEXCO 2026 on Sept. 23-24 in Cologne, Germany. Attend 11 summit meetings, including the CMO Summit and Thought Leaders’ Summit, which will explore the biggest topics in marketing, commerce, media and technology.

Get a ticket

PUBLISHING IN THE PLATFORM ERA

5 questions facing advertisers, publishers and creators heading into fall

A lot can happen in a few months. A few months ago, NBCUniversal was secure within Comcast, LiveRamp was an independent ad tech company, Hank Green was unbesmirched, and publishers’ complaints about Google were simply that. Then this summer happened.

MARKETING ON PLATFORMS

ICYMI: OpenAI’s ChatGPT ads business hits $1 billion run rate as Europe gets self-serve access

The milestone comes as OpenAI pushes into Europe with the next stage of its rollout of ads in the ChatGPT app. They were launched across 31 markets there earlier this month, available through select agency partners early.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM ADOBE

Connected data changes how marketing and sales teams work  

When data is connected, teams can identify high-value opportunities sooner, prioritize accounts with greater confidence and personalize messaging based on buyer context.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM NEXXEN