UK & Ireland MD Caroline Orange-Northey speaks to The Media Leader about how Pinterest’s recent layoffs are being conducted to ‘future-proof’ the business, and how the platform is looking to innovate its AI and commercial offerings. 

The UK’s data protection regulator has launched an investigation into X and xAI over Grok’s creation and circulation of sexualised content.

The board features the likes of Google, Meta, WPP, TikTok and Mail Metro Media and signals a push to address digital measurement challenges.

The Media Leader and the PPA Magnetic convened senior publishing leaders, agency planners and strategists at our London head office at a roundtable discussion to discuss how trusted editorial and human connections translate into outcomes.

In response to widespread backlash against xAI’s chatbot Grok creating and disseminating nude and lewd images of people on X, the platform has said it has “implemented technological measures” aimed at preventing users from utilising Grok to “[edit] images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis”. Whether the changes are effective is another matter.

Marketing leaders Richard Brooke (Unilever), Simon Patilinet (PepsiCo), and Alison Keith (ex-Kraft Heinz) spoke to Justin Lebbon at the Future of TV Advertising Global about how they consider TV in an era of increased spend with platforms.

Even as xAI chatbot Grok continues to create and post nude images and CSAM, advertisers seeking to leave the platform could find themselves in a political and legal bind with Elon Musk and the Trump administration.

Welcome to The Brief for Friday 19 December, The Media Leader’s round-up of media news.

Welcome to The Brief for Thursday 18 December, The Media Leader’s round-up of media news.

From hard-hitting investigations of social media safety to thought-provoking op-eds on sustainability and the industry’s flagship events, The Media Leader’s coverage in 2025 sparked important conversations across the industry.