The Brief – Thursday 2 April: Future’s traffic decline, Snap’s activist investor, OpenAI’s funding round

📉 Shares of Future have plunged 34% in the past week after the publisher warned changes to Google’s search algorithm and the development of AI search have led to a 20% decline in audience in the first half of its financial year to 31 March 2026. (Press Gazette)

👻 Snap activist investor Irenic Capital Management sent a letter to CEO Evan Spiegel outlining desired changes to the company’s business model. The recommendations included shutting down or spinning off smart glasses unit Specs and laying off 1,000 employees (21% of the workforce) and replacing them with AI. (CNBC)

📉 The Spectator reported a pre-tax loss of £6.6m in 2024, the year the title was bought by GB News investor and hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall. Costs associated with the sale process pushed the publisher into the red in both 2023 and 2024 after it was profitable in 2022. (Press Gazette)

🤖 The New York Times has cut ties with a freelance journalist after he admitted he used AI to help write a book review that used similar copy as an earlier review of the same book in The Guardian. The journalist, Alex Preston, has said he is “hugely embarrassed” and “made a serious mistake.” (The Guardian)

📰 According to the latest Pamco data, UK news brands collectively reach 24.5m consumers daily. Total magazines, meanwhile, reach 7.9m consumers daily. (Pamco)

💰 OpenAI closed a new funding round totalling $122bn in committed capital that values the AI company at $852bn. Investors included SoftBank, Andreessen Horowitz and DE Shaw Ventures. (CNBC)

🎙️ A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump’s executive order barring federal funding of NPR and PBS was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. However, the ruling is likely to have minimal effect as, two months after the executive order, Congress independently voted to claw back $500m in annual funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which distributes federal funding to the media outlets. Both NPR and PBS have sought alternative forms of revenue. (New York Times)

📞 Senior business leaders attended a “growth hack” event in support of industry charity Nabs last week. Attendees responded to a live brief focused on shaping the charity’s future growth strategy amid rising demand for its services. The event was organised by consultancy As The Crow Flies and supported by sponsors DNA Recruit, Spotify and Pinterest. (Nabs)