The Brief – Thursday 18 June: BBC cuts, Snap’s new Specs, and Pinterest’s new AI assistant

📱 Digital adspend could be cut by £1.3bn as a result of the UK’s social media ban for under-16s, as advertisers turn to streaming services to reach teenagers. (The Guardian)

✂️ In a letter to staff, BBC director-general Matt Brittin said the broadcaster would be making 550 redundancies across its News, Nations and Content divisions, with entire channels and radio networks currently under review. Radio 4’s The World Tonight will be axed. The Corporation is aiming to save £500m over the next three years. (The Telegraph)

😎 Snap has announced its new augmented reality smart glasses, Specs. The glasses are expected to ship this autumn in the UK, US and France, and will cost $2,195 (£1,635). (Snap)

>> Read more: Snap is betting on smart glasses. Should brands?

📌 Pinterest has launched a number of new AI ad tools. These include a Model Context Protocol (MCP) infrastructure layer to connect Pinterest to AI agents; a new Performance+ creative model; Ask Pinterest, a new app for users to explore more conversational and agentic shopping experiences; and Business Assistant, a new AI assistant chatbot in Ads Manager. (Pinterest)

🤖 DoubleVerify has launched a new AI engine, dubbed DV Neura, that makes it possible to query and activate its data via AI agents. Data can now be used in Anthropic’s Claude, with other Ai assistants to follow. (DoubleVerify)

🤖 The News Media Association (NMA) is backing a newly introduced bill in Parliament that aims to crack down on a surge in anonymous bots that are extracting content and data from publisher websites and other digital businesses. The Automated Online Software (Access and Transparency) Bill is backed by Damian Hinds MP and comes as AI bot traffic rose by 300% last year. (NMA)

💸 New research from VCCP has found that years of economic uncertainty, rising living costs and declining confidence in institutions has created “a more independent, resourceful consumer” in Britain. 77% of Brits say they are more careful with money than they were five years ago. (VCCP)