by Raphael Dudler | May 24, 2026 | gafam watch
The week of May 18–24, 2026 will be remembered as the moment AI stopped being a tool that answers questions and became a system that takes action — specifically, commercial action. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol signed Meta, Microsoft, Stripe, Klarna and Affirm as partners for end-to-end agentic checkout. Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping buys at third-party retailers. Microsoft’s Copilot executes tasks across enterprise workflows. And Zuckerberg admitted most AI agents aren’t ready for his mother. gafam.ai’s Sunday analysis of the week that changed AI commerce forever.
by Raphael Dudler | May 23, 2026 | microsoft ai
Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI and built Copilot on GPT models. Now it is building its own. The MAI Superintelligence team — led by Mustafa Suleyman — has released MAI-Transcribe-1, MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-Image-2, all priced below Google and OpenAI equivalents. Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing changes July 1, 2026. Global AI adoption reaches 17.8% of working age population. Microsoft is not reducing its OpenAI relationship. It is building an exit ramp — quietly, deliberately, and faster than anyone expected.
by Raphael Dudler | May 22, 2026 | europe & ai
The EU AI Omnibus deal of May 7 delayed high-risk AI compliance to December 2027. But Brussels has not slowed down. On May 8, the Commission opened consultation on AI transparency obligations. On May 19, it sought feedback on high-risk AI classification guidelines. Italy has already passed its own national AI law. Ireland has established a national AI office. The EU AI Act is not waiting for 2027 — it is being built right now, one guideline at a time. gafam.ai explains what changed, what is coming, and what every GAFAM company operating in Europe must do today.
by Raphael Dudler | May 22, 2026 | apple ai
Apple has confirmed WWDC 2026 runs June 8–12 at Apple Park in Cupertino. The keynote begins at 10am PT — 19:00 CET. The most anticipated announcement: a complete Siri overhaul internally codenamed Campos, reimagining Apple’s voice assistant as a genuine AI chatbot. Apple will reportedly pay Google $1 billion annually for a custom 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini model to power it. iOS 27, the Extensions framework for third-party AI and possibly the foldable iPhone are all expected. WWDC 2026 is Apple’s make-or-break moment in the AI era. gafam.ai will be watching live.
by Raphael Dudler | May 21, 2026 | gafam watch
OpenAI has introduced a self-serve Ads Manager platform that allows advertisers to create, manage and optimise campaigns directly inside ChatGPT. The rollout targets $2.5 billion in ad revenue in 2026 and $100 billion annually by 2030 — a direct assault on Google and Meta’s combined $400 billion advertising business. The platform integrates with Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis, WPP, Adobe and Criteo. This is the most significant threat to GAFAM’s advertising dominance since the smartphone era.
