Here’s a new episode of The Reddy Rundown, crafted so you don’t have to frantically follow everything in the AI news space wondering what you are missing as an exec in 2025 trying to keep up.

I’m Shawn Reddy, CEO of AI Advantage. At my core, I’m a marketing architect. My lens is simple: systems win. In this AI era, the tools we choose aren’t sidekicks—they’re the actual infrastructure that drives growth.

This week’s AI news wasn’t just noise. It was a reality check on how quickly AI is reshaping the marketing playbook—from scrappy local businesses to global platforms.

AI Avatars Outselling Real People in China

China just proved what happens when you treat sales as a system instead of a shift schedule. “Virtual humans” are running livestream shops 24/7, scripting themselves with Baidu and DeepSeek, and driving 30% higher sales.

From a marketing architecture perspective, this is huge. The bottleneck in livestream commerce has always been human endurance. AI doesn’t sleep, doesn’t get bored, and doesn’t go off-message. But here’s the catch: the moment customers feel they’re talking to a machine, trust cracks.

My take: AI avatars will work as a frontline conversion layer—but brands that don’t design for authenticity signals will bleed long-term trust.

A Tamale Shop Goes Viral With AI + Storytelling

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, a family-owned tamale shop used ChatGPT to script a video that pulled 22 million views. AI gave them speed, but it was human instinct that gave it flavor.

This is the exact blueprint I keep telling execs: AI won’t make you go viral. AI plus human creativity, applied to the right trend, will.

My take: Don’t over-engineer virality. Use AI to accelerate the “grunt work” of scripting and editing, then inject brand personality where it matters.

Salesforce Hits a Wall With AI Agents

Salesforce’s Agentforce should have been a slam dunk, but adoption is sluggish. Why? Executives are burnt out from too many AI pitches, unclear ROI, and confusing pricing.

My take: If enterprise leaders are feeling fatigue, it means your AI system needs one thing above all: clarity of outcome. A feature list won’t win deals. A simple, provable metric will.

The Influencer Battle: Cheap vs. Trusted

AI influencers are half the cost of human ones—but more than half of young users say they don’t trust them.

My take: This is where brands have to pick their lane. If you want scale and efficiency, virtual personas will give it to you. If you want cultural resonance, a real human is still your best bet. The smartest play is a hybrid strategy—AI for consistency, humans for trust.

Baidu’s Advertising Decline = Signal for Everyone

Baidu’s ad revenue just slipped 15%. What kept them afloat? AI services. They’re doubling down on Ernie 5.0 and “reasoning AI.”

My take: The ad market is volatile. What’s steady is AI infrastructure. Every brand right now should be asking: am I still relying on old ad spend, or am I building an AI-first ecosystem that compounds?

Tools I’m Tracking This Week

• PLTFRM’s AI Livestream Avatars (WIRED) – Imagine deploying this tech not just in e-commerce, but in webinar funnels or customer onboarding flows.

• ChatGPT for Viral Scriptwriting (Business Insider) – Use AI to test dozens of angles fast, then refine the best one for your campaign.

• Agentforce by Salesforce (Barron’s) – A cautionary tale. If you’re evaluating AI CRMs, look past features and focus on adoption friction.

• AI Influencers (Reuters) – Run the numbers. If cost per impression drops but trust erosion rises, what’s the real ROI?

• Baidu’s Ernie 5.0 (WSJ) – Worth watching. If their “reasoning AI” delivers, it could open new creative ad formats beyond keyword-driven campaigns.

Bottom Line

The signal this week is clear: AI isn’t a gimmick anymore—it’s becoming the operating system of marketing. The companies who win won’t just bolt AI onto their campaigns. They’ll build systems where AI is the backbone, and human creativity is the differentiator.

Looking for a community of like-minded individuals who are interested in AI and Entrepreneurship? Join our free community here to get started: The AI Advantage Community Thank you for reading! -Shawn