Super Bowl AI ads, pharma research & more (February 9, 2026)

Good morning,

AI showed up everywhere this week, from Super Bowl ads and pharma labs to data center politics and crypto branding. Regulators are pushing back while investors keep writing big checks. The signal is clear, AI is now a mainstream business and policy issue.

Let’s dive in 👇

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🏈 Media, Markets & AI

📺 Super Bowl 2026 ads lean hard into AI

Super Bowl 2026 ads embrace the AI narrative as brands position artificial intelligence as familiar, helpful, and consumer friendly rather than futuristic or scary. The ads frame AI as a productivity layer across entertainment, finance, and everyday decisions. This signals a shift where AI is no longer novelty tech but a mainstream marketing pillar.

💬 Meta hit with EU antitrust over WhatsApp AI

Meta faces EU antitrust charges tied to restrictions placed on third party AI services inside WhatsApp. Regulators argue Meta is using platform control to unfairly limit AI competition. The case could shape how AI assistants are allowed to integrate inside dominant consumer platforms.

🌐 Crypto.com drops $70M on AI.com domain

Crypto.com places $70M bet on the AI.com domain ahead of the Super Bowl to cement its brand alongside artificial intelligence. The move reflects how valuable AI aligned branding has become in consumer tech. Premium domains are now strategic assets in the AI arms race.

🧠 Science, Chips & Infrastructure

🧬 Takeda expands AI driven drug discovery

Takeda deepens AI drug discovery efforts through new partnerships and internal tooling. The company is using AI to accelerate target identification and clinical trial design. Pharma continues to treat AI as a core R&D multiplier, not an experiment.

🧮 Benchmark raises $225M to back Cerebras

Benchmark raises $225M in special funds to double down on Cerebras and custom AI compute. The bet highlights investor confidence in alternatives to Nvidia dominated GPU stacks. Specialized silicon for large scale AI workloads is becoming a serious venture category.

🏗️ New York proposes pause on new data centers

New York lawmakers propose a three year pause on new data centers over energy and environmental concerns. AI infrastructure growth is now colliding with local politics. Expect more regulation as compute demand strains power grids.

🛠️ Tools of the Day

→ SuperX – AI workspace for summarizing & researching long form content.
→ Dropstone – Visual AI builder for automations and internal tools without code.
→ Rivva – AI powered news intelligence for tracking trends and narratives in real time.

⚡ Quick Hits

→ Israel debates AI policy, defense and national strategy implications.
→ AI washing fears grow as job losses get blamed on automation.
→ AI stethoscope doubles detection rates for heart issues.
→ Ethereum adds ERC standard for AI agent identity.

🧠 TLDR

AI is now fully embedded in consumer marketing, enterprise strategy, and national policy debates. Big money is flowing into chips, domains, and drug discovery while regulators push back on platform control and infrastructure growth. The gap between AI hype and real world impact is closing fast. This is what normalization looks like.

Cheers,
David