Dentsu’s generative AI deal with Amazon opens access to two key platforms

Dentsu has struck a deal with Amazon Web Services that will bring more generative AI tools into the holding company’s growing technology arsenal. Two key platforms developed by AWS will now be accessible to Dentsu employees, for both client-facing and internal operations. Bedrock is a hub of AI models sourced from numerous providers, including Meta, Anthropic and Stability AI. Integrated through a single application programming interface (API), the service will immediately offer Dentsu more options to train task-specific bots, known as agents, as well as develop applications for brands. The second platform is SageMaker, a kind of sandbox for building from scratch and testing machine learning models. The work performed inside of SageMaker can be highly experimental, which means Dentsu’s data scientists will likely get first access before their developments trickle down to other areas of the business. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Bedrock and SageMaker join a growing inventory of AI tools compiled by Dentsu over the last eight months. In June of 2023, the holding company struck a deal with Microsoft that enabled access to Azure OpenAI, a suite of AI models that includes OpenAI’s GPT-4, which powers its popular ChatGPT platform. At least one proprietary tool has come out of this tie-up: Merkle GenCX, which uses generative AI to enhance customer experience management for Dentsu clients. Dentsu has also forged partnerships with Google for access to its Duet and Vortex platforms and Salesforce for access to its Einstein GPT service. These collective capabilities are being used by more than 5,000 Dentsu employees focused on AI, per a press statement. The holding company is also one of a growing number of advertising organizations to maintain an AI steering group, which behaves similarly to a think tank. Along these lines, Dentsu is just one player in an all-out blitz for AI taking place in the ad industry. Major agencies, from WPP to Omnicom to Stagwell, are experimenting with generative AI in particular. Publicis recently used the technology to create personalized videos for its 100,000 employees. Tool, a creative production company, just launched a service for brands aimed at creating ad-ready media assets. Providers such as Amazon are developing new AI services to meet advertisers’ growing demand. In December, Amazon unveiled a suite of tools for enterprise-specific work, including a chatbot and an image generator. The tech and e-commerce giant is hoping to stand out from competitors by emphasizing the security of its platform, which Dentsu cited in a press statement as a primary reason for striking a partnership. As AI hype continues into 2024, concerns around the technology are also mounting. The Biden administration last fall issued an executive order to address some of these issues. Yet troubling offshoots such as deep fakes remain difficult to stamp out. A deepfake of Taylor Swift shilling Le Creuset cookware made the rounds earlier this month. President Biden himself was the most recent target of an AI-generated impostor, which tried to trick Democratic residents of New Hampshire into not voting in their state’s primary election.

Dentsu’s generative AI deal with Amazon opens access to two key platforms

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