Good evening!

It’s officially October! Is the air getting cool and crispy where you live, or is it still feeling a lot like like summer?

Here are the 7 things you missed today:

We have an update on the Amazon Prime trial. Amazon is paying a $2.5 billion settlement to the FTC, ending a two-year dispute that claimed the company tricked consumers into signing up for a Prime subscription, then made it difficult to cancel. Per the agreement, Amazon is paying a $1 billion civil penalty and providing $1.5 billion in refunds to roughly 35 million customers affected by Amazon’s ‘shady’ practices. This is the largest civil penalty in a case involving an FTC rule violation. (CNN)

Across industries, marketing teams & leadership are jumping on the video trend - did you know consumers retain 90% more information when it's presented in a video vs. text?

Last week, I met with the Founder of Spacebar Visuals to see how they have helped 75+ B2B companies produce explainer videos, product demos, customer testimonials, and more to boost leads and retention.

Together, we created a special Q4 package for CEO Report readers that includes:

✅ Done-for-you video content (explainers, demos, testimonials)

✅ Gated content to capture leads

✅ Social media copy + email campaigns

Book a call this week and you’ll also get an Oura Ring. Only five spots are being opened in October — claim yours now! →

Payroll and HR software company Gusto acquired Guideline, a startup offering retirement plans to small and medium businesses, for $600 million. Since its founding in 2015, Guideline has raised $340 million and was last valued at $1.15 billion in 2021. Gusto plans on selling off Guideline’s accounts that are associated with rival payroll companies. (Tech Crunch)

Like something out of a Black Mirror episode, OpenAI’s new social media app Sora already contains video after video of incredibly realistic, AI-generated versions of CEO Sam Altman. In these videos, creators are setting Altman in places like Target or McDonald’s, or with popular characters like Pokémon, to send a clear message of how blatantly OpenAI is disregarding copyright law. I guess it’s a good thing the app is invite-only for now. (Tech Crunch)

After almost two decades, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that he’s stepping down and transitioning into a hands-on executive chairman role. He’s being replaced by two new CEOs,  current Chief Product and Technology Officer Gustav Söderström and Chief Business Officer Alex Norström. The music platform is hoping that having two leaders at the helm will help them effectively navigate an industry full of AI concerns and slowing user growth. (Morning Brew)

“Tilly Norwood” is an AI-generated “actress” that looks like a young woman with clear skin and brown hair. She was created by Eline Van Der Velden, the founder of an AI startup that creates digital content for films and TV. But Tilly sparked a ton of criticism when talent agents were looking to sign it (her?), with big names like Sophie Turner and Ralph Ineson publicly sharing their disdain towards the project. Van Der Velden insisted that Norwood is not meant to replace human actors, but Hollywood isn’t convinced. (CNN)

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