To ink a deal with actor and activist Sophia Bush, brands must tick all the right boxes.

“It’s an exhaustive list,” she told us. “I drive my team crazy. I say no to a lot of things that they do not want me to say no to.”

The One Tree Hill and Good Sam actor has long been vocal about causes she supports, ranging from abortion rights to civic engagement. Her activism informs how she approaches brand deals: According to Bush, brand partners—which have ranged from Mejuri to 3M—are subject to “intense diligence.”

“When people can pass that diligence, it’s super exciting,” she said. “I want to champion those people. I want to encourage them, and if I’m not working with them, I want my friends to work with them.”

In 2020, Bush became an investor in the newly founded Angel City FC women’s soccer team. Around that time, Bush said she spoke with a Diageo exec who wanted to get Johnnie Walker whiskey involved with the new team.

Bush’s work with Johnnie Walker, she said, has been part of an ongoing effort to “disrupt the way that corporate money can affect culture.” We spoke with her about that mission and the results that have stemmed from her work with Johnnie Walker.

Read what she had to say here.—KH

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Several tech companies reported their quarterly earnings yesterday, some of which indicated the recently sluggish ad market might be gaining steam.

Step back: As companies grapple with recession and inflation concerns, some have pulled back their marketing budgets. It’s had an impact on platforms like Meta and Google, both of which have reported quarterly revenue declines over the past year at various points.

Looking up? This week, Google said its ad revenue grew 3% year over year in Q2, following two straight quarters of declines. YouTube in particular stood out: Beating declines that have persisted for three quarters, the video platform’s ad revenue grew 4% year over year.

• Meta, meanwhile, “reported double-digit revenue growth for the first time” since Q4 of 2021, per CNBC. The company saw its revenue grow in Q1 as well, following three consecutive declines.
• Microsoft reported record profits and growth in Q2. Its search and news advertising revenue was up 8%, while revenue from LinkedIn grew 5%.
• Snap didn’t fare as well: Its revenue was down 4% year over year, marking a downturn for the second quarter in a row. On its earnings call, Snap’s CFO emphasized that the platform has seen higher advertiser retention, citing a 20% increase in “active advertisers” year over year.

What’s next: Recent forecasts from Dentsu and Magna expect global ad spend to grow this year, albeit at a slower pace than previously expected. Time will tell what actually happens.—MS

The US and Europe might be far apart when it comes to how and when to regulate artificial intelligence, but according to new data from Morning Consult, consumer sentiment in both regions is more or less aligned.

Surveys conducted in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK in June and July highlighted consumer apprehension: Only 32% of US consumers and between 26% and 35% of European consumers said they believed AI technologies could be “easily controlled,” and similar numbers said they believed AI would be developed “responsibly.”

At the same time, 52% of US consumers and 41%–61% of surveyed European consumers said “AI is the future of technology.”

Regulatory efforts are popular with a majority of consumers: 55% of US consumers and 58% to 66% of European consumers supported “heavy government regulation of AI development.”

Morning Consult lead tech analyst Jordan Marlatt said the alignment between the two regions on government regulation is one of the most interesting takeaways from the data.

Continue reading on Tech Brew.—MA

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