Current and former members of the FDA told CNN about issues with the Elsa generative AI tool unveiled by the federal agency last month. Three employees said that in practice, Elsa has hallucinated nonexistent studies or misrepresented real research. "Anything that you don't have time to double-check is unreliable," one source told the publication. "It hallucinates confidently." Which isn't exactly ideal for a tool that's supposed to be speeding up the clinical review process and aiding with making efficient, informed decisions to benefit patients.

Leadership at the FDA appeared unfazed by the potential problems posed by Elsa. "I have not heard those specific concerns," FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told CNN. He also emphasized that using Elsa and participating in the training to use it are currently voluntary at the agency.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told Engadget that "the information provided by FDA to CNN was mischaracterized and taken out of context." The spokesperson also claimed that CNN led its story with "disgruntled former employees and sources who have never even used the current version of Elsa." The agency claims to have guardrails and guidance for how its employees can use the tool, but its statement doesn’t address that Elsa, like any AI platform, can and will deliver incorrect or incomplete information at times. We have not yet received a response to our request for additional details.

The CNN investigation highlighting these flaws with the FDA's artificial intelligence arrived on the same day as the White House introduced an "AI Action Plan." The program presented AI development as a technological arms race that the US should win at all costs, and it laid out plans to remove "red tape and onerous regulation" in the sector. It also demanded that AI be free of "ideological bias," or in other words, only following the biases of the current administration by removing mentions of climate change, misinformation, and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Considering each of those three topics has a documented impact on public health, the ability of tools like Elsa to provide genuine benefits to both the FDA and to US patients looks increasingly doubtful.

Update, July 24, 2025, 6:35PM ET: Added a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services.

At the start of the year, President Trump announced his AI Action Plan, an initiative he said would eventually enact policy that would "enhance America's position as an AI powerhouse." Now, after months of consultation with industry players like Google and OpenAI, the administration has finally shared the specific actions it plans to take.   

Notably, the framework seeks to limit state regulation of AI companies by instructing the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and other federal agencies to consider a state's existing AI laws before awarding AI-related funding. "The Federal government should not allow AI-related Federal funding to be directed to those states with burdensome AI regulations that waste these funds," the document states. As you may recall, Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" was supposed to include a 10-year qualified moratorium on state AI regulation before that amendment was ultimately removed in a 99-1 vote by the US Senate.

Elsewhere, the AI Action Plan targets AI systems the White House says promote "social engineering agendas." To that end, Trump plans to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology, through the Department of Commerce, to revise its AI Risk Management Framework to remove any mentions of "misinformation, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and climate change." Furthermore, he's calling for an update to the federal government's procurement guidelines to ensure the government only contracts model providers that can definitively say their AI systems are "free from top-down ideological bias." Just how companies like OpenAI, Google and others are expected to do this is unclear from the document. 

Separately, Trump says he plans to remove regulatory hurdles that slow the construction of AI data centers. "America's environmental permitting system and other regulations make it almost impossible to build this infrastructure in the United States with the speed that is required," the document states. Specifically, the president plans to make federal lands available for the construction of data centers and power generation facilities. Under the Action Plan, the federal government will also expand efforts to use AI to carry out environmental reviews.    

The president plans to sign a handful of executive orders today to start the wheels turning on his action plan. Trump began his second term by rescinding President Biden's October 2023 AI guidelines. Biden's executive order outlined a plan to establish protections for the general public with regard to artificial intelligence. Specifically, the EO sought new standards for safety and security in addition to protocols for AI watermarking and both civil rights and consumer protections.

• Cindy Rose, a Microsoft executive, will become WPP's new chief executive in September.
• Insiders see Rose's tech background and board experience at WPP as assets for the role.
• WPP issued a profit warning this week, and the ad industry is beset with problems.

As advertising giants try to shed their analog roots, WPP has raided one of the world's biggest tech giants to find its next leader.

The UK-based ad giant on Thursday announced that Microsoft executive Cindy Rose, 59, will succeed Mark Read as chief executive on September 1.

Insiders and shareholders told Business Insider they were hopeful Rose would steady the ship after a rocky period.

The appointment was announced the day after WPP had issued a surprise profit warning on Wednesday, saying cautious clients were spending less and less keen on pitches.

Three company insiders expressed relief to BI that the CEO search was over just a month after Read announced in June he would exit the company after 30 years. WPP said it considered both internal and external candidates. Rose was a surprise appointment to most observers BI spoke to and wasn't on their lists of probable candidates.

One WPP insider said they were "very optimistic" about the hire, adding Rose was both a fresh face and knowledgeable about WPP, having sat on its board since 2019.

American-born Rose is a former lawyer who switched to corporate roles, worked a long stint at Disney before joining Microsoft, where she is chief operating officer for global enterprise. She is a dual UK-US citizen and will split her time between both countries, which the insider said was another plus for a company listed on both US and UK stock markets.

Her tech background would put her in good standing to lead WPP to capitalize on the newer and more profitable parts of its offering to clients, the insider added.

"She doesn't come from a 'media' or 'creative' background, so won't see the company through that lens either," the WPP insider said.

WPP chair Philip Jansen praised Rose's experience building "enduring client relationships," having led multi-billion-dollar operations. At Microsoft, she's helped large enterprises harness AI.

Jansen said in a statement her expertise would be "hugely valuable to WPP as the industry navigates fundamental changes and macroeconomic uncertainty."

A US to UK import

Rose studied at Columbia University and New York Law School before relocating to the UK.

She worked at the Allen & Overy law firm in London and later joined Disney as legal counsel for Europe.

Ian Twinn, former director of public affairs for UK advertising trade body ISBA, told BI that Rose's legal background would help her navigate the PR highs and lows of running a large public company.

"In terms of being a public affairs guy, you do rely on people with a good legal background — it makes a big difference," said Twinn, who briefly interacted with Rose while she was at Disney. "She was very receptive and very focused."

Just after the turn of the millennium, Rose became Disney's UK managing director, leading thousands of employees across film, TV, and retail, and launching huge movies like "Finding Nemo" in the market.

Andy Bird, former chairman of Walt Disney International, told BI that Rose's experience as a custodian of several different brands in her time at Disney positions her well for understanding the needs of WPP's marketer clients.

"How you stay relevant to consumers is going to be very important to WPP moving forward," Bird said.

Rose was senior vice president of Disney's Europe, Middle East, and Africa interactive media group when she left after nine years to take senior leadership roles at UK telecommunications companies Virgin Media and Vodafone.

In 2016, Rose became chief executive of Microsoft UK. Joshua Graff recalls first meeting Rose at this time, when he was UK country manager at LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired in December of that year. They worked together at Microsoft for almost 10 years.

Graff described Rose as "direct, empathetic" and "super funny," with an ability to create energy in the teams around her.

"No doubt she will be a talent magnet for WPP," Graff told BI.

Read previously credited Rose with putting Microsoft on the map among UK business leaders and politicians. She also championed diversity, both within Microsoft and in encouraging people from different backgrounds to take up careers in tech. She will be the first woman to be chief executive of a global advertising holding company.

Bringing a touch of Microsoft to WPP

The American-accented Rose was made an Officer of the British Empire, an honor conferred by the UK government, and received it from Queen Elizabeth in 2019. Rose was promoted to become president of Microsoft in Western Europe during the pandemic and rose to her most recent position in 2023. In this role, she was responsible for helping huge blue-chip businesses understand and use technologies like AI to transform their businesses.

WPP, too, is attempting to retool its business as it looks to pick up more lucrative work than simply creating and placing ads. It's investing hundreds of millions annually in AI and other technologies as it hopes to win lucrative contracts in areas like customer-relationship management and digital transformation, areas where Rose has firsthand experience.

Matt Atkinson, former chief customer officer of The Co-Op, worked closely with Rose as the grocer transformed its tech stack, from data infrastructure to the in-store customer experience. It was a big, competitive process, and Microsoft won the pitch, beating out Snowflake, among others.

"She had created an environment where we were able to creatively and technologically collaborate for mutual benefit," Atkinson told BI.

He added she had the "technology chops, emotional intelligence, and a way of being," which made her a good choice to run WPP.

A peacemaker

Rose will join as the ad industry faces a reckoning. Economic and geopolitical uncertainty is making marketers cautious about taking on big projects and launching new brands. Meanwhile, Big Tech players are increasingly touting AI-powered tools that can create entire ad campaigns and lure eyeballs away from the sites that host the ads agencies make.

With WPP's share price hovering at lows not seen since 2009, investors will look for signs Rose is ready to make big swings to attract new business. Insiders are hoping she will boost morale after a series of restructures, layoffs, and the institution of a strict return-to-office policy that has rattled many in the internal ranks.

Claire Enders, founder of media and telecommunications research company Enders Analysis, said Rose "epitomizes the reasons women have increasingly succeeded to these roles."

"She's a peacemaker, she's very non-confrontational, very thoughtful, and she works very well in very large organizations," Enders added.

• AI and sports were hot topics du jour at the ad industry's annual confab, Cannes Lions, this week.
• The bustling streets suggested AI isn't decimating the ad industry yet.
• Brand safety was the elephant in the room.

The scorching hot sun is setting on advertising's annual shindig in the south of France, Cannes Lions, for another year.

At the sprawling event, there was a level of thematic whiplash. In the span of an hour on the main stage in the Palais you go from hearing about the creation of the iconic Snickers "You're not you when you're hungry" campaign to hearing a speech from human-rights activist Sonita Alizadeh on the humanitarian crisis of child brides in Iran and Afghanistan.

There was also a whole lot of partying. Spotify's beach concert stage hosted rapper Cardi B and indie rockers Royel Otis. Diplo was spinning the decks for Yahoo. Talent agency UTA's annual VIP "dinner" at the luxury Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc had no sit-down meal but instead a punchy set from comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.

Business Insider was on the ground — and occasionally the yachts — to get the inside look on the big topics that are top of mind in an industry undergoing seismic changes. Here were the key themes.

The AI of it all

If the advertising industry is losing people to artificial intelligence, it certainly didn't look like it at Cannes this week. The streets were bursting with lanyard-wearing, hungover Lions attendees trying to figure out which opulent branded beach setup their next meeting was located. Still, AI was the talk of the town.

With AI spinning up thousands of ads cheaply and in seconds, the business model of billing clients for time is under threat. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ruffled feathers ahead of Cannes when he said AI will essentially automate the ad business.

"You tell us what your objective is, you connect to your bank account, you don't need any creative, you don't need any targeting demographic, you don't need any measurement, except to be able to read the results that we spit out," he said in a May interview with the tech newsletter Stratechery. (Is that the sound of Don Draper dropping his glass of rosé, we hear in the distance?!)

In an interview with BI, Meta's chief marketing officer, Alex Schultz, said his boss was talking about small businesses, not Fortune 500 brands.

"I don't see myself fully automating my ad campaigns and not using my agency at any point," Schultz said.

(Donny D! Come back, you're safe!)

For all the promises of AI, advertising still appears to be a people business. Cannes showed people in the ad industry believe that relationships matter. It's how attendees convince the finance department back home that the $5,000 festival pass, flights, Airbnb, meals, and a 2 a.m. expense receipt for a Jéroboam of Rosé at the Carlton Hotel was all worth it.

Marketers are racing to sports

If you haven't got an F1 sponsorship deal, are you even a CMO in 2025?

Sports was a pervasive theme at Cannes Lions this year, and athletes were out in force. Take a stroll down the famous — and exceptionally hot — Croisette promenade, and you had a good chance of bumping into tennis champ Serena Williams, McLaren Racing driver Oscar Piastri, or Kansas City Chiefs tight end — and Taylor Swift beau — Travis Kelce. Advertising company Stagwell's "Sport Beach" had some of the longest lines in town, some for the star-studded panels, others for the bragging rights of trouncing a colleague at pickleball. (Disclosure: BI hosted an event on Sport Beach, too.)

With traditional, or linear, TV viewing in decline, sports is one of the last destinations where marketers can guarantee getting their brands in front of large audiences.

"It's a way of being involved right in the moment, live," Michael Lacorazza, CMO US Bank, told BI. US Bank is involved in numerous teams and recently announced its partnership with the Premier Lacrosse League.

It's not just about placing 30-second spots or slapping logos on jerseys. Marketers talked up how they're enhancing the live experience in stadiums while people are in a joyful mood. Uber Advertising was pitching clients using a case study from beauty brand La Mer, which sponsored rides to and from the Miami F1 Grand Prix, stuffed with skincare goodies.

F1 is having a moment. According to the research firm Ampere Analysis, sponsorship spending on F1 and its teams is expected to reach $2.9 billion this year, up 10% on 2024. With viewership boosted in part by the popular Netflix series "Drive to Survive," brands and media partnerships are helping extend its reach beyond the race track.

"Seeing the new fans come into the sport, we needed to show up in their worlds and be meaningful in their worlds," Louise McEwan, chief marketing officer of the McLaren Racing F1 team, told BI. "Only one percent of fans ever go to the track in their lifetime."

Putting consumers in charge

The power of the consumer is stronger than ever.

At the Tubi cabana at Cannes, we spoke with its chief marketing officer, Nicole Parlapiano, who shared how the streaming platform is super-flexible in how it's marketing its titles. Streamers like Tubi can't easily test shows and movies before they acquire them, so they relentlessly monitor social chatter to determine how much and where to market a show, Parlapiano said.

Daniel Lawrence Taylor's hit show "Boarders" got a billboard in New York City's Times Square. And that's down to Parlapiano's team being flexible, pouring extra marketing dollars into "Boarders" after seeing the social media reaction, she said.

Laurie Lam, chief brand officer of E.l.f Beauty, said at a BI event that its product pipeline is often driven by what consumers are saying on social media.

"They're telling us exactly what they want and we're then putting it into the market for them," Lam said.

"And they're not polite about it, by the way," she added. "It used to be like, 'Hey, I would really love it if you can make this primer.' Now it's like, 'Make that primer now. Where is my primer?'"

Brand safety becomes a brand risk

Amid all the talk of AI supercharging creativity, and humanity being the ad industry's "super power," there was a big topic execs on the Croisette went super out of their way to avoid.

People noticeably squirmed as we asked questions about the current debate around brand safety — a catch-all industry term to describe how advertisers avoid platforms and media that don't align with their brand. A few years ago, you couldn't move for panels on the topic at Cannes, with speakers calling on big platforms to do more to protect brands. This year, with the US government questioning the propriety of those decisions? Crickets.

Barely anyone at Cannes wanted to discuss this enormous elephant in the room. Even the term "brand safety" has become a kind of Voldemort, "He who should not be named" word. One exec told us that the industry is more comfortable talking about "brand assurance" instead, whatever that really means in practice.

Perhaps nobody wants a target on their back. The turnabout shows how Cannes Lions holds a telling mirror into the industry, where sometimes what's not being talked about can also speak volumes.