X’s Costly API Hike, Scary AI Scams & the NHL on TikTok
Why this week's biggest stories are really about what you're building on land you don't own.
I’m writing this from Miami, heading to the Emerge conference today, and I’ll be honest, I’m genuinely excited to see how different it feels from a year ago. Last year, AI was the conversation everyone was having in hallways and side rooms. This year, I expect it to be the main stage.
My goal this time around: meet the builders. The founders who are quietly making things with AI that the rest of us won’t hear about for another six months. I’ll report back.
In the meantime, this week’s stories share a thread I keep coming back to: the tools and platforms we rely on are shifting under our feet faster than ever. Let’s get into it.
Platform Updates
X Makes Link Posting Dramatically More Expensive Through API Hike
X has reportedly hiked the cost of posting links through its API by 1,900 percent. That’s not a typo. Third-party scheduling tools and automated distribution services that depend on the platform are now facing a very different math.
💡 Why this matters If you’ve built your distribution strategy around X, this is your wake-up call. Don’t abandon the platform, but think to diversify. Any platform can change the rules overnight. The creators who weather these shifts are the ones who were never too dependent on any single pipe.
AI & Tools
AI Models Get Scary Good at Scamming, Security Experts Warn
Wired reports that AI is now producing phishing attempts and social engineering messages that even security experts find convincing. We’re not talking clunky, obvious spam. We’re talking highly personalized, eerily believable fraud.
💡 Why this matters This one goes beyond your inbox. If your audience trusts you, part of that trust is protecting them. Educating your community about how to spot AI-generated scams — especially ones that might impersonate you or your brand — is now a real part of the job.
Advertising
Ad Agency Giant WPP Restructures Commerce Expertise into Unified Team
WPP, one of the biggest holding companies in advertising, is consolidating its commerce capabilities into a single unit called WPP Commerce. It’s the first move in what they’re calling a two-year turnaround plan.
💡 Why this matters When the biggest players in advertising restructure around commerce, it signals where the money is going. Content that doesn’t connect to a transaction is getting harder to fund. Creators who understand how to build content-to-commerce funnels are going to be in a very different conversation with brand partners than those who don’t.
Social Media
NHL Scores with TikTok to Expand Global Reach
The National Hockey League is making a deliberate push on TikTok to grow internationally particularly in Europe, leaning into rivalry clips and Olympic momentum to hook casual fans and drive up the value of their media rights.
💡 Why this matters If a 100-year-old sports league is learning to speak TikTok to find new fans in new markets, what’s your excuse? The NHL isn’t posting game recaps and hoping for the best. They’re engineering specific emotional moments for specific audiences. There’s a playbook here worth studying, no matter your niche.
AI & Tools
SpaceX’s Multibillion-Dollar AI Play: What It Means for the Future of Tech
SpaceX is reportedly in talks to acquire Cursor, an AI-powered coding tool, in a deal that could be worth $60 billion. A rocket company betting big on AI-assisted software development is a signal worth taking seriously.
💡 Why this matters When companies that have nothing to do with software start acquiring AI tools at this scale, it tells you something: AI is no longer a tech industry story. It’s an every-industry story. For creators, the question isn’t whether AI will touch your work. I already has. The question is whether you’re the one directing it.
🎯 YOUR EDGE THIS WEEK
The platforms you rely on today will look completely different a year from now. If your top platform disappeared tomorrow, what would you still have?
Pick one channel you own — your email list, your website, a WhatsApp community — and send something to it this week. Not a link. Not a repost. Something original, just for them. That’s the audience no price hike can take from you.
See you next week! — Karina