Welcome back. Today, Meta bets that automation is the future of ads; retailers tell you they’re raising prices without telling you they’re raising prices; and Taylor Swift’s victory comes with a cost for devoted Swifties.

Meta Platforms aims to enable brands to fully create and target ads using AI by the end of next year, Meghan Bobrowsky and Patrick Coffee report.

Tools under development would let a brand provide an image of its product and a budgetary goal, then sit back while AI generates the entire ad, including images, video and text, people familiar with the matter said.

The system would also decide which Instagram and Facebook users to target and offer suggestions on budget, the people said.

AI-powered ads are part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s grand vision.

“In the not-too-distant future, we want to get to a world where any business will be able to just tell us what objective they’re trying to achieve, like selling something or getting a new customer, how much they’re willing to pay for each result, and connect their bank account and then we just do the rest for them,” Zuckerberg told Meta’s annual shareholder meeting last week.

On a separate podcast appearance, he called it “a redefinition of the category of advertising.”

Retailers are walking a tightrope to convey that they’re raising prices without actually saying so, Katherine Hamilton and Dean Seal report.

• Best Buy, Target and others say they are “adjusting” prices and making strategic decisions around promotions.
• Executives at Deckers Outdoor, the footwear company behind Ugg boots and Hoka sneakers, are “flexing the pricing power” of its brands.
• And the CEO of T.J. Maxx’s parent company said last week it would shift its prices in tandem with traditional retailers, while trying to keep the word “price” from crossing his lips. “If retails do move out there, we will adjust our retails to preserve that gap,” he said. “That could mean they go up on certain items.”

The gymnastics are meant to reassure investors that companies are moving to mitigate new costs from tariffs, analysts say, without scaring off consumers or triggering backlash from the White House.

Taylor Swift’s long battle for her early catalog is over after she bought her master recordings from Shamrock Capital Advisors, Anne Steele reports.

Swift’s tussle over the rights to her first six albums was thrust into public in 2019 when talent manager Scooter Braun bought Big Machine, the independent label that signed her popstar when she was 15.

After much backlash from Swift, who had feuded with Braun, he sold her master recording rights to Shamrock for more than $300 million—about what he had spent to acquire the entire label.

Swift said her fans’ embrace of her rerecordings of those early albums as well as the Eras Tour helped make it possible to buy back her music. But the deal seemed to render unnecessary the long-awaited “Reputation (Taylor’s Version),” which she said wasn’t even a quarter done.

“We were clowning for nothing”: Swifties have mixed feelings now that there’s no need for the “Reputation” rerecording they were convinced was coming any day now. [BuzzFeed]

French fashion brand Dior named Jonathan Anderson as creative head of its women’s, men’s, and haute couture collections. [WSJ]

America’s booming “bachelorette industrial complex” is spawning dedicated concierge services, Etsy stores and VC-funded planning apps. [BI] 

Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, which helped spark the medium’s explosion since its start in 2009, will end this fall. [Deadline] 

Netflix is competing for YouTube viewers by picking up more shows featuring online video stars. [Vulture] 

PBS filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s executive order to end funding of public media, saying the order stands to “upend public television.” [WSJ] 

Gen Z is showing an aversion to opening bar tabs, preferring to close out after each drink. [NYT] 

Mondelez sued Aldi supermarkets for allegedly copying the packaging of products including Oreos, Chips Ahoy and Wheat Thins. [AP]

Hyatt introduced a “soft” brand called Unscripted by Hyatt for independent hotels that want to benefit from the company’s booking system, loyalty program and marketing. [Skift] 

Collectibles company Funko is seeking new fans by making more limited-edition Pops figurines, selling in more countries and expanding its personalized Pops. [WSJ] 

Japanese shoe makers Asics and Mizuno will stop using kangaroo leather in their soccer cleats. [FT]