Good morning. YouTube thumbnail designer Joseph Blaze recently demonstrated what it's like to design assets using Adobe's new Photoshop Beta AI tools—and let’s just say it looks like thumbnail creativity is about to reach a whole new level.

P.S.—We’re off for Memorial Day on Monday. We’ll see you back here on Wednesday. Enjoy your weekend!

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Kenny Beecham’s Enjoy Basketball Drops Collection with ICEE

Sports creator Kenny Beecham dropped a collab with ICEE and his Enjoy Basketball media and lifestyle brand Wednesday—remixing the frozen beverage’s trademark blue and red colors across two apparel pieces, a collector’s cup, and a full-size basketball.

“We went live at 2,” Beecham’s manager and Enjoy Basketball cofounder Cole Hock told us. “By 5:30, we were fully sold out of the whole collection.”

Context: Chicago-based Beecham is known for his basketball commentary and NBA 2K gameplay videos to his over 2.5 million subscribers across five channels, including his main KOT4Q channel.

Beecham also recently appeared on ESPN’s First Take debate show and was interviewed by his hometown Chicago Bulls.

But Beecham plans to venture beyond YouTube and build a brand bigger than just his content. Enjoy Basketball, Beecham’s free 3x/week newsletter produced by a small team of writers “without the hot takes” of other sports media, is one such endeavor.

• Beecham launched it in April 2022 with Hock and Hock’s brother, Cody.

• The newsletter has 45,000 subscribers and is “growing fast,” according to Hock.

• The brand is currently supported through advertising and product drops and hopes to launch events in the near future.

Big picture: While ICEE might seem like a nontraditional pairing for a sports creator like Beecham, it’s not entirely surprising—creators have increasingly turned towards older brands with solid IP in need of a revamp to help them appeal to younger generations. Look no further than 100 Thieves’ collaboration with Gucci in 2021.

“The biggest thing for us was social proof—to align with a brand that’s been around for tens of years,” Hock told us. “And it’s very clear that our community resonated extremely well.”

This Week in AI: Creator Ecommerce Made Easy

This week platforms and creators look to optimize user experience—and that’s just the start. Here’s the rundown:

• TikTok is testing an AI chat bot called Tako. The platform says this new search tool (which joins a growing list of TikTok search investments) will aid users in finding inspirational content and will be powered by a third-party chat assistant.

• Ecommerce platform Pietra launches an AI-powered ideation tool for creators. Dubbed “brand kits,” the new product enables creators to generate market research, design, and specs they need to launch a potential product.

• A Publish Press reader creates an article search engine. Over on the Colin and Samir Discord, @z33 is workshopping a search engine where users can search The Publish Press newsletter archive using AI.

• Open AI founder Sam Altman walks back threats to remove his company’s technology from the EU. The country is considering a law that could require generative AI companies like Open AI to reveal which copyrighted material they used to train their systems. Altman originally said it would be “over-regulating.” After extensive press coverage, Altman assured that Open AI wouldn’t be leaving the EU but said he’s still worried the tech might be at odds with EU regulators’ ambitions.

Emma Chamberlain Tries New Content on Spotify

The lifestyle creator recently expanded her content on Spotify. Chamberlain is now posting video and audio of guest interviews on her anything goes video podcast (which was largely monologue previously) and uploading vlogs onto another emma in the world Spotify channel.

FYI: While anything goes is exclusive to Spotify, so far the emma in the world videos are still being published on Chamberlain’s YouTube channel.

Zoom out: Chamberlain inked an exclusive deal with Spotify in November and has consistently been one of the most listened-to creators on the platform, often charting in the top 10 podcasts.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Stranger Things actress Grace Van Dien joins FaZe.

• Feastables is now in every U.S. 7-Eleven and Speedway.

• YouTube Stories are shutting down.

• MrBallen releases another Amazon-exclusive podcast.

• ChatGPT’s new app tops half a million installs in its first six days.

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• What job do 15-year-olds expect to be doing at 30—and how often do they turn that desire into a reality? Vox dives into the data in an explanatory video that explores how a generation of young people thinks about the future.

• The creators at Public Opinion explore immigration among NYC residents, telling a heartwarming story of a Guyanese community.

• How did Dominic Toretto drive down the Hoover Dam? The moviemakers behind the latest entry in The Fast and the Furious franchise broke down the extreme stunt for The Ringer.

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