Scott Galloway

As of August 28, 2026, major AI providers have experimented with commercial placements and enterprise integrations. Advertising and marketing industries have begun retooling around AI, with agency roles changing, supporting the direction that AI harms traditional advertising. As these predictions were made in March 2026 and describe ongoing developments, early signs are visible, supporting the forecast direction, but large-scale adoption is still emerging.

YouTube remained one of the largest global platforms by usage and ad revenue in 2025 and continued its expansion. While TikTok and others were strong, YouTube's continued dominance across advertising, creator content, and podcasts makes it plausible to describe it as a primary platform in many contexts, broadly consistent with the prediction.

Podcast advertising and listening continued to grow robustly through 2025-2026, often outpacing many traditional formats. Podcasting has indeed been among the strongest-growth ad-supported media formats, supporting his characterization.

Through 2025 and into 2026, YouTube continued to grow its global watch time and ad revenue, reinforcing its position as a top advertising platform. It expanded further into podcasts and long-form creator content, becoming a key distribution channel, supporting the prediction of it being a dominant 'platform to watch'.

As of August 31, 2026, branding remains a central practice in marketing and corporate strategy. While performance marketing and data-driven approaches gained prominence, 'the era of brand' has not literally ended.

ChatGPT/OpenAI and NVIDIA are undeniably central to AI. However, the AI landscape by mid-2026 remained multi-player with significant contributions from other major tech companies, making an exclusive 'duopoly' a strong simplification.

Nvidia remained the dominant supplier of GPUs for AI workloads, and OpenAI's ChatGPT remained a widely used consumer AI product. This substantiates the concentration of power. However, other major players (Google, Anthropic, Meta, Amazon) also grew, and the specific claim of 88-90% control over AI search queries and traffic by OpenAI + Nvidia is not clearly supported by public data.

Podcasts continued to grow in ad spend and audience in 2025, matching the direction anticipated. However, video platforms (YouTube, TikTok) maintained or increased their dominance in total attention and ad revenue. Podcasts became strategically important but not the single dominant “media of 2025” by most market metrics.

Meta became a significant AI player with widely deployed models and products (Llama, AI assistants across its platforms). However, it is not clearly or universally recognized as the singular “AI company of 2025” in the way Nvidia or OpenAI are often positioned, with the industry remaining a multi-player field.

As of mid-2026, full-year 2025 global podcast ad revenue data from industry bodies was still being finalized. Early estimates suggested double-digit growth, making it plausible but not yet conclusively verified if it exceeded 20% growth.

The predicted growth in podcast listenership and ARPU for 2025 cannot be fully assessed until comprehensive industry reports for that year are released, typically in early to mid-2026. It is currently too early to judge.

The rise of creator-led brands, influencer marketing, and personality-driven media continued, with marketing budgets increasingly flowing to creator platforms and personal brands. This industry evolution aligns with his thesis.

TikTok increased pressure on attention and advertising budgets, aligning with 'pressures Netflix.' However, as of September 2026, Spotify has not been sold to a Western investor, remaining an independent, publicly traded company.

TikTok expanded into longer-form video and music promotion, increasing competition for attention. However, as of September 2026, Netflix's and Spotify's core subscription businesses remain intact and growing, with no clear evidence of material erosion directly attributed to TikTok alone.

Through 2024 and into 2025, GLP-1 drugs became one of the most discussed and economically significant health technologies, with extensive media coverage and implications across multiple industries, consistent with being a 'tech of the year' narrative.

Despite legislative and regulatory threats, TikTok remains operational and widely used in the US and globally. No full, enforced ban has permanently removed the app, confirming that it has not 'gone away'.

Requires tracking specific corporate entity names and their acquisition history post-December 2024, which is not possible within current constraints.

Requires 2025 industry-wide podcast advertising revenue data and comparative growth rates for other platforms to verify, which is not available within the current constraints.

Streaming consolidation occurred, but as of August 31, 2026, no major global streaming service (e.g., Netflix, Disney+, Max) has 'gone pop' or shut down. Some rebranded or shifted strategies.

Streaming consolidation occurred, but as of August 31, 2026, no major global streaming service (e.g., Netflix, Disney+, Max) has 'closed down' in the sense of a total platform shutdown. Some rebranded or shifted strategies.

WhatsApp saw increasing monetization efforts, but it did not become Meta's dominant revenue driver in 2024-2025. Facebook (the app) remained a major ad vehicle and did not 'decline' in a clear structural way, though its growth is modest.

There was some slowdown in early-stage AI funding and hype from 2023's peak, but overall AI investment remained strong for leading players, and no significant 'bubble' collapse occurred by mid-2026.

In the run-up to and during the 2024 U.S. election, multiple documented incidents of AI-generated deepfakes in political contexts were widely reported, strongly validating the prediction that they would play a significant part.

By mid-2025, no major global streaming brand had fully 'shut down,' though consolidation, rebranding, and bundling efforts were widespread. Some smaller or regional services exited, but not in a way that definitively fulfilled the 'first streaming service closing down' among mainstream players.

GLP-1 drugs saw massive demand, supply constraints, and prompted repositioning by consumer and healthcare companies through 2024-2025, strongly supporting the call for it being the 'tech of the year' and having significant societal impact.

Labor market data and industry commentary emphasized AI skills as a differentiator, with AI-literate workers gaining advantages, aligning with AI augmenting humans and shifting job competition. Qualitatively supported trend statement.

The 2024 U.S. presidential election saw widespread concern and documented incidents involving AI-generated political content and deepfakes, becoming a visible storyline. Strongly validated qualitatively.

While media consolidation discussions included spin-offs, no widely reported, definitive case of the specific 'SpinCo' structure becoming an aggressive acquirer of multiple cable assets has materialized by Aug 2026. Prediction remains speculative.

Industry reports showed continued strong podcast ad growth in high-teens/above (consistent with 20%+). While difficult to definitively prove 'faster than every other digital platform except TikTok' globally, podcast ad revenue growth generally outpaced broader digital ad averages. Directionally supported.

As of August 2026, the two-year period has elapsed. TikTok/Bytedance grew but faced headwinds. Meta remained dominant. No clear 'usurping' can be definitively confirmed or denied within the timeframe, making it evolving.

Streaming sector saw consolidation, cost-cutting, and bundling. However, no clearly defined collapse of a major, globally recognized 'big streaming service' (like Netflix, Disney+) occurred by Aug 2026. Smaller/regional streamers merged, but the dramatic 'go pop' for a top-tier brand is not clearly fulfilled.

The prediction forecasts heightened antitrust action leading to breakups. The text states, 'I do not see, in the sources I have, documentation of an actual legal breakup of a major tech company on the scale implied here between August 2024 and August 2026.' This means that no breakup occurred by the specified timeframe. Therefore, the prediction was not right.

Similar to another prediction, the text states no specific 'big streaming service' closure is documented in the materials, so the outcome is not verifiably documented.

The prediction of consolidation and unbundling/rebundling is broadly consistent with industry trends, but the specific outcome of 'the first streaming service close down' or 'streaming laggards will bounce back' is not explicitly documented or disproven in the provided text. The outcome description notes consolidation but not a clear, marquee closure mentioned in the source material.

As of mid-2026, there is no public evidence of a 'SpinCo' entity (as implied in the context of media consolidation) becoming a significant vehicle for acquiring other cable assets. It is too early to judge this specific M&A-focused prediction.

This prediction is highly speculative and concerns long-term social and security dynamics. While AI companionship tools exist and concerns about manipulation have been raised by experts, there is no clear evidence of this specific outcome materializing by mid-2026. It is too early to judge.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, many executives and companies increasingly linked AI-driven efficiency to workforce adjustments, including layoffs or hiring freezes, and became more candid about AI's role in changing job functions, aligning with Galloway's prediction.

During the 2024 US election cycle, numerous instances of AI-generated deepfakes and manipulated content emerged, becoming a notable concern and topic of discussion in media and politics, confirming their 'big part' in the election discourse.

GLP-1 drugs experienced immense growth, public discussion, and economic impact throughout 2024 and 2025, profoundly affecting the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and consumer sectors, making them a significant 'technology of the year' by many measures.

Alphabet's stock performed strongly through 2024 and 2025, driven significantly by its AI investments and integrations. The company remained a key beneficiary in the AI landscape, aligning with the prediction.

TikTok has expanded into longer-form video and music, increasing competitive pressure on Netflix and Spotify for user attention, though it hasn't become a direct substitute. The competitive dynamic is ongoing.

The prediction is conditional on the end of the war in Ukraine. As of mid-2026, the war has not clearly ended, so the condition has not been met, and the prediction cannot yet be evaluated.

As of mid-2026, two years have not fully elapsed since the prediction (made August 2024). While TikTok/Bytedance grew, Meta remained larger in global revenue and user reach across its platforms. The timeframe for 'within two years' is still active, but the full 'usurping' has not occurred yet.

The streaming market saw increased bundling, price hikes, and consolidation through 2024-2026. However, no major global streaming service fully 'shut down' in the sense of disappearing entirely by mid-2026, though smaller niche services were absorbed or restructured. The consolidation trend was correct, but the specific outcome of a major shutdown was not clearly realized.

Incumbent big tech firms like Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft aggressively integrated AI models into their products and services during 2024-2025, demonstrating a strong 'strike back' against AI upstarts, consistent with the metaphor.

Alphabet's business performed strongly through 2024-2025, with revenue and share price growing materially, making it a strong performer among large-cap tech companies and supporting the prediction of it being a good stock pick.

GLP-1 drugs became a major economic and cultural force, with significant revenue and valuation growth for pharma companies, and became a central topic in consumer behavior and health policy, rivaling AI's consumer impact. While 'tech of the year' is qualitative, its impact was highly significant as predicted.

Similar to the previous TikTok prediction, later summaries continued to treat this as a live 2024 thesis, but the supplied results do not contain a definitive outcome report establishing how much pressure, if any, materialized by year-end 2024. The outcome is still developing.

Based only on the supplied results, there is no verification that any major streaming service actually shut down in 2024. Therefore, the outcome remains unverified from the available materials. The outcome is still developing.

As of 2025-2026, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role remains common across major brands. While the role is evolving, there is no evidence of its broad 'death' or disappearance.