AI and Ad Dollars: What Walmart, Netflix, and Amazon's Q1 Reveals About the 2025 Landscape

$161.5 B

Walmart reported Q1 FY25 revenue of $161.5 billion, marking a 6% year-over-year increase. Global e-commerce sales grew by 21%, driven by store-fulfilled pickup and delivery services, as well as marketplace expansion. The company's adjusted operating income rose by 9.6% to $6.8 billion.

2.78 M

A Greenly study found DeepSeek’s AI training used 2.78 million GPU hours versus Meta’s 30.8 million, with 2,000 Nvidia chips compared to 16,000+ for Meta and 25,000+ for ChatGPT, thanks to its energy-efficient design. However, the study warns these gains could be offset by increased AI use, leading to higher overall emissions.

350 M

Meta is expanding its creator-focused ad tools, reporting that partnership ads lower cost per action by 19% and increase brand lift by 71%. The company is testing trend-based ad formats on Instagram Reels and rolling out video and livestream ads across Facebook and Threads, which now has 350 million monthly active users, reinforcing Meta’s growing influence in the creator economy.

94

Netflix’s ad-supported tier now boasts 94 million monthly active users, more than double last year’s 40 million, with total viewers estimated at 170 million. In the U.S., ad-tier subscribers spend an average of 41 hours per month on the platform. As its in-house Netflix Ads Suite expands globally, the company continues to pitch deeper targeting, celebrity tie-ins, and live sports to attract advertisers.

50%

A KPMG survey of 48,000 people found that 50% of US workers use AI at work without knowing if it’s allowed, while 44% admit to using it improperly, including 46% uploading sensitive data to public AI platforms. Additionally, 64% admit relying on AI leads to less effort, 58% don’t fully vet AI outputs, and 57% have made work mistakes due to AI. Despite this, only about half of organizations have AI policies, while 72% of US workers want more AI regulation to build trust and ensure accountability.

$4B

Target is rolling out over 10,000 new items for the summer season across categories like swimwear, home, snacks, and beauty—with thousands of products priced below $20. The launch is part of a broader strategy to attract value-focused consumers amid economic pressure. The retailer is also investing $4 to $5 billion into store upgrades, supply chains, and tech, while hosting weekly in-store events throughout June to drive foot traffic and seasonal sales.

300M

Amazon now boasts an ad-supported reach of 300 million in the U.S., up 25 million from last year, reinforcing its dominance across Prime Video, Twitch, Amazon Music, and more.
It reported $14 billion in Q1 2025 ad revenue, fueled by full-funnel strategies and AI-driven shoppable and pause ads, while tapping into its 130 million Prime members and exclusive sports rights to offer unmatched scale and precision.