In Depth: AI Is Taking Internet Advertising by Storm, but at What Cost? 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how advertisements are created and delivered, reshaping the marketing sector that has long driven profits for internet companies.

Leading tech firms and top online advertising platforms such as Tencent Holdings Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc., ByteDance Ltd. and Kuaishou Technology are speeding up efforts to boost advertising productivity through advanced AI models. Moving beyond targeted placements, these platforms now claim they can generate large volumes of ad content with a single click, with algorithms optimizing both selection and distribution.