Publicis Groupe Middle East Partners with Luma AI
Publicis Groupe Middle East has selected Luma AI as a generative AI partner, formalizing the use of its HUMAIN Create platform as a core creative engine. The partnership is designed to produce bespoke, AI-driven creative assets at scale for global clients. This move exemplifies a broader trend of agencies embedding specific GenAI platforms into their core service offerings.
- The partnership centers on HUMAIN Create, a platform from Saudi AI company HUMAIN, which will use Luma AI's models to develop the world's first Saudi-built, Arabic-native generative AI. This initiative aims to create culturally fluent AI systems by training models on regional and Arabic language data. - This regional deal is part of Publicis Groupe's global strategy to become an "AI-powered Intelligent System," backed by a €300 million investment over three years. The strategy's core is the "CoreAI" platform, which unifies the company's vast data, including nearly a petabyte of creative assets and 2.3 billion consumer profiles, to inform creative, media, and insights. - Luma AI's technology includes "Dream Machine" for high-quality text-to-video generation and "Ray3 Modify," an advanced model that allows for seamless transitions and consistent character creation, addressing key challenges in AI video production. It also features 3D capture technology for creating photorealistic models using a smartphone. - As part of the deal, Luma AI is establishing a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will serve as a regional hub to support the partnership and work directly with creators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. - The collaboration is supported by "Project Halo," a large-scale 2GW AI supercluster under development in Saudi Arabia, which will provide the massive computing power required for training and running next-generation generative AI applications at scale. - While agencies are adopting AI for workflow efficiencies like ideation and V_FX_, a growing number of CMOs (78%) believe generative AI will never replace human imagination. Many marketing leaders see AI's primary role as a driver of speed and cost efficiency rather than a replacement for core creative ideation. - The initiative is led by Bassel Kakish, CEO of Publicis Groupe Middle East & Turkey, who has a history with the company in roles including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Integration Officer, giving him a unique perspective on the intersection of technology, finance, and creative operations.
