5 Things 23.01.26

What have I been doing for the last 133 days except NOT sending out newsletters? Find out...

Author

Gideon Barker
January 23, 2026

5 Things

From Gideon Barker, founder of Customer iQ. View the newsletter archive.

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Your selection of things for this week:

  1. Instead of ramping up the prices once we all became hooked, it appears that ChatGPT is testing the introduction of ads and sponsored content.

    From the AI Valley newsletter.

  1. Why do buyers overestimate their ability to carry out hard tasks and underestimate how they handle easy tasks? Why it’s the ‘Hard-Easy Effect’ of course! Read more via WhyWeBuy.

  1. Private investment grew in the SW region by +45% in Q3 vs an overall loss of -17% across the UK. Find out more via Tech South West’s Q3 Investment Report.

  1. Has Google really cracked the AI market? Whilst OpenAI is testing an ads model, Gemini has outpaced ChatGPT in app downloads and model performance. Interesting to see how 2026 shapes the AI offering. From the AI Valley newsletter.

  1. Huntly Gordon, ex-Head of Brand & Product Marketing at Yoto (and a client of Customer iQ) who has started his own consultancy, offers some great advice to us all about whether AI should form part of your brand positioning. Find out the answer via his LinkedIn post.