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🗞️ Ooshie hype
Woolworths has run out of its Disney Ooshies three weeks before the promotion was meant to end on August 25.
Pick & Scroll News
August 13, 2026
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Good morning. Woolworths has run out of its Disney Ooshies three weeks before the promotion was meant to end on August 25.
Woolworths gave away the 40-character set free with any $30 shop, and demand blew past its own forecasts with so much hype fuelling both kids and adults alike.
Things got heated enough that some schools have banned the toys outright over playground fights and disappearing Ooshies, and a pack of six rare ones are on sale on eBay for $5,200, so it might be worth checking your car door.
All the headlines and more below...
ANTHROPIC'S CLAUDE AI TO EMBED INVISIBLE WATERMARKS IN ALL GENERATED TEXT
Anthropic has detailed a watermarking system that would flag text written by its Claude AI, embedding invisible signals throughout any output the model generates. If someone suspects AI-generated work is being submitted as original, they could scan for the markers using a detection tool Anthropic has not yet described.
The signal is embedded at the model level, meaning it applies across every Claude product and interface - ChatGPT equivalent, API, enterprise tools - regardless of where the text is generated. The watermark travels with the text when moved between documents and may survive some editing, though Anthropic has not specified what threshold of change would strip it out.
The system is not yet live. Anthropic has not said when it will deploy, how the detection mechanism will work, or whether it will be made available to schools and universities directly. The company has not clarified whether watermarking can be switched off by paid users or enterprise clients, or whether it applies to code and technical outputs in addition to prose.
AUSTRALIAN AND GLOBAL NEWS
The Tech Council of Australia reported no discernible evidence that AI is reducing demand for software engineers, as Australian software engineering jobs grew 7% to November 2025. LINK
The Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo is spreading faster than health authorities can contain it and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West African crisis that killed over 11,000 people. LINK
GOVERNMENT WILL CHARGE GOOGLE AND META 2.5% OF AD REVENUE UNLESS THEY PAY EIGHT NEWS OUTLETS
Google, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn will need to strike commercial deals with at least 8 separate Australian news outlets to avoid the charge.
The News Bargaining Incentive was first flagged in December 2024 as a means to charge digital platforms that choose not to strike commercial deals with Australian media companies. The charge can be offset by doing commercial deals with local publishers.
The threshold has been raised from 6 deals to 8, and the per-deal offset cap restored to 25% of total liability, up from 17% in the earlier proposal. 5% of any funds collected under the scheme will be directed to Australian Associated Press as recognition of its role in supporting public interest journalism and news organisations across Australia.
COMPANY NEWS
Coles is offering shoppers a 10% discount on eligible eGift cards for 2 days and running a Shop, Scan, Win promotion giving $3.4M in grocery savings until 22 September. LINK
CBA chief executive Matt Comyn received $9.1M in total pay for 2026, up 30% after $2M in deferred rewards vested, as other senior executives also enjoyed large increases. LINK
Seek reported a FY26 net loss of $307M as job ad volumes were softer, particularly in Australia and some Asian markets, but stronger yields and continued technology investment helped offset that weakness. LINK
Premier Investments expects FY26 sales to fall 2% to $795.5M from FY25 and its Peter Alexander sleepwear brand will close 3 UK stores due to poor trading. LINK
Suncorp reported a 34.2% decline in net profit year-on-year amid elevated natural hazard costs, with $2 million spent after responding to 18 significant weather events and more than 120,000 natural hazard claims. LINK
Barrenjoey has struck a deal to provide equities research and trading services to Craigs Investment Partners’ Wealth business in New Zealand. AUS
AGL Energy has forecast stronger-than-expected earnings despite lower wholesale electricity prices and higher gas costs. LINK
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