New features and launches in ChatGPT, Cursor, Perplexity and other AI tools, plus changes to pricing and availability.
Anthropic just launched Claude for Nonprofits in partnership with GivingTuesday, offering eligible organizations up to 75% off Team and Enterprise plans. The initiative also adds open-source connectors for charity tools like Blackbaud, Candid, and Benevity, alongside a free beginner-friendly training course. Why it matters: High compute costs often freeze out mission-driven teams; slashing prices brings frontier models like Opus 4.6 directly into humanitarian workflows.
Google just expanded Gemini 3 Pro and its Nano Banana Pro image model to Search's AI Mode across nearly 120 countries and territories in English. AI Pro and Ultra subscribers can now toggle on "Thinking with 3 Pro" to tap into complex reasoning, dynamic interactive UI generation, and custom simulations directly in query results.
MIT-founded startup OpenAGI just unveiled Lux, a computer-use foundation model that claims an 83.6% success rate on the live Online-Mind2Web benchmark. That easily beats OpenAI's Operator at 61.3% and Anthropic's Claude Computer Use at 56.3%, using a screen-and-action training loop that runs at a fraction of the cost.
OpenAI just teamed up with NORAD to launch three holiday tools inside ChatGPT for the annual Santa tracking tradition. Families can turn photos into elf helpers, generate printable coloring pages from toy ideas, and create custom read-aloud stories, all accessible via NORAD's official website.
ChatGPT might be preparing to show ads. Android app beta version 1.2025.329 includes new references to an "ads feature," featuring strings like "search ad," "search ads carousel," and "bazaar content." OpenAI hasn't officially confirmed the feature, but search ads would mark a major shift in ChatGPT's business model.
Perplexity just introduced a memory layer that remembers user preferences and key context across conversations. Instead of treating history like raw training data, it retrieves stored context directly for more tailored answers. The killer feature is context portability: your personal memory layer persists even when you hop between different underlying models, and it automatically disables in incognito mode.
OpenAI just integrated ChatGPT Voice directly into the main chat interface, ditching the separate voice-only mode. You can now talk while watching text stream in real time, scroll through earlier messages, and view images or maps without breaking the conversation. The update is rolling out to all mobile and web users right now.
Google just launched an "agentic calling" feature in the U.S. that calls local retailers on your behalf to check inventory and discounts. When searching for products with "near me" on Google Search or AI Mode, users can prompt the AI to call nearby stores, answering a few quick questions to receive a summary via text or email.
Character.AI just launched Stories, a visual interactive fiction format that lets users craft branching adventures with up to three characters. Instead of open-ended chat, players make decisions that actively shape the narrative. The guided format is designed especially as a safer, structured playground for teen users.
Perplexity just rolled out a dedicated shopping experience for free to all US users, pairing personalized conversational discovery with instant PayPal checkout directly in the search flow. Instead of generic lists or ad grids, it learns your aesthetic and lets you buy items without bouncing between tabs.
NotebookLM just rolled out a batch of creative updates, headlined by a new Slide Decks feature that turns your sources into visual stories alongside single-image infographics. The team also bumped custom persona limits from 500 to 5,000 characters and teased an upcoming Thinking UI.
OpenAI just introduced shopping research in ChatGPT, turning product discovery into an interactive buying guide. Users simply describe what they need, answer a few clarifying questions about preferences and budget, and get a tailored breakdown of options and tradeoffs in minutes. The tool is rolling out to free and paid users with nearly unlimited holiday access.
Anthropic just rolled out new defenses against prompt injection attacks, helping Claude Opus 4.5 resist malicious instructions hidden across the web. The upgrades combine reinforcement learning with improved classifiers to drive attack success rates down to 1%, allowing the Claude for Chrome extension to expand into beta for Max plan subscribers. Why it matters: as agents take over real-world browsing and form filling, securing untrusted web content is critical—though Anthropic stresses a 1% risk is far from a solved problem.
Perplexity just launched its Comet AI browser on Android, bringing tab summaries and voice chat directly to mobile web browsing. It marks one of the first dedicated AI browsers on smartphones, though cross-device sync with the desktop version is still a few weeks away.
OpenAI just rolled out group chats globally across Free, Go, Plus, and Pro tiers. After early pilot testing, any logged-in user can now bring teammates or friends into the same thread to brainstorm and collaborate alongside ChatGPT.
Google just started rolling out Gemini to Android Auto globally across 45 languages, replacing rigid Assistant commands with natural conversation. Drivers can now ask Gemini to summarize unread emails, tweak text messages on the fly, and brainstorm or rehearse speeches via Gemini Live while keeping their eyes on the road.
Google just added an AI image verification feature directly into the Gemini app. Users can now upload a picture and simply ask if it was AI-generated, prompting Gemini to inspect its imperceptible SynthID watermark and explain the context. Google is also embedding C2PA metadata into images created by its Nano Banana Pro model starting this week.
Twelve Labs just integrated its Marengo and Pegasus multimodal models directly into Adobe's Frame.io V4 via Custom Actions. Creative teams can now right-click to run semantic searches, find B-roll with image queries, auto-generate metadata, and flag compliance issues on the timeline without leaving their review workflow.
Perplexity just relaunched its AI shopping experience for free across all users ahead of Black Friday, adding chat memory and intelligent product cards to replace endless item grids. It taps past queries for personalized picks and leverages a PayPal partnership for checkout. Why it matters: AI search engines are racing to turn chatbots into full-blown shopping agents that can browse and buy for you.
Perplexity just introduced asset creation across all search modes, allowing users to build and edit slides, sheets, and docs directly from their search queries. The capability is currently live on the web for Pro and Max subscribers.
