Bzigo just introduced Iris, a smart home detector that uses AI computer vision and infrared LEDs to track mosquitoes in total darkness. Once a pest lands, it paints the spot with an eye-safe laser and pings your phone so you know where to strike. The catch? At $339, it only finds them—you still have to swing the swatter yourself.
Anthropic just added a screenshot button directly inside Claude, letting users grab any part of their screen and instantly attach it to a prompt. It removes the clunky step of saving and uploading images when asking the model to debug code or parse charts.
Microsoft is working on a new Workspaces feature for its PowerToys suite on Windows. The tool lets users save multi-app layouts to a shortcut, automatically launching and snapping apps across displays with a single click. It is slated to debut in the PowerToys 0.84 update.
Grammarly just introduced Authorship, a feature that monitors the writing process in real time to distinguish between human typing, AI generation, and copy-pasted text. Instead of relying on flawed post-hoc detection algorithms, it creates a replayable audit trail to protect students from false accusations. A beta launches in Google Docs next month before expanding to Word and Pages.
Primate Labs just launched Geekbench AI 1.0, bringing standardized performance testing to machine learning workloads across Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Serving as the successor to Geekbench ML, the tool gives engineers and enthusiasts a unified way to see how their hardware actually handles AI tasks.
Google just rolled out three helpful updates to AI Overviews to smooth out its rocky search experience. Users can now save specific generated answers to revisit later, tap a "Simpler" button to get concise explanations, and view right-hand website links on desktop. The feature is also expanding to six new countries, including the UK, Japan, and India.
Tavus just launched its Conversational Video Interface, enabling developers to build digital twins that can see, hear, and talk in real time with under one second of latency. The setup is fully white-labeled and modular, letting developers swap out their own LLM and TTS components. It basically brings ultra-low-latency, face-to-face video AI agents to any app.
Exists just unveiled a generative AI platform that lets anyone build playable 3D games in minutes using text prompts and zero code. Its proprietary neural network hooks directly into modern game engines to automate assets, character design, and multiplayer mechanics. The platform is currently in closed beta.
Google just introduced 4 new AI-powered accessibility upgrades across Pixel and Android devices. Pixel's Guided Frame now lives directly in camera settings with better subject focus, while the Magnifier app can search for real-world text on menus or signs. Foldables like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold gain a dual-screen Live Transcribe mode, alongside 7 new languages for Live Caption.
Cosine just launched Genie, an autonomous AI software engineer that scored 30% on the SWE-Bench benchmark, more than doubling Devin's 13.8%. Built on a fine-tuned, long-output variant of OpenAI's GPT-4o, Genie is trained to emulate human reasoning across 15 programming languages. Why it matters: The race for an autonomous artificial colleague just got a lot faster.
Lemonaide just launched Collab Club, a new tool allowing professional music producers to train custom AI models directly on their own catalogs. The platform aims to bridge the gap between ethical training and high-quality generation, producing high-resolution loops while creating new AI-powered revenue streams for artists.
Google is rolling out its Gemini-powered "Take notes for me" feature to Meet over the coming weeks, letting workers stop scrambling to write minutes. Workspace admins can configure access in the Admin console right now. The tool is tied to Gemini Enterprise, Education Premium, or the $10/month AI add-on.
Audible just started testing Maven, an AI search assistant that helps listeners find titles using natural language requests like asking for an uplifting novel with a female lead. The feature is currently available to about half of its U.S. customers on iOS and Android. Audible is also testing AI-curated collections and review summaries.
Automattic just rolled out Write Brief with AI, a new built-in assistant for WordPress.com aimed at making blog posts crisper and easier to read. The tool scores your drafts across sentence length, complexity, and confidence, offering one-click suggestions to trim wordy phrases. It is currently available as a free beta for English content.
Reddit just announced plans to test AI-powered search pages later this year, placing summaries and community recommendations right at the top of results. The feature combines in-house tech with third-party models. After licensing its data to OpenAI and Google, Reddit is finally putting AI to work on its own product.
Amazon Music just rolled out Topics, an AWS-powered feature that uses AI to analyze podcast transcripts and descriptions to generate clickable subject tags. Tapping a tag lets listeners jump straight to other episodes across shows discussing the same subject. Why it matters: It turns hours of conversational audio into searchable, cross-show threads so you can follow ideas instead of just feeds.
Adobe Illustrator now lets users generate editable vector graphics, fill complex shapes, and build seamless patterns directly from text prompts. Because the output is true vector art rather than pixels, every element can be ungrouped and scaled infinitely. Why it matters: It bridges the gap between rough ideas and production-ready design files, even if the node logic still needs occasional manual cleanup.
Google just rolled out three AI-powered features for Chrome built on its Gemini models. Desktop users can now tap Google Lens directly from the address bar to select and query web content, while an upcoming Tab compare tool compiles product comparison tables across tabs, alongside natural-language history search.
OpenAI just started rolling out its advanced voice mode to a select group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers, and early demos are popping up online. Videos show the bot imitating pilot intercoms, correcting French pronunciation, and mimicking regional US accents. OpenAI confirmed the feature will expand to all paying Plus users this fall.
Leonardo.Ai just detailed how its upcoming in-house foundation model, Phoenix, aims to give creators precise prompt adherence and granular control. Fresh off being acquired by Canva, the 17-million-user platform is moving beyond open-source Stable Diffusion roots to replace prompt roulette with deliberate visual creation.
Google just rolled out its "About this image" tool to Circle to Search and Google Lens on Android and iOS. Users can now circle any photo on their screen or scan it in the Google app to inspect its web history, metadata, and DeepMind SynthID watermarks for AI generation. Why it matters: fact-checking questionable images is now a one-tap habit across 40 languages.
Vimeo just launched an AI-powered translation tool that translates videos, audio, and subtitles into 29 languages while cloning the speaker's original voice. It accepts video inputs in over 50 languages, and viewers can toggle between translated audio tracks right inside the player. Why it matters: It bypasses expensive voice actors and agencies, making global corporate training and marketing videos far cheaper to localize.
Avi Schiffmann just unveiled Friend, a $99 screenless AI pendant built solely for emotional companionship. The Bluetooth necklace constantly listens to your day and texts you like a real friend rather than helping with work, backed by $2.5M in funding with shipments slated for January 2025.
Meta just rolled out AI Studio in the US, allowing anyone to build and discover custom AI characters powered by Llama 3.1. Creators can set up AI extensions of themselves to answer common questions and engage with followers. However, Meta later noted it has halted new character creation as it shifts focus to Muse Spark.
AMD just teamed up with TensorStack to release Amuse 2.0 Beta, a local AI suite that runs Stable Diffusion and ControlNet workflows without any command-line setup. The biggest perk is XDNA Super Resolution, which speeds up creation and doubles output resolution on supported Ryzen AI processors and Radeon RX 7000 GPUs. It gives PC users a seamless on-device sandbox that bypasses the cloud entirely.
