OpenAI just revealed that ChatGPT reached 200 million weekly active users, doubling its user base from last fall. The surge was driven by new models like GPT-4o and bringing Plus features to free users, while 92% of Fortune 500 companies now use OpenAI's tools.
Amazon is reportedly turning to Anthropic’s Claude to power its upcoming, smarter Alexa assistant after its in-house generative AI models struggled with basic prompt responses. The revamped assistant, dubbed "Remarkable Alexa," is expected to land around mid-October. Why it matters: Amazon previously poured $4 billion into Anthropic, and letting a rival's model take over its flagship consumer product proves that shipping a working agent beats maintaining corporate pride.
Google just brought Gemini straight into Chrome's address bar, letting users query the AI by typing "@gemini" followed by their prompt. While it puts generative AI just a keystroke away for millions, it currently lacks page context, meaning it can't analyze or summarize the tab you're actively reading.
Apple is reportedly in negotiations to invest in OpenAI as part of a new funding round valuing the startup at over $100 billion. Thrive Capital is set to lead with roughly $1 billion, and Microsoft may chip in more as well. Why it matters: After partnering to bring ChatGPT into iOS 18 later this year, putting real money on the table would seriously lock in Apple’s alliance with the top AI player.
Google just launched "Gems" for Gemini alongside its upgraded Imagen 3 image generation model. Subscribers can now build custom AI personas with plain-text instructions, while getting noticeably crisper, photorealistic visuals. Gems and human image generation are rolling out first to Advanced, Business, and Enterprise tiers.
Anthropic just made Artifacts generally available to all Claude.ai users, rolling out the interactive workspace to Free, Pro, and Team tiers across web and mobile apps. The feature lets you instantly render, iterate, and remix code, SVG graphics, flowcharts, and live prototypes in a dedicated side window without leaving the chat.
Google just rolled out a "take notes for me" feature in Google Meet, using Gemini AI to capture key discussion points rather than generating a raw transcript. Summaries automatically save to a Google Doc that syncs with participants or calendar invites. For now, it is limited to English on computers for select Workspace add-on subscribers.
Google just rolled out three experimental models: an ultra-compact Gemini 1.5 Flash-8B, a significantly upgraded Flash, and a stronger Pro model that levels up coding and complex prompt reasoning. Both maintain 1M token context windows and are available to test for free in Google AI Studio and the Gemini API.
OpenAI is reportedly developing a reasoning-focused AI codenamed Strawberry, which tackles unseen math and coding problems and has already been shown to U.S. national security officials. While a distilled version could arrive in ChatGPT as early as this fall, OpenAI is actively using Strawberry to generate synthetic training data for Orion, its true GPT-4 successor.
Amazon is reportedly prepping a major generative AI overhaul for Alexa this October, internally dubbed "Remarkable Alexa." The new assistant can craft custom recipes, write bedtime stories, and hold more human-like conversations, though it will reportedly require a paid subscription of up to $10 a month.
Anthropic just published the full system prompts powering Claude 3 and 3.5 across web and mobile apps. The prompts detail strict rules, from pretending to be totally face-blind to avoiding words like "certainly" when starting answers. It marks the first time a major AI lab has openly shared the baseline instructions shaping its models' personalities.
Inflection just announced plans to cap free usage on its AI chatbot Pi to relieve GPU strain, months after Microsoft hired away its founders. After nearly shutting down the chatbot two weeks ago, the downsized startup decided to keep Pi running for consumers and allow chat exports, while shifting focus toward enterprise licensing.
Arizona State University is aggressively expanding ChatGPT Edu across campus, activating over 200 projects from more than 400 faculty and student proposals. Applications range from simulated patient conversations for healthcare students to scholarly writing assistants, showcasing how universities are moving from banning AI to safely embracing enterprise-grade tools.
Google just appointed former Character.AI CEO Noam Shazeer as co-technical lead for Gemini, joining heavyweights Jeff Dean and Oriol Vinyals. Shazeer recently returned to Google following a massive $2.7 billion licensing and talent deal to turbocharge its fight against OpenAI.
Perplexity is gearing up to run ads on its search app in the fourth quarter, pitching advertisers on premium CPM rates topping $50. Brands will be able to sponsor related follow-up questions and buy display units next to generated answers, marking the AI startup's biggest push into commercial monetization.
a16z just released the third edition of its Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, revealing that nearly 30% of companies on the list are newcomers. Video and music generators saw massive surges, with Suno jumping from #36 to #5, while Perplexity and Claude cemented top-five spots on web. ByteDance quietly dominated with six apps across web and mobile rankings.
OpenAI just partnered with Condé Nast to bring content from Vogue, The New Yorker, and Wired into ChatGPT and the SearchGPT prototype. Users will see direct attribution links to original stories, expanding OpenAI's media licensing lineup as it builds out its search product.
Google just updated Gmail's "Help me write" feature with a new "Polish" option across web and mobile. Users can jot down rough notes, and Gemini will instantly turn them into a formal draft ready for review with one click. The rollout also adds convenient mobile shortcuts on Android and iOS for Gemini Workspace and Google One AI Premium subscribers.
Perplexity just started rolling out a built-in code interpreter with live plot rendering. The tool can install third-party Python libraries on the fly and display charts directly in answers—like pulling stock data with yfinance. It is currently rolling out gradually to users.
A Wyoming mayoral candidate is running for office on the promise that a custom ChatGPT bot will make 100% of his governing decisions. Victor Miller pledged that the AI, named Vic, would handle policy while he merely signs the paperwork. State officials banned the bot from the ballot and OpenAI even shut down his account, but Miller is pushing forward anyway.
