In this week’s AI Weekly News Briefing, OpenAI smashes past one million paying businesses, lands a colossal $38 billion cloud deal with AWS, and fuels a fresh round of platform upgrades. Apple flirts with letting Google’s Gemini run Siri, Brussels softens the EU AI Act to give builders some breathing space, Shopify’s agentic AI sends sales soaring, and Verizon quietly builds the pipes that make all this magic actually work. We wrap with Coca-Cola’s new AI-generated holiday ads, which sparked a full-blown comment-section revolt.
Episode Transcript
Hi everyone.
(00:00):
I'm Andy, and this is the AI Breakdown.
Welcome to your weekly news edition where I'll cover what happened in AI last week, why it matters all in less than 10 minutes. 4 00:00:14,353.141545455 --> 00:00:19,963.141545455 This week we've got some fascinating updates starting with open ai, which just reached an incredible milestone. 5 00:00:20,383.141545455 --> 00:00:23,773.141545455 Over 1 million businesses are now paying for its AI services. 6 00:00:24,163.141545455 --> 00:00:31,543.141545455 This makes it the fastest growing business platform in history, and it's driven by more than 800 million people using chat GPT weekly. 7 00:00:32,263.141545455 --> 00:00:34,363.141545455 The business side of things is skyrocketing too. 8 00:00:34,633.141545455 --> 00:00:38,893.141545455 With chat GPT for work seats jumping by 40% in just two months. 9 00:00:39,223.141545455 --> 00:00:42,913.141545455 Clearly companies see the value here to capitalize on the surge. 10 00:00:43,3.141545455 --> 00:00:52,603.141545455 OpenAI has introduced some nifty features like company knowledge search and agent kit, making it easier than ever for businesses to deploy custom AI agents. 11 00:00:53,83.141545455 --> 00:00:55,993.141545455 Companies like Indeed and Lowe's are already leveraging these tools. 12 00:00:56,338.141545455 --> 00:01:02,278.141545455 Seeing benefits like a 20% boost in job applications and streamlined in-store operations. 13 00:01:02,728.141545455 --> 00:01:09,178.141545455 It's a shift from novelty to necessity as businesses realize AI's potential for true ROI. 14 00:01:10,720.868818182 --> 00:01:18,850.868818182 Another exciting news, OpenAI has done a massive $38 billion cloud deal with Amazon a s to expand its AI capabilities. 15 00:01:19,270.868818182 --> 00:01:25,115.868818182 This is one of the largest cloud procurements ever providing open AI with access to thousands of Nvidia GPUs. 16 00:01:25,825.868818182 --> 00:01:30,475.868818182 So what does this mean for the tech world? Well, it's setting up quite the showdown with Microsoft. 17 00:01:30,835.868818182 --> 00:01:36,325.868818182 Amazon secured a major leg up in the AI race showing they can compete at the highest level. 18 00:01:36,625.868818182 --> 00:01:39,655.868818182 This partnership doesn't just bring more power to open ai. 19 00:01:39,925.868818182 --> 00:01:42,625.86881818 It signals a big shift in cloud AI dynamics. 20 00:01:43,420.86881818 --> 00:01:50,170.86881818 For businesses, this means faster upgrade cycles could be on the horizon, along with potential cost implications. 21 00:01:50,620.86881818 --> 00:01:56,590.86881818 Companies need to stay alert and ready to adapt as the AI landscape continues to evolve at greatneck speed. 22 00:01:56,950.86881818 --> 00:02:01,90.86881818 It's an exciting but challenging time for tech as everyone races to stay ahead. 23 00:02:02,509.05063636 --> 00:02:13,429.05063636 Staying with infrastructure, Verizon and AWS announced a new backbone Verizon AI connect to lay high capacity, low latency fiber directly between AWS data centers. 24 00:02:14,134.05063636 --> 00:02:16,834.05063636 I like this story because it's the unsexy bit of ai. 25 00:02:16,834.05063636 --> 00:02:18,64.05063636 We don't talk about enough. 26 00:02:18,334.05063636 --> 00:02:21,664.05063636 The pipes, everyone obsesses over GPUs. 27 00:02:21,994.05063636 --> 00:02:25,84.05063636 Fewer people think about the distance and congestion between them. 28 00:02:25,414.05063636 --> 00:02:29,974.05063636 If you're building real time agents or streaming inference, those milliseconds matter. 29 00:02:31,355.86881818 --> 00:02:36,155.86881818 Switching gears to e-commerce and Shopify has seen a remarkable surge thanks to ai. 30 00:02:36,515.86881818 --> 00:02:42,275.86881818 Traffic driven by AI shopping assistance is up seven times since January, and orders have surged 11 times. 31 00:02:42,680.86881818 --> 00:02:46,820.86881818 That's a massive jump and it's all thanks to their stride in agentic ai. 32 00:02:47,360.86881818 --> 00:02:57,590.86881818 Shopify uses AI chatbots and voice assistance to directly search merchant inventories and even complete purchases with a single click using their shop pay system. 33 00:02:58,310.86881818 --> 00:03:03,830.86881818 This seamless integration is transforming the consumer journey, making shopping faster and easier than ever. 34 00:03:04,265.86881818 --> 00:03:12,5.86881818 As consumers get more comfortable with AI assisted shopping, platforms that don't adapt may find themselves left behind. 35 00:03:12,425.86881818 --> 00:03:18,965.86881818 This shift might encourage other retailers to ramp up their AI game and reimagine their customer interactions. 36 00:03:19,325.86881818 --> 00:03:26,873.14154545 It's a new era for online shopping and Shopify's success is setting the pace on policy. 37 00:03:27,173.14154545 --> 00:03:33,588.14154545 Brussels looks set to finally soften parts of the EU AI Act after heavy pressure from big tech and the US government. 38 00:03:34,253.14154545 --> 00:03:41,3.14154545 The current proposal includes a one year grace period and pushes some of the transparency penalties out to 2027. 39 00:03:41,633.14154545 --> 00:03:58,283.14154545 This will help impacted teams accelerate from pilot to production by giving them a little breathing room to build the guardrails properly rather than slamming on the brakes because everyone's terrified of tripping a penalty clause, apple is reportedly close to letting Google's Gemini power the next version of Siri. 40 00:03:58,703.14154545 --> 00:04:04,868.14154545 Why? Apple intelligence is embarrassingly miles behind the pack and their internal models aren't cutting it. 41 00:04:05,258.14154545 --> 00:04:09,698.14154545 So their only choice to leap forward, or in their case, try and catch up, is to partner. 42 00:04:10,118.14154545 --> 00:04:14,768.14154545 And it's the same conclusion a lot of enterprises are making to drive their own innovation. 43 00:04:15,158.14154545 --> 00:04:21,308.14154545 It will be interesting to see how Apple maintains its whole privacy halo while effectively renting someone else's brain. 44 00:04:21,488.14154545 --> 00:04:24,458.14154545 And if they finally get this long overdue upgrade out there. 45 00:04:26,240.86881818 --> 00:04:26,570.86881818 Google. 46 00:04:26,570.86881818 --> 00:04:29,990.86881818 Meanwhile, is pushing Gemini into products we use every day. 47 00:04:30,20.86881818 --> 00:04:31,460.86881818 This time Google Maps. 48 00:04:31,970.86881818 --> 00:04:43,820.86881818 The new features include hands-free voice tasks like checking for available EV charges nearby, or sharing your ETA with friends, landmark based directions and proactive traffic alerts. 49 00:04:44,330.86881818 --> 00:04:52,535.86881818 It's a lovely example of AI being useful rather than flashy and according to their press release, you can get help with multi-step tasks like asking. 50 00:04:53,270.86881818 --> 00:04:58,760.86881818 Is there a budget friendly restaurant with vegan options along my route? Something within a couple of miles. 51 00:04:59,120.86881818 --> 00:05:04,820.86881818 What's parking like there? And then conversationally confirming by seeing something like, okay, let's go there. 52 00:05:05,390.86881818 --> 00:05:07,970.86881818 I really hope Apple pay attention and follow suit. 53 00:05:09,615.41427273 --> 00:05:18,645.41427273 And to finish a festive detour, Coca-Cola has rolled out its new holiday ads created with generative AI and guided by human storytellers. 54 00:05:19,140.41427273 --> 00:05:24,510.41427273 You've got Santa glowing trucks and what appear to be woodland creatures auditioning for a musical. 55 00:05:24,960.41427273 --> 00:05:26,400.41427273 As ever, viewers are divided. 56 00:05:26,610.41427273 --> 00:05:27,360.41427273 Some love it. 57 00:05:27,390.41427273 --> 00:05:31,740.41427273 Others are calling it AI trash, and one amusingly asked for Pepsi instead. 58 00:05:32,340.41427273 --> 00:05:34,680.41427273 Inside Coke, though, the stance is steady. 59 00:05:35,100.41427273 --> 00:05:36,60.41427273 This is the future. 60 00:05:36,630.41427273 --> 00:05:43,590.41427273 The AI team says the craft has improved since last year's attempt, and insists the results are authentic and emotionally resonant. 61 00:05:44,265.41427273 --> 00:05:45,615.41427273 I agree, it's the way forward. 62 00:05:45,885.41427273 --> 00:05:47,415.41427273 And let's remember CGI. 63 00:05:47,415.41427273 --> 00:05:50,835.41427273 Animations are not a new concept, but quality matters. 64 00:05:51,285.41427273 --> 00:05:53,175.41427273 Holiday ads are visual comfort food. 65 00:05:53,535.41427273 --> 00:05:58,815.41427273 If the textures feel plasticky or uncanny, people notice immediately and they don't forgive easily. 66 00:06:00,557.23245455 --> 00:06:02,717.23245455 That's all for this week's AI roundup. 67 00:06:03,17.23245455 --> 00:06:07,7.23245455 If you found value in this breakdown, please leave a rating and hit subscribe. 68 00:06:07,187.23245455 --> 00:06:08,237.23245455 See you next week.
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