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AI_Distilled #106: What’s New in AI This Week

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This week, OpenAI launched its latest model, GPT-5, while its competitors Perplexity and xAI made bold moves to challenge its dominance. In addition, the US government struck a unique deal on AI chip exports, while Microsoft introduced a new 3D creation tool.

Excited?

Let’s dig in!

LLM Expert Insights,
Packt

📈LATEST DEVELOPMENT

OpenAI's GPT-5 Revolutionizes Business Operations

OpenAI has launched GPT-5, and it has been hailed as its most advanced AI model yet. CEO Sam Altman claimed it was sophisticated enough to elevate ChatGPT to a PhD-level expert as it integrates and surpasses previous capabilities in reasoning and problem-solving. The model is available to all 700 million ChatGPT users. As the AI industry faces pressure to justify massive investments, OpenAI is emphasizing GPT-5's enhanced enterprise capabilities in software development, finance, and more.

Meanwhile, in a post on X, Sam Altman announced GPT-5 now offers "Auto," "Fast," and "Thinking" modes. The "Thinking" mode, designed for detailed reasoning, has a weekly message limit of 3,000 and a context limit of 196k tokens.

Perplexity Bids for Google's Chrome Browser

Perplexity has made a $34.5 billion offer to acquire Google's Chrome browser, a valuation that far exceeds its own. This offer is a strategic move to capitalize on potential antitrust remedies against Google's search monopoly, allowing Perplexity to tap into Chrome's vast user base. Perplexity has also pledged to keep Chrome's underlying code open source.

Microsoft Launches Copilot 3D

Microsoft's new Copilot 3D tool makes 3D creation accessible to everyone. Offered via Copilot Labs, the tool is globally available to anyone with a personal Microsoft account, with no subscription required. This AI-powered feature transforms a single 2D image into a usable 3D model in seconds. The models are saved for 28 days and can be downloaded in GLB format. This move is seen as an effort to expand Microsoft's AI offerings into the creative and design space.

xAI Makes Grok 4 Free for All Users

Following the debut of OpenAI's GPT-5, Elon Musk's xAI announced that it was making its Grok 4 model free for all users, intensifying the competition in the AI chatbot market.

Tesla Refocuses on AI Inference Chips

Tesla has announced a strategic realignment, phasing out the Dojo supercomputer team to concentrate on inference-optimized AI chip designs, notably the AI5 and AI6 processors. Future chips are expected by 2026, with Samsung already on board via a $16.5B deal.

Anthropic Offers Claude to the U.S. Government for $1

Anthropic has offered its AI chatbot, Claude, to the U.S. government for a symbolic price of $1. The company's CEO, Dario Amodei, stated that this is to ensure government institutions have access to the most secure AI tools available. This move follows a similar one made by rival OpenAI, as both companies compete for federal contracts.

📈HELPFUL AI TOOLS

Over the last month, several AI tools and platform updates have launched, expanding capabilities in research, education, SEO, and productivity. The table below highlights some of the most significant releases and their potential use cases.

Perplexity Comet

Description:
AI browser built on Chromium; includes an automation sidebar; personal assistant that can summarise open tabs and perform comparison‑shopping.

Use Cases:
Web research assistant; comparing prices across retailers; summarizing web pages for faster reading.

Webpage: https://www.perplexity.ai/comet

Zoom AI Companion (agentic)

Description:
AI Companion upgrade that adds agentic abilities; integrates with Slack, Salesforce, Notion and other apps; can pull data or send messages directly from Zoom meetings.

Use Cases: Automating meeting follow‑ups; retrieving CRM data or logging support tickets during calls; posting summaries to collaboration tools.

Webpage: https://www.zoom.com/en/products/ai-assistant/

Semrush AI Mode in Position Tracking

Description: New search‑engine option inside Semrush’s Position Tracking; tracks domain visibility in generative AI search results; provides daily ranks and local results.

Use Cases: Monitoring how websites appear in AI‑generated search; measuring brand presence in Google’s AI Mode; planning SEO strategies based on AI visibility.

Webpage: https://www.semrush.com/position-tracking/

Google Gemini for Education

Description: Version of the Gemini AI app built for schools; launches 30+ new classroom tools like vocabulary‑list generation and personalized quizzes.

Use Cases: Assisting teachers with lesson planning and content generation; generating short educational videos via Veo 3 and auto creating forms.

Webpage: https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_in/ai/gemini-for-education/

EXPERT INSIGHTS

From the Packt Bookshelf: Generative AI with LangChain, Second Edition by Ben Auffarth and Leonid Kuligin

In Generative AI with LangChain, Second Edition, Ben Auffarth and Leonid Kuligin introduce the Tree of Thoughts (ToT) pattern for building smarter AI agents. Extending Chain of Thought, ToT explores multiple solution paths in parallel, using a planner, execution agent, and replanner to adapt at each step. A tree data structure tracks progress, while consensus mechanisms (like LLM-as-a-judge) pick the best outcome. The approach leverages depth/breadth search, candidate pruning, and structured state management to create robust, production-ready multi-agent workflows—ideal for developers aiming to master advanced LangChain orchestration.

Read the full article on Substack →

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(Curated by humans. Powered by curiosity.)