The artificial intelligence (AI) realm witnesses rapid developments around the world, reshaping the world of digital transformation and accelerating the pace of AI adoption. In this weekly newsletter, FollowICT is highlighting the most important news and advancements in AI around the globe.
The Gemini App Will Now Automatically Summarize Your Long Emails
Google announced on Thursday that users no longer need to click a button to summarize their emails using AI. Instead, the AI will automatically summarize content when needed—without requiring any user interaction.
When Gemini was first launched in Gmail’s sidebar last year, one of its features allowed users to summarize long email threads, in addition to other tools like email draft writing and suggested replies, among others.
Now, Google is putting AI to work in your inbox, whether you want it or not.
Perplexity’s New Tool Can Generate Spreadsheets, Dashboards, and More
Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine competing with Google, launched Perplexity Labs on Thursday. This tool is available to users subscribed to Perplexity’s $20/month Pro plan and can generate reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and more.
Perplexity Labs is available on the web, iOS, and Android, and will soon be integrated into Perplexity’s apps for Mac and Windows.
A blog post from Perplexity Labs explains: “Perplexity Labs can help you complete a wide variety of work and personal projects. It’s designed for longer tasks, 10 minutes or more, and leverages additional tools like advanced file creation and mini app building.”
DeepSeek Heats Up the Race With OpenAI, Launches R1 Model
Chinese startup DeepSeek, which has shaken up the AI space this year, has quietly released an upgraded version of its AI inference model.
While the company hasn’t made an official announcement, the improved R1 model has been uploaded to Hugging Face, a popular platform for sharing AI models.
DeepSeek rose to prominence this year after its free and open-source inference model R1 outperformed offerings from competitors like Meta and OpenAI, according to CNBC.
The DeepSeek R1 model is a refined inference model, meaning it can handle more complex tasks using step-by-step logical reasoning.
The updated R1 model ranks just behind OpenAI’s o4-mini and o3 inference models on LiveCodeBench, a platform that benchmarks AI models using a variety of metrics.
Nvidia, AMD May Soon Begin Selling New AI Chips in China to Comply With US Export Restrictions
In response to US export restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology to China, chipmakers Nvidia and AMD are reportedly preparing to sell new GPUs in China tailored for AI workloads, according to Taiwan-based tech magazine DigiTimes, citing supply chain sources.
Nvidia reportedly plans to sell an AI-focused GPU with the codename “B20,” while AMD is targeting AI workloads with a new workstation GPU named Radeon AI PRO R9700, according to DigiTimes. The companies are expected to start selling these AI chips in China as early as July.
Odyssey’s New AI Model Streams Interactive 3D Worlds
Odyssey, a startup founded by autonomous driving veterans Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has developed an AI model that lets users interact with streaming video content.
This model is available online as an early-stage demo and streams video frames every 40 milliseconds. Using simple controls, viewers can explore areas within the video—similar to a 3D video game.
In a blog post, Odyssey wrote: “Given the current world state, upcoming events, and history of actions, the model tries to predict the next state of the world. It’s built on a new world model capable of generating realistic-looking pixels, maintaining spatial consistency, learning from video events, and outputting coherent video streams lasting five minutes or more.”
Odyssey also stated: “Interactive video… opens the door to entirely new forms of entertainment where stories can be created and explored on demand, free from the limitations and costs of traditional production.” They added: “Over time, we believe everything related to video today—entertainment, ads, education, training, travel, and more—will evolve into interactive video, fully powered by Odyssey.”
Microsoft Tests “Copilot for Gaming” in the Xbox App on iOS and Android
Microsoft announced Wednesday the rollout of a trial version of Copilot for Gaming. Beta testers can access the feature through the Xbox app on iOS and Android.
This early version lets the AI assistant answer questions about games you’re interested in, provide links to more information, and respond based on your account, gameplay history, achievements, and more.
As described by Taylor O’Malley, Principal Program Manager at Xbox, this mobile version allows you to access Copilot for Gaming on a second screen—without interrupting your core gaming experience.
Anthropic Launches Voice Mode for Claude
Anthropic has started rolling out a new Voice Mode for its Claude chatbot apps. Currently in beta, Voice Mode allows users to have “full spoken conversations with Claude” on mobile, and will be available in English over the coming weeks.
Voice Mode lets you talk to Claude and hear its responses, making it easier to use when your hands are full or your attention is divided, according to Anthropic’s support page. It changes how you interact by showing key points on screen as Claude speaks and allowing both verbal input and output.
The feature includes five distinct voice options and allows users to switch between text and voice seamlessly. It also offers access to the chat transcript and conversation summaries.
OpenAI Will Soon Let You Log Into Other Apps Using ChatGPT
OpenAI has announced that it is exploring ways to let users log into third-party apps using their ChatGPT accounts. The company is currently gauging developer interest in integrating this functionality into their applications.
ChatGPT has quickly become one of the world’s largest consumer apps, with nearly 600 million monthly active users. To capitalize on this popularity, OpenAI appears to be expanding into other consumer areas such as online shopping, social media, and personal devices, according to TechCrunch.
The potential “Sign in with ChatGPT” feature could help OpenAI compete with major consumer tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft, all of which offer fast login options across a wide range of online services.
