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Need-to-Know
- Google renewed its partnership with Brazil’s Mombak to buy 200,000 tons of CO₂ removals and use DeepMind AI to measure Amazon reforestation impact.
- Amazon launched Kindle Translate, a free AI translation service helping KDP authors instantly create multilingual e-book editions.
- OpenAI’s Sora video app hit 470,000 Android installs on day one — over four times its iOS debut — signaling massive global momentum.
- Anthropic opened new offices in Paris and Munich to expand its fast-growing European footprint across sales, policy, and partnerships.
- Wikipedia urged AI companies to stop scraping content and instead use its paid API with attribution to ensure sustainability.
- Google replaced Assistant with Gemini on Google TV, turning TVs into conversational, learning-capable smart displays.
- Google Maps added Gemini-powered features that let users create interactive, AI-driven map projects via natural language.
- Clio, a leading legal AI firm, raised $500 M at a $5 B valuation to accelerate product development and acquisitions.
- OpenAI is exploring generative health tools, including a personal AI health assistant, to move beyond its core offerings.
- Google Photos integrated its Nano Banana model, bringing advanced AI editing and photo-to-video tools — its biggest update in years.
- Google Cloud released Agent Sandbox and GKE Pod Snapshots to secure AI environments and shorten large-model startup times.
- OpenAI + Google’s agentic AIs can now buy tickets directly, disrupting ticketing platforms and reshaping event commerce.
- A German court ruled that ChatGPT violated copyright law by training on song lyrics without permission.
- Sam Altman was served a subpoena live onstage in San Francisco to testify in a criminal case involving anti-AI protesters.
- Trump’s Truth Social AI bot backfired — bluntly exposing inconvenient truths about his own claims and policies.
- OpenAI’s GPT-5.1 update made ChatGPT faster, clearer, and more customizable, edging closer to a true personal assistant.
- YC-backed Chad IDE blends entertainment with AI coding, sparking debate over creativity versus gimmickry.
- ElevenLabs signed celebrity voice deals and launched a verified AI-voice marketplace, signaling Hollywood’s growing acceptance of AI.
- Amplitude introduced AI Feedback, an in-house LLM that consolidates scattered customer insights into unified reports.
- Google upgraded Gemini with smarter shopping tools — personalized picks, automated purchases, and Duplex-powered calls before Black Friday.
- Spotify launched an AI audiobook recap feature while tackling concerns about AI-generated content quality and disclosure.
- Gartner predicts AI won’t cause mass job loss but will create four hybrid human-AI work models companies must adapt to.
- AI coding startup Cursor raised $2.3 B, reaching a $29.3 B valuation — nearly 12× its worth at the start of 2025.
Weekly AI Launches
- WordFlippin launched a spaced-repetition vocabulary app that permanently locks in new words with AI memory tracking.
- Chatter introduced a free tool showing what r/WallStreetBets is saying about any stock ticker.
- JDoodle.ai released an AI full-stack builder with built-in hosting, database, and automatic bug fixes.
- Noro unveiled an ADHD-friendly planner that turns messy voice dumps into organized tasks with time estimates.
- Skarbe introduced Oskar, an AI sales agent that qualifies leads, tracks deals, and automates outreach.
- TheySaid 3.0 arrived with 2-way voice, AI-powered forms, and built-in usability testing.
- Sheet0 launched a smart spreadsheet that fetches, cleans, and analyzes data from questions using a cloud browser.
- Cal ID debuted an open-source scheduling app for individuals and teams with unlimited meetings and live support.
- Talo launched a real-time voice-translation tool for video calls, events, and live broadcasts.
- Emma released an AI app that reads food labels in any language to flag hidden sugars, additives, and allergens.
- YouArt introduced a creative agent that coordinates AI models into reusable “vibe-driven” workflows for designers.
- Thesys launched C1 Artifacts API, generating on-brand interactive slides and reports directly inside AI apps.
- Algebras unveiled an AI dubbing system delivering human-like lip-sync and emotional tone for localization.
- Superapp debuted as the first AI full-stack engineer for iOS, generating production-ready Swift apps.
- Logo.dev released an API for instantly fetching accurate brand logos for any company, stock, or crypto symbol.
- YouWare launched a “Vibe Coding” mobile builder that turns voice or text prompts into functional apps.
- Documenso 2.0.0 rolled out enterprise-grade e-signatures with a redesigned editor.
- Willow introduced an iOS keyboard boasting dictation accuracy 3× higher than Apple’s.
- Avaturn Live launched hyper-realistic AI avatars that mirror emotions in real time.
- Nomad Care Map debuted the world’s first global directory of doctor reviews for digital nomads.
