Thursday’s AI Report

• 1. 📱 OpenAI close to releasing a device?
• 2. 🚀 Accelerate your AI Accuracy with DataStax
• 3. 💰 Google brings ads to AI Mode
• 4. 💸 Meta lures startups with $$$
• 5. 👓 Invest in this smartshade start-up with Ryse
• 6. ⚙️ Trending AI Tools
• 7. 🏗️ Practical AI Applications
• 8. 📑 Recommended Resources

Read Time: 5 minutes

‼️Tomorrow, this week’s episode of The AI Report podcast drops, where Liam talks to LinkedIn content expert, Lindsey Rosenthal, about how to monetize your 9–5 without quitting your job.

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OpenAI close to releasing a device?

🚨 Our Report 

OpenAI has acquired the AI device start-up, Io, which was founded by OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, and ex-Apple designer, Jony Ive (famed for designing the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Apple Watch and being Steve Jobs’ “spiritual partner”) two years ago. The acquisition values the start-up at $6.5B, marking the biggest acquisition OpenAI has made to date. All 55 of Io’s engineers, researchers, and product development specialists (most of whom have come from Apple) will join OpenAI to lead its design work and develop AI-powered consumer devices.

🔓 Key Points

• Altman and Ive have already been working on a device—which has “completely captured” Ive’s imagination—that will “move consumers away from screens,” which Altman told staff will ship in 2026. 

• Altman hinted that using ChatGPT on laptops or mobiles was “too cumbersome,” but has confirmed the new device will not be a wearable; instead, it will be compact, screenless, and fully aware of a user’s surroundings.

• This comes after Ive recently blasted the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 (both wearable devices), calling them “very poor products,” feeling there has been “an absence of new thinking expressed in products.”

🔐 Relevance 

This acquisition will undoubtedly put OpenAI in direct competition with Apple in the consumer hardware space, pressuring an already struggling Apple after it failed to impress with its AI features. In fact, following the acquisition announcement, Apple stock fell by 2%.

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🚨 Our Report

After announcing it was rolling out AI Mode—a new AI-powered search feature that handles nuanced, complex queries and digs deeper into various websites to deliver more comprehensive answers to search queries—to US users this week, Google has confirmed it will be testing ads on the platform (while also confirming it’s expanding its ads in AI Overviews—the quick AI summaries that appears at the top of search results—from mobile to desktop devices).

🔓 Key Points

• As part of the test, US users will see AI Mode ads (specifically search and shopping ones), “where relevant,” either below or within AI Mode’s responses, across both desktop and mobile devices.

• For example, if a user asks AI Mode “how to build a website”, the feature will surface a step-by-step guide on how to start and possibly show a “helpful ad” for a website builder, which will have a “sponsored” label on it.

• According to Google, advertisers that are already using Google’s Shopping and Search campaigns with “broad match” will be eligible to have their ads displayed in AI Mode.

🔐 Relevance

Everyone knows that ads are Google’s breadwinner: This year, in Q1 alone, it made $66.89B just from ad revenue. So, some might say it was inevitable that ads would make their way into this new feature. But, according to recent studies, 36% of people would be “less likely” to trust an AI ad.

• Meta has launched a program, called ‘Llama for Startups’, which is specifically designed to encourage and incentivise start-ups to use its Llama AI models rather than other available models.

• It promises “direct support” from its technical team, and any US AI start-up that’s raised under $10M in funding and has at least one developer could also receive up to $6K p/m to help with development budgets.

• Despite hitting over 1B downloads, this is a powerplay move from Meta after its Llama models recently faced several setbacks, including delays and rumors of cheating on benchmarks.

Apple has entered the smart home race with its new Smart Display, signaling a $158B market shift

One company has been quietly preparing for this moment.

Their smart shade tech already integrates with major platforms, perfectly positioned to capture the influx of new consumers Apple brings.

As Apple accelerates adoption, this startup is shifting production to the Philippines for faster scaling. With 200% YoY growth, over 120 BestBuy locations, and projected to 5X revenue this year, this company is primed to thrive.

Shares are available at just $1.90 - just 8 days left before the share price changes.

Prompt Inspiration

After typing this prompt, you will get an ad campaign outline that uses the ‘job-to-be-done’ framework to identify the ‘job’ your product/service can do for your customers, persuading them that by using your product/service, they can get that job done more effectively.

P.S. Use the Prompt Engineer GPT by The AI Report to 10x your prompts.

STARTUPS

Name: PhotoPrism
Value: Unknown
Funding raised: Bootstrapped

PhotoPrism is an AI-powered photo management app that leverages AI for facial recognition and object detection, and can automatically tag and find photos based on their content, location, and time.

PODCASTS

How AI is transforming clinical testing

This podcast explores how AI is reshaping clinical testing by leveraging advanced data strategies to address bottlenecks in test design, safety, and outcome predictions.

QUICK HITS

• Amazon tests AI audio summaries

• Huawei AI chips cause US-China tension 

• Volvo first to install Google’s Gemini into its cars

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Until next time, Martin, Liam, and Amanda.