🔥 OpenAI's Secret Agent, Amazon's Bold Chip Move, and Google's Mind-Blowing New Tool!

Read time: 4.5 minutes

Hi everyone! Sam here! Welcome back to another week of AI Simplified! Where I cut through the noise for you and break down the important news from this week in AI.

This was a packed week, and we’ve got some very exciting updates that you won’t want to miss. From OpenAI's upcoming agent to Google's innovative learning tool, the situation of the AI Chip Market, and some mind-blowing ways people are using AI assistants, let's dive right in!

🗞️ News:

 🤖 OpenAI’s Agent Nears Release: Your Personal Digital Assistant is Almost Here!

 🔎 ”Learn About”: Google's New AI Tool Wants to Answer Life's Burning Questions

 🥇 Chips are the new Gold: Amazon Challenges Nvidia with Custom AI Chips

 💰️ The Gravity of Business: Perplexity Tests the Waters with First Sponsored Ads

 ✍️ Prompt Tutorial: Create a Referral program 🤝 

⚡️ 3 AI tools to supercharge your productivity

 📸 AI-generated images of the day: Street Photography

🗞️ ^_News: 

 🤖 OpenAI’s Agent Nears Release: Your Personal Digital Assistant is Almost Here!

OpenAI is putting the finishing touches on a groundbreaking tool that can navigate your internet browser autonomously. This agent can handle chores like booking flights, completing coding projects, and much more. A small group of developers will get early access as soon as January, with a wider release planned down the line.

The industry is clearly in the race towards Agentic AI as we have see news recently from Microsoft, Anthropic, and other major players.

Some recent competition news include:

• Anthropic recently introduced its “computer use” capability which can even crack Captcha’s and is blowing users away with its potential.

• Google is reportedly preparing its own version, dubbed Jarvis, for a December release as well.

We aren’t yet sure when OpenAI will release its Agent, dubbed “Operator” but we sure will let you know when they do!

You can read more about it here →

 🔎 ”Learn About”: Google's New AI Tool Wants to Answer Life's Burning Questions

Google's AI experiment NotebookLM, their AI podcast generator and incredible learning tool, has been quietly gaining traction with 300% user growth in September alone! Unlike typical AI tools, NotebookLM’s special sauce is helping you work with your existing content—letting you "ground" the AI in your own notes and sources instead of generating new stuff from scratch.

Now, Google's back with its newest AI experiment, Learn About, which is all about helping you explore new topics in an engaging way. Instead of just throwing facts at you, Learn About guides you through topics like "Why do some sea creatures glow?" or "What causes the northern lights?" with interactive content, suggested topics, and multimedia elements to help you truly understand what you're learning.

What makes it different?

- Interactive Experience: It predicts what you might want to know next, offering a seamless learning journey.

- Adaptable Content: You can simplify concepts, dive deeper, get images, or explore related topics—all with a few clicks.

- Fun and Engaging: The interface feels more like texting a smart friend than surfing the web.

Learn About is like the ultimate Google search meets a Wikipedia rabbit hole. For example, we asked about the the work by the Rambam called “Guide for the Perplexed”, and it provided videos, Britannica entries, Wikipedia articles, and prompts to explore further in various directions. It's Google's answer to tools like SearchGPT and Perplexity but with a playful twist aimed at making learning genuinely enjoyable.

You can try it out here →

And if you haven’t yet, try out NotebookLM here →

🥇 Chips are the new Gold: Amazon Challenges Nvidia with Custom AI Chips

Amazon Web Services (AWS), which commands roughly one-third of the global cloud infrastructure market, is making a strategic move to lessen its dependency on Nvidia's GPUs. While Nvidia's advanced semiconductors currently play a crucial role in AWS's operations—and could potentially secure Amazon a hefty $475 million deal with IBM—the tech giant is venturing into developing its own AI chips.

AWS is introducing custom chips like the Trainium 2, already being tested by Anthropic. These chips aim to be powerful enough to train some of the world's largest AI models. The motivation behind this shift includes:

- Supply Constraints: Nvidia's GPUs are in such high demand that there's a months-long waiting list for their newest models.

- Enhanced Efficiency: Amazon believes its custom chips can offer greater efficiency compared to what's currently available from Nvidia.

The goal isn't to cut ties with Nvidia but to provide a "healthy alternative" in the market. By diversifying its hardware options, Amazon hopes to mitigate supply bottlenecks and offer more efficient solutions for AI model training. This move could significantly impact the AI hardware landscape, giving companies more choices and potentially spurring innovation through increased competition.

 💰️ The Gravity of Business: Perplexity Tests the Waters with First Sponsored Ads

Money is the lifeblood of any business, and Perplexity is feeling the pressure. The AI search platform, celebrated for its clean and distraction-free interface, is now testing "sponsored follow-up questions" as a strategy to generate revenue. Boasting 50 million monthly visits, the startup led by Aravind Srinivas is optimistic that this shift won't alienate its loyal user base. While some users may lament the loss of an entirely ad-free experience, this approach could be key to ensuring Perplexity's long-term growth and the continued refinement of its services.

You can try Perplexity here →

 ✍️ Prompt Tutorial: Create a Referral program 🤝 

1. Open a new chat in ChatGPT. Title it "Referral Program Design".

2. Fill in the following template with details specific to your business:

   • Platform type/description: [Insert a brief description of your platform here]

   • Target audience: [Insert a description of your target audience here]

3. Enter the Prompt.

   Copy and paste the following prompt into the chat, replacing the placeholders with your inputs:

Design a referral program that encourages current users of our [Platform type/description] to refer new customers by offering valuable incentives. Define the program's structure, including reward types and conditions for earning rewards, focusing on benefits that align with our [Target audience]. Ensure that the referral process is seamless and easy to share.

⚡️ 3 AI tools to supercharge your productivity

Visme

An all-in-one platform that makes it easy to create presentations, videos, and other branded content.

Try it here →

RenderFire V2

Automate faceless videos for YouTube and TikTok.

Try it here →

Korbit

Revolutionize your software development with AI-powered code reviews.

Try it here →

📸 AI-generated images of the day: Street Photography

Prompt:

Create a street photograph of [subject] in [location], focusing on candid moments and natural compositions. Use [specific lighting conditions] to enhance the mood and atmosphere, capturing the essence of everyday life in an unfiltered and spontaneous manner."

For this image, I used:

Create a street photograph of a street musician performing on a busy city sidewalk, focusing on candid moments and natural compositions. Use the warm, golden light of the late afternoon to enhance the mood and atmosphere, capturing the essence of everyday life in an unfiltered and spontaneous manner."

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Until next time!

Sam Hadar ✍️