This Week in AI: Big Price Tags, Cool Features, and Tech Updates

The AI world is changing fast! Here's a rundown of the biggest AI news that dropped this week.

OpenAI's Super Expensive AI Plans

OpenAI is thinking about releasing some seriously pricey AI assistants:

• An AI research assistant for about $22,000 per month

• A coding assistant for around $10,000 per month

• A super-smart research helper for $20,000 per month

Unlike the ChatGPT you might use now, these would work more independently, doing tasks without you having to guide them every step of the way. Many people are joking that you could just hire an actual human for these prices!

GPT-4.5 Now Available for More Users

Good news if you pay for ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) - you can now use GPT-4.5! At first, it was only available to Pro users who pay $200/month. People weren't impressed at first, but after using it for a while, many say it's actually really good for creative stuff like writing and making outlines.

Google Adds AI to Everything

Google has been busy adding AI to pretty much everything:

• A new AI search feature that works like Perplexity, finding info and giving you an AI-written answer with sources

• An update that lets Google AI see what you're looking at through your phone camera

• Better AI tools for Google Sheets that can spot patterns and analyze your data

• A scam detector for Android phones that warns you about fishy text messages

• Shopping tools that can generate clothing designs and let you virtually try on makeup

DuckDuckGo Gets into AI

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine, now has AI too! Their new duck.ai service lets you use popular AI chatbots anonymously. You can choose between different models like GPT-4, Llama 3, and Claude. They promise not to save or learn from your conversations.

Voice AI Gets More Human

Voice AI is getting much better:

• Perplexity's voice mode, which was already on phones, is now on Mac too

• Grok's voice features are now free for all iOS users

• A new company called Sesame made an AI voice that sounds incredibly human, with natural pauses and speed changes

• Podcastle launched with 450 different AI voices you can use

Video AI Making Big Leaps

AI-generated videos are getting way better:

• Hedra Labs released "Character-3," which can create videos that combine images, text, and audio

• Tencent shared an open-source video AI called HunyuanVideo that makes animations that look almost Pixar-quality

• Tavus created a video system where AI characters can see what you're doing and respond naturally

Apple's New Super-Powered Hardware

Apple showed off some powerful new computers built for AI:

• The M3 Ultra chip with up to 512GB of memory (that's a ton!)

• A new Mac Studio that can run huge AI models completely on the device

• A MacBook Air with the M4 chip designed to work with Apple's upcoming AI features

Other Cool AI Stuff

• Codium updated their AI coding tool with new preview features

• Alibaba made a small but mighty AI called Qwen QwQ-32B that's as smart as much bigger AIs

• A company called Cortical Labs made a computer that uses actual human brain cells combined with silicon

• Claude 3.7 beat other AIs at playing Super Mario Bros

• Opera's browser is adding an AI that can shop online for you

The AI revolution keeps rolling on, with better models and more ways to use them in everyday life!