This Week in AI with The Neural

TECHIES, ASSEMBLE!

AI INDUSTRY

OpenAI’s GPT‑4o Is So Good It’s Borderline Creepy

OpenAI unveils its GPT‑4o, a natively multimodal model that synthesizes photorealistic images with precise text descriptions. This model pushes creative boundaries and practical applications, ensuring that visuals and language seamlessly enhance each other.

👉 See the breakthrough in action.

Meta’s Llama 4 Isn’t Just Smart—It’s a Beast

Meta’s new Llama 4 lineup—Scout, Maverick, and a preview of Behemoth—demonstrates cutting-edge multimodal capabilities with a novel mixture-of-experts architecture. These models, available for download, set the stage for new AI-powered innovations.

Dive into Meta’s latest innovation.

Google Lens Just Got Superpowers—Thanks to Gemini

Google’s upgraded AI Mode now harnesses Google Lens and Gemini for image-based queries. This breakthrough transforms search by delivering richer contextual results, blending text and visual data to answer questions in a more intuitive, comprehensive way.

Experience the future of search. 

Midjourney V7 Just Made You a Speedy AI Artist

Midjourney V7, now in alpha, introduces personalized image generation that adapts to individual user styles. With Draft Mode for rapid outputs and voice input integration, it delivers visually stunning results faster and at lower cost than previous versions.

Get inspired by faster image creation.

This Tiny Copilot Upgrade Will Change How You Work Forever

Microsoft’s latest Copilot update integrates advanced vision memory, enhancing context recognition and productivity across its suite. This upgrade empowers users to benefit from smarter, more intuitive collaboration between visual and textual data.

See how Microsoft is innovating.

GitHub’s New AI Backbone Was Built in Go—Here’s Why That Matters

GitHub’s public preview of its new MCP Server, developed with Anthropic, redefines tool integration by offering customizable tool descriptions and improved code scanning. This launch aligns with GitHub Copilot’s native support for streamlined AI development in VS Code.

Enhance your development workflow. 

Honor in AI

She Predicted the Future of AI—Now She's Winning Awards for It

MIT Media Lab’s Pattie Maes earns the 2025 ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award for her pioneering contributions to human-computer interaction and wearable tech. Her work continues to shape software agents and the future of interactive technology.

Celebrate leadership and innovation in HCI.

AI AROUND US

OpenAI’s EU Playbook Could Shape a Billion-Dollar AI Market

The EU Economic Blueprint from OpenAI’s Global Affairs lays out a plan to harness AI for sustainable growth in Europe. It outlines building foundational infrastructure, harmonizing regulations, widespread adoption, and aligning AI development with European values.

See Europe’s roadmap for AI.

Shopify Now Requires Every Employee to Use AI—Seriously

CEO Tobi Lütke mandates that every Shopify employee integrate AI into workflows. From prototyping to performance reviews, AI proficiency is now a baseline expectation aimed at enhancing productivity and competitive edge throughout the company.

Find out how AI is now baseline at Shopify.

Planning Too Complex for LLMs? Not Anymore.

Researchers present LLM-Based Formalized Programming (LLMFP), a framework that decomposes intricate planning problems into manageable steps. This method leverages reinforcement learning to dramatically improve success rates, making complex problem-solving accessible for non-experts.

Unleash smarter problem-solving with LLMs.

Finally—You Can Own a Piece of the AI You Helped Build

Vana, born from MIT insights, shifts AI ownership to users by letting them contribute data and gain proportional stakes in model profits. This democratizes AI innovation and unlocks diverse datasets traditionally held by tech giants.

Own a piece of your data’s future.

This AI Tutor Made Kids Jump to the Top 2%—Here’s How

Texas’s Alpha School integrates an AI tutor into daily learning, enabling personalized education that boosts test scores into the top 2% nationally. Reduced homework and extra time for passion projects are transforming traditional classrooms.

See how AI transforms education.

AI Just Recreated a Tom & Jerry Cartoon From Text Prompts

A novel model, TTT-MLP, generates one-minute animated videos in the style of Tom and Jerry from simple text storyboards. By integrating test-time training layers, it produces engaging narratives, though current outputs show minor visual artifacts.

Watch AI animate classics.

‘HOW TO’ WITH AI

Prompt Injection Is Wrecking AI—Here’s the New Fix That Actually Works

A new arXiv paper introduces CaMeL, a defense mechanism that separates trusted control flows from untrusted data to protect LLMs from manipulation. This innovative technique ensures that your AI systems remain secure and reliable in adversarial environments.

Learn how to harden your AI systems.

AI - POINT OF VIEW

Even as AI agents promise efficiency, a comprehensive directory reveals their high deployment costs. The market’s “world’s largest” resource for AI agents exposes that scaling quality tools often comes with sky-high price tags, urging businesses to rethink investments.

Explore the economics behind AI agents.

FROM THE NEURAL - AI COPILOT

Gen AI, Decoded: Bharani Subramaniam Gets Real on AI at Work

Get ready for an AI reality check! In this episode, Bharani Subramaniam, CTO at Thoughtworks, joins Ranjith Melarkode to break down how Gen AI is actually playing out in the real world.

Watch now — you can thank us later!