🤖 Europe's €200B Response to US AI Advances

Hello AI Enthusiast,

Money talks, and this week it's speaking volumes about AI. Europe unveiled its counter to the US Stargate project, putting €200 billion on the table to boost its AI capabilities. Plus, we're seeing some fascinating insights into how AI is actually being used in the workplace through Anthropic's new research, while Google continues to push the boundaries of what AI can do with its latest Gemini updates.

The Big Picture 🔊

EU and France Announce Major AI Investments to Compete with US

The EU and France have unveiled significant AI investment initiatives. The EU announced a €200 billion investment package, with €20 billion allocated for four AI Gigafactories. This includes €150 billion from private sector companies under the EU AI Champions initiative and €50 billion from the EU itself. Separately, France announced a €109 billion private investment package for AI infrastructure, with plans to leverage its nuclear power capacity. These announcements come in response to the US Stargate project's $500 billion commitment announced last month.

Anthropic Launches Economic Index to Track AI's Impact on Labor Markets

Anthropic has introduced the Anthropic Economic Index, analyzing millions of Claude conversations to understand AI's real-world impact on work. The initial report reveals that 36% of occupations use AI for at least a quarter of their tasks, with usage concentrated in software development and technical writing. The study found AI is more commonly used for augmentation (57%) than automation (43%), and is most prevalent in mid-to-high wage occupations. The company has open-sourced its dataset.

Google Releases Gemini 2.0 Models

Google has announced the general availability of several new Gemini 2.0 models. The lineup includes the updated 2.0 Flash, the experimental 2.0 Pro model optimized for coding with a 2-million token context window, and the cost-efficient 2.0 Flash-Lite. The 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental model, which shows its reasoning process, is now available to all Gemini app users. A version of 2.0 Flash Thinking that can interact with apps like YouTube, Search, and Google Maps has also been released. Gemini Advanced subscribers get priority access to 2.0 Pro.

Bits and Bobs 🗞️

• AI researchers from Stanford and the University of Washington developed a strong reasoning model, s1, for under $50 using a technique called distillation from Google's Gemini 2.0.

• Mistral has launched a mobile version of its AI assistant, Le Chat, and a new Pro tier is available for $14.99/mo, offering access to a higher-performing model.

• ByteDance's new system, OmniHuman, uses an innovative "omni-conditions" training strategy, combining text, audio, and body movements to enhance human animation generation.

• Elon Musk has placed a $97.6 billion bid to acquire OpenAI, aiming to return it to an open-source, safety-focused organization, amidst ongoing legal disputes with co-founder Sam Altman.

• An AI tool identified an existing drug, adalimumab, as the best treatment for a patient with a rare and deadly disease, saving his life.

• In response to the ongoing demand for AI technology, big tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, are investing more than $300 billion in 2025 in expanding their AI capabilities.

• OpenAI has introduced sharing capabilities to Canvas, the built-in editor for ChatGPT, allowing users to easily share their work with others and has added web search abilities to ChatGPT free version.

• Alphabet, the company behind Google, has removed its pledge not to develop AI for weapons or surveillance, updating its ethical guidelines to prioritize national security.

Tribal News🫂

This week in our 'AI in Action' series, available to our Members, we hosted an session where our guest demonstrated how he built an AI workflow for his client, including the creation of a custom AI Avatar. It was fascinating to see a professional building a real-world AI implementation. These live webinars are just one part of our Membership benefits and you can learn more about it here.

From Our Founder’s Channels 🤳

With the EU now requiring companies to train employees on AI, Gianluca shares our evidence-based framework for effective AI upskilling, and explains why those quick video courses might not be enough to meet the new requirements.

LOLgorithms 😂

Love that Altman is still calling it Twitter.

That's a wrap on our newsletter! Before you go, here’s a quick recap of our offerings:

• AI Academy Membership: Get 12-month access to live webinars, bootcamps, mini courses, and AI challenges.

• Generative AI Project Bootcamp: Learn to craft optimal prompts and integrate them into automated AI prototypes to accelerate processes and test business ideas.

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Catch you next week! 👋