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  • 🤖 New York Times Picks Sides in the AI Competition

🤖 New York Times Picks Sides in the AI Competition

Plus: Google Goes Local with AI While EY Goes Private

Author

Biljana Prlichkova
June 05, 2025

Hello AI Enthusiast,

This week the New York Times just made a very strategic licensing choice, Google released something that could change mobile AI, and consulting giants are making big bets on nervous industries. Let's dive in

The Big Picture 🔊

The New York Times Chooses Amazon Over OpenAI

The New York Times has signed its first AI licensing deal with Amazon, allowing the tech giant to use Times content to train AI models and power tools like Alexa. This comes while the Times is still suing OpenAI and Microsoft for using their content without permission. The move highlights how news organizations are split between fighting AI companies and making deals with them.

James Varnham
James VarnhamCEO and Rainmaker

This looks like smart legal strategy disguised as a business deal. The Times is basically telling the court "see, Amazon pays us for our content - why didn't OpenAI?" while conveniently partnering with Amazon, who backs OpenAI's main rival Anthropic.

The twist? If Times journalists use AI to help write articles that then train other AI models, things get messy fast. This whole mess shows how broken AI copyright law has become.

Google Quietly Launches Local AI Models for Your Phone

Google has released AI Edge Gallery, an experimental Android app that lets users download and run AI models directly on their phones without an internet connection. The app connects to Hugging Face's library of open-source models for tasks like image generation, coding, and text editing. The app includes a "Prompt Lab" for customizing model behavior and is available through GitHub, with iOS support coming soon.

Gioele Mottarlini
Gioele MottarliniCOO and Image Addict

Google's quietly testing something that could be bigger than it looks. Running AI locally solves real privacy concerns and works without internet - perfect for markets where phones are everywhere but reliable connections aren't.

This feels like Google's answer to Apple Intelligence, just delivered in classic Google style: experimental alpha release instead of polished keynote.

EY Teams Up with Nvidia and Dell for Private AI Solutions

EY has launched "EY.ai enterprise private," an on-premises AI platform built with Nvidia and Dell for highly regulated industries that can't use public cloud AI due to security concerns. The solution lets companies in finance, healthcare, and government finally use AI while keeping all data in-house.

Helin Yontar
Helin YontarCPO and Polyglot

EY's making a smart play - if you can help highly regulated industries using AI, that's worth serious money. These sectors have been sitting on the sidelines due to privacy concerns.

Classic Big Four move: wrap existing tech in consulting relationships and charge premium. The real question is whether it's actually worth the complexity.

Consulting firms are rushing to build private AI for nervous industries, but secure infrastructure is only half the battle.

One of the big challenges is making sure your people actually know how to use these tools. Our Corporate AI Training bridges that gap so your expensive setup doesn't just gather dust.

Bits and Bobs 🗞️

  • A UK government trial found 20,000 civil servants using Microsoft Copilot saved 26 minutes daily, which the government claims equals nearly 2 weeks saved per year.

  • Elon Musk's xAI is paying Telegram $300 million to integrate Grok into the messaging app, plus giving them 50% of subscription revenue.

  • Google AI Pro subscribers in certain countries now have limited access to Veo 3.

  • Perplexity has launched Perplexity Labs. This new feature can conduct research, create interactive web apps, and manage files.

On the Podcast 🎧

In last episode of "I'm NOT a Robot," we chatted with Noelia, who went from "not enjoying coding" to building AI workflows that create custom stories for her eight nieces and nephews. Her journey shows how the right training can turn anyone into an AI problem-solver, regardless of their technical background. Give it a listen

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

  • AI Academy Membership: Get 12 months of access to all our cohort-based programs, live webinars, on-demand courses, and tutorials.

  • AI Agent Bootcamp: Accelerate processes and solve business problems by mastering prompts and building AI Agents, without coding.

  • Practical Introduction to ChatGPT: A free course on using ChatGPT confidently, understanding its workings, and exploring its potential.

  • Customized Corporate Training: Equip your team with the skills they need to unlock the potential of AI in your business.

Catch you next week! 👋