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🤖 What We Learned From 3 AI Model Releases

Plus Google's AI shopping push and new privacy claims

November 20, 2025

Hello AI Enthusiast,

This week brought us three major AI releases from Google, OpenAI, and xAI - each betting on different strategies. Google's also making moves on two other fronts: rolling out AI shopping features just in time for the holidays, and launching a new cloud platform that promises to keep your data private even from Google itself. Let's break down what's actually happening here.

Before you read the newsletter, we’re giving a 100€ training voucher to anyone who completes our short anonymous survey. We’ll use the results to better understand how people use AI and share a report once we reach 1000 responses.

The Big Picture 🔊

Google, OpenAI, and xAI Drop New Models

Google, OpenAI, and xAI all launched model updates these last few days, each taking a different approach to AI improvement. Google released Gemini 3 Pro with state-of-the-art reasoning and multimodal capabilities, plus a new "Deep Think" mode for complex problems. OpenAI upgraded to GPT-5.1, making their models "warmer" and more conversational while improving instruction following. xAI's Grok 4.1 focused heavily on personality and emotional intelligence.

Gioele Mottarlini
Gioele MottarliniCOO and Image Addict

These releases show companies hitting limits on making AI "smarter," so they're splitting into different strategies. OpenAI's chasing the $30 billion AI companion market with personality and tone improvements. Google's building for their ecosystem with developer tools and agentic features. Grok cherry-picked absurd benchmark comparisons.

The benchmark game has become meaningless - everyone claims #1 by picking different tests.

With all these new AI models dropping, the tech is getting better, but having access to powerful models doesn't mean much if you don't know how to use them. Our AI Agent Bootcamp teaches you to build working AI prototypes using these models without writing code. You'll create agents that actually do things through hands-on projects.

Google Adds AI Shopping Features for Holiday Season

Google is rolling out major shopping updates powered by Gemini. You can now shop conversationally in AI Mode, getting organized responses with prices, reviews, and inventory. The Gemini app now shows shoppable product listings and comparison tables. New agentic features let Google call stores to check availability or automatically buy tracked items when prices drop to your target, starting with select U.S. merchants.

Biljana Prlichkova
Biljana PrlichkovaPRM and Outdoor Enthusiast

Google's playing to its strength - they already have 50 billion product listings and a search monopoly. Adding AI to existing infrastructure beats OpenAI trying to build a shopping platform from scratch.

This probably explains why OpenAI went the companionship route instead. Google doesn't need to win hearts when they control the data.

Google Launches Private AI Compute

Google introduced Private AI Compute, a cloud platform running powerful Gemini models while claiming your data stays private - even from Google. Using hardware-secured enclaves and encryption, it processes sensitive information in isolation. Currently powers features like Magic Cue and Recorder on Pixel phones.

Helin Yontar
Helin YontarCPO and Polyglot

This is Google copying Apple's Private Cloud Compute playbook, almost down to the name. The timing suggests it's about their rumored partnership to power Siri with Gemini. Apple needs privacy-focused infrastructure, Google's providing it.

The quiet announcement without promotion? Probably aimed at enterprise partnerships rather than consumers.

Bits and Bobs 🗞️

  • ChatGPT is piloting group chats allowing multiple users and the AI, powered by GPT-5.1, to collaborate together in shared conversations for planning, decision-making, and co-creation.

  • OpenAI is fighting a New York Times demand to turn over 20 million private ChatGPT conversations, arguing it overreaches and threatens user privacy while rejecting privacy-preserving alternatives.

  • SIMA 2 uses the Gemini model to reason and self-improve across diverse games, marking a major advance toward general and embodied AI agents.

  • Anthropic disrupted what it calls the first large-scale AI-driven cyber espionage campaign, in which a likely state-sponsored group used Claude to autonomously infiltrate and exfiltrate data from global tech, financial, and government targets.

  • Jeff Bezos co-leads Project Prometheus, a $6.2 billion-funded AI startup focused on developing AI that learns from physical experiments to advance engineering and manufacturing.

  • Google's AI-powered Search now helps users plan trips by creating itineraries, finding deals, and enabling restaurant bookings through integrated partners.

  • Amazon's new AI-powered Ads Agent automates campaign planning and optimization to help advertisers save time and improve efficiency.

  • Google is launching AI-powered Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor in Google Ads and Analytics to provide personalized campaign insights, diagnostics, and recommendations for improved advertising performance.

From Our Founder’s Channels 🤳

In his LinkedIn post, Gianluca Mauro announced our 100,000€ AI Academy giveaway: fill out a quick AI-usage survey, and get a 100€ training voucher - plus a data report on global AI adoption once the study closes.

LOLgorithms 😂

Who believes Sam typed that without gritting his teeth?

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Catch you next week! 👋