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Navigating the AI Frontier: Breakthroughs, Challenges, and Opportunities for Businesses
The AI landscape is rapidly evolving, presenting groundbreaking innovations and complex challenges for businesses worldwide. As decision-makers and business owners seek to leverage AI, understanding the latest developments is crucial. This article unpacks recent advancements in AI technology, ranging from autonomous agents to strategic corporate maneuvers, all of which were discussed in the latest episode of the podcast "Everyday AI."
Revolutionizing Sales: Microsoft's New AI Sales Agents
Microsoft is challenging major players like Salesforce with its latest AI-driven sales agents, designed to automate sales tasks and enhance customer relationship management. These agents, integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce's platform, are set for public preview in May 2025. They specialize in identifying leads, scheduling meetings, and analyzing sales data, promising to transform sales workflows and potentially lure customers from legacy CRM vendors. This development highlights the competitive landscape in AI-enhanced CRM solutions and offers businesses a glimpse into the future of sales automation.
The Race for Superintelligence: Reflection AI Emerges from Stealth
Reflection AI, backed by $130 million in funding, aims to develop super-intelligent AI systems capable of autonomous coding and complex problem solving. Founded by ex-Google DeepMind researchers, the company plans to create coding tools that self-improve, with the ultimate goal of achieving superintelligence. As industry heavyweights like NVIDIA and Reid Hoffman invest in this vision, businesses should consider the implications of superintelligent AI, which could revolutionize multiple sectors, from coding to broader computer-based tasks.
The Rise of Manus: China's Autonomous AI Agent
A Chinese startup has introduced Manus, hailed as the world's first autonomous AI agent, capable of executing complex tasks without human intervention. Powered by Infropix's Claude 3.5 and Alibaba's QWQ model, Manus showcases impressive capabilities such as conducting property research and coding. Businesses should monitor Manus's development, as its emergence underscores the competitive advancements in AI technology globally, particularly from China, which could potentially rival leading AI companies like OpenAI.
Meta's Bold AI Strategy for Small Businesses
Meta is targeting hundreds of millions of small businesses with its AI agents, which integrate seamlessly with platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. These agents aim to automate customer interactions, democratizing AI access for small enterprises lacking in-house AI teams. By providing affordable AI solutions, Meta could significantly influence the small business landscape, making AI-driven customer engagement the norm.
Anthropic's Call for Classified AI Intelligence Channels
In a bold proposal, Anthropic has urged the establishment of classified communication channels for AI companies to securely share advanced AI developments with the US government. This initiative reflects concerns over the rapid advancement of AI, which could pose national security risks. Businesses should recognize the growing need for transparency and security in AI development, particularly as AI systems advance towards superintelligence.
Google's AI Mode: Transforming Search Interactions
Google has introduced AI Mode, an experimental feature within its Google One AI Premium Service, designed to enhance search interactions with advanced AI-generated answers. This development could reshape online content consumption, as AI-generated summaries replace traditional search results. The business implications are significant, with potential impacts on web traffic and content visibility, urging digital marketers to adapt to AI-driven search ecosystems.
OpenAI's $20,000-a-Month AI Agents: A Strategic Investment
Reports indicate OpenAI plans to offer professional AI agents for businesses, with subscription tiers reaching up to $20,000 a month. Aimed at performing specialized tasks in areas like research and coding, these agents are positioned as ultra-capable digital staff. While the price might seem steep, the value proposition for businesses—equipping teams with AI capabilities that match entire departments—could justify the investment for Fortune 500 firms looking to enhance productivity and innovation.
Microsoft's Strategic Diversification Beyond OpenAI
Despite its substantial investment in OpenAI, Microsoft is exploring alternatives, developing its internal AI models and testing other competitive AI technologies. This strategic diversification will allow Microsoft to potentially reduce reliance on OpenAI models, offering copilot solutions powered by best-fit technologies. For businesses, this could lead to more diverse AI integration options and insights into the evolving competitive dynamics among top AI providers.
Topics Covered in This Episode
- Microsoft and AI Sales Agents
- Reflection AI and Funding
- Manus by Chinese Startup Monica
- Meta's AI Vision
- Anthropic's Proposal for AI and National Security
- Google's AI Mode in Search
- Alibaba's QWQ 32B Model
- OpenAI's ChatGPT Desktop App Update
- OpenAI's $20,000 Monthly AI Agent Plan
- Microsoft's Exploration of AI Options Beyond OpenAI
Podcast Transcript
Jordan Wilson [00:00:18]:
There's a new super smart autonomous agent that might be better than anything any other AI company has to offer. Meta is going after hundreds of millions of businesses with their next AI innovation. OpenAI, would you pay $20,000 a month for a super smart, future model? And are Microsoft and OpenAI kind of breaking up, or is it just Microsoft diversifying options for its copilot platform? Alright. We're gonna be answering those questions and, hopefully, a lot more on today's edition of Everyday AI. What's going on y'all? My name is Jordan Wilson, and I'm the host of Everyday AI. This is your daily livestream podcast and free daily newsletter helping everyday people not just learn AI, but how we can all actually leverage it, to be the smartest person in your department or in your company when it comes to AI. So if you want to not just grow, your company, but grow your career with AI, you are in the right place. If it's your first time, thank you for listening or watching.
Jordan Wilson [00:01:30]:
So, yeah, if you're on the podcast, please make sure to, subscribe. Click that subscribe button. If this is helpful, leave a rating, or, you know, maybe come join us live because this is a live stream. So, what's up and good morning to our live stream audience. Michael and Sandra, on YouTube, Brian, Samuel, Rolando, Joe, everyone else, thank you for tuning in. So almost every single Monday, we bring you the AI news that matters. So, you shouldn't do this. You shouldn't spend hours every single day keeping up with AI.
Jordan Wilson [00:02:01]:
You should actually just be using the best of it, and leave us to the rest of it. That was unscripted, by the way. But, you know, we do this every single day. And on Monday, we essentially say, yo. Here's what's happened this week. Here's what's coming up. Let's cut through the fluff and just tell you what actually matters. So, you know, yeah, if you can't maybe join us every single day or spend hours on your own exploring, what the AI world has to offer this on every single Monday, that's when you should definitely be joining us.
Jordan Wilson [00:02:31]:
Also, if you haven't already, please go to your everyday a I Com. That's where you can sign up for our free daily newsletter because, yeah, aside from the live stream of the podcast, we recap each podcast in the newsletter as well as bringing you insights from everywhere else, across the web. Alright. And as a reminder, I will be out next week in San Jose at the NVIDIA GTC conference. So partnering up with NVIDIA, I'm excited about that. So, if you're gonna be at the GTC conference in NVIDIA, let me know. NVIDIA essentially powers the whole generative AI movement, so there should be some pretty exciting, happenings happening there. And make sure you tune in because we're gonna have some special, podcast interviews with some leaders at NVIDIA and others that you're not gonna hear anywhere else.
Jordan Wilson [00:03:19]:
Alright. So make sure you tune in next week. Alright. Let's get into the AI news that matters for the week of March 10. Let's get it. Alright. So first, Microsoft unveiled some new AI sales agents to challenge Salesforce. So Microsoft introduced a pair of AI driven sales agents aimed at automating sales tasks and directly competing with Salesforce CRM AI offering.
Jordan Wilson [00:03:47]:
So, yeah, Salesforce has kinda been picking a fight with Microsoft, I think intentionally, to try to grab headlines and to try to carve out their space in the autonomous agent space. So, yeah, Salesforce has their agent force, autonomous AI agents, and, you know, Microsoft is now clapped back. So their new sales agent in sales chat are AI tools that can identify leads, schedule meetings, follow-up with customers, and provide sales insights by analyzing emails, CRM records, and other data. So the agents integrate with both Microsoft Dynamics three sixty five and also Salesforce's platform, letting sales teams work deals even without opening their CRM software. So Microsoft says they can be fine tuned on company specific data for more accurate tailored responses. So the new AI sales agents will enter public preview in May, this May, so about, two months here via Microsoft three sixty five Copilot, expanding the Copilot ecosystem from mere assisted prompts to fully autonomous task completion in sales workflows. So to encourage adoption, Microsoft also launched an AI accelerator for sales program to help businesses build and implement those agents, part of an effort to lure customers away from, quote, unquote, legacy CRM vendors like Salesforce. So, you know, I'm I'm interested to see how this is all going to pan out.
Jordan Wilson [00:05:16]:
Also, live stream audience, let me know what you wanna hear more of. I'm probably gonna bring on some Microsoft leaders in the coming weeks because I think they've really been, crushing it. Right? So not just what we have here from Salesforce, but, you know, they have their new copilot dragon in the health space. Their copilot free, platform has gone bonkers just like they're now offering for free what even other companies are making you pay for. So so pretty exciting announcements coming out of Microsoft. Alright. Next, a new venture called Reflection AI has emerged from stealth with a hundred and 30 million in early stage funding aiming to develop super intelligent AI systems. So this is from some former, researchers at Google DeepMind and some other places, but they've raised a hundred and $30,000,000 across two different rounds, a $25,000,000 seed led by Sequoia Capital and CRV, and a hundred and $5,000,000 series a co led by CRV and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Jordan Wilson [00:06:24]:
So the company's backers include tech heavyweights like NVIDIA's venture arm, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and Scale AI CEO Alexander Wang. All all star roster sorry. An all star roster reflecting high confidence in Reflection AI's vision. So it's founded by ex Google DeepMind researchers who both worked on Google's Gemini AI project, which, so as a first step, the team is developing an autonomous coding tool that can handle complex programming tasks without human help. So the founders argue that mastering autonomous coding first will require breakthroughs in reasoning and self improvement that naturally extend to broader computer based work. So in other words, a coding agent that can teach itself and reason through problems could be repurposed later as a more general super intelligent assistant. So, yeah, end goal is super intelligence. It's always weird now saying out loud when companies start, with the end goal to just, you know, get super intelligence when, you know, we technically, depending on what definition you look at, haven't achieved, you know, AGI or artificial general intelligence, which is essentially when a single AI system is, you know, smarter than most all humans across all, tasks.
Jordan Wilson [00:07:46]:
So, pretty pretty interesting now to see, not just, Reflection AI, raising some big money, but also SSI, safe, Safe Superintelligence Incorporated, from Elias Sceber. So pretty pretty interesting. A lot of money and big AI brains, you know, working straight in this super intelligent space, which I guess is better. Right? I guess it's better that we have super smart people working on, you know, hopefully, safe super intelligence, and not just, you know, waiting until we quote unquote cross the finish line for AGI. So I guess it's it's nice, that, you know, people are looking at what comes after, AGI because if you listen to the show I did a show about a year ago. Maybe I'll have to do it again, but, you know, this this whole artificial general intelligence debate, I don't know. It it's kinda strange because the goalposts are just gonna continually be moving, as AI systems become more and more capable. You know, if you look at definitions from fifteen years ago, right, this is what I did.
Jordan Wilson [00:08:50]:
I spent way too many hours going to look at definitions from, you know, the year 02/2005, '2 thousand '8, '2 thousand '10. Right? If you look at those older definitions from fifteen plus years ago, we've definitely achieved artificial general intelligence, but it's a working definition. It's fluid. It always changes. But, you know, I guess there's plenty of money to be working in, superintelligence. Alright. I'd say one of the more exciting, stories of the week is probably China's fully autonomous AI agent, Manus. So it debuted and it is powered, FYI, and this was, confirmed by Manus', and I don't know if it's Manus or Manus.
Jordan Wilson [00:09:31]:
I guess we'll find out. I haven't had time to play with it yet because it is currently invite only, but it is powered by Claude and also Alibaba's, QWQ model. So a Chinese startup named Monica has unveiled Manus, calling it the world's first autonomous AI agent capable of executing complex tasks without human intervention. So the, the debut sparked buzz as Manus reportedly outperformed other AI assistants on key benchmarks, hinting at a new leap in agent's capabilities. So in demos, Manus handled real world tasks from end to end, from screening job resumes to conducting property research all on its own dedicated computing instance. So, it can browse the web, write and debug code, generate images, and even perform gigs on freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr without human guidance. So the team behind Manus claims it can achieve state of the art results, on different benchmarks surpassing general AI agents like ChatGPT and Google Gemini in similar, evaluations. So, like I said, Manus is currently invite only, but the developers plan to open source its underlying models later in 2025 to foster transparency and common collaboration.
Jordan Wilson [00:10:55]:
So under the hood, Manus's, Manus leverages a combination of cutting edge AI models. So reports and, well, their own team has, confirmed that it uses Infropix Claude, but Claude 3.5, interestingly enough, I'm guessing the Claude three seven, the Mantis team, was probably already too far in the development. So we'll see if it does upgrade, to Claude three seven or maybe uses a different model, but it does use Claude 3.5, for, as well as Alibaba's, QWQ, to carry out its tasks. So, the emergence of Manus highlights the rapid progress of Independent AI Labs, and this is pretty pretty, I think we're gonna be talking about this a lot in the next couple of weeks, mainly because it almost seemingly competes with multiple of OpenAI's highest tiered, kind of products or models. So it it does a lot of the kind of deep research, which I think is, OpenAI's deep research, I would say, at least for the average person. Right? The average person is not going out there and, you know, coding for many hours a day. Right? So, you you know, for different, fields or different job types, different, verticals, I think there's maybe more impressive, AI tools or, AI systems out there. But for the average everyday person, I think across the board, OpenAI's deep research is by far, the most capable and the most powerful AI tool anyone can use right now, but this madness could change that.
Jordan Wilson [00:12:36]:
Well, we'll see once it's available to everyone because it does have a little bit of, you know, the deep research vibes. It can go off and do deep researching tasks on its own, but, also, it does kind of have operator vibes as well. So, you know, chat g p t operator, is an autonomous agent that can go out and perform tasks in a virtual environment. So it's it's almost like, Menace does kind of both. Right? And like I said, it has kind of this, two model approach under the hood. You know, it has the kind of transformer model of claw 3.5, and then the q w q, 32 b from, Alibaba to do some reasoning. So it's looks fairly impressive. Early reports, like I said, it's it's invite only.
Jordan Wilson [00:13:23]:
I don't have access yet, but if I do, if y'all wanna see a show, on this if and when it either, is open to the public or if I do get access, let me know, and I'll, you you know, give it give it the, the usual deep dive. But, it it it could be a real contender here. Right, especially, I think, as the team explores early feedback. Right? So, yeah, it just, kind of launched, I think, a couple of days ago, very limited invite only. But like I said, it seems like it kind of combines, I think there's three three main pieces to dissect here. One is it does use this hybrid model approach, using both Claude and QWQ. Two, it does have this kind of deep research, capabilities to go off and do a lot of research for people. But then also, it is more agentic like operator.
Jordan Wilson [00:14:17]:
Right? It can go out and actually just perform tasks for you, autonomously without human intervention on your behalf. So it can go out and code things. It can go out and, you know, create documents. Right? It can go out and perform actions for you. So it's it's kind of like a combination of three different, key pieces that something like ChatGPT does, right now. Yeah. Michael says somebody invite Jordan WTF Manas. Yeah.
Jordan Wilson [00:14:45]:
I agree. Someone someone drop me an invite. Alright. Let's keep going. Speaking of invites, Meta's like trying to invite hundreds of millions of businesses, to use Llama. So, Meta is predicting that hundreds of millions of businesses will adopt to their AI agents. So Meta's head of business AI, Clara, she has said the company is gearing up for a world where virtually every business uses AI agents to interact with customers. So in an interview, she noted Meta's AI tech already reaches 700,000,000 individuals, you know, through their other arms.
Jordan Wilson [00:15:30]:
Right? So through, Facebook, WhatsApp, Llama. Right? Like, Meta has a little of everything. Instagram. Right? And they drop, you know, Llama and their AI smart assistants everywhere, but it sounds like their goals are much more than that, because Meta is focusing especially on small businesses. Yeah. Hundreds of millions of small businesses that lack in house AI teams. So Meta's idea is to provide affordable AI agents through their current platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram that can answer customer questions, remember preferences, and automate repetitive tasks twenty four seven. So this could democratize AI access to much smaller, you know, small businesses, right, that might just be side hustles that are operating on WhatsApp, something like that.
Jordan Wilson [00:16:24]:
So so pretty interesting approach, here from Meta. So the company's confidence is reflected in its investments. So, Meta has been expanding its AI offerings, positioning itself as a key provider of business AI for marketing customer service, and beyond. So if Meta's vision holds true, AI agents could soon handle frontline customer interactions for millions of merchants globally. So, yeah, then all us humans can, you know, I guess, go scroll, you know, Facebook and and Instagram and WhatsApp, you know, while the, autonomous AI agents, you know, slide into everyone's DMs and, you know, push push your merch or something like that. So, yeah, keep keep keep an eye out on Meta. They have their first ever, LlamaCon coming up pretty soon, which I'm I'm excited to see. That is in April.
Jordan Wilson [00:17:20]:
So we might be seeing, Llama four. You know, some rumors are saying we might see something, in the autonomous AI agents, space. So pretty big announcement coming up from Meta as we kind of gear up into the spring announcement season for AI companies. So, yeah, starting with, NVIDIA GTC, then we'll have, Meta's Lomicon as well as, a few other big, kind of tech and AI conferences coming up. Alright. Let's keep this AI train rolling. Choo choo. So pretty interesting that I didn't see a lot of people talking about this, not even a lot of news coverage, which I found interesting.
Jordan Wilson [00:18:03]:
But Anthropic is urging the creation of classified info sharing, for AI companies with the US government. So in a policy proposal, AI startup, Anthropic, is calling for new classified communication channels between AI companies and the US government. So the aim is to securely share information about advanced AI developments, reflecting concerns that powerful Frontier AI systems could pose national security risks. So Anthropic's recommendations came in a 10 page response to the White House's request for public input on AI, on their national action plan. So the company warned that AI capable of matching or exceeding Nobel level human intellect could arrive as soon as next year. Yeah. Twenty twenty six. And argued that officials need better tools to monitor such rapid progress.
Jordan Wilson [00:19:01]:
So among the ideas, Anthropic proposes establishing classified channels so that top AI labs can discreetly share sensitive details of their most advanced AI models with government secured, security agencies. So this would be complemented by expedited security clearances for key industry scientists ensuring the government isn't caught off guard by breakthroughs known to corporate insiders. So Anthropic led by CEO Dario Amati, likened the situation to arms controlled coordination, suggesting that secrecy and tight coordination may be needed to manage AI capable of unprecedented reasoning or autonomous actions. So anthropic stance highlights a tension. While these classified channels could help US authorities respond to AI threats, they might also limit public transparency around critical AI decisions. So yeah. I don't know. I don't necessarily see this happening.
Jordan Wilson [00:20:01]:
The the current, Trump administration has taken a pretty hands off approach when it comes to AI. Right? They kind of gutted, The US AI safety institutes. So I don't necessarily see this happening, although it probably should. Right? When you think about, when these companies are developing AGI, essentially, now you have labs working on ASI. Right? ASI is when it kinda gets scary, y'all. That's when AI systems develop their own AI that, you know, they don't need humans for. Right? That's when it starts to be like, yeah. Maybe we should, you know, top AI labs instead of just, you know, fiercely competing with each other.
Jordan Wilson [00:20:44]:
Maybe they should be sharing what breakthroughs they have achieved, at least if it could impact national security, if it could impact, you know, the world economy, which, you know, I'm not being a crazy weird AI guy when I say that. That's actual concerns that we should all be focusing on. Right? Because think of what you think of what you at at peak, you know, human, performance can do with an AI system. Right? It's a multiplier. It it it is a compound multiplier, right, in terms of what you and the individual human can achieve, right, when when you get, you know, chat g p t's operator or deep research or Manus when it can do all these things. Right? Think of what you, one human, can do when you have these powerful AI systems. Now think. These systems that we're playing with and using with now are old news.
Jordan Wilson [00:21:36]:
Right? All the AI labs have the next version of these and probably the next version, which are probably scary good. So you have to think of, okay, what happens when and if this gets into the wrong hands? Or what happens to jobs? What happens to the economy? Right? What happens to national security? Right? If if you have an AI system that could essentially go rogue, right, and it's smarter than literally every single human researcher, you know, in a couple of years, when it's smarter than every single human researcher, and it can just build its own version of, you know, can build its own version of operator. Right? Like, that's something I saw with Manus. Someone used Manus to build a, essentially, a fine tuned version of Manus. Right? So, yes, the the systems that we have today are capable of building their own systems with human intervention, but what happens when they're way smarter? So, I I'd like what anthropic is pushing. I don't personally think, that this is gonna hit at least with this current administration's more hands off approach, to AI. Alright. Google has unveiled AI mode in search, a major shift on how we interact with the web.
Jordan Wilson [00:22:54]:
So Google has introduced AI mode, an experimental paid feature that uses advanced AI capabilities to develop more comprehensive answers to search queries. So, Google has announced AI mode as a part of its Google One AI premium service, marking the second phase of its AI driven search evolution. So this feature builds on its Gemini two point o model, offering advanced reasoning, multimodal capabilities, and real time information. So unlike traditional search, Google's new AI mode allows users to ask follow-up questions and provides AI generated summaries alongside links to relevant websites. However, concerns remain about whether users will actually click the links, potentially reducing traffic to external sites. And, yeah, Then we just have this whole, you know, the Internet just becomes becomes AI generated slot because high quality content producers go out of business because no one's clicking their links and signing up for their newsletters and using their products and signing up for their services. Right? So, yeah, there's there's a lot of downsides, you know, when we have these, very, capable, you know, tools that can just browse the web and give us literally the pinpoint insights that we need. You know? I'm I'm curious if, anyone on the livestream audience has used AI mode from Google, yet.
Jordan Wilson [00:24:19]:
I'm I'm thinking we might do a a dedicated show on this this week just because it is a little different than their deep than Google's deep research. I think it's also a little different, than Google's or or sorry, than perplexity and, Grok and, OpenAI's deep research. So it is kind of, I think, its own kind of way to interact with the web. So, you know, livestream audience, let me know if you want to, you know, see a breakdown of the new AI mode from Google. So it is designed to query a broader range of websites and simultaneously search related topics, delivering detailed responses. It can also include it also includes mechanisms to acknowledge uncertainty or avoid generating summaries when confidence is low. Bless up. We need more of just AI refusing to answer things if it doesn't know or if it's not super confident.
Jordan Wilson [00:25:14]:
So while Google has promised more prominent links to websites in AI mode, the current version offers fewer links than the demo, shown during the announcement. So Google's approach contrast with competitors like ChatGPT and Claude, which have gained traction, for their conversational AI capabilities. So AI modes integration into Google's search index ads real time and local business data as well, differentiating it from stand alone chat bots. You know, Marie says sure. Sandra says love the demos. Michael says yes. So, yeah, we'll see. Maybe we'll do a a show on that this week.
Jordan Wilson [00:25:55]:
Maybe we'll, ask the newsletter audience as well. You know, I think I intentionally left some some shows open because, you know, knowing I'm gonna be at NVIDIA GTC, I might not be able to cover as many timely things. So, this week kept a couple slots open so we could hopefully, you know, cover some of these, newer announcements. Alright. Next. Speaking, we already mentioned the QWQ 32 b. What a name. But Alibaba's QWQ 32 b, model has topped some open source AI charts.
Jordan Wilson [00:26:32]:
So, QWQ 32 b. I'm gonna stop saying that. I'm just gonna say QWQ, I guess, which isn't any better. We really just need shorter names for all these models. But it quickly shot to the top of some open source AI rankings showcasing a breakthrough in efficiency and sparking optimism for small but mighty AI models. So QWQ 32 b is short for quen with questions, which is it actually short with that when it's way more syllables? I don't know. But it is a new large reasoning model released under the open source Apache two point o license, from Alibaba. So, it's allowing anyone to use or modify it freely.
Jordan Wilson [00:27:18]:
So despite its relatively compact size, which the 32 b means 32,000,000,000 parameters, QWQ demonstrated performance on par with much bigger, reasoning models such as DeepSeek's r one, which has 671,000,000,000 parameters. So, yes, let me repeat that. So a model about 5% of its size of DeepSeq's r one, q w q 32 b, is from certain performance and certain benchmarks already on par with a much larger DeepSeq r one. We do see rumors that we might see a DeepSeq r two, their latest reasoning model in the coming weeks, so we'll keep an eye out for that. So Alibaba achieved this by focusing QWQ on advanced reasoning and self refinement techniques. So the model can generate intermediate questions and reflect on its answers during inference, which makes it excel in domains like math problem solving and code generation. In fact, the company says, you know, that QWQ leads or ties open AI's in deep seek models in five major benchmark tests for reasoning. So within days of launch, QWQ 32 b was ranked number one on at least one global open source model leaderboard.
Jordan Wilson [00:28:42]:
The news also gave Alibaba stock a huge boost as investors saw the model's success as evidence that Chinese AI innovation can compete head to head with Western rivals on quality and efficiency. What's weird about this y'all is before any of this, you know, q w q 32 b, before deep seek, before all of this, I told y'all in my 2025 AI road map that by the middle of the year, that Chinese models would probably overtake most US models and that more than half of the top 10 models or at least half of the top 10 models would be from Chinese AI companies. So we may see that by April or May. Right? We might not have to wait until the middle of the year, but, I told you all this was coming, so you shouldn't shouldn't be shocked. Alright. Our next piece of AI news, chat GBT's desktop app has gained two way coding integration. So this is another, I think, small news that's actually kind of big, and it also kind of slipped under the radar. This was just essentially announced on the OpenAI developers Twitter account, and I didn't even see a whole lot of news article about it, but let me tell you why I think it's important.
Jordan Wilson [00:29:54]:
But first, here's what it is. So OpenAI's official chat g ChatGPT desktop app on Mac has received a major update enabling it to work directly with integrated development environments or IDEs. So in practical terms, that means chat GPT can now both read but also modify and write code in a user's editor like Xcode or Versus Code automatically, rather than just suggesting code that the user must copy over. So, the new feature is part of open AI's work with apps capability on Mac OS that lets paid users. So, yeah, you gotta be on, Chad GPT plus pro teams, and I I I think, the, enterprise accounts as well. So it allows you to connect, the, ChatGPT desktop app with developer tools. So for example, ChatGPT can now scan the code in an x code project, not just suggesting changes, but also apply those code edits directly in the IDE with an auto apply mode. So this is pretty big and it's indicative of this recent, shift.
Jordan Wilson [00:31:04]:
So, first, we saw Cloud Code, from Anthropic, released a couple of weeks ago. That was essentially this, but it's more of a terminal tool, than anything else. But Cloud Code looks pretty impressive. Right? And what's interesting is you have all these, essentially vibe coding tools. Right? We call them that. Like Windsurf, Cursor, Lovable. I mean, there's so many that essentially allow you to talk, to their system. And usually these systems, you can choose which model.
Jordan Wilson [00:31:37]:
Right? So you could most people use, you know, Claude Sonic three five because it's great for coding. You know, some people might use something like o three mini from OpenAI. But essentially, you have all these, you know, AI vibe coding models that you just talk to, and then they can build you an app, right, in one shot. Super impressive. Something you can run on your computer. But now we've seen this shift where it's like, wait. All the AI labs are like, wait. We want that.
Jordan Wilson [00:32:03]:
We wanna get in that game. Why can't we own that? So, you know, Claude was first with its Claude code, which is open. You know, that one is more open and free because it just runs in your terminal. You download a GitHub repository and then can run it, on your computer. Whereas, ChatGPT's version, you do have to have a paid account and you run it through the app. Personally, for me, I like the latter approach because I'm not a super technical person. Although, quad code, it is fairly easy to set up, but you gotta be able to, you know, at least, you know, run some terminal commands. You gotta understand, GitHub repos.
Jordan Wilson [00:32:41]:
Right? So you have to have a little more tech know how, to use quad code, whereas chat g b t's new feature, very, very useful. So, the work with apps has always been available. So, you know, as an example, you know, I use this a lot for text edit. So, you know, chat g b t's, work with apps. It can just see what's open in my text edits. And, previously, it could just, you know, it would anything that you told it to do, it would reply back in the body of the ChatGPT app. So now it will instead, you know, update these actual, apps, which I think, you know, the main difference here, nothing is technically new. It just saves you a ton of copy and pasting and, really just explanation.
Jordan Wilson [00:33:28]:
So instead of saying, like, hey, chat JBT. Here's some code, that I'm working on in Versus code. Right. I'm trying to do this. Could you update the code, etcetera, etcetera. Right. You'd have to copy and paste it from, you know, as an example, Versus code into ChatGPT, and then you'd have to get the output from ChatGPT, go back to Versus code. So now it just works by itself.
Jordan Wilson [00:33:50]:
Right? ChatGPT can, now read and write. So it it goes from, kind of a a one way street to now a two way coding, partner. So I would say, pretty big news that no one is really paying too much attention to. Alright. Something people are paying a ton of attention to, our next story. Reportedly, OpenAI is planning a $20,000 a month professional AI agent. Yeah. I'm gonna repeat that.
Jordan Wilson [00:34:19]:
I did not, that's not some weird AI glitch. By the way, I was watching wreck, wrecks the Internet last night. Love that movie. There's a glitch thing. Sorry. I just I just had to say that one of my favorite songs is, Slaughter Race. Anyways, it was not a glitch me saying that. Actually, $20,000 a month, professional AI agent plan reportedly.
Jordan Wilson [00:34:44]:
So according to reports, OpenAI is preparing to offer premium AI agents for businesses at prices up to $20,000 a month. So these advanced AI agents would function like ultra capable employees performing specialized work in areas like analytics, coding, or research, and the steep price tag signals, the value OpenAI believes they'll be able to deliver to enterprises. So, this is according to reporting from the information and other outlets that OpenAI is working on three tiers of agent subscriptions. So one around $2,000 a month that's aimed at business professionals for tasks like marketing or customer analysis, one around $10,000 a month for advanced software development tasks, and a top tier, quote, unquote, PhD level research agent at $20,000 a month. So these AI agents are envisioned to operate with a high degree of autonomy on behalf of of a client, essentially acting as a highly skilled digital staff. So OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicted earlier this year that we'd see AI agents, quote, unquote, join the workforce and significantly boost company outputs. So the new offerings, appear to be how OpenAI will make that happen, by literally productizing expert AI workers for hire, and big money is backing the idea. So global juggernaut SoftBank has reportedly committed $3,000,000,000 to invest in OpenAI's agent venture for 2025.
Jordan Wilson [00:36:21]:
So OpenAI projects that these agent services could eventually make up a quarter of its revenue, highlighting just how central agent as a service might become to its business model beyond just API access or chat GPD subscriptions. So if launched, that $20,000 a month price point meets, means these AI agents would cost as much as a senior human employee. So OpenAI's betting companies will pay that if the agent can handle work equivalent to an entire team of researchers or developers. So early adopters might include Fortune 500 firms in areas like finance, tech, or science that can immediately utilize an AI expert on complex projects. So yeah. And we'll see how things like, Manus impacts this, you know, $2,000, 10 thousand dollar, 20 thousand dollar a month price tag. So I think even if, we have things, like Manus take off and become very popular, in our free or low cost. Right? I don't think that it's going to be free in the long run, but I don't think it's gonna cost.
Jordan Wilson [00:37:31]:
Manus will cost $2,000 a month. I don't think so. But I still think even so, I still think even so. OpenAI has gotta get a lot of customers with that 2,000, 10 thousand, 20 thousand dollar a month. And I think we have to start thinking of it like this. Don't think of it compared to an AI subscription. Think of it compared to paying an employee. Right? Because, the smartest, you know, the the the most in demand employees right now, you you know, which are generally working at AI labs, they cost way more than $20,000 a month.
Jordan Wilson [00:38:07]:
Right? I mean, these people are making NBA like figures. Right? Yeah. You have some, outliers, you know, making, 7 plus multiple 7 figures a year to work at, you know, big companies like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, etcetera. But I would say your quote unquote average everyday, you you know, mid tier software developer is making 405 hundred thousand dollars plus a year, which is much more than the $20,000 a month. So I get that it's it's immediate sticker shock and people are like, yeah. Right. I would not be surprised. I would not be surprised, number one, if this is true.
Jordan Wilson [00:38:48]:
You know, this is just according to reports, but I wouldn't be surprised if Fortune 500 companies are going to pay. So here's what I think, and I don't have any, you know, inside information on this one at least. Right? But what I think essentially is gonna happen is think of the best of OpenAI right now. So, you know, GPD 4.5 is a very, very capable model. Right? It is, ranked as the top model in the world on Elo scores or in terms of what the most humans in the world prefer blindly. Alright. So GPD 4.5 is a very capable model. It doesn't have reasoning capabilities.
Jordan Wilson [00:39:27]:
It is serving as a base model for OpenAI's next reasoning model, which will just be coupled under GPT five. So what I see this as, I see this as a way more capable GPT five, that has reasoning capabilities, that has, you know, four way better than 4.5, ability, for accuracy, relatability, reliability, plus combining it with things like deep research, combining it with operator, combining it with tasks. Right? I do think that task piece is something people are overlooking. Right? The ability to just schedule that because right now, even with deep research and and operator, you can't schedule those things. Right? They still require a human to kick them off. So think GPT five plus being able to schedule it, plus deep research, plus operator, all in one seamless UI UX. Right? That's ultimately what I think that and the fact that it's US based, and I think that a lot of Fortune 500 companies rightfully so are gonna be hesitant to jump on board, with anything, from China. I think it's actually gonna be pretty popular if this is true.
Jordan Wilson [00:40:34]:
Right? I do think that first, OpenAI won't roll it out in tears just like right now. Yeah. We have the $200 a month chat GPT pro plan, which I think is well worth it. Right? But they didn't start with that. They started with a free version. They started with a 20 then went to $20 a month, then it went to the $200 a month. So I I do think we'll probably start with the $2,000, a month. And then as it gets more capabilities, probably throughout this year and next, then we might see that next step up to $10,000.
Jordan Wilson [00:41:00]:
But, I don't know y'all. What do you think? Kieran is saying, will OpenAI replace all of its developers with 20 k AI agents if that's worth it? Yeah. It's a great question. Right? I'm always wondering the same thing. I'm like, okay. Why are all these companies hiring? Because I think right now, even though the cost of compute is going down, they still need all these developers to develop what's next. Right? So in theory, once we have ASI, then we won't need to hire, right, or in theory, we wouldn't need to hire smart humans anymore to, improve upon whatever AI models. But until then, you you probably need the humans to build what's next on top of, your latest and greatest, kind of offering.
Jordan Wilson [00:41:44]:
Love what Marie here says. Next AI name will be r two d two. That's a better name than a lot of these, you know, oath you know, O 3 Mini High and, you know, QWQ32B. Yeah. Let's just name them R 2 d two and things like that. Yeah. Michael says gatekeeping intelligence, starting to support the people calling them closed AI. I don't I don't have a I don't personally have a problem with that.
Jordan Wilson [00:42:09]:
But that's just me. And and OpenAI did, you know, talk about potentially open sourcing some of their future models. So we'll see if that, if that comes to fruition. Alright. Last but not least, spicy news. This is soap opera drama. So according to reports, Microsoft is exploring life life beyond OpenAI with both in house models and, looking at other companies to bring in, to also potentially power its copilot. So, despite its multibillion dollar, investment with OpenAI and reported 49% equity stake, Microsoft is quietly both developing its own large AI reasoning models and also looking at, other, partners to, partner with to power its, own copilot tech.
Jordan Wilson [00:43:05]:
So recent reports suggest that Microsoft has a plan b for AI, which is training internal models codenamed MAI, that could power products like its copilot assistance without relying solely on OpenAI's GPT engines. So according to reporting from the information, Microsoft's AI research group led by Mustafa Suleiman has completed training a family of advanced language models dubbed MAI that perform nearly as well as OpenAI or Claude's, Improper Claude's models on many benchmarks. These models are significantly larger and more sophisticated than Microsoft's current publicly available, you know, as an example, their five four model. So Microsoft has already started experimenting with swapping out OpenAI's models for other alternatives in some of its products internally, and this is according to reports. For instance, it's reportedly, tested Copilot integrations using models from XAI such as GROC, Metas, Llama, and even the Chinese model DeepSeek, essentially test driving different AI engines to see if they can do the job of OpenAI's technology currently does in Azure and Office three sixty five. So the motivation is part is partly cost because running, you know, big models like, you know, GPT four five or OpenAI's, o three Mini High or o one Pro, it can get expensive. And Microsoft does bear those costs for services like BizChat and their three sixty five Copilot. And it's partly strategic, as well.
Jordan Wilson [00:44:49]:
So by having its own top tier models, Microsoft could then better negotiate, terms with OpenAI or eventually deploy more of its AI services entirely on its own proprietary tech. So here's the thing. They haven't technically broken up, but it's it's like they're not they might not be exclusive for too much longer at least when it comes to Microsoft three sixty five. So yeah. They might be getting, in an open relationship with with many other, AI models. Right? So Microsoft, like I said, they haven't officially cut ties, and this is just, you know right now, it's it's rumors, but according to, the information, which is usually pretty spot on with a lot of its reporting. So it hasn't cut ties with OpenAI yet, but it's actually a major investor, like I said, in OpenAI. So Microsoft has all, you know, all reason to continue to support, and and build and push, hand, you know, hand in hand forward with OpenAI considering, its big equity, stake in it.
Jordan Wilson [00:45:53]:
But it's turning Microsoft from being just a consumer of OpenAI's models to a more complex collaboration and also competition. So Microsoft's internal AI lab is now vying to match or exceed OpenAI's offering, signaling a future where Microsoft might run its cloud AI services on Microsoft made models instead of open AIs. So in the bigger picture, this development indicates a maturing AI ecosystem. So for users, Microsoft's dual track approach could, if it happens, it could mean more diversity in AI features and possibly lower cost or improved performance as Microsoft could choose the best or the most efficient model for a given for a given task, whether it's open AIs, its own, a competitor, or a blend of those. So, I think in the end, this is a win, for consumers. I think it's a smart move from Microsoft not having to be, you know, overly reliant on OpenAI. I don't think they're gonna be dropping OpenAI's models anytime soon because they're the best in the world. Right? I don't care what anyone says.
Jordan Wilson [00:47:06]:
Go look at the benchmarks. Go look at Elo scores. Right? Elo scores are, you know, essentially, a human puts in a prompt. They get two outputs. They're blind. They don't know which one's which. They say this one's better. OpenAI's GPT four five is leading that discussion.
Jordan Wilson [00:47:23]:
So OpenAI is not giving up, its its, you know, seat, atop the AI, kind of king of the hill competition anytime soon. And I think if nothing else, this might just push OpenAI, to continue to improve its AI models at an even faster pace, right, when they may not have as much support and as much data coming in, from Microsoft's integration into Microsoft three sixty five Copilot. Alright. So that is a wrap, y'all. So let's go ahead and quickly recap the top stories for the AI news that matters for the week of March 10. Alright. So first, Microsoft has unveiled AI sales agents, to challenge Salesforce. Superintelligence startup Reflection AI has launched and come out of stealth with a hundred $30,000,000 in funding to work on superintelligence.
Jordan Wilson [00:48:27]:
China, there is huge huge advancement coming out of China with AI, startup. Monica has unveiled, Manus, which I think could really compete with OpenAI's products on a lot of different, ways. Meta is predicting that hundreds of millions of businesses will adopt its AI agents. Anthropic has urged the creation of classified info sharing channels for AI labs with the US government. Google has unveiled its new AI mode in search, which could signal a big change on how we use the web. Alibaba's q w q 32 b model, is topping the open source charts. So pretty impressive work there from Alibaba. ChatGPT, kind of a low key update, has given the desktop app on Macs two way coding integration, essentially turning it into an IDE or an integrated development environment or at least allows it to better work with popular IDEs.
Jordan Wilson [00:49:32]:
According to reports, OpenAI is planning a $20,000 a month professional AI agent. And last but not least, Microsoft is exploring life beyond just working with OpenAI as it continues to build impressive in house AI models and also test drive some of OpenAI's competitors, to see how it'll do powering Copilot. Alright. I hope this was helpful y'all. If so, don't keep this to yourself. I hope, you know, our shows, especially the Monday show, but all week, I hope that this helps you become the smartest person in AI at your company, or your department. If so, please don't just keep this as your secret. Share.
Jordan Wilson [00:50:17]:
Alright. So maybe if you're listening on the Twitter machine, click that retweet or reacts or whatever it's called nowadays. If you're listening on LinkedIn, thank you. Tag a friend. Click that repost button. I'd super appreciate it. If you're on the podcast, thanks for tuning in. As always, I know these shows get a little long.
Jordan Wilson [00:50:32]:
Listen to me on two x. I won't get mad. But also please, subscribe. Follow the show on Spotify, Apple Music, wherever you're listening. Get your podcast. Please leave us a rating as well. Thank you for tuning in. I'll see you back tomorrow in everyday for more everyday AI.
Jordan Wilson [00:50:47]:
Thanks, y'all.
Robot [00:50:51]:
And that's a wrap for today's edition of Everyday AI. Thanks for joining us. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a rating. It helps keep us going. For a little more AI magic, visit your everyday AI Com and sign up to our daily newsletter so you don't get left behind. Go break some barriers, and we'll see you next time.