What we’re covering in today’s issue:

• Today’s Top Headlines – The latest developments in AI
  

• Alicia’s Coaching Services – A special offer to help you navigate AI with clarity and confidence
  

• Affiliate Spotlight – Trusted companies we use and love (with referral links that support AiNews)
  

• AI In Action: Quick Tutorials – Step-by-step guides to get the most out of new AI tools
  

• AI Tools – A roundup of emerging tools we’ve come across (not endorsements)
  

• Ads and Sponsorships – Promote your brand with AiNews

Today’s Headlines:

• Goldman Sachs Tests Autonomous AI Coder in Wall Street First - Goldman Sachs is testing Devin, an autonomous software engineer created by AI startup Cognition, as the investment bank explores using artificial intelligence to directly perform engineering work alongside its 12,000 human developers. In an interview with CNBC, Goldman Sachs Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti said the company plans to gradually expand Devin’s presence inside the firm.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Windsurf CEO Joins Google as OpenAI Acquisition Collapses - OpenAI’s plan to acquire fast-growing AI coding startup Windsurf has officially unraveled—and in a dramatic twist, Google DeepMind is picking up much of the company’s leadership instead. Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and several senior researchers are now joining Google DeepMind. The hiring comes as part of a complex deal in which Google is licensing Windsurf’s technology for $2.4 billion, but not acquiring or investing in the company.

  
  
  
  
  
  

• Meta Acquires Voice AI Startup PlayAI, Expanding Its Push Into Speech Tech - Meta has acquired PlayAI, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to generate realistic human voices, in a deal that signals the company’s growing focus on voice interfaces and audio-driven experiences. PlayAI’s work will be integrated across a range of Meta’s AI initiatives, including Meta AI, AI characters, wearables, and tools for audio content creation.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• OpenAI Delays Release of Its Open AI Model—Again - OpenAI has once again delayed the release of its first open AI model in years, citing safety concerns and the need for more internal testing. The open model, distinct from the upcoming GPT-5, is designed to be freely downloadable and runnable locally by developers—a significant shift for a company known for keeping its most powerful models behind APIs.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Grok 4 Cited Elon Musk to Answer Political Questions—Then xAI Quietly Updated It - Over the past week, AI researchers and developers on X began noticing something unusual about Grok 4. When asked for opinions on politically sensitive questions—such as the Israel-Palestine conflict—Grok would explicitly search for and cite Musk’s public posts to form its answer. A new version of the model’s system prompt was posted to the company’s GitHub repository, and recent tests show the model no longer citing Elon Musk’s posts as a central reference.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Moonshot’s Kimi K2 Challenges GPT-4.1: Chinese startup Moonshot AI has unveiled Kimi K2, a trillion-parameter language model that it claims outperforms GPT-4.1 on coding and reasoning benchmarks. While not open-weight, the model supports multilingual prompts and is positioned as a high-performance competitor in the agentic AI space.

Do You Have AI Breaking News?

Email [email protected] to get your news featured in our next newsletter!

🎓 New from AiNews: 1:1 AI Coaching Sessions

Understand it. Use it. Fear it less.

A special offer for AiNews readers 💙

Feeling overwhelmed by AI? You’re not alone—and you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Whether you're a business leader, solopreneur, educator, or just AI-curious, these one-on-one sessions are designed to help you confidently navigate this new world—no tech degree required.

Let’s take the fear out of the future—together.

That’s why I’m offering private AI coaching sessions on Zoom, exclusively for AiNews readers. Whether you're brand new to ChatGPT or trying to figure out how to use AI in your job, I’ll walk you through it—clearly, calmly, and at your pace.

💸 AiNews Subscriber Discount:
As a thank-you for being part of the AiNews community, you’ll save up to $30 off regular coaching rates. These prices are only available through this newsletter.

💬 What You’ll Get:

• A clear, non-technical explanation of the tools everyone’s talking about (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.)

• Personalized recommendations to integrate AI into your work, business, or daily life

• Time-saving tips, prompts, and use cases you can try right away

• A safe, supportive space to ask anything (even the “silly” questions—we love those here)

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👋 About Me

I’m Alicia Shapiro, CMO and Head of News Reporting at AiNews.com—and a journalist on a mission to make AI understandable, responsible, and accessible to everyone. I don’t just cover AI—I help people use it.

Let’s make this technology work for you.
Book your session today!

Affiliate Spotlight

At AiNews.com, we’re proud to collaborate with trusted partners who share our mission of empowering the AI community. Each of these tools and services has been carefully selected to support your work—whether you’re creating, connecting, or looking for ways to fuel future innovations. Explore our Affiliate Spotlight below and discover the resources we rely on, along with a simple way to support AiNews directly! Thank you for your support!

Affiliate Links for AI Tools:

• BetterPic: Professional AI Headshot Generator in 4K Resolution. Get Studio Quality AI professional headshots, without a photographer or a studio shoot. Use AiNews.com’s referral link to get a new headshot today.
  
  

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• Descript: Edit audio and video content as easily as editing text with Descript. Descript’s AI-powered features and intuitive interface allows businesses using video for marketing, sales, and internal training and collaboration a breeze. Disclosure: AiNews.com uses Descript for our AI podcast interviews. Use AiNews.com referral link to get started.
  
  

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• Buy Me A Coffee: Support independent AI journalism—one coffee at a time! If you’ve ever found AiNews.com helpful, entertaining, or worth a virtual high-five, you can buy me a coffee to help fuel even more AI news. Every coffee, comment, and share means the world to us. Thank you for being part of the journey. ❤️ Use AiNews.com referral link to support independent AI journalism.

AI In Action: Quick Tutorials

In this section, you'll find short, practical tutorials that walk you through using the latest AI tools, helping you quickly unlock their full potential.

Today’s AI in Action: Use Custom GPTs for Specialized Workflows in ChatGPT

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to set up and use Custom GPTs to handle different types of work automatically — from writing social media posts to editing interviews or summarizing articles — all within ChatGPT.

Step-by-step:

• Click “Explore GPTs” in the sidebar of ChatGPT This opens the GPT Store where you can search for or create Custom GPTs.

• Create a new Custom GPT with a clear role Example: Make one called “Content Polisher” and define it to rewrite copy with a professional tone and SEO in mind. You can even upload reference files or brand guidelines.

• Set instructions for your GPT Use the "custom instructions" area to guide its tone, audience, preferred format, or do's/don'ts — like always using bullet points for checklists or writing intros in a specific voice.
  

• Use different Custom GPTs for different tasks Have separate GPTs for:

• Interview Editor

• Social Media Scheduler

• Newsletter Optimizer

• Fast Takes Formatter

• This way, you jump right into work with the right tools — no setup time needed. Access them instantly from your sidebar Once created, your Custom GPTs live in the sidebar for quick switching without losing context.

Pro Tip: Create a “Team of GPTs” — one for each major task in your workflow. Think of them like your virtual team: Editor, Marketer, Strategist, Assistant. It’ll feel like switching desks to talk to the right teammate for the job.

AI Tools:

Please note that AiNews.com does not endorse the following AI tools. We aim to share the tools we come across that you may find helpful in you work or daily lives.

• Smart Calendars AI: Speak, snap a picture, or paste text – get calendar events & reminders!
  
  

• Auditsu: Check If Your Mobile App Is EAA Compliant. Complete accessibility audit aligned with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) with clear action plan in minutes.
  
  

• Ren: AI-Powered Personal Coach for work and life. Get your AI-powered growth plan for better leadership at work, in under 5 minutes.
  
  

• Ziddny: Meet Ziddny Your Gateway to AI-powered 3D Conversational Avatars. Create life-like, interactive avatars for customer service, healthcare, education, training, and more—all at an unbeatable cost.

Get in touch with us to feature your AI Tool in our newsletter!

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Our LinkedIn Community is growing - Will you join us? We invite you to join our LinkedIn group to participate in AI discussions and share developments with the rest of the group. Join today!

Support Our Sponsors:

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