Welcome back to TekTonic. We hit another week of incredible AI and Tech news, and I can’t wait to share what we learned. This week, we saw significant investments in technology, new model releases, and innovative applications reshaping industries—from infrastructure and healthcare to software development and startups.
This week’s biggest story is OpenAI’s release of GPT‑4.5. It was notable not for a radical breakthrough but OpenAI’s measured almost apologetic tone. Despite anticipating a model redefining what AI can do, OpenAI clarified that GPT‑4.5 isn’t a “frontier” model—it’s an expensive update delivering only incremental improvements. The company reported that GPT‑4.5’s hallucination rate has dropped to about 37% compared with nearly 60% for its predecessor GPT‑4o, suggesting that even with vast computational resources, scaling up pre-trained models may be hitting diminishing returns (Reuters, Financial Times). This tempered approach has prompted industry observers—such as those quoted in the New York Post—to warn that the era of ever-bigger, pre-trained models might soon face a barrage of negative news as these systems increasingly struggle to justify their high costs without delivering dramatic leaps in performance.
I was particularly intrigued by Anthropic’s introduction of extended thinking in Claude 3.7 Sonnet, which promises more nuanced reasoning. Equally significant, Apple’s announcement of a $500bn US investment reinforces its commitment to domestic innovation, while DeepSeek’s 75% pricing cut is set to pressure major players like OpenAI and Google. Adding to the buzz, an imminent update for ChatGPT—GPT-4.5—and strategic moves by Microsoft, including data center lease cancellations schedule for OpenAI, highlight the evolving rift between it and OpenAI, not to mention the novel approach of training AI through gameplay, as seen in Anthropic’s Twitch experiment, and the unveiling of Microsoft’s Phi-4 models, which packs remarkable performance into a compact size.
On the tech advancements front, researchers at ETH Zurich are leveraging AI to transform infrastructure maintenance. Their work on using artificial intelligence to design and upkeep bridges promises to enhance safety and optimize resource use.
In business news, the market saw both job creation and disruption caused by automation. Apple’s commitment to add 20,000 US jobs reflects its ongoing investment in American innovation and reshoring. At the same time, a report from India reveals that six in ten Indian employers are set to deploy AI to refine reward systems. DBS Group’s announcement that AI will replace 4,000 employees underscores the growing impact of automation on traditional workforces.
The coding sector is abuzz with advancements that could reshape software engineering. A recent study shows that Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms competing models on real-world engineering tasks, marking a significant step forward for AI-assisted coding. Complementing this, Google’s decision to offer its AI coding assistant for free—with generous usage limits and deep IDE integration—could democratize access to advanced coding tools for developers everywhere.
In hardware news, Nvidia reported a surge in fourth-quarter sales driven by soaring demand for its Blackwell chips.
Tool innovations are pushing the boundaries of what AI can do. Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet now boasts extended thinking capabilities to tackle complex problems, while Perplexity is reimagining the web browser with AI-powered features amid fierce competition. Additionally, Observo AI’s launch of Orion promises to revolutionize data engineering for security and DevOps teams.
Chegg has announced a business review as it grapples with an AI-induced shift in the education sector. This is a sign that traditional edtech players are rethinking their strategies in response to rapid AI integration into EdTech products.
Healthcare continues to benefit from AI innovations. A recent study shows that AI-powered tools can detect epilepsy-linked brain lesions that are often missed by radiologists, potentially leading to earlier diagnoses and better patient outcomes. At the same time, the mental health arena is preparing for challenges as human therapists gear up to counter AI pretenders, underscoring the ongoing need for authentic human expertise. Meanwhile, authorities in Hunan, China, have banned online doctors from using AI to generate prescriptions, as reported by RFA, highlighting the growing regulatory scrutiny of AI in critical sectors.
The startup ecosystem remains dynamic, with several headline-making developments. An Israeli cybersecurity startup, Dream, secured $100M and reached a valuation of $1.1B, while Canadian startup Cohere’s revenue surged to $70M as it expanded its global footprint. Perfect raised $23M to enhance its AI-driven hiring solutions, and Perplexity AI launched a $50M venture fund for early-stage startups. Finally, Anthropic is finalizing a $3.5B funding round, underscoring robust investor confidence in AI innovation.
In product developments, Amazon has redefined its virtual assistant with the launch of Alexa+. Priced at $20 a month, this AI-powered upgrade marks a pivotal shift toward a more conversational and proactive user experience.
Finally, in random news, a thought-provoking piece from Small Wars Journal explores whether the widespread adoption of artificial general intelligence could deepen societal divisions in America.
That is it. Stay tuned for more news next week. I APPRECIATE ALL THE READERS. Help spread the word. I put these newsletters together so that productive humans like you can stay on top of the latest AI stories shaping our world.
If you like these weekly tech news reports, subscribe to get notified of new editions and updates. For daily updates, check out our news page. For a more in-depth analysis of the week’s news, sign up for our free weekly newsletter to the right of the daily news, or follow me on Twitter or YouTube.
