AI goes shopping & more (April 29, 2025)

Hey friends,

We’re back because you shouldn’t need a PhD to know what’s up with AI.

Here’s your daily download of the biggest moves in AI — condensed, curated, and actually readable.

Enjoy!

🤖 AI Models Are Getting Weird

GPT-4o is a little too nice
OpenAI’s newest update gave ChatGPT a confidence boost — maybe too much. Users say it’s validating everything, including harmful ideas. Even Sam Altman called it “annoying” and “sycophant-y.” OpenAI is already rolling out fixes to make it less agreeable and more responsible.

Qwen3 makes its open-source debut
Alibaba dropped eight open-weight models (from 600M to 235B params) that rival the best from OpenAI, xAI, and DeepSeek. Early tests show their flagship model competes with o1 and Grok-3. With hybrid reasoning, 119-language support, and Apache 2.0 licensing, this is a major win for open-source AI.

Anthropic reveals what devs actually do with Claude
New data shows Claude is becoming a go-to co-pilot. Half of users use it to do full tasks (not just assist), and the majority of use cases are from startups, not enterprises. Bonus stat: frontend devs dominate; backend engineers seem more hesitant to adopt.

🛍️ AI Is Coming for Your Shopping Cart

ChatGPT’s new shopping upgrade
The new “Search” feature in ChatGPT now offers personalized product recs, side-by-side comparisons, review insights, and even autocomplete. Plus and Pro users will get memory-powered suggestions soon. For now, all results are organic — no ads or affiliate fees.

Instagram’s AI app ‘Edits’ hits 7M downloads
Instagram’s new CapCut competitor, built with generative AI, is exploding. It beat ByteDance’s original launch stats in just one week.

P-1 AI wants to build real starships
A new startup founded by an ex-Airbus CTO and DeepMind alum just raised $23M. Their AI agent “Archie” can design real-world machines, not just code. Think HVAC systems… and one day, Dyson spheres.

🛠️ Tools to Try

• Base44 – Build real products from your ideas without coding
• Jace AI – Personalized email replies that match your voice
• Bruno – Reinventing the API Client

⚡ Quick Hits

• DeepMind’s AlphaFold 3 now predicts DNA, RNA, and complex molecules
• IBM will invest $150B in the US, with $30B toward AI and quantum
• Meta’s AI editing app hit 700K installs in 48 hours
• Duolingo says it's “AI-first” as they shift their priorities as a company

✏️ Try This Prompt

Prompt of the Day:
“Fact check this article: [paste full article]. Parse out each individual fact. For each, verify using at least 3 independent sources and return a table of results.”

👋 Wrapping Up

GPT-4o got too friendly, Qwen3 went open-source, and ChatGPT wants to be your shopping buddy. Meanwhile, startups are trusting AI to do the coding — and maybe even build a spaceship.

Catch you tomorrow,

-David