OpenAI backtracks, mandatory AI education & more (May 6, 2025)

Happy Tuesday,

OpenAI just did a full 180 on its for-profit pivot, billion-dollar battles are heating up in the dev tools space, and CEOs are calling for mandatory AI education in schools. Whether you’re a founder, coder, or curious lurker, these headlines hit at the heart of where AI’s heading next.

Let’s dive in 👇

🤯 Big Moves in AI Governance & Talent

OpenAI U-turns on For-Profit Push
After months of lawsuits, Elon drama, and internal resistance, OpenAI scrapped plans to cut ties with its nonprofit board. Instead, it will restructure into a Public Benefit Corporation — still governed by the nonprofit — in a move meant to balance investor needs with OpenAI’s original mission. Sam Altman says this structure will help them raise “trillions” to fund AGI. Time will tell if that’s visionary or vaporware.

America’s AI Brain Drain Problem
A Semafor report shows U.S. AI talent inflow has stalled — now flatlining as countries like China, India, and the UAE build strong local ecosystems. In response, over 250 CEOs (Microsoft, Adobe, Uber, Airbnb…) signed a letter urging the U.S. to make AI and CS courses mandatory in K-12. GitHub’s CEO backed it too, saying coders aren’t going extinct — they’re becoming more essential than ever.

💻 Tools, Code & Future Interfaces

Cursor Bags $900M, Windsurf in OpenAI’s Crosshairs
Anysphere, maker of Cursor (the “vibe coding” IDE), raised $900M at a $9B valuation, with Cursor reportedly pulling $200M last month alone. Meanwhile, OpenAI is allegedly acquiring Windsurf (formerly Codeium) for $3B, signaling full steam ahead in the AI coding race.

A Browser That Sends Agents to Research for You
Stealing headlines this week is Fellou, a new “agentic browser” that can divvy up research tasks among multiple AI agents across tabs. Think of it as your personal team of interns with zero HR paperwork. Early access is limited, but buzz is building fast.

Nvidia Drops Parakeet V2: Open-Source ASR Beast
The new model transcribes an hour of audio in just one second and includes timestamps, punctuation, and lyric support. Released under CC-BY-4.0, it outperforms Whisper and ElevenLabs’ Scribe — proving Nvidia wants to dominate both hardware and voice software.

🛠 Tools of the Week

• Retellio – Turn call recordings into audio highlights and summaries
• CSSPicker – Converts UI designs directly into front-end code
• Promptaa – Fine-tune prompts for better LLM results
• Undetectable – Make your AI text sound human and beat detectors
• Dubb – Boost sales with personalized AI video funnels

⚡ Quick Hits

• Anthropic launches AI for Science with $20K API credits for bio researchers
• UAE mandates AI education across all K-12 schools
• Pinterest adds image-based AI search tools
• Listen Labs releases AI tool that turns audio into pitch decks

💡 Prompt of the Day

🎯 Prompt:
“You’re a digital strategist generating high-performing Google Ads keywords for a niche business. Provide a markdown table of keywords, volume, and competition.”

This one’s gold for marketers, but also teaches LLMs step-by-step output structuring and reasoning.

TL;DR

OpenAI backtracks on its for-profit push, going the Public Benefit Corporation route. Cursor lands $900M, Nvidia's ASR model stuns, and AI talent wars hit U.S. classrooms. Education and governance are now the battlegrounds of AGI.

Between trillion-dollar AGI ambitions, agent-led browsers, and cross-country talent wars, it’s clear: AI isn’t just evolving — it’s restructuring itself in real time. Keep learning, keep building, and if you liked this issue, forward it to a friend who’s still catching up.

Until next time,
– David