Hello and welcome to the Automated, your AI tour guide.

Big tech giants like OpenAI, Meta and Google have long ruled the AI space, but a new wave of startups is shaking things up.

These underdogs aren’t just catching up—they’re redefining the possibilities of AI. From voice assistants that actually understand you to AI that sees the world in stunning detail, these startups are pushing boundaries in ways you won't believe.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• 💪 How Startups Are Leading the Charge.

• 💻 Microsoft Unveils a Sleek, More Powerful Copilot App for Windows!

• 💼 How to use AI for job search: tools & tips.

• 🤝 AI conversion rate optimization —the benefits & how to use it in your business.

• 🤖 ChatGPT Prompt Of The Day: Brainstorm Research Topics.

💪 How Startups Are Leading the Charge.

We’ve all been there—telling Alexa or Siri to shut up or waiting for Gemini or ChatGPT to process a simple question like it’s solving quantum physics.

Let’s be real: AI assistants from the tech giants are still stiff, still awkward, and still making us question why we even bother talking to them.

Alexa mishears half the time, Gemini feels like a slow-motion conversation, and Siri… well, bless her heart. But while the big players stumble, new startups are making AI fun, fast, and genuinely useful.

Two of them—Sesame and Cohere—are proving that the best AI innovation isn’t just coming from trillion-dollar companies, but from ambitious underdogs.

Sesame’s AI Voice Assistants: Maya & Miles

Sesame, a new AI startup led by ex-Oculus execs, just dropped two voice assistants, Maya and Miles—and people are obsessed.

Unlike the robotic, frustrating assistants we’re used to, these two actually flow naturally, respond quickly, pause at the right moments, improvise, and keep up with conversations like a real person.

One tester even got Maya to create a full fantasy adventure where she—yes, the AI—became a gnome engineer, designing deadly traps to protect a castle from orc invaders. Imagine Siri or Alexa trying to pull that off.

And the craziest part? It’s not just answering questions—it’s playing along, adapting, and actually making conversations fun. 

Which is why the internet is blowing up.

People are sharing clips, testing its limits, and debating whether this is the most natural-sounding AI ever. It’s like the excitement we felt when ChatGPT first dropped—except this time, it talks like a real person.

But Sesame isn’t stopping there.

They’re also working on AI-powered smart glasses that let Maya and Miles see what you see and interact with your world in real-time.

Meanwhile, Cohere’s Aya Vision Is Making AI Smarter at Seeing.

While Sesame is revolutionizing AI conversations, Cohere is tackling how AI understands visuals.

Their new model, Aya Vision, is a multimodal AI that processes both text and images—and it’s already outperforming big names like Gemini Flash and Llama-3.2 in visual understanding.

Aya Vision can:

• Instantly recognize and count objects in a scene.

• Identify movies from a single screenshot (yes, it instantly knew Home Alone).

• Read menus and receipts (though, to be fair, it still struggles with taxes—so maybe don’t trust it with your accounting just yet).

With support for 23 languages, Aya Vision is making AI more multilingual and visually intelligent than ever before.

And the best part? It’s available for free (non-commercial use) via Hugging Face, Kaggle, and even WhatsApp. 

The Takeaway? Big Tech Doesn’t Own AI Innovation Anymore.

Sesame and Cohere are proving that big tech doesn’t have a monopoly on AI innovation.

While Google and OpenAI are still fine-tuning their models, these startups are building AI that feels more human, more useful, and way more fun than what we’re used to.

If this is what the underdogs are doing now, imagine what’s next.

You can dive deeper into these insane innovations [here and here].

✍️ Editor’s Corner

Hi everyone -

I’m excited to announce that the Automated will be participating in Perplexity’s Business Fellowship to further develop our skills within AI.

Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine that's transformed how I work. Beyond real-time answers from the web, org files, and proprietary data like Crunchbase and FactSet, it now offers Deep Research that generates expert-level analysis in minutes.

I’m excited to share what I learn with all of you.

Cheers,

Tak Lo (Editor at The Automated, AI entrepreneur and thought leader. More at thetaklo.com)

 💻 Microsoft Unveils a Sleek, More Powerful Copilot App for Windows!

Microsoft is finally giving its Copilot AI assistant the upgrade it deserves!

Nearly a year after downgrading it to a basic web app, Microsoft is rolling out a fully native Copilot app for Windows, bringing a smoother, more powerful experience to users.

This new version, built using native XAML, comes with a redesigned side panel and an improved UI, making it feel more like a true desktop assistant rather than just another web-based tool.

Microsoft is taking inspiration from its recently launched Copilot app for macOS, which means Windows users can now upload images, generate text and images, interact with Copilot via microphone, and even access past conversations through an updated sidebar.

It’s a big shift from how Copilot originally debuted inside Windows 11.

Microsoft had positioned it as a built-in “personal assistant” integrated deep into the OS, only to later strip it down to a barebones web app—a move that frustrated many users.

Now, this latest update restores some of that lost functionality, making Copilot feel more seamless and intuitive.

The updated Copilot app first rolls out to Windows Insiders through the Microsoft Store, before making its way to all Windows 11 PCs in the coming weeks.

With its streamlined design, enhanced features, and deeper OS integration, Copilot looks better than ever!

Click here to read more about the Copilot update here!

🧱Around The AI Block

• 💼 How to use AI for job search: tools & tips.

• 🤝 AI conversion rate optimization — the benefits & how to use it in your business.

• 🤑 OpenAI launches $50M grant program to help fund academic research.

• 🤖 Amazon is reportedly developing its own AI ‘reasoning’ model.

• 👨‍⚖️ Judge rejects Musk’s attempt to block OpenAI’s for-profit transition.

• 🙉 Google releases SpeciesNet, an AI model designed to identify wildlife.

• 👮 Singapore arrests alleged Nvidia chip smugglers.

• 🧑‍🎤 Podcasting platform Podcastle launches a text-to-speech model with more than 450 AI voices.

🛠️ Trending Tools

• Photoroom: Revolutionize your photos with AI-powered background removal and enhancement, making every picture stand out effortlessly.

• Opus Clip: A generative AI video tool that repurposes long videos into shorts in one click.

• Agent Herbie: Serves as an AI assistant for content marketers and business professionals, excelling in content creation, research, and business analysis.

• OpenArt: An AI-powered creative platform that allows users to explore multiple versions of their images without complex prompts.

• Listening.io: Unique application that transforms academic papers into engaging audio experiences.

🤖ChatGPT Prompt Of The Day: Brainstorm Research Topics.

Need a research topic but don’t know where to start? ChatGPT can help you brainstorm!

These prompts can generate ideas, refine your focus, and even suggest key sources to kick-start your research

Here’s one:

As a research advisor, your task is to brainstorm potential research topics for an academic writing project in "[FIELD OF STUDY]." Begin by identifying current trends, gaps, and emerging questions within this field that could lead to impactful research. Consider interdisciplinary approaches that could enrich the research perspective. Generate a list of at least five interesting research topics, each accompanied by a brief explanation of its significance, potential research questions, and the contribution to the field. Ensure that each topic is workable, original, and has a clear scope for in-depth academic investigation.

Source

We've Compiled a List of Over 100 ChatGPT Power Prompts.

This should help streamline your interactions with ChatGPT and get the results you need more efficiently.

Best of all, It's free!

Click here to get it now.

That's all we've got for you today.

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