Okay, picture this: A grieving family opens their mail and sees a $195,000 hospital bill — for just four hours in intensive care.

Most people would panic, maybe start Googling “how to sell a kidney legally.” But this family? They did something different.

They uploaded the invoice to Claude, a $20-a-month AI chatbot from Anthropic, just to see what it thought about the bill.

And boy, did Claude deliver.

Within minutes, the AI dissected the entire thing like a forensic accountant on espresso, uncovering:

Now, imagine being charged for a car… and then separately for the engine, wheels, and steering wheel. That’s basically what the hospital did — and Claude called it out line by line.

Turns out, the hospital had billed “master charges” (an all-inclusive package) and then stacked on extra charges for the components already inside them.

It also flagged:

In short: it was a billing mess that would’ve buried anyone without regulatory expertise.

But here’s where it gets spicy:

Claude didn’t just spot the errors — it wrote appeal letters.

Actual, legal-sounding appeals citing specific regulatory standards and potential legal arguments.

Suddenly, the family wasn’t begging for mercy — they were citing Section 42 of federal billing regs like pros.

Negotiations of course flipped instantly. Hospital reps went from “sorry, that’s just the system” to “uh, let’s review those charges again.” in an instant. 

By the end, that $195,000 nightmare was slashed to $33,000. 

The family called their $20 Claude subscription “the best money they ever spent.”

The Big Takeaway

This isn’t just a one-off hack. This is AI stepping into spaces we didn’t expect — not to replace people, but to arm them. 

To level the playing field in systems that have always felt rigged.

If a chatbot can take on a hospital’s billing department — and win — what else are we underestimating AI for?

I mean a grieving family found justice not through lawyers or lobbyists, but through lines of code. That’s the quiet revolution happening right now — intelligence fighting for people who never thought they’d have a chance.

So yeah — crazy times. Smart tech.

If that blew your mind 🤯, go check out the full story here.

Staying behind on tech trends can be a career killer.

But let’s face it, no one has hours to spare every week trying to stay updated.

That’s why over 100,000 engineers at companies like Google, Meta, and Apple read The Code twice a week.

Here’s why it works:

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So OpenAI just quietly leveled up Sora again — and if you ask me, it’s starting to look less like an app and more like a creative universe.

The headline feature?

Reusable “characters” that can show up in anyone’s AI-generated videos. Think of them as digital actors you can summon on command.

They’re calling these Character Cameos, and they’re kind of wild.

You can take a selfie, your cat, your favorite doodle, or even a LEGO figure — and boom, you’ve got a character you can tag in videos.

 Each one gets its own name, handle, and permission settings. Once created, you can:

And get this — OpenAI’s even rolling out a starter pack of pre-made cameos. So even if your creative tank’s empty, you can still drop a robot chef or disco pug into your next clip.

But here’s where things get real messy (and interesting)

Sora’s now walking a very fine line between creativity and copyright chaos.

Because while it’s awesome that you can make original personas, OpenAI hasn’t exactly said whether you can upload fictional characters created by other AIs —  or how it plans to tell the difference between a real human and a fake one.

If you ask me, that’s a legal grey area waiting to explode. Especially since — plot twist — Cameo, the celebrity shoutout app, is literally suing OpenAI over the name “Cameo.”

Yep, they’re claiming trademark infringement.

So yeah… we’re watching a brand-new creative ecosystem form — while the lawyers are probably warming up backstage.

Beyond all that, Sora now supports video stitching — meaning you can finally link multiple clips into full scenes. Basically, an AI director’s dream.

You could build a full story arc: add a scene here, remix a clip there — and boom, you’ve got your own AI-directed short film without ever touching a camera.

And because this is OpenAI, they gamified it. There are leaderboards now — showing off:

The more people use your creations, the higher you climb. 

Oh, and heads up — OpenAI temporarily dropped the invite requirement. So if you’re in the U.S., Canada, Japan, or Korea, you can jump in right now and try out these new features before the gates close again.

The Big Picture:

Sora’s turning into a creative playground — a mashup of storytelling, social networking, and digital performance art.

But it’s also testing the boundaries of what “identity” means in the age of AI.

Because when your likeness — or your pet’s — can star in someone else’s video halfway across the world, we’ve officially entered a whole new era of creative collaboration… and maybe a bit of chaos.

Either way, Sora’s not just generating videos anymore — it’s generating characters, communities, and maybe even controversy.

So tell me — genius move or legal minefield? 

Ever wondered what it’s like to play chess against an AI that actually thinks?

Say hello to Chess Champ, your pocket-sized chess sparring partner powered by Gemini.

And it’s not just fun — it’s a low-key brain workout that’s perfect for:

✨ Why It’s Awesome

💡 How to Use It

Open the Gem, type  “Let’s play chess,” and start dropping moves in standard chess notation (like e4, Nc6, or O-O for castling).

You can:

And if you’re not sure what to do, just ask: “How can I make a move?” and the Gem will analyze and play right along with you.

⚡ Prompts to try:

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