While everyone debates whether AI will replace human jobs, tech companies are quietly solving a more immediate problem: making their tools actually useful. This week’s developments reveal a clear pattern of platforms shifting from flashy demos to practical utility. Google made powerful models available offline on smartphones, Microsoft eliminated subscription barriers for video generation, major media companies chose partnership over litigation, and platforms evolved from simple chatbots into comprehensive creative workspaces.
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Character.AI Expands Beyond Text Chat with Multi-Modal Creative Features
Character.AI has announced a comprehensive platform evolution, introducing multiple new features that transform the service from simple text-based conversations into a rich multimedia experience. The AI character platform is responding to community demands for more sophisticated creative tools and immersive storytelling capabilities.
The update introduces several key features designed to enhance user engagement and creator capabilities. Scenes provide interactive storylines where users can participate in pre-built narratives with AI characters, with creator tools for custom scene development planned for later release. AvatarFX leverages image-to-video technology to animate character portraits, enabling them to speak and sing from static images.
The platform has redesigned user profiles to better showcase creator content and characters while introducing Streams functionality that allows users to orchestrate conversations between different AI characters on chosen topics. Additionally, Imagine Animated Chats enables users to convert their most engaging character interactions into shareable animated content, currently available to premium subscribers.
A new Community Feed will serve as a central hub for discovering content across all these features, creating what Character.AI describes as a more dynamic front door to platform content. These updates represent the company’s shift toward becoming a comprehensive creative platform rather than just a chatbot service, reflecting user preferences and competitive pressures in the AI entertainment space.
Perplexity Launches Labs Feature for Comprehensive Project Development
Perplexity has introduced Labs, a new premium feature that extends beyond its traditional search capabilities to function as a comprehensive project development tool.
The service operates as an autonomous research and development assistant that can spend extended periods working on complex projects. Labs combines deep web research, code execution, and content creation capabilities to produce finished deliverables, including reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and functional web applications.
Key capabilities include automated code generation for data processing and visualization, file management through an organized Assets tab, and the ability to create interactive mini-applications directly within the platform. The system can handle diverse project types, ranging from business analysis to personal planning tasks, typically requiring ten minutes or more of self-directed work.
Perplexity positions Labs as complementary to their existing Research mode, with Labs designed for longer-term project development while Research remains focused on quick, comprehensive answers. The company has also streamlined their product naming, renaming “Deep Research” to simply “Research” to better reflect the three-tier structure of Search, Research, and Labs modes.
Available exclusively to Pro subscribers, Labs represents a significant expansion of the platform’s functionality, from providing answers to executing complete workflows.
Google’s New Edge Gallery App Brings Local AI Models to Mobile Devices
Google has launched an experimental Android application called AI Edge Gallery that enables users to run AI models directly on their smartphones without requiring internet connectivity. The app serves as a bridge between Hugging Face’s model repository and mobile devices, offering a new approach to AI accessibility.
Currently available for Android with iOS support planned, the application focuses on local processing capabilities. Users can browse through various AI models designed for different tasks, such as text generation, image analysis, and coding assistance. The offline functionality addresses two key user concerns: data privacy and internet dependency.
The app features a “Prompt Lab” environment where users can experiment with single-turn AI tasks using built-in templates and customizable settings. Performance varies significantly based on device hardware capabilities and model size, with Google noting that larger models naturally require more processing time for task completion.
As an Apache 2.0-licensed project available on GitHub, the application represents Google’s experimental approach to edge computing in AI applications.
New York Times Partners with Amazon in First Major Generative AI Content Deal
The New York Times has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Amazon, marking the publication’s first major partnership for generative AI applications. This deal allows Amazon to incorporate Times content into various customer-facing products, including Alexa voice assistant responses.
The partnership encompasses content from The New York Times, The Athletic sports publication, and the NYT Cooking platform. Amazon will utilize this editorial material for creating summaries and brief excerpts within its AI-powered services while also using the content to enhance its machine learning model training processes.
This collaboration comes against the backdrop of ongoing legal disputes between news organizations and AI companies over content usage rights. The Times previously filed a copyright lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, claiming unauthorized use of its articles for AI training purposes. The Amazon deal represents a different approach, establishing a formal commercial relationship that compensates the publisher for content access.
The agreement reflects a growing trend in the media industry, where publishers are seeking to monetize their content through AI partnerships rather than relying solely on legal challenges. Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien emphasized that the deal supports their principle of ensuring quality journalism receives appropriate compensation.
Microsoft Integrates Sora Video Generation into Bing Mobile App at No Cost
Microsoft has introduced a video creation feature to its Bing mobile application, powered by OpenAI’s Sora model, making advanced AI video generation accessible without requiring expensive subscriptions. This integration offers users a free alternative to ChatGPT’s paid tiers, which typically charge monthly fees for Sora access.
The Bing Video Creator is rolling out globally to Android and iPhone users through the Bing Search app, with desktop and Copilot integration planned for future releases. Users can access the feature through the app’s menu or by typing video descriptions directly into the search interface.
The service allows users to queue up to three video projects simultaneously, offering both standard and expedited processing options. While standard generation is completely free, users receive ten complimentary fast generations before needing to use Microsoft Rewards points for additional quick processing.
Generated videos are five seconds in length with vertical orientation, stored within the app for three months, and can be downloaded or shared across platforms. Microsoft plans to add horizontal video format support in future updates. The company positions this feature as part of its effort to make AI-powered creativity tools more accessible to general users.
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