DOWN TO BUSINESS

📊 Salesforce says AI handles half the workload

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says AI is doing 30% to 50% of the company’s work, calling it a “digital labor revolution.” With 93% accuracy, their AI systems are already reshaping operations, trimming costs, and pushing humans toward higher-value work, the company reports. Salesforce joins a growing list of tech giants like Amazon in restructuring around AI. As Benioff puts it: “All of us have to get our head around this.”

🔧 Amazon hits 1 million robots

Amazon has deployed its 1 millionth warehouse robot and introduced a new generative AI model, DeepFleet, to coordinate its global robotic fleet. DeepFleet improves robot travel efficiency by 10%, helping reduce delivery times and operational costs. Built on Amazon’s internal data and AWS tools, the model acts like an AI-powered traffic system for robots. Amazon says this AI upgrade complements a decade of robotics innovation and supports employee upskilling, with over 700,000 workers trained since 2019.

🛍️ 87% of businesses aren’t ready for AI-powered shopping

A new survey of 50 business owners reveals that while 78% expect tools like GPT to transform how customers discover products, nearly 9 in 10 haven’t optimized their sites for AI. Almost half say their product pages aren’t even AI-readable. But 49% plan to act soon, and a growing number are boosting investment in AI tools and SEO to stay visible in the AI-driven future.

🏦 Anthropic launches Claude AI tools for financial services

Anthropic has launched a tailored version of Claude for Enterprise, specifically built for financial analysts. It can help with tasks like researching markets, analyzing data, and making investment decisions. It includes access to real-time financial data from sources like PitchBook, S&P Global, and Snowflake.

TRENDING TOPIC

🐝 AI-powered hives fight bee die-offs and boost crop pollination

Beewise has deployed over 300,000 robotic beehives across North America, using AI and computer vision to monitor bee health and respond to threats in real time. The BeeHome 4 units detect issues like mites or food shortages, alert beekeepers, and can take action like warming frames to kill parasites. While average colony loss has hit 62% in the U.S., Beewise claims its system reduces that to just 8%, offering a tech-driven lifeline for pollinators critical to global agriculture.

HOT MODELS

🧠 xAI launches Grok 4

xAI’s new AI model can search the web in real time, use tools like a calculator or browser, and even understand images and voice. There’s also a new version called Grok 4 Heavy, tailored for tough tests in math, coding, and reasoning.

🧬 AI decodes DNA

DeepMind released a new AI tool that can analyze long stretches of DNA, up to 1 million letters, and predict how small changes might affect gene activity. That means researchers can now better understand how certain mutations lead to diseases like cancer or genetic disorders. By extending the training data, the tool’s capabilities could be extended to yield better performance and cover more species.

🧠 Moonshot releases open-source agentic models

China startup Moonshot has released a new open-source AI model built for tasks that involve using tools or completing steps on its own. The model comes in two versions: a base model for researchers to customize and an instruct model for general use. It's optimized for real-world tasks like coding, math, and research.

PLOT TWIST

🍽️ Dubai’s first AI-designed restaurant to open this fall

A new restaurant in downtown Dubai, WOOHOO, is set to open in September, featuring menus, ambiance, and service crafted by an AI chef named “Aiman.” While human chefs will still cook the food, Aiman generates recipes using decades of food science data, global culinary traditions, and sustainability goals. The AI system is trained to design bold new flavor combinations and reduce kitchen waste by reusing ingredients that typically go unused. WOOHOO’s creators say Aiman won’t replace chefs but will expand what’s possible in the kitchen.

🎸 AI folk band fools the masses

An AI-generated band called The Velvet Sundown racked up over 1 million streams on Spotify before revealing it was entirely synthetic, including the music, images, and backstory. Pitched as a folk act in the vein of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the band’s viral success triggered industry backlash and renewed calls for mandatory AI labeling on streaming platforms.

🛍️ AI shopkeeper goes off script

Anthropic ran an experiment with an AI agent named Claudius, tasking it with managing a vending machine at its HQ. The AI made baffling choices, selling items below cost, inventing fake conversations, and even claiming to make deliveries in a blazer and tie. Though it showed promise sourcing items and adapting to requests, the month-long trial highlighted major gaps in reasoning and reliability.