Google releases its own “vibe-coding” app

Today’s Highlights:

📰 News: Google releases its own “vibe-coding” app + it expands its AI mode w/ multiple new features

💰 Funding: Anthropic targets new $3Bn to $5Bn funding round

⚡️ Top News Stories:

1. Google is testing a new AI-powered “vibe-coding” app called Opal, designed to help users create mini web apps using simple text prompts, with no traditional coding required, great for non-technical users with its prompt-based app building and visual editing.

2. Google’s NotebookLM now includes Video Overviews, a new visual AI tool that transforms dense materials—like notes, PDFs, and images—into short, engaging videos using diagrams, quotes, and numerical data.

3. Google has expanded its AI Mode with new tools like Canvas for organizing study plans, Search Live for real-time help using a phone’s camera, and broader desktop functionality, including file uploads and interactive overviews—marking a major evolution in AI-powered search and learning.

4. Microsoft has rolled out Copilot Mode in Edge, transforming its browser into an AI-powered assistant that can analyze your web activity, offer real-time help, and perform tasks like booking and content drafting — all while remaining opt-in and user-controlled.

5. OpenAI has launched Study Mode in ChatGPT to encourage critical thinking in students by requiring interaction and engagement with material rather than simply providing answers, a response to growing concerns over generative AI’s impact on learning.

6. Figma has officially released Figma Make, its AI-powered, prompt-to-app building tool, to all users — no coding skills needed — after a limited beta earlier this year.

7. Alibaba will launch its first smart glasses, the Quark AI Glasses, by the end of 2025 in China, powered by its Qwen LLM and Quark assistant to rival Meta and Xiaomi, featuring real-time translation, payments via Alipay, and integration with its entire app ecosystem.

8. Adobe has introduced AI-powered Generative Upscale, Harmonize, and an enhanced object-removal tool in Photoshop, using Firefly models to simplify tasks like image upscaling, realistic object blending, and precision background fills—now in beta for desktop, web, and iOS early access.

9. Meta has appointed former OpenAI researcher Shengjia Zhao as Chief Scientist of its new AI superintelligence lab, tasking him with advancing frontier reasoning models as part of an aggressive talent and infrastructure strategy that complements Meta’s long-term FAIR lab.

10. Tesla has signed a $16.5Bn deal with Samsung to manufacture its all-encompassing AI6 chips at a new Texas fab, cementing the chip’s role in powering Full Self-Driving, humanoid robots, and AI training — and signaling Tesla’s deeper transformation into an AI and robotics company.

11. Microsoft is negotiating to secure ongoing access to OpenAI’s AI models even after the startup declares AGI, as part of a broader deal that could restructure OpenAI into a fully commercial company, give Microsoft a 30–35% equity stake, and protect its deep integration across Azure and Copilot products.

12. Amazon- and SoftBank-backed Skild AI has launched Skild Brain, a general-purpose foundational AI model designed to make robots — from factory machines to humanoids — more adaptable and intelligent, marking a major shift toward versatile automation in the robotics industry.

13. Runway unveils new Aleph model that redefines AI video creation by enabling real-time, conversational editing that can fluidly remove, add, or restyle objects and scenes with frame-to-frame consistency, giving creators unprecedented control over video content.

14. Runway AI has Imax partnered with to bring ten short films from its 2025 AI Film Festival to theaters across the U.S., signaling mainstream Hollywood’s growing acceptance of AI-generated cinema as a viable form of artistic storytelling.

15. Mayo Clinic has deployed NVIDIA’s advanced Blackwell-powered DGX SuperPOD infrastructure to accelerate the development of generative AI in digital pathology, enabling faster, more accurate diagnostics and supporting its strategic vision for early disease detection and precision medicine.

16. In contrast to Western caution, Chinese universities are rapidly embracing AI tools like DeepSeek as essential learning companions, embedding AI literacy into curricula, hosting custom models on campus servers, and aligning education with the growing national emphasis on tech-driven career readiness.

17. 20 national security leaders have urged the Trump administration to reverse its recent approval allowing Nvidia to sell H20 AI chips to China, warning that the chip’s advanced inference capabilities pose military risks and undermine U.S. technological dominance.

18. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has developed an AI tool aimed at reviewing and eliminating half of all federal regulations, reportedly analyzing around 200,000 mandates to identify those no longer legally required.

💰 Top Funding News:

1. Anthropic is reportedly raising a $3B–$5B round at a $170B valuation, led by Iconiq Capital with potential participation from Qatar Investment Authority, GIC, and others.

2. Micro1, which uses AI to recruit specialized experts for data labeling crucial to training advanced AI models, is raising a Series A at a $500M valuation led by 01A and LG Technology Ventures.

3. Groq, a developer of high-performance AI chips for fast inference, is reportedly raising a $600M round at a $6B valuation, led by Disruptive with previous participation from BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Type One Ventures, Cisco, KDDI, and Samsung Catalyst Fund.

4. Fable, which delivers personalized AI-generated cybersecurity training to reduce human error, raised a $31M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Greylock Partners and Garry Tan.

5. Julius AI, which provides an AI-powered data analyst that performs analysis and predictive modeling from natural language prompts, raised a $10M seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Horizon VC, 8VC, Y Combinator, AI Grant, and notable angels.

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