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Good morning! Today is Thursday, May 15, 2025.

We have some exciting AI news today: DeepMind has introduced AlphaEvolve, an AI system that outperforms human-designed algorithms, and Tencent reports significant revenue growth fueled by AI advancements.

1. Google’s AlphaEvolve Writes Its Own Code and Just Saved Millions in Computing Costs

Google DeepMind has unveiled AlphaEvolve, an AI-powered coding agent that not only writes its own complex algorithms but also deploys them across Google’s infrastructure to boost performance and save costs. Using Gemini models and an evolutionary approach, AlphaEvolve has improved data center efficiency, sped up AI training by 1%, and even shattered a 56-year-old matrix multiplication record. The AI system’s ability to independently discover and refine solutions marks a new era of self-improving software, with future applications spanning everything from chip design to drug discovery.

2. Tencent Plans to Turn WeChat Into China’s Ultimate AI Assistant

Tencent is betting big on its 1.4 billion-user WeChat empire to lead China’s AI race. The tech giant aims to build a uniquely powerful AI agent by deeply integrating it into WeChat’s vast ecosystem—which already spans messaging, payments, content creation, and in-app services. While its chatbot Yuanbao competes with rivals like Baidu’s Ernie and Alibaba’s Quark, Tencent believes WeChat’s built-in versatility will give its AI a game-changing edge in delivering personal, action-taking assistants across every part of daily life in China.

3. OpenAI Rolls Out GPT-4.1 in ChatGPT With a Speed Boost for Coders

OpenAI has officially launched its faster, smarter GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini models in ChatGPT. Subscribers to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team now get access to GPT-4.1, which excels at coding and instruction following, while the lighter GPT-4.1 mini is available to all users. The update replaces GPT-4.0 mini and comes alongside OpenAI’s new Safety Evaluations Hub, a response to past criticism over transparency. With AI coding tools heating up, this upgrade signals OpenAI’s continued push to dominate both consumer and developer workflows.

4. Stability AI Brings Text-to-Audio AI to Smartphones with New Lightweight Model

Stability AI and Arm have teamed up to launch Stable Audio Open Small, a compact 341M parameter model that can generate high-quality, 11-second audio clips on smartphones in under 8 seconds, entirely on-device. Optimised for Arm CPUs (which power 99% of smartphones globally), this open-source model makes real-time, AI-powered sound generation accessible to developers and creators without needing powerful hardware. It’s free for commercial and non-commercial use, ideal for producing drum loops, sound effects, or ambient audio directly from text prompts.

5. Meta Unveils Giant Chemistry Dataset and AI Model to Accelerate Scientific Breakthroughs

Meta has launched Open Molecules 2025, a massive chemistry dataset created using 6 billion compute hours, along with a powerful new AI model called UMA. Trained to understand complex molecular interactions, UMA can simulate the behavior of atoms and molecules up to 10,000 times faster than traditional methods, helping scientists discover new drugs, materials, and batteries in minutes instead of days. By open-sourcing the dataset, Meta aims to democratize cutting-edge research and push the boundaries of both science and general-purpose AI.

6. OpenAI Eyes UAE for Major Data Center Expansion

OpenAI may soon build data centers in the United Arab Emirates as part of its push to expand in the Middle East, according to Bloomberg. The move would deepen ties with longtime partner G42—an Abu Dhabi AI firm backed by Microsoft—and strengthen OpenAI’s new “OpenAI for Countries” initiative, which aims to localize AI infrastructure in friendly nations. A deal could be announced as soon as this week.

Stay tuned for more updates, and have a fantastic day!

Best,
Zephyr