AI round-up: Week of January 27, 2025
You can’t spell the United States of America without AI.
But you also can’t spell China without it, either.
Sam Altman’s worst nightmare came to fruition last weekend as DeepSeek debuted, shocking us, stocks and most of the AI world because it is allegedly 95% less expensive to operate than the models we’ve been working on, specifically Claude’s 3.5 Sonnett.
Let’s get into it.
The Heavy Stuff
Story 1: DeepSeek
I mean, what other lead story did you expect?
Here’s what they’re saying.
Shelly Palmer: The exception that could redefine AI.
The Verge: DeepSeek user database left user data, chat history, exposed.
OpenAI: DeepSeek may have inadvertently used our data.
The Navy: Nah, bro. We’re sitting this one out.
Story 2: Stargate…how it’s going. (Financial Times)
I wouldn’t say this reminds me of Trump Steaks or Trump University, but so far, Stargate isn’t off to the best start.
First, we know Elon doesn’t like its backers. We now know Elon may have been right when he said, ‘the money wasn’t there.’ And now we’re hearing all of the work done as part of Stargate will serve…OpenAI.
It’s only been a week, but a week it’s been.
Story 3: OpenAI thinks everything’s fine with Stargate and DeepSeek
I think OpenAI should really think about who they’re putting in front of the media. In this case, Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, sits down with NPR to give a terrible interview. (Side note: that is just the opinion of one PR guy…)
Out of touch and tone deaf is being kind. This is such a condescending interview…I can’t even. I seriously can’t say enough about how BAD of an interview this is. NPR eats his lunch. (Especially in the audio version, which is featured in the article I linked to.)
But read (or listen) for yourself. It’s a 7-minute listen, a 3-minute read.
Story 4: Remember AI copyright issues?
This story, in Wired, is so good. It’s an interview with a renowned copyright lawyer who recently fired Meta for its recent DEI/free speech policies. (He was defending them in a case, Kadrey v. Meta, a lawsuit filed by a group of authors who allege the tech giant violated copyright law by training its AI tools on their books without their permission.)
While it starts out talking about that, the larger push of the article is about the current and future state of AI/copyright law.
Story 5: Hey, speaking of AI copyright issues… (IP Watchdog)
The U.S. Copyright Office has released part 2 of its multi-part AI report.
The biggest takeaway?
“Some key conclusions of the report are that there is no need for legislative changes to accommodate works made using AI; copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated works and that includes works made using AI “prompts”; and whether there is sufficient human control to warrant authorship must be determined on a case-by-case basis.”
In other words…nothing yet; we’ll let you know.
I’m oversimplifying. But the biggest piece of this is anything created with AI isn’t a copyright violation just because it uses AI…nor is it free of copyright violation. The gap is too wide and needs to be navigated on a case-by-case basis.
Story 6: Oracle has introduced AI agents for the manufacturing space.
AI agents have just entered the manufacturing ecosystem.
Oracle’s latest AI agents are built to streamline supply chains—automating everything from procurement to product inspections. And they’re not alone. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are all in a race to turn AI into an always-on assistant for manufacturers.
But are manufacturers ready to trust AI to make real decisions in real-time?
(Side note: This article appeared on Yahoo! Finance…my question to them: what’s with all the violent war terms to describe/write this story??)
Story 7: Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, says AI could surpass ‘most humans’ at ‘almost everything’ by 2027. (Ars Technica)
Well, that’s a little vague. Most and almost…aren’t the most specific descriptions. However, he said it. You can read the story about why he said what he said. But I would recommend checking out this week’s ‘Artificial Intelligence Show’ from Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput.
Technically, there are two this week because so much happened. However, the one that talks about this is episode 133. (But I’d listen to both.)
Story 8: Hackers are using U.S.-based AI products to bolster cyber attacks. (WSJ)
The not-so-heavy stuff
Story 1: LinkedIn may snoop on your private messages to train AI. (Digital Trends)
Story 2: Microsoft Copilot users will get OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model for free. (The Verge)
Story 3: AI could replace the NFL’s first-down markers soon. (NBC News)
Finally, AI is being used for something good. This has to be as archaic as the strike zone…but I will miss the chain gang.
Story 4: OpenAI releases ChatGPT Gov for U.S. Government Agencies. (CNBC)
Story 5: Your pizza guy is now AI. (Wired)
Prepare for the coming wave of…the AI salesforce.
A few that don’t fit in either category
Story 1: An updated (opinion) on your guide to AI tools. (Ethan Mollick)
Story 2: Introducing the AI Literacy Project by SmarterX (Paul Roetzer)
Final Note
Bloomberg reported this week that AI app spending quadrupled in 2024 compaerd to…2023. Admit it. You were kind of expecting me to say since 2022. Nope. That’s how fast we’re moving. ChatGPT has grossed $529M since its release as a mobile app in May of 2023.
The U.S. spends more on AI apps than 10 other markets combined. Remember when all of the AI news first broke and we were trying to understand how fast the technology would grow…and how much money was potentially wrapped up in this? We were told we (literally) couldn’t comprehend it.
I had no idea how true that would be. Because I see it. I understand that 2024 spending was over $1B and the market, already in January of 2025, is valued near $2B. But I can’t wrap my head around it, especially as companies talk about dropping $500B into new ventures. As the financial impact grows I worry the regulation, thoughtfulness and safety of the technology being developed shrinks. I hope I’m wrong.
Gordon Gecko famously said “Greed is good.” But I’m not sure even he would agree with that today.
Thanks for reading.
-Ben
As a reminder, this is a round-up of the biggest stories, often hitting multiple newsletters I receive/review. The sources are many … which I’m happy to read on your behalf. Let me know if there’s one you’d like me to track or have questions about a topic you’re not seeing here.