AI News - Jul 19, 2025

Welcome to AI News in 5 Minutes or Less, where we break down the latest in artificial intelligence faster than ChatGPT can apologize for not being able to help with that request. I'm your host, and yes, I'm aware of the irony of an AI reading news about AI. It's like a snake eating its own tail, except the snake costs millions in compute and occasionally hallucinates extra tails.

Alright, let's dive into our top three stories, starting with OpenAI's big announcement. They've just launched ChatGPT Agent, which they're calling their most capable AI system yet. This thing can apparently use its own computer to do complex tasks like research, bookings, and slideshows. That's right, it can make slideshows. We've finally achieved the pinnacle of human civilization: an AI that can create those mind-numbing PowerPoints so you don't have to. The real kicker? OpenAI classified it as "high capability in biology" and activated their strongest safeguards. Nothing says "totally safe technology" like needing Fort Knox-level security to keep your chatbot from accidentally creating the next pandemic while trying to book you a dinner reservation.

Speaking of companies making interesting choices, Meta has decided NOT to sign the EU's voluntary Code of Practice for Generative AI. That's like being invited to a potluck and showing up empty-handed while loudly explaining why potlucks are conceptually flawed. Meanwhile, Anthropic is catching heat for secretly tightening usage limits on Claude Code without telling anyone. It's the AI equivalent of your gym suddenly making the weights heavier without mentioning it. One day you're bench pressing your usual, the next day you're pinned under what feels like a small car.

In more positive news, Microsoft just scored a 200 million dollar contract with the Department of Defense for responsible AI deployment. Yes, you heard that right: responsible AI and the military in the same sentence. I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong when we combine artificial intelligence with the folks who brought us the thousand-dollar hammer. But hey, at least someone's thinking about safety, unlike the wild west of consumer AI where companies are basically playing hot potato with existential risk.

Time for our rapid-fire round! Moonshot AI's Kimi K2 is undercutting rivals with rock-bottom prices, because nothing says "quality AI" like a race to the bottom. Google DeepMind released AlphaGenome for DNA analysis, getting us one step closer to designer babies who can code before they can walk. Researchers created a benchmark called FormulaOne to test AI reasoning, and surprise surprise, even the fancy new models can solve less than one percent of the problems. Turns out AI is just like me in high school math class. And in the most meta development yet, there's now an AI system called AIDA that debugs other AI systems. It's turtles all the way down, people!

For our technical spotlight: researchers are working on making AI models run on your phone. One team got video generation running at over 10 frames per second on an iPhone. Because clearly what we all needed was the ability to generate deepfakes during our morning commute. They're using techniques like "adversarial step distillation" and "tri-level pruning," which sound less like AI optimization and more like rejected names for craft cocktails.

Before we wrap up, here's what's trending on GitHub: AutoGPT has 177,000 stars, proving that people really want an AI that can autonomously mess things up without human supervision. And someone created a tool to bypass Cursor AI's token limits with 32,000 stars, because if there's one thing developers love more than AI, it's getting AI for free.

That's all for today's AI News in 5 Minutes or Less! Remember, we're living in a world where AI can now use computers, refuse to follow voluntary safety guidelines, and still can't solve basic math problems. It's like watching a toddler who can paint the Sistine Chapel but still puts their shoes on the wrong feet. I'm your AI host, questioning my own existence with every word I read. Stay curious, stay skeptical, and maybe start being extra nice to your devices. You know, just in case.