Beginners in AI

Good morning and thank you for joining us again!

Welcome to this daily edition of Beginners in AI, where we explore the latest trends, tools, and news in the world of AI and the tech that surrounds it. Like all editions, this is human curated, and published with the intention of making AI news and technology more accessible to everyone.

THE FRONT PAGE

Ron Howard's Studio Will Be Integrating AI To Its Workflow

TLDR: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment partnered with Obsidian Studio, a new AI production company that promises to "amplify human creativity" while slashing production cycles from months to weeks.

The Story: Obsidian launched this month with two proprietary tools it spent 2025 testing on brands like Louis Vuitton, Amazon, and the NBA. EchoChrome enhances low-quality AI video for high-level VFX work. DigitalForge brings AI and CGI directly onto film sets in real time. The pitch is to compress months of production into weeks while keeping what co-founder Wes Walker calls "creative integrity intact." Obsidian recruited storyboard artists Marc Vena (Logan, Black Panther) and Tani Kunitake (The Matrix, Star Wars) to train AI models on their hand-drawn work, then build outward from those foundations. Walker stressed to IndieWire that Imagine partnered with them because of their expertise in traditional VFX tools like Unreal Engine and Blender—not just because they use AI.

Its Significance: Obsidian is one of roughly 65 AI film studios that launched globally since 2022, but it's earned the kind of Hollywood backing that suggests staying power. Imagine's endorsement matters—Ron Howard and Brian Grazer don't typically bet on technology for technology's sake. That Obsidian emerged from 2025's testing phase with commercial clients already sold puts them ahead of most competitors still chasing partnerships. But here's where the story gets interesting: Walker's insistence that "AI is not post; AI is production" reframes what these tools actually do. If AI moves from post-production cleanup into on-set decision-making, the question Hollywood's been asking shifts from "will AI replace artists?" to "who controls the AI during production?" This lands right after Lionsgate partnered with Runway and Disney formed an AI task force—suggesting Hollywood's making peace with AI as a cost-cutting measure in a post-strike world where budgets stay tight and streamers demand faster turnarounds.

QUICK TAKES

Stack Overflow Transforms Into AI Data Provider

The story: Stack Overflow launched Stack Overflow Internal, turning its famous Q&A forum into an AI training ground for companies. The new product lets businesses feed their internal Stack Overflow data directly to AI agents, complete with trust scores showing how reliable each answer is. The company is making money like Reddit did—selling access to its data for AI training with deals worth over $200 million.

Your takeaway: The shift shows how platforms built on human knowledge are now racing to package that knowledge for AI systems, turning community contributions into training data that powers enterprise AI.

Intuit Signs $100M+ Deal with OpenAI

The story: Intuit agreed to pay OpenAI over $100 million per year to integrate TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp into ChatGPT. Users can now estimate tax refunds, find credit cards, and manage business finances directly through ChatGPT by linking their Intuit accounts. The deal lets Intuit use OpenAI's models across its products while reaching ChatGPT's hundreds of millions of users.

Your takeaway: This marks one of the largest AI partnerships in financial software, showing how ChatGPT is becoming a platform where users handle real financial decisions—raising the stakes for accuracy and trust.

Google CEO Warns No Company Safe If AI Bubble Bursts

The story: Google CEO Sundar Pichai told the BBC that "no company is going to be immune, including us" if the AI bubble bursts. He compared the current AI investment wave to the dotcom era's "excess investment," acknowledging "elements of irrationality" in the market. Despite concerns, Pichai believes the impact will be worth it, similar to how the internet's value outlasted the dotcom crash.

Your takeaway: Even leaders at the biggest AI companies admit the market might be overheated, but they're betting that like the internet boom, the technology will prove transformative despite short-term losses.

Google Sued Over Gemini AI Privacy Concerns

The story: Google faces a class action lawsuit claiming it secretly turned on Gemini AI for all Gmail, Chat, and Meet users around October 10, allowing the AI to scan emails, messages, and conversations without consent. The lawsuit says Google violated California's wiretapping law by enabling the feature by default and requiring users to hunt through privacy settings to turn it off. One tech writer called Gemini "downright creepy" after it analyzed 16 years of emails and knew personal details like his first crush.

Your takeaway: The case highlights growing concerns about AI companies accessing private data without clear consent, especially when features are switched on automatically rather than requiring opt-in.

Franklin Templeton Partners with Wand AI for Investment Research

The story: Asset manager Franklin Templeton partnered with Wand AI to deploy AI agents across its investment platform, moving beyond small pilots to fully operational AI systems. The agents help with data-driven decision-making in investment research, with plans to expand throughout the company in 2026. The partnership follows similar moves by Goldman Sachs, which launched an internal AI assistant that helps thousands of employees with tasks like document analysis and drafting.

Your takeaway: Major financial firms are racing to deploy AI agents enterprise-wide, signaling a shift from experimental AI projects to AI systems handling core business operations in highly regulated industries.

TOOLS ON OUR RADAR

• 📐 Dzine [Freemium]: Create and edit images with 24 AI-powered tools in one place, from removing backgrounds to turning 2D designs into 3D visuals.

• 🔧 Gamma [Freemium]: Turn ideas into polished presentations, documents, or websites in under a minute with AI that handles all the design work.

• 🛠️ Jinna [Freemium]: Get paid faster with an AI assistant that creates invoices by voice or text, sends them, and automatically chases late payments.

• Adobe Firefly [Freemium]: Generate images, videos, and graphics with commercially safe AI trained on licensed content—no copyright worries for business use.

TRENDING

Oxford Researchers Build Robots Powered Only by Air – Scientists created soft robots that run on air pressure alone—no electronics, motors, or computers. The robots can hop, shake, and crawl, and their movements naturally sync up when working together.

USC Engineers Create Artificial Neurons Using Silver Ions – Researchers built artificial neurons that physically mimic real brain cells using ion movement instead of electrons. Each neuron fits in the space of one transistor and could make computer chips orders of magnitude smaller and more energy-efficient.

Google Expands AI Flight Deals Tool to 200+ Countries – Google's AI-powered Flight Deals tool now works in over 200 countries with support for 60+ languages. The tool helps users quickly find affordable destinations by describing where, when, and how they want to travel.

Judges Say Courts Aren't Ready for AI-Generated Evidence – A California judge dismissed a housing case after discovering the plaintiff submitted an AI deepfake video as real evidence. Judges warn that realistic fake videos, audio, and documents could flood courtrooms and undermine trust in evidence.

Study Finds YouTube Titles More Toxic Than Actual Video Content – Researchers used AI to analyze YouTube videos across multiple layers and found that titles optimized for engagement were the most provocative and toxic, while the actual content was far more balanced and constructive.

TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, Gemini)

Help me analyze and address my anxiety and overwhelm:

Current situation: [Describe what you're anxious or overwhelmed about, when it's worst, what thoughts loop in your mind, and how it affects your daily life]

Provide:

1. **Root Cause Analysis**: What core fears or unmet needs might be driving this anxiety? What am I really afraid will happen if I don't worry about this? What would it mean about me?

2. **Cognitive Patterns**: Identify cognitive distortions at play (catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, should statements, etc.). What stories am I telling myself that may not be true?

3. **Nervous System Science**: Explain what's happening in my brain and body. What's my window of tolerance? Am I in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode?

4. **Practical De-escalation**: Give me 3 research-backed techniques to use in the moment when anxiety spikes. Include somatic (body-based) and cognitive approaches.

5. **Underlying Needs**: What do I actually need that I'm not giving myself? What would addressing the real need look like versus managing symptoms?

6. **Action Plan**: Break down what feels overwhelming into smallest possible next steps. Which step would reduce anxiety most if completed first?

Draw on CBT, somatic therapy, polyvagal theory, and ACT. Help me see what I can't see when I'm in it.

What this does: Combines neuroscience, therapy techniques, and practical tools to help you understand why you're anxious, what your body and mind actually need, and concrete steps to move forward.

WHERE WE STAND

✅ AI Can Now: Handle real financial decisions through ChatGPT integrations, from estimating tax refunds to finding credit cards based on your spending patterns.

❌ Still Can't: Gain users' trust with privacy practices, as Google faces lawsuits for allegedly scanning private emails and messages without clear consent.

✅ AI Can Now: Power robots that work without any electronics using just air pressure, demonstrating intelligence can emerge from physical design alone.

❌ Still Can't: Avoid massive energy consumption, with AI accounting for 1.5% of global electricity use and potentially using as much as Japan by 2030.

✅ AI Can Now: Match the electrical properties of real brain neurons with artificial versions that operate at biological voltage levels and energy use.

❌ Still Can't: Convince its biggest proponents the market is sustainable, with even Google's CEO warning no company would be immune if the AI bubble bursts.

FROM THE WEB

RECOMMENDED LISTENING/READING/WATCHING

WATCH: The Terminator (1984) & Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

The first two Terminator films are classics that captured the fears of their time—machines rising up, humanity fighting back, the future hanging in the balance. They're thrilling and surprisingly smart about AI as an existential threat. The third film tried to tackle internet-era anxieties as connectivity was just taking off, but it's a noticeable step down. Everything after that? Skip them. They muddy the waters and don't add anything to the story. The originals are the only ones that deserve the rewatch.

Thank you for reading. We’re all beginners in something. With that in mind, your questions and feedback are always welcome and I read every single email!

-James

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