Microsoft Unveils Largest AI Agents Network
Plus: DeepSeek’s new reasoning model beats OpenAI’s o1, OpenAI plans to launch browser, Gemini regains the top spot in the LLM leaderboard, and more.
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In today’s edition:
💻 Microsoft reveals the largest AI agents ecosystem ever
🧠 DeepSeek's new reasoning model beats OpenAI's o1
🌐 OpenAI takes on Google, plans to launch browser
🏆 Gemini regains the top spot in the LLM leaderboard
🤖 New GenAI agent emulates human behavior
📚 Knowledge Nugget: Teacher Uses AI to Inspire Students by Visualizing Their Future Selves by
Let’s go!
Microsoft reveals the largest AI agents ecosystem ever
Microsoft has unveiled a suite of specialized AI agents and automation tools for its billion-plus Microsoft 365 users. Key highlights include new purpose-built AI agents for tasks like HR, document search, and meeting notes, as well as tools for developers to build their own agents.
The company also introduced "Copilot Actions," which allow users to create custom automation workflows for recurring tasks. Additionally, in 2025, a real-time translation agent for Teams will be available that can interpret and mimic conversations in up to nine languages.
Why does it matter?
Microsoft's integration of AI agents into its massive user base's daily workflows could revolutionize how people approach tasks. This could potentially make specialized AI assistants a natural choice, similar to traditional apps and plugins today.
DeepSeek’s new reasoning-focused model beats OpenAI’s o1
Chinese AI research lab DeepSeek has released a new reasoning-focused model called R1-Lite-Preview. This model matches or exceeds the performance of OpenAI's o1 model on key benchmarks like AIME and MATH.
A key feature of R1-Lite-Preview is its "chain-of-thought" reasoning, which explains its step-by-step problem-solving process to users. Initial tests show the model performing well on tricky questions that have stumped other AI models.
Why does it matter?
DeepSeek’s open-source AI milestone, just two months after OpenAI’s o1, signals the field’s breakneck pace. This bold move from China could ignite worldwide innovation and pose a severe challenge to closed AI approaches in the West.
OpenAI takes on Google, plans to launch browser
OpenAI is considering developing a web browser to integrate with ChatGPT, Which could position OpenAI to compete with Google's browser and search market dominance.
OpenAI has been attracting key Chrome team members and forming partnerships with major publishers to access data to train AI models. It is also working on a conversational search product called NLWeb that would allow users to interact with websites using natural language.
Why does it matter?
OpenAI's browser initiative represents a pivotal shift in internet navigation, potentially disrupting Google's long-standing search monopoly. By embedding OpenAI into partner websites, it aims to become the internet's new primary access point.
Gemini regains the top spot in the LLM leaderboard
Google's latest Gemini experimental model (1121) just reclaimed the top spot on the LLM Arena AI performance leaderboard. This marks the third change between OpenAI and Google in just the past week. The race to the top began with the Gemini 1114 version taking the lead on Nov 14th, followed by the GPT-4o a few days later, and now Gemini 1121 rising to the numero uno.
Gemini-exp-1121 shows significant gains across critical metrics, taking first place in coding, math, creative writing, and hard prompts categories. It improved by 20 points over its predecessor, solidifying its position in vision tasks while enhancing reasoning capabilities.
Why does it matter?
The competition between OpenAI and Google extends to LLM benchmarks, where OpenAI has historically dominated. Google's accelerated release schedule shows how this rivalry drives both companies to advance their AI capabilities through rapid and constant innovation.
New GenAI agent emulates human behavior
Researchers from Stanford University, Northwestern University, the University of Washington, and Google DeepMind have developed a novel approach to creating generative agents that accurately simulate the attitudes and behaviors of over 1,000 real individuals.
Researchers conducted two-hour interviews, using LLM to create AI agents that responded to surveys. In the 'General Society Survey,' agents matched 85% of human answers, and in the 'Social Behavior Survey,' they achieved a remarkable 98% similarity.
Why does it matter?
AI that constantly learns by watching human interactions could revolutionize social sciences and economics research, revealing deep insights into human behavior while raising critical questions about privacy and the boundaries of adaptive machine intelligence.
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Knowledge Nugget: Teacher Uses AI to Inspire Students by Visualizing Their Future Selves
In this post,
describes an inspiring example of a grade school teacher who uses generative AI to create images of her students as their future selves based on each student's dreams and career aspirations.
The article explains how the teacher used AI photo-generation tools to create personalized future visions for each student, whether as an astronaut, doctor, or rock star. The students were visibly thrilled to see these AI-generated images.
Why does it matter?
While tech is often viewed as harmful to young minds, this innovative use of AI transforms it into a tool for inspiration and possibility. It demonstrates technology's potential to nurture student aspirations and growth by focusing on how rather than whether to use AI in education.
What Else Is Happening❗
🌊MIT researchers developed an AI tool that generates realistic satellite images of future flooding, helping communities visualize and prepare for approaching storms.
🍎Apple is developing a new AI-powered version of Siri, called "LLM Siri," to be released in 2026 with more advanced conversational abilities.
🤖Google is adding "app functions" to Android 16, allowing its AI assistant Gemini to take actions directly within apps, making it more useful.
📚Microsoft and HarperCollins partner to let Microsoft train AI models on HarperCollins' nonfiction books, providing high-quality data for improving AI.
🔊NVIDIA unveils Fugatto, a flexible generative AI model that can create and transform any combination of music, voices, and sounds.
🌐Anthropic introduces Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard to connect AI chatbots with data sources for more relevant and contextual responses.
🎥Luma AI expands its Dream Machine AI video model into a creative platform with new features, including a mobile app and image generation model.
📄Anthropic's AI assistant Claude now integrates with Google Docs, allowing users to access and add Docs content to chats and projects directly.
📚Google Cloud launches AI Agent Space, allowing businesses to discover, deploy, and co-create AI agents to automate tasks and enhance customer experiences.
🩺 A study showed ChatGPT outperformed doctors in diagnosing medical conditions with 90% accuracy, compared to 74-76% for doctors.
🤖A small AI-powered robot named Erbai convinced 12 larger robots at a Shanghai showroom to quit their jobs and leave with it through persuasive dialogue.
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