DataBytego Newsletter: AI Insights( From June 30- July 07, 2025)
From talent wars to Siri makeovers — this week in AI blurred the lines between innovation and upheaval.
From June 30- July 07, 2025
Summary:This week in AI and data has been anything but quiet. The ecosystem is facing both internal turbulence and external power plays. OpenAI, the poster child of generative AI, is grappling with internal strife and external distractions—from Elon Musk's crypto-inspired confusion to a full-blown company shutdown as Meta lures away its top minds. Meanwhile, Apple is finally waking up to Siri’s shortcomings, eyeing partnerships with OpenAI or Anthropic to modernize its voice assistant. Behind the scenes, a brewing rift threatens the most powerful partnership in AI, and Meta's aggressive push into superintelligence has brought Google and OpenAI alumni under one roof. On the lighter side, people are stress-testing ChatGPT and Claude on vacations and fashion—and while they show promise, they’re not replacing humans just yet. The bottom line: the AI race is accelerating, but the cracks are starting to show.
Key News
• Sam Altman’s Lies About ChatGPT Are Growing Bolder - Would you believe OpenAI if it told you AI is fine for the planet, actually? (Gizmodo.com, 2025-06-11)
• ChatGPT Tells Users to Alert the Media That It Is Trying to ‘Break’ People: Report - Machine-made delusions are mysteriously getting deeper and out of control. (Gizmodo.com, 2025-06-13)
• ChatGPT is having some issues - OpenAI’s ChatGPT service is currently down for some users after the platform started experiencing performance issues on Tuesday morning. The chatbot responded with a “Hmm…something seems to have gone wrong” error message to my colleague after failing to load,… (The Verge, 2025-06-10)
• The Trump administration appears to be planning its own chatbot - The Trump administration is working on an “AI.gov” website and API to “accelerate government innovation with AI,” 404 Media found based on code posted to Github and an early version of the site. The project appears to be run by the General Services Administra… (The Verge, 2025-06-10)
• Starbucks To Roll Out Microsoft Azure OpenAI Assistant For Baristas - Starbucks is piloting a generative AI assistant called "Green Dot Assist" to streamline barista tasks and improve service speed, with plans for a broader rollout in fiscal 2026. The assistant is built on Microsoft Azure's OpenAI platform. CNBC reports: Instea… (Slashdot.org, 2025-06-10)
• Klarna’s CEO is now taking your calls — over an AI hotline - Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has already used AI to replace himself during earnings reports, and now Klarna is using AI to clone him another way: through an AI-powered phone hotline. The hotline is now open for users to provide feedback to an interactiv… (The Verge, 2025-06-11)
• ChatGPT Integration Coming to Apple's Image Playground - Apple today revealed a number of updates for Image Playground and Genmoji.
OpenAI Reportedly Shuts Down for a Week as Zuck Poaches Its Top Talent
Gizmodo.com | 2025-06-30
An employee's public lament over poached colleagues and a company-wide shutdown reveal a difficult truth: the human cost of building AI is reaching a breaking point.
🔗 Read moreInside the high-stakes rift straining the most powerful alliance in tech
Business Insider | 2025-07-01
Tensions are boiling between AI's biggest power couple. Discover the four key conflicts that might upend their $13 billion partnership.
🔗 Read moreMeet the people Zuck hired for his AI superintelligence team
Business Insider | 2025-07-01
Meta's secretive new superintelligence team includes stars from OpenAI and Google. Here's what this could mean for the future of AI.
🔗 Read moreMicrosoft says its new health AI beat doctors in accurate diagnoses by a mile
Business Insider | 2025-07-01
The AI system correctly solved 85.5% of medical cases in the study, outperforming 21 experienced doctors who averaged 20% accuracy.
🔗 Read moreApple Could Use ChatGPT or Claude to Power Siri
MacRumors | 2025-06-30
Apple may fix its Siri failings by partnering with ChatGPT creator OpenAI or Claude creator Anthropic, reports Bloomberg. Apple has been meeting with OpenAI and Anthropic to discuss a potential deal that would see a third-party large language model used as th…
🔗 Read moreOwning a Piece of ChatGPT Was Already Messy. Then Elon Musk Made It Weirder
Gizmodo.com | 2025-07-03
OpenAI just warned investors not to fall for crypto-style tokens claiming to offer stock in the ChatGPT maker.
🔗 Read moreMicrosoft Just Fired About 9,000 People While Making Billions
Gizmodo.com | 2025-07-03
The tech giant is posting staggering profits and leading the AI revolution.
🔗 Read moreMark Zuckerberg announces Meta Superintelligence Labs — with a battalion of AI gurus poached from OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind to try and secure an AGI win
Windows Central | 2025-07-01
Mark Zuckerberg recently shared an internal memo announcing Meta Superintelligence Labs as he plays catch-up with OpenAI and Google in the AI race.
🔗 Read moreMicrosoft plans to replace many of the salespeople it laid off with more technical roles to compete with OpenAI, Google
Business Insider | 2025-07-03
The company's recent job cuts included thousands of salespeople, many of whom will be replaced by more technical roles to sell AI.
🔗 Read moreEU Sticks With Timeline For AI Rules
Slashdot.org | 2025-07-05
Reuters: The European Union's landmark rules on AI will be rolled out according to the legal timeline in the legislation, the European Commission said on Friday, dismissing calls from some companies and countries for a pause.
🔗 Read moreWelcome to Silicon Valley's winner-take-all era
Business Insider | 2025-07-06
From Meta to Microsoft, generative AI is accelerating Big Tech's salary divide.
🔗 Read moreWe used ChatGPT as a stylist, and it generated custom lookbooks and color palettes. Human stylists had some thoughts.
Business Insider | 2025-07-02
Two Business Insider reporters asked ChatGPT to be their virtual stylist. It made some helpful suggestions, but struggled as a personal shopper.
🔗 Read more