Perplexity Browser Tracks Users for Ads

Welcome to another edition of AI PlanetX.

Perplexity tracks users for ads; OpenAI drops lightweight deep research; Anthropic explores AI consciousness.

• Hottest AI News

• Top AI & SaaS Tools

• Top AI & Tech News

• Interesting Uses of AI: 5 Best Resources on AI Agents for Beginners

• AI Video Tutorial

• F-R-E-E AI Course of the Day: Become AI Engineer with Cursor

Hottest AI News

Perplexity AI

Perplexity Browser Plans to Track All User Activity for Ad Sales

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas announced that the browser "Comet" will monitor users' online activities to deliver "hyper personalized" ads, indicating a shift towards Google's data-driven business model.

Details:

• Srinivas said on the TBPN podcast that tracking shopping, travel, and browsing habits would create detailed user profiles. He noted, "What you buy and where you browse reveals much about you"

• The company is expanding through Motorola partnerships (pre-installing on Razr phones) and potential Samsung collaborations, similar to Google's data collection strategy

• After backlash, Srinivas stated on Twitter/X that users will have options for memory tracking: none, ad-free, or targeted ads. He highlighted the focus on the ad-free option for the "foreseeable future"

Perplexity aims to rival giants like Google and Apple through user tracking, facing privacy concerns. Its browser, launching in May despite delays, reflects this ambition to challenge established platforms.

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OpenAI

OpenAI Launches Lightweight Version of ChatGPT Research Tool

OpenAI announced it's rolling out a "lightweight" version of its Deep Research tool to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers. The feature is also becoming available to F-R-E-E ChatGPT users starting today.

Details:

• This version uses OpenAI's o4-mini model for cost-effective operation while maintaining research quality, offering shorter but still deep and analytical responses than the full Deep Research tool

• A tiered usage system is in place; once users hit limits with the original Deep Research, queries automatically switch to the lighter version

• This launch occurs amid increased competition in AI research tools, with Google, Microsoft, and xAI providing similar capabilities through reasoning models

Enterprise and educational users can expect availability of the lightweight Deep Research feature next week, with the same usage allowances as Team users.

Top AI & SaaS Tools

• Xound (Life-time Deal): AI voice enhancement with natural pitch correction, noise removal, dynamic compression, voice cloning, and multilingual support for crystal-clear, professional audio

• Suna: World’s first open-source AI Agent that learns, adapts, and assists with research, data analysis, and daily tasks through natural conversation [F-R-E-E]

• Lovable 2.0: The vibe AI coding assistant got smarter with chat mode and added multiplayer for team collaboration

• Wan Video: Alibaba's official platform for AI video creation, powered by its Wan models, offers both generation and editing tools [F-R-E-E]

• Seedream 3.0: Dreamina/CapCut’s AI image gen produces cinematic 2K visuals with ultra-realistic textures and accurate English text (login > select Image Gen > choose ‘Image 3.0’ on left) [F-R-E-E]

Top AI & Tech News

• Anthropic launched a research program focused on studying "model welfare," which explores whether AI models could have experiences or consciousness deserving moral consideration

• Tavus launched Hummingbird-0, a top lip-sync model excelling in realism, accuracy, and identity preservation

• Adobe expanded Firefly AI with advanced image models, third-party integrations, text-to-video and text-to-vector features, plus a collaborative workspace and upcoming mobile app

• Higgsfield launched a Turbo model for faster, cheaper AI video generation and added seven motion styles for better camera control

• Kai Chen, a Canadian AI researcher at OpenAI who contributed to GPT-4.5, was denied a U.S. green card despite living in the country for 12 years

Interesting Uses of AI

AI Art Spotlight

Model: Midjourney V7

Prompt:

1980s polaroid photo of an anthropomorphic husky wearing green sunglasses and a cherry red ball cap hat, eating popcorn while sitting in the front row of a movie theater with diamond-patterned velvet seats --v 7

AI Agent Resource of the Day

Top AI Video Tutorial

How to Create Full Animated Stories Using ChatGPT Images

Complimentary AI Course of the Day

Become an AI-Powered Engineer: Cursor, the AI-First IDE

This course covers AI tools for developers and their impact on software development. It includes practical uses of Cursor IDE and generative AI to improve coding, debugging, and data analysis. Learners will gain skills to boost productivity, create innovative apps, and advance their software development careers.