🍎 Apple downplays AI on new iPhone release 🍎
Tech giant takes subtle approach to AI integration, focusing on background improvements over flashy features.

Apple's iPhone 17 event took a notably different approach to AI integration, with CEO Tim Cook emphasizing how artificial intelligence powers features behind the scenes rather than putting AI front and center. The 75-minute presentation showcased neural engine updates, local large language models for gaming, and neural accelerators in GPU cores that provide "MacBook Pro-levels of compute in an iPhone." Unlike previous events heavy on Apple Intelligence marketing, the company focused on hardware improvements and mentioned how machine learning algorithms power AirPods heart rate monitoring and Apple Watch blood pressure analysis. This shift comes as Apple faces criticism for falling behind in the AI race, with 10 reported exits from its AI research department recently.

🤖 Claude's new feature makes it the leader in Excel creation 🤖
Anthropic's file creation capability establishes Claude as the best AI for spreadsheet generation.

Anthropic has launched a new file creation feature allowing Claude to generate and edit Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint slides, and PDFs directly within chat conversations for the first time. Claude's new feature makes it the leader in Excel creation, providing a private computing environment specifically optimized for Excel formula creation, complex data analysis, and sophisticated chart generation. Early testing shows Claude outperforms competitors in creating pivot tables, financial models, and automated calculations with remarkable accuracy. Users can also convert between formats, such as transforming PDFs into presentation slides or converting meeting notes into structured documents. The rollout begins with Max, Team, and Enterprise subscribers, with Pro users receiving access in the coming weeks.

💰 Meta pays $140M for Black Forest Labs AI 💰
Social media giant secures exclusive access to advanced image generation technology.

Meta has signed a $140 million deal with Black Forest Labs to integrate advanced AI image generation capabilities across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The partnership provides Meta with exclusive access to Black Forest Labs' latest FLUX image models, which outperform competitors in photorealism and prompt adherence. The deal includes multi-year licensing rights and dedicated engineering support to customize the technology for social media applications. Meta plans to roll out the enhanced image generation features to Instagram Creators first, followed by broader consumer access across all platforms by Q4 2025.

INTERESTING TO KNOW

🤝 Microsoft partners with Anthropic over OpenAI 🤝

Microsoft is licensing Anthropic's Claude models for integration into Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, ending its exclusive reliance on OpenAI for productivity applications. This strategic shift pairs Claude with existing GPT models to expand Microsoft's AI feature sets. Microsoft reportedly found Claude Sonnet 4 models superior to OpenAI's GPT-5 for creating spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

💻 Nvidia unveils long-context inference GPU 💻

Nvidia announced the Rubin CPX GPU specifically engineered for processing context windows larger than 1 million tokens, addressing the growing demand for extended AI context capabilities. The specialized hardware optimizes performance for video generation, complex software development, and other long-context AI workloads. The Rubin CPX GPU is scheduled for availability at the end of 2026.

H-FARM EVENTS ON AI

Club AI @ H-FARM Campus - September 18, 6:00 PM

Quick heads-up (and tiny shameless plug): we’re highlighting an H-FARM event in this newsletter - because we genuinely think it might be interesting if you fancy a trip in our wonderful campus just outside Venice (for free! 🙂) discussing AI.

H-FARM’s AI Club is a monthly community meetup that brings up to 500 people together to cut through the AI noise with real news, real cases, real debate.

On stage this edition:

• Diego Pizzocaro (CEO, H-FARM AI): the latest AI news but mixed with our comments, perspectives and your questions.

• Luca Pezzullo (President, Order of Psychologists of Veneto Region): “AI & Consciousness: Illusion, Reality, and Risks.”

• Enterprise Voice Agents (CISCO): what really works in large organizations - architecture, rollout, ROI with AI Voice tech.

Language: English (full session)