🌐 Perplexity makes Comet browser free globally 🌐
AI-native browser transitions from paid invite-only to free global access.

Perplexity makes Comet browser free globally after completing its invite-only paid beta phase, featuring a unique sidecar assistant that provides real-time question answering, page summarization, and site navigation. The browser integrates AI capabilities directly into the browsing experience, while premium subscribers access advanced features including an email assistant and background multitasking tools. This strategic shift from paid to free access signals Perplexity's aggressive push for market share in the competitive AI tools landscape, potentially challenging traditional browsers with its AI-first functionality approach.

💰 OpenAI hits record $500B valuation 💰
Secondary share sale establishes OpenAI as world's most valuable private company.

OpenAI hits record $500B valuation through a secondary share sale allowing employees to liquidate $6.6 billion in stock, surpassing SpaceX's $456 billion mark. This massive jump from its $300 billion valuation in March reflects $4.3 billion in revenue generated during the first half of 2025. The milestone establishes OpenAI as the world's most valuable private company, while strategic partnerships with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for memory chip supply support the Stargate data center project with plans for 900,000 chips monthly production.

🎨 Gemini 2.5 Flash Image ready for production 🎨
Google's image generation model launches in general availability for enterprise use.

Gemini 2.5 Flash Image ready for production through general availability across Gemini API, Google AI Studio, and Vertex AI platforms. The model offers 10 different aspect ratios from cinematic landscapes to vertical social media posts, plus image blending and character consistency features with sub-10 second latency for live applications. With commercial pricing at $0.039 per image and $30 per million output tokens.

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⚡ Google unveils Jules coding agent tools ⚡

Google Jules Tools is now generally available with production-ready features including command-line interface and public API for autonomous coding workflows. The platform enables Jules integration into workplace tools while maintaining memory of programmer preferences, representing Google's direct challenge to GitHub Copilot in enterprise development environments.

📊 a16z reveals AI startup spending data 📊

A16z reveals AI startup spending data through analysis of Mercury's 200,000+ fintech customers, showing OpenAI securing the top position with Anthropic in second place. The research reveals creative tools dominating as the largest category with 10 featured companies, while copilots currently outperform autonomous agents in adoption rates among innovative startups.