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Google’s AI can now act, booking tickets and appointments on your behalf, making your $20 subscription feel like a $20,000 upgrade. Microsoft just built its own image generator, MAI-Image-1, ending its reliance on DALL·E and Midjourney, so your next presentation won’t just show data, it’ll look like a Netflix trailer. Amazon just threatened to sue Perplexity over its “agentic browsing” AI; proving that every time your AI clicks ‘buy,’ lawyers might click ‘sue.’

Here's what's making headlines in the world of AI and innovation today.

In today’s AI Pulse

• 📰 That Startup Guy – Skip the doomscroll, get real startup news in one place.

• 🎟️ Google’s AI Mode Gets Hands-On – Google’s AI can now book tickets and appointments for you — its biggest leap toward true autonomy yet.

• 🎨 Microsoft Launches MAI-Image-1 – Microsoft debuts its own AI image generator, cutting ties with DALL·E and Midjourney.

• ⚖️ Amazon vs. Perplexity – Amazon threatens Perplexity over its “agentic browsing” AI for allegedly using web data without permission.

• ⚡ Speedeon AudienceMaker – Build, activate, and convert audiences fast.

• 🧠 AI Tool of the Day – Lindy: Builds AI agents in minutes to automate everything!

• 📘 Book of the Day – Amp It Up by Frank Slootman

• ⚡ Quick Hits – IN AI TODAY

• 🛠️ Tool to Sharpen Your Skills –🎓 AIGPE® Brainstorming Expert Certification Program (Accredited)

• 🧠 Key Quote | Andrew Ng | Co-founder of Coursera & Google Brain

Your AI’s getting smarter, faster — and maybe a little too real.

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🔥 Google’s AI Just Learned to Live for You

🧠The Pulse

Google’s AI Mode just got smarter and more helpful. The company announced new “agentic” skills that let its AI actually do things for you, like booking event tickets or salon appointments. This is Google’s next step toward building a true personal assistant; one that acts on your behalf, not just answers questions.

📌The Download

• Google’s AI Mode will now connect to booking systems and calendars so it can reserve movie tickets, beauty appointments, or event passes with a single command.

• The new features are part of Google’s push to make its AI more independent, what it calls “agentic behavior.” That means less typing, less searching, and more action.

• The company says privacy is built-in: your data stays protected, and you get to confirm before anything is booked. Still, it’s a big shift, AI is moving from helpful to hands-on.

💡What This Means for You

AI is stepping out of the chat box and into your calendar. Soon, you could say, “Book me a haircut for Friday,” and your assistant just does it. It’s convenience at its best, but it also means AI will know more about your habits and preferences than ever before.

🎨 Microsoft’s New AI Kills Midjourney

🧠The Pulse

Microsoft just dropped its first in-house image generator, MAI-Image-1, built completely by its own AI team. This means the company is no longer just using third-party tools like DALL·E or Midjourney; it’s building its own creative engine. The new model aims to give users faster, safer, and more original image generation options.

📌The Download

• MAI-Image-1 was developed by Microsoft’s internal AI division and trained on licensed and responsibly sourced data. It’s designed to create high-quality visuals quickly and safely.

• The tool will be integrated into Microsoft Designer, Copilot, and Bing Image Creator, giving users consistent results across all Microsoft platforms.

• Microsoft says this new model focuses on trust and copyright safety, avoiding the legal issues that have hit other image AIs. It’s part of Microsoft’s bigger plan to own more of its AI ecosystem, from infrastructure to creativity tools.

💡What This Means for You

If you use Microsoft tools like Word, PowerPoint, or Copilot, image generation is about to get faster and more reliable. You’ll soon be able to create visuals that look professional and are legally safe to use, without needing design skills or worrying about AI plagiarism.

⚡ Amazon’s Legal Bombshell Hits Perplexity

🧠The Pulse

Imagine asking your AI assistant to find a product and it browses the web on your behalf. That’s the new frontier of “agentic AI,” and it’s already causing tension. Amazon has sent legal threats to Perplexity, accusing the AI company of copying and using its web content without permission. The fight isn’t just about one company, it’s about how AI should explore and use the internet on your behalf.

📌The Download

• Amazon claims that Perplexity’s “agentic browsing” tool lets AI automatically visit and summarize web pages, pulling content from Amazon’s site without approval. It says that could break copyright and data rules.

• Perplexity argues it’s simply teaching AI to “read the web,” the same way humans do. It says the goal is to create smarter assistants that save people time by finding what they need faster.

• The case raises a big question: should AI have the right to browse and use online information just like humans? The outcome could change how your favorite AI tools search, summarize, and shop online.

💡What This Means for You

If AI can browse for you, it could make your online life easier, from product comparisons to research. But it also raises questions about who owns the web. The fight between Amazon and Perplexity could shape what AI can or can’t access in the future, and how much control you really have.

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BOOK OF THE DAY

📘 Amp It Up by Frank Slootman

In Amp It Up, Frank Slootman reveals the no-nonsense blueprint behind scaling companies at hypergrowth speed. He rejects comfort and consensus in favor of urgency, intensity, and uncompromising standards. His leadership philosophy centers on three principles: raising the bar to push people beyond their limits, moving with relentless speed to outpace competitors, and focusing only on what truly drives impact. Slootman argues that true hypergrowth isn’t about incremental improvement—it’s about transforming how organizations operate to achieve extraordinary, unmatched results.

💡 Why you can’t ignore this:

Processes and strategies can be copied. But an uncompromising culture of urgency, intensity, and excellence is nearly impossible to mimic. Leaders who “Amp It Up” build organizations that move faster, think bigger, and scale higher.

IN AI TODAY - QUICK HITS

⚡Quick Hits (60‑Second News Sprint)

Short, sharp updates to keep your finger on the AI pulse.

• 🚀 Google’s AI Space Leap: Google is planning to build AI data centers in space through “Project Suncatcher.” The idea is to power massive AI systems using solar energy from orbiting satellites. If successful, it could make AI faster, greener, and nearly limitless — changing how the internet works forever.

• ⚡ Microsoft’s UAE Power Move: Microsoft and UAE’s G42 are expanding data center capacity by 200 MW, boosting the Middle East’s role in global AI infrastructure. This massive project will power future AI tools and cloud services, bringing faster tech access and stronger digital networks to one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

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KEY QUOTES AND STRATEGIC INSIGHT

🙌 About Us

AI Pulse is the official newsletter by AIGPE™. Our mission: help professionals master Lean, Six Sigma, Project Management, and now AI, so you can deliver breakthroughs that stick.

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Team AIGPE^TM