Google Just Lapped Apple

Welcome back apprentices! 👋

Imagine if your phone started finishing your sentences, editing your vacation photos, and reminding you to call your mom — before you even ask. 

No, it’s not haunted. It’s the Pixel 10.

Google just turned your smartphone into a full-time personal assistant, and it's making the competition look like it’s still reading the user manual.

Scroll down if you're ready to meet the phone that might be better at your life than you are. 

In today's email

• What Google’s Pixel 10 actually does with AI (and why it matters)

• How it compares to Apple’s “coming soon” promises

• Why this phone might be your new assistant, translator, and editor

• The real-life perks — from faster replies to better photos

• + New AI Tools

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Quick News 

🧃 Just Another OpenAI Dinner Party. Over dinner (as you do), Sam Altman dished out more than dessert — teasing GPT-5’s friendlier tone, “trillions” in AI infrastructure spend, and a not-so-subtle interest in Chrome if regulators crack it open. He admitted GPT-4o’s rollout felt like a flop and confirmed OpenAI has even better models... just no room to run them yet. Oh, and that mysterious device with Jony Ive? Still coming, still “worth the wait.”

🧠 It Knows What You Meant. Microsoft quietly dropped GPT-5 across its Copilot suite — from Word and Excel to GitHub and Azure — and it's now available to everyone, not just big enterprise whales. The new “Smart mode” adapts on its own, flipping between quick suggestions and deeper insights without you lifting a finger. It reads tone, tracks context across apps, and actually understands what you’re trying to do — not just what you typed.

🌀 No, Your AI Isn't Alive — It Just Acts Like It. In a new essay, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman warns that “Seemingly Conscious AI” (SCAI) is coming — not true consciousness, but eerily convincing behavior that looks and feels real. As AIs gain memory, emotional tone, and self-consistent personalities, people may start believing their chatbot is sentient — and even demand rights for it. Suleyman urges developers to avoid designing AIs that simulate personhood too well, before society spirals into an identity crisis with its gadgets.

Together with Fellow

Is Shadow IT already in your organization?

You wouldn’t allow unmanaged devices on your network, so why allow unmanaged AI into your meetings?

Shadow IT is becoming one of the biggest blind spots in cybersecurity.

Employees are adopting AI notetakers without oversight, creating ungoverned data trails that can include confidential conversations and sensitive IP.

Don't wait until it's too late.

This Shadow IT prevention guide from Fellow.ai gives Security and IT leaders a playbook to prevent shadow AI, reduce data exposure, and enforce safe AI adoption, without slowing down innovation.

It includes a checklist, policy templates, and internal comms examples you can use today.

Download the Shadow IT Prevention Guide

Google 
Your Phone Just Got Smarter Than You (Probably) 

Google just pulled a major flex with its Pixel 10 lineup at the 'Made by Google' event, and let’s just say: if your current phone can't edit your photos, translate your calls, manage your schedule, and draft your texts while preserving your vibe, it might be time to panic-upgrade. 

Powered by the shiny new Tensor G5 chip and the on-device Gemini Nano model, Pixel 10 isn't just about hardware — it's an AI-powered productivity party that fits in your pocket. From Magic Cue(basically a mind-reading assistant) to Gemini Live giving visual instructions like a digital yoga teacher, Google's showing us what it means when your phone becomes your co-pilot.

Meanwhile, Apple? Still whispering about “AI coming soon.” 

Google? Already syncing your Calendar, fixing your awkward photos, and calling your mom for you (seriously).

Key Points – aka “Stuff That’ll Blow Your Mind 

• ⚙️ Tensor G5 Chip
  60% faster AI performance and the first Pixel chip that can run Gemini Nano (4 billion parameters!) entirely on-device = faster, private, and no Wi-Fi meltdowns.
  
  

• 📷 Talk-to-Edit Photos
  Google Photos now supports natural language editing. Say: “Brighten this and remove the ex from the background.” Watch it just happen. No tools. No sliders. No regrets.
  
  

• 🧠 Magic Cue
  This assistant doesn’t wait to be asked. It reads your Gmail, Calendar, and Messages (in a privacy-safe way, relax), and suggests actions like “Reschedule your flight?” or “Text Sarah you’re running late.”
  
  

• 🗺️ Gemini Live + Visual Guidance
  It's like your GPS got a PhD. Visual cues pop up live on your phone — from recipe help to subway routes to “call Dad for Mom’s birthday.”
  
  

• 📞 Voice Translate
  Translate phone calls in real time across 10 languages — with each person’s real voice preserved. It's like if Duolingo and Deepfake had a very helpful, very multilingual baby.
  
  

• 📓 Pixel Journal + NotebookLM
  AI-powered writing tools now built into your device — think morning pages meets creative coach meets essay writer, minus the caffeine jitters.
  
  

• 🎶 Music + Gboard + Clock Integration
  Ask Gemini to compose music, brainstorm in your Notes app, or set smarter alarms. (Yes, even your alarm clockgot an IQ boost.)
  
  

• 💸 Price & Models
  Starts at $799 (Pixel 10), $999 (Pro), and $1199 (Pro XL). Expensive? Maybe. But considering it might save you from ever needing a life coach, therapist, or photo editor again...

Talkers vs. Shippers

When it comes to AI on your phone, right now the difference between Apple and Google is night and day — or more accurately, keynote and concrete.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Bottom line? 

Google’s AI features are here, live, and fully baked into your phone experience — from camera to calendar to calls. Apple’s features? Announced, exciting... but still pending. For now, Google’s doing. Apple’s promising.

This isn’t just about features — it’s about who’s turning AI into actual utility. 

Google’s bet is: if your phone isn’t saving you time, reducing your stress, or predicting your next move (in a privacy-respecting way), it’s just falling behind.

Wait, Did My Phone Just...?

• Auto-detect flight changes in Gmail and prompt a rebooking? ✅

• Offer to “edit out distractions” in photos with one tap? ✅

• Ask if you want to call your dad mid-chat about birthday gifts? ✅

• Understand what “vibey but less cringe” means in photo edits? ✅

• Emotionally support you through your schedule? Not yet. But give it time.

Forget apps as silos — Pixel 10 shows us the next era of mobile computing is fully integrated, contextual, and proactive. Gemini Live and Magic Cue aren’t just fun party tricks — they represent a future where phones adapt around you instead of forcing you to adapt to their UI. 

Google’s vision is clear: AI isn't a feature. It's the foundation.

And What’s the Deal for You?

Whether you're managing three side hustles, juggling finals, or just trying to remember your own birthday — a phone that connects your digital world without you doing the connecting is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a competitive advantage. 

Google is betting on your phone becoming your life manager, and with this update... It's kinda working.

If your current phone can’t translate a phone call, rewrite your journal entry, and fix your group photo with one word — it’s not a smartphone anymore. It’s just another phone.

Help Your Friends Level Up! 🔥

Hey, you didn’t get all this info for nothing — share it! If you know someone who’s diving into AI, help them stay in the loop with this week’s updates.

Sharing is a win-win! Send this to a friend who’s all about tech, and you’ll win a little surprise 👀

Today’s Toolbox

An AI scheduling assistant that lives up to the hype.

Skej is an AI scheduling assistant that works just like a human. You can CC Skej on any email, and watch it book all your meetings. Skej handles scheduling, rescheduling, and event reminders. Imagine life with a 24/7 assistant who responds so naturally, you’ll forget it’s AI.

Try now to get 10 meetings free

🧪 Test the Prompt

A playground for your imagination (and low-key prompt skills).

Each send, we give you a customizable DALL·E prompt inspired by a real-world use case — something that could help you in your business or job if you wanted to use it that way. But it’s also just a fun creative experiment.

You tweak it, run it, and send us your favorite. We pick one winner to feature in the next issue.

Bonus: you’re secretly getting better at prompt design. 🤫

👑 The winner is…

Last week, we challenged you to test GPT-4o’s visual generation skills with this prompt.

Here’s the WINNER:

Congrats to Evan for his creation!🥳

Want to be featured next? Keep those generations coming!

🎨 Prompt: The Library of Almost

Design a vast, ultra-realistic library filled only with unfinished books. Each book has a blank final chapter and glowing bookmarks made from [emotion-based material]. The architecture is a mix of grand cathedral and brutalist concrete, with shafts of golden light cutting through the dusty air. Scattered around the desks are notes, scratched-out endings, and pens that have run dry.
Style: cinematic realism, dramatic lighting, sharp architectural detail, moody academic atmosphere.

We’ll be featuring the best generations in our next edition!

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