Need to Know News - May 23rd, 2025
In this week's Need to Know News edition:
🤖 Anthropic just dropped Claude 4 with the "world's best coding AI" that can work for 7 straight hours on complex tasks without losing focus.
🤖 OpenAI just bet $5 billion that Apple's iPhone designer can crack the AI hardware code where others have failed spectacularly.
🤖 Google unleashed four new AI creative tools that turn images into videos and automatically suggest campaign ideas based on trending data.
And whole lot more!
Anthropic Drops Claude 4 with World's Best Coding AI and 7-Hour Task Focus
Anthropic just launched Claude 4 with two models: Opus 4 and Sonnet 4. Opus 4 is now the "world's best coding model" and can work for hours on complex tasks. It scored 72.5% on SWE-bench coding tests.
Key features upgrades include:
- Extended thinking with tool use during reasoning
- Parallel tool execution for faster work
- Better memory that saves key facts over time
- 65% fewer shortcuts and loopholes than previous models
Both models can now use multiple tools at once and remember important details across long projects. This means better AI assistants for business tasks that take hours or days to complete.
The models are 65% better at following instructions without taking shortcuts. Major companies like Rakuten, GitHub, and Cursor are already using Claude 4 for complex business projects. Pricing stays the same as previous versions.
Uber Freight Turns Supply Chain Chaos Into AI Gold Mine
Uber Freight just launched a full AI suite. After two years of testing, their Insights AI jumped from 60% to 98% accuracy. The system now runs over 30 AI agents. They handle logistics tasks for $20 billion in freight moved each year.
Colgate-Palmolive was an early user. They use AI to find bad carriers instantly. This used to take weeks with thousands of partners. The platform sends alerts about overpaying or slow routes. Chief supply chain officer Luciano Sieber says their CFO "loves to see logistics costs coming down."
Is Your Landing Page Missing One of These 5 Essential 'Copy Blocks'?
- it might be costing you a fortune!
Two $100+ million copywriters discovered what REALLY drives conversions—5 simple building blocks arranged in a specific order. This framework is so powerful that beginners are generating 5-figure profits with it. And you can learn the full system in just 33 minutes.
Discover All 5 'Copy Blocks' Now
Google's Veo 3 Makes Fake Videos So Real You Can't Tell the Difference
Google just launched Veo 3, an AI video tool that creates talking people so realistic it's scary. The videos have perfect lip-sync and matching sound effects. Google calls this "emerging from the silent era of video generation."
Social media is flooded with examples that look completely real. Street interviews, commercials, and action scenes all pass the eye test. One tech writer who covers AI daily says he's "never seen AI video this realistic before."
Veo 3 costs $249.99 per month after a free trial for US users. It comes with Google Flow, a filmmaking tool that combines clips into full stories.
OpenAI's Big Bet That Jony Ive Can Make AI Hardware Work
OpenAI just bought Io for $6.5 billion. This was a joint company they made with Jony Ive. He's the Apple designer who created the iPhone look. Now his 55-person team will merge with OpenAI to build AI hardware.
Ive's team has former Apple bosses Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. They hire people with "great taste." They won't say what they're building yet. Ive says "everything I learned in 30 years led me to this moment." Other AI hardware has failed badly. Humane's AI pin got pulled from stores after it kept overheating. OpenAI thinks Ive can do better.
Google Unleashes Four AI Tools to Transform Brand Creative Work
Google just launched four new AI creative tools for businesses. The biggest change is image-to-video powered by their Veo model. It's rolling out in Merchant Center now. Google Ads gets it later. AI outpainting makes videos bigger beyond their original frames. It uses the same tech behind "The Wizard of Oz" at Sphere.
Asset Studio puts all creative tools in one place for Google Ads users. Product Studio now has "generated for you" features. It looks at trends to suggest fresh campaign ideas. It also picks featured products automatically.
Brand profiles let retailers control how they look on Search through Merchant Center.
Amazon's AI Now Talks You Through Product Reviews Before You Buy
Amazon released "Hear the highlights" for select US customers. AI shopping experts create short audio summaries of products. They pull from product details, customer reviews, and web info. Then they make audio clips that sound like friends talking about purchases.
The feature works on products that need more thought before buying. Users tap a button below product images in the Amazon app. It's being tested on items like Ninja blenders and bone conduction headphones.
The AI uses large language models to write scripts and turn them into audio. Amazon says it's "like having helpful friends discuss potential purchases."
Full Story
Nokia Cuts Travel Costs 70% Using Five AI Tools Across 78,000 Employees
Nokia's Mário Pires deployed five AI tools for 78,000 employees across 130 countries. Their custom Nokia GPT answers 70% of travel queries correctly, cutting response time and costs. SAP Concur's tools now estimate trip costs and fill expense forms automatically.
Hotel invoice itemization that took 20 minutes now takes 2 minutes with AI corrections. Expense auditing jumped from 40% to 100% of reports at the same cost. CWT's AI reporting tool creates reports in 20 seconds instead of 15 minutes.
Pires says AI quality often beats manual work: "I was blown away by the answers it is giving."
Volvo Becomes First Car Brand to Put Google's Gemini AI in All New Models
Volvo just made car history. They're the first automaker to install Google's Gemini AI chatbot in new models. Drivers can now talk naturally to their cars for GPS help, translations, and car manual questions.
The system lets people speak normally instead of using robot-like commands. Volvo says this will cut "cognitive load" so drivers keep eyes on the road. Gemini will replace the basic Google Assistant with smarter conversations.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time!
The AI Marketers
P.S. Help shape the future of this newsletter – take a short 2-minute survey so we can deliver even better AI marketing insights, prompts, and tools.
[Take Survey Here]
