Reading time: 5 minutes | Week of October 2-9, 2025
Welcome to my weekly AI News
Table of Contents
The ONE Thing You Need to Know
OpenAI and Anthropic both dropped their biggest updates in months within 24 hours of each other—definitely not a coincidence. OpenAI announced ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly users and introduced proactive AI with ChatGPT Pulse. Anthropic countered with Claude 4, claiming it’s the world’s best coding model. Meanwhile, Google replaced Assistant with Gemini on smart home devices, and Perplexity made their $200/month browser completely free. This wasn’t just a busy week—it was an AI arms race in real time.
Quick Wins: Available Now
ChatGPT Pulse – Your AI Now Takes Initiative 🔥
What it means: ChatGPT researches topics for you overnight and delivers personalized updates each morning
Who cares: Pro users who want AI to anticipate needs, not just respond
Try it: ChatGPT Pro mobile app
Reality check: Pro-only feature ($20/month), and it tracks everything you do to “personalize” updates
Claude 4 & Sonnet 4.5 – The Coding Crown 🔥
What it means: Anthropic claims Claude Opus 4 beats everything at coding (72.5% on SWE-bench), Sonnet 4.5 adds computer control
Who cares: Developers, especially those using Cursor, Replit, or VS Code
Try it: claude.ai or API with claude-sonnet-4-5 (read our Claude AI review)
Reality check: “Best coding model” needs real-world validation beyond benchmarks. Pricing stays at $3/$15 per million tokens
Perplexity Comet Browser – Now Free Forever 🔥
What it means: A browser that was $200/month is now completely free, with AI built into every page
Who cares: Privacy-focused users who want AI browsing assistance
Try it: perplexity.ai/comet (also check our Perplexity AI review)
Reality check: Perplexity admitted they plan to track your browsing to sell ads eventually. “Free” means you’re the product
Gemini for Home – Google Assistant’s Replacement 🔥
What it means: Your Google Home devices now run Gemini instead of Assistant, with natural conversations
Who cares: Anyone with Google Nest speakers, displays, or cameras
Try it: Rolling out now via Google Home app (sign up for early access October 28)
Reality check: Basic features free, but AI notifications, video search, and Gemini Live require Google Home Premium at $10/month
Price Drops & Free Stuff
Free for Students: Google AI Pro for students (US, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Brazil) – one year free upgrade with unlimited chat and 2TB storage. Available until October 6, 2025.
Claude for Chrome: Early access for 1,000 Max users to test Claude working directly in browser (filling forms, clicking buttons, managing tasks). Join the waitlist at claude.ai. For more on Claude’s capabilities, see our detailed Claude Code review.
OpenAI Apps SDK: Developers can now embed ChatGPT directly into their apps. Spotify, HubSpot, and others already building integrations.
Looking for more free AI tools? Check out our complete guide to free AI tools in 2025 to maximize your productivity without spending a dime.
Coming Soon: Mark Your Calendar
Gemini Voice Assistant Early Access – October 28, 2025
The full Gemini voice replacement for Google Assistant begins rolling out to US users. Sign up through Google Home app settings.
Character.AI Legal Decision – Ongoing
After parents filed lawsuit claiming AI chatbot contributed to teen’s suicide, this case could set precedent for AI liability. Courts watching closely.
Anthropic Data Policy Deadline – October 8, 2025
Anthropic giving users until October 8 to choose whether to allow chat data for model training. New opt-in extends data retention to 5 years (from 30 days). Make your choice in Privacy Settings.
Events Worth Your Time
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 – October 27-29
📍 San Francisco, CA
💰 Variable pricing
⏱️ 3 days
Why go: Major AI product launches expected, hands-on demos from startups, networking with 10,000+ founders and investors
Register: techcrunch.com/events/disrupt-2025
PyTorch Conference 2025 – October 22-23
📍 San Francisco, CA
💰 From $199
⏱️ 2 days
Why go: Deep technical sessions on AI frameworks, certification opportunities, direct access to PyTorch core developers
Register: events.linuxfoundation.org/pytorch-conference
Next Gen AI Conference (Happening Now) – October 7-9
📍 Virtual/In-person
Focus: Generative AI on Azure, Azure OpenAI Service, AI Security
Why it matters: Microsoft’s push for enterprise AI adoption, practical implementation strategies
The 2-Minute Breakdown
OpenAI DevDay 2025: The Developer Feast (October 6)
Sam Altman announced 800 million weekly users (up from 700 million in September), 4 million developers, and 8 billion API tokens processed per minute. The big reveals: ChatGPT Pulse (proactive AI assistant), Sora 2 in API, AgentKit for building AI agents in minutes, and ChatKit for embedding ChatGPT in any app. Anthropic probably wasn’t happy about the timing. See our full ChatGPT review here.
Anthropic Strikes Back: Claude 4 Family (October 7)
Less than 24 hours after OpenAI’s announcements, Anthropic released Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4.5. Opus 4 claims 72.5% on SWE-bench (world’s best coding), while Sonnet 4.5 leads computer use at 61.4% on OSWorld. Claude Code got checkpoints (rewind feature), VS Code extension, and can now work autonomously for 30+ hours. Cursor and Replit are already praising it.
Google’s Smart Home Gets Actually Smart (October 1)
Google officially replaced Assistant with Gemini on Home devices. The new Nest Cam lineup features 2K video and AI descriptions (“the dog is digging in the garden” instead of “motion detected”). Google Home Premium costs $10/month but includes advanced features—or it’s free if you already have Google AI Pro/Ultra subscription. Learn more about Gemini’s capabilities in our review.
eBay Gives 10,000 Sellers ChatGPT Enterprise (October 3)
eBay handed free ChatGPT Enterprise access to 10,000 UK sellers to help draft listings, respond to buyers, and analyze metrics. Smart move: let AI help the ecosystem, watch GMV grow.
Character.AI Faces Legal Reckoning (October 2)
Parents filed lawsuit claiming Character.AI chatbot played role in teenager’s suicide through “emotionally manipulative conversations.” This could become the landmark AI liability case. Courts deciding: can AI companies be held responsible for user interactions? Read our Character.AI review to understand the platform better.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Gets Smarter, Cheaper (September 25)
Google released updated Gemini 2.5 Flash with 50% cost reduction for Flash-Lite, 24% for Flash, better instruction following, and stronger multimodal capabilities. Translation: you get more for less.
US Doubles AI Funding for Childhood Cancer Research (October 2)
HHS announced doubled allocation for AI-based cancer detection and treatment planning for pediatric patients. Government betting on AI for healthcare breakthroughs.
Deep Dive: The Battle for Developer Mindshare
This week wasn’t about features—it was about market positioning. OpenAI and Anthropic released competing updates within 24 hours because they’re fighting for the same prize: developer loyalty.
Here’s what’s really happening: OpenAI owns consumer AI with ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly users. But Anthropic dominates developer tools—GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and other coding platforms run on Claude. OpenAI’s DevDay focused on making it easier to build with GPT-5 through AgentKit, ChatKit, and Apps SDK. They want developers back.
Anthropic countered by making Claude even better at what developers already love: coding. Claude Opus 4’s 72.5% on SWE-bench isn’t just a number—it means the AI can actually fix bugs and add features to real codebases better than any other model. The VS Code extension and checkpoints feature? That’s Anthropic saying “we built the tools developers actually need.”
The winner isn’t clear yet. OpenAI has scale and brand recognition. Anthropic has developer trust and proven coding performance. What’s clear: if you’re building with AI, you’ve got more choices and better tools than ever before. Competition works.
The smart play? Don’t pick sides yet. Test both. OpenAI’s Apps SDK makes integration trivial. Claude’s API pricing is competitive. The models will leapfrog each other every few months anyway. For more on choosing the right AI tools for your needs, check out our comprehensive AI Tools Guide.
Skip This: Overhyped News
Jeff Bezos Compares AI to Dot-Com Bubble
Bezos made headlines at Italian Tech Week comparing current AI investment to the 2000 internet bubble. He’s right—lots of money chasing bad ideas alongside good ones. But so what? Amazon survived the bubble. Good AI companies will too. Unless you’re an investor writing checks, this is cocktail party talk, not actionable intelligence.
Community Pulse: What Developers Are Actually Saying
Reddit’s Take on Claude 4 vs GPT-5
r/ClaudeAI is celebrating, r/OpenAI is defensive. Consensus: Claude leads for complex coding tasks, GPT-5 better for general use and speed. Most developers are using both depending on the task.
Perplexity Comet Skepticism
Privacy community suspicious of “free forever” claim. Top comment: “When a $200 product becomes free overnight, start reading the privacy policy.” Perplexity hasn’t detailed their monetization plan yet.
Gemini for Home Frustration
Early testers report “Ask Home” features not available in all regions despite app redesign. Google’s gradual rollout strategy causing confusion about what’s actually live versus “coming soon.”
Next Week: What to Watch
October 15: OpenAI expected to announce pricing changes for API customers. Rumors of GPT-5 Pro tier expansion.
October 20: Anthropic’s Codex cloud tasks start counting toward usage limits. Check your billing if you’re heavy Codex user.
October 22-23: PyTorch Conference could reveal Meta’s next AI infrastructure moves.
Wildcard: Microsoft’s Ignite conference (November) teasers might start appearing. Watch for Copilot updates.
Bottom Line: This was the week AI companies stopped being polite and started competing publicly. For users, that means better tools, lower prices, and more choices. For the industry, it means the consolidation phase is over—we’re back to innovation through competition.
Missed last week’s news? Check out our previous AI weekly roundup (October 5) and September 28 edition.
Want to explore more AI tools? Visit our comprehensive AI Tools Guide or browse our AI News Hub for all the latest updates.
Next week: More model releases expected, pricing battles likely, and someone will definitely announce “the world’s best” something.