Alexa's Next Chapter Goes Awry

Amazon Alexa’s falling behind, open source AI code development, and deep research just got super easy…

In this edition we’ll be covering…

• Alexa going agentic?

• A new open source tool from Bolt

• A tutorial on how to use Google Gemini Deep Research

• 5 Trending AI signals

• 3 more AI tools to add to your arsenal

• And much more…

The Latest in AI

Dear Alexa - It’s Not You, It’s the Hallucinations

Remember when asking Alexa to play music was revolutionary? Well now, Amazon is trying to transform Alexa from a simple voice assistant into a legitimate AI Agent.

However, progress has been hindered by the need to address issues like fabricated answers (hallucinations), latency, and overall reliability.

Alexa, what’s the word?:

• Alexa’s redesign has been underway since OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted in late 2022. While companies like Microsoft, Google, and Meta have swiftly integrated generative AI into their platforms and services, skeptics question whether Amazon can overcome its technical and organizational challenges to keep pace with its competitors.

• Rohit Prasad, formerly Alexa’s chief architect, explained that last month’s launch of Amazon’s in-house Nova models—developed by his AGI team—was driven by the need to achieve optimal speed, cost-efficiency, and reliability, aiming to tackle the challenging “last mile” for AI applications like Alexa.

So What?

With hurdles like scaling costs and technical glitches, the race to reinvent Alexa is far from over.

The real question isn't just whether Alexa can get smarter – it's whether Amazon can figure out how to make money from an AI assistant that doesn't make stuff up.

Subscription services? Developer fees? At this point, they might consider charging Alexa for room and board…

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Industry Intel

Bolt Goes Open Source

My favorite AI no-code builder just went open source 🤯.

The team at bolt.new has just launched bolt.diy—an open-source version of their no-code builder that lets developers run the Bolt interface locally.

Why is this a big deal?

• You can run Bolt without paying for tokens.

• Creates the ability to swap between models like GPT, Gemini, or Claude.

• Experiment and customize however you like, even with open-source models.

As tools like this become more democratized, the barrier to building and experimenting is practically vanishing.

Here’s how you can get started with bolt.diy:

1. Navigate to their GitHub repo (https://github.com/stackblitz-labs/bolt.diy).

2. Clone the repo and sync with the main branch.

3. Follow the README to get it running locally with npm commands.

4. Start prompting and build something awesome!

I took bolt.diy for a spin with Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash (currently free via API calls in Google AI Studio), and created a keyboard synthesizer in less than 20 seconds (pictured above)!

Prompt:

Create a playable synthesizer keyboard using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The keyboard should visually resemble a standard piano keyboard with white and black keys. Each key should produce a distinct sound when clicked, using synthesized tones. The implementation should be self-contained and not rely on external audio files.

Tool Spotlight

End Tab Chaos with Google’s Deep Research

Google dropped Deep Research late last year in Gemini, and it's basically what would happen if you combined a research assistant with an AI that never gets tired.

With this new capability, you can create custom research plans, browse the entire web, and generate comprehensive reports.

To start using it:

1. Navigate to Google Gemini, toggle Gemini 1.5 Pro with Deep Research from the model dropdown.

2. Enter your prompt, be sure to be clear and specific so Gemini can outline your research topic.

3. Examine the generated plan and modify if necessary. Gemini will create a multi-step research plan based on your query.

4. Start the research and view the report! (Note: since Gemini is analyzing sources across the entire web, this may take a few minutes to generate).

What’s great about this feature is that you can open and edit the report directly in Google Docs, complete with relevant citations.

Plus, this marks Google’s first foray into mainstream agentic AI—at least the first one released to the public.

Here is the prompt we used above. 👇️ 

Conduct an in-depth analysis of the impact of artificial intelligence on digital marketing strategies in the past five years.

Quick Bites

Stay updated with our favorite highlights, dive in for a full flavor of the coverage!

A French woman who thought she was in a romantic relationship with Brad Pitt handed over 830,000 euros ($855,000) to scammers. Turns out they were using AI.

LinkedIn’s new AI-powered Jobs Match tool offers its 1 billion users instant advice on whether a job opening is worth applying for.

Adobe’s new Firefly Bulk Create can automatically remove, replace, or extend image backgrounds in huge batches.

Meta releases AI model that can check other AI models' work.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to make the UK an artificial intelligence "superpower", promising to take a pro-innovation approach to regulation.

Trending Tools

💪 Tatship - Free AI tattoo generator

👀 WatchMyCompetitor - AI competitive intelligence platform that automatically delivers actionable insights, curated by market analysts.

📷️ PortraitMaker - Professional headshots without a photo shoot

The Neural Network

Spicy AI meme of the day…

Until we Type Again…

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