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- 🌶️Perplexity Extends Google Rivalry
🌶️Perplexity Extends Google Rivalry
PLUS: Nano Banana Pro Launch | ChatGPT Launches Group Chats
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🗞️In this edition
Perplexity brings AI browser to mobile devices
Google's new image model costs 6x more for 4K
OpenAI turns ChatGPT into collaborative space
Workflow Wednesday #46: AI & Personal Productivity
In other AI news –
OpenAI and Foxconn team up on AI hardware in the US
Amazon brings AI video recaps to prime shows
Google Gemini gets better at spotting AI fakes
4 must-try AI tools
Hey there,
Perplexity just launched its Comet browser on Android with carriers and device makers requesting to pre-install it, threatening Google's ad revenue on its own operating system. Google fired back with Nano Banana Pro, generating 4K images at $0.24 each while integrating across its entire product suite. And OpenAI launched ChatGPT group chats globally to all users, adding profiles and emoji reactions in a push to become a social platform instead of just a chatbot.
We're committed to keeping this the sharpest AI newsletter in your inbox. No fluff, no hype. Just the moves that'll matter when you look back six months from now.
Let's get into it.
What's happening:
Perplexity AI unveiled version of its Comet web browser for mobile devices, extending rivalry with Google to the search giant's Android operating system.
Comet is available now on Android, and iOS app for Apple devices will launch "any day now," said Beejoli Shah, Perplexity spokesperson. Many wireless service providers and device manufacturers have been requesting "to include Comet in their experiences."
The startup has been working to integrate its assistants on additional platforms and services, bidding to challenge Alphabet's Google in its core area: search. Other AI chatbot developers have also been embedding technology into browsers, latest being OpenAI with launch of Atlas product.
AI and search companies are especially keen to capture more consumers' mobile activity, given nearly 70% of internet traffic happens on mobile devices, according to Similarweb data.
With Android launch, Comet has been redesigned with smaller devices in mind. Sample images showed assistant summarizing reviews of refrigerator listed on Best Buy's website and checking whether it ships to New York. Comet app also has built-in ad blocker like desktop version.
Why this is important:
70% of internet traffic happening on mobile makes mobile browser critical battleground for AI search companies.
Wireless service providers and device manufacturers requesting to include Comet suggests carrier and OEM interest in alternatives to Google and Chrome dominance on Android.
Built-in ad blocker threatens Google's business model. If Comet gains traction on Android with ad blocking, that's revenue loss for Google on their own operating system.
Perplexity launching on Android before iOS is strategic. Android is more open to third-party defaults. iOS locks users into Safari more tightly.
Our personal take on it at OpenTools:
Carriers and OEMs requesting Comet is most interesting detail.
If Verizon, AT&T, Samsung, or other major players pre-install Comet or make it default browser option, that's massive distribution Google can't easily block without antitrust concerns.
70% of traffic on mobile means desktop browser wars don't matter nearly as much as mobile. Perplexity, OpenAI, and Microsoft all racing to mobile shows everyone understands this.
Built-in ad blocker on Comet is direct attack on Google's revenue. Search ads fund Google. Browser that blocks ads while providing AI-powered search is existential threat.
Redesigning for smaller devices is necessary but doesn't address core question: why would users switch from Chrome? Habit and ecosystem lock-in are powerful.
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What's happening:
Google is upgrading its image-generation model with new editing chops, higher resolutions, more accurate text rendering, and ability to search web.
Dubbed Nano Banana Pro, the new model is built on Google's latest large language model, Gemini 3, released earlier this week. Google claims Nano Banana Pro improves on predecessor with ability to create more detailed images and accurate text, and generate text in different styles, fonts, and languages.
The model has web-searching capabilities, so you can ask it to look up recipe and generate flash cards.
Google says Nano Banana Pro is geared toward giving professionals more control over images, letting users control aspects like camera angles, scene lighting, depth of field, focus, and color grading. Compared to Nano Banana's resolution cap of 1024 x 1024px, users can generate 2K or 4K images with Nano Banana Pro.
While Nano Banana Pro can generate images at higher quality, it is slower and costlier than original model, which cost $0.039 per 1024px image. The new model costs $0.139 for each 1080p or 2K image, and $0.24 for every 4K image.
The new model can use six high-fidelity shots or blend up to 14 objects within image. It can maintain consistency and resemblance of up to five people.
Nano Banana Pro is being rolled out across many Google AI tools. Gemini app will use new model to generate images by default, though free tier users will generate limited number of images before defaulting to original Nano Banana.
Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers get higher-generation thresholds. These subscribers also get access to model within NotebookLM. Google is making model available in search through AI mode for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in US.
Google is baking SynthID, its tech to watermark and detect AI-generated images, into Gemini app. Users can upload image, and chatbot will tell them if image has been created or modified by company's image models.
Why this is important:
4K image generation at $0.24 per image is 6x more expensive than original Nano Banana. That pricing reveals compute costs of high-resolution AI images.
Web-searching capabilities integrated into image generation is novel. Asking model to look up recipe and generate flash cards combines search and creation in single workflow.
Rolling out across Gemini, NotebookLM, Flow, Slides, and Vids shows Google integrating image generation across entire product suite, not just standalone tool.
Our personal take on it at OpenTools:
$0.24 per 4K image is expensive for consumer use case but reasonable for professional work.
6x price increase from original Nano Banana to Pro version shows compute costs scale significantly with resolution. 4K image has 16x more pixels than 1024px image but only costs 6x more, suggesting some efficiency gains.
The professional controls like camera angles, lighting, depth of field are competing with Midjourney and DALL-E on creative control. Question is whether Google's interface makes these controls accessible or just adds complexity.
Maintaining consistency of up to five people across images is useful for character consistency in storytelling or marketing. That's concrete improvement over models that can't maintain character appearance.
Free tier downgrade after limited generations is standard freemium model. Give users enough to see quality difference, charge for unlimited access. Works if quality gap is meaningful.
Rolling out across Google's product suite is smart distribution but also creates fragmentation. Different generation limits and features across Gemini, NotebookLM, Flow, Slides. That's confusing for users.
What's happening:
ChatGPT launched group chats globally to all users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans. The feature lets up to 20 people collaborate with each other and ChatGPT in one shared conversation.
OpenAI piloted the feature last week in Japan and New Zealand before rolling it out worldwide. The company positions it as turning ChatGPT from a one-on-one assistant into a collaborative space for planning trips, co-writing documents, settling debates, or working through research.
Personal settings and memory stay private to each user. To start a group chat, users tap the people icon and add participants directly or by sharing a link. Everyone sets up a profile with name, username, and photo.
ChatGPT knows when to jump in and when to stay quiet. Users can tag "ChatGPT" to get a response. The AI can react with emojis and reference profile photos.
Adding someone to an existing chat creates a new conversation, leaving the original unchanged.
OpenAI says group chats are "just the beginning" of ChatGPT becoming a collaborative environment. "Over time, we see ChatGPT playing a more active role in real group conversations, helping people plan, create, and take action together."
Why this is important:
OpenAI's transforming ChatGPT from chatbot into social platform. Group chats, profile photos, emoji reactions, and tagging are social features, not productivity tools.
The 20-person limit positions this for friend groups and small teams, not enterprise collaboration. That's consumer social play, not Slack competitor.
Launching globally to all tiers including Free means OpenAI's prioritizing adoption over monetization. No paid-only gate suggests they want maximum users in group chats fast.
ChatGPT "knowing when to jump in" is interesting UX challenge. Too quiet and it's useless. Too active and it's annoying. Getting that balance right determines whether feature gets used.
Our personal take on it at OpenTools:
This is OpenAI building social graph.
Profile photos, usernames, invite links, emoji reactions. These aren't productivity features. They're social mechanics designed to make ChatGPT sticky through network effects.
The "ChatGPT playing more active role in real group conversations" vision is ambitious. That means AI as participant, not just tool. Whether people want AI jumping into friend group chats unprompted is open question.
Free tier access is key. OpenAI wants everyone using group chats regardless of payment. That's land grab for social engagement, not revenue maximization.
The real question is retention. Do people actually use group chats with ChatGPT, or try it once and go back to regular group texts? Social features only work if they become habit.
This Week in Workflow Wednesday #46: AI & Personal Productivity
This week, we’re showing you how to create pro-level content without losing a single minute to editing timelines or creative burnout.
Workflow #1: Produce a High-Converting Sales Video Without Touching a Timeline (Pictory.ai)
Step 1: Start with your script — or let AI write it for you. Keep it tight, under 90 seconds, and punchy.
Step 2: Drop it into Pictory’s Script-to-Video tool and let the …..We break down this workflow (and two more ways to optimize your daily routine with AI) in this week’s Workflow Wednesday.
OpenAI and Taiwan's Foxconn to partner in AI hardware design and manufacturing in the US – OpenAI has announced a partnership with Taiwan’s Foxconn to design and make equipment for AI data centers in the U.S. Foxconn, known for making assembling iPhones and other Apple products and making servers for Nvidia, said it will co-design artificial intelligence data center racks with OpenAI under the agreement.
Amazon is using AI to create video recaps of its biggest streaming shows – The summaries feature clips, dialogue, and music with an AI-generated narration of what happened last season.
Google Gemini is getting better at identifying AI fakes – The Gemini app will soon be able to detect images made by Google AI.
MakeShorts - An AI-powered tool that allows users to turn YouTube videos into short clips
Civitai - An online platform that makes it easy for people to share and discover resources for creating AI art
GetMax - An AI-powered content marketing assistant that helps businesses plan, create, and optimize their content strategies
WebWhiz - A tool that allows users to create a chatbot with AI capabilities to answer customer queries on their website
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