Another Crazy Day in AI 48/109

Another Crazy Day in AI: OpenAI Goes Big with the 4.1 Family

Apr 15, 2025
4 min read

Hello, AI Enthusiasts.

You made it through the grind of Tuesday. Now, let's talk about what AI was up to.

OpenAI just released GPT‑4.1—and it’s faster, smarter, and built for real-world hustle. Less glitch, more get-things-done.

Meanwhile, car dealers don’t have time to panic. AI is helping them price, plan, and sell smarter in the face of potential tariffs. Business as usual—but optimized.

And remember Windows Paint and Notepad? They just got a serious AI upgrade. They're still classics—but now with a side of Copilot.

Here's another crazy day in AI:

OpenAI introduces GPT-4.1
Car dealers turn to AI to offset trump auto tariffs
Copilot now works in paint and notepad
Some AI tools to try out

TODAY'S FEATURED ITEM: OpenAI’s New Model Family

A robotic scientist in a classic white coat with 'AI Scientist' on its back stands beside a human scientist with 'Human Scientist' on their coat, looking towards the AI Scientist.

Image Credit: Wowza (created with Ideogram)

What would happen if AI models could process entire codebases while maintaining accuracy and following complex instructions?

OpenAI has just announced their latest model family: GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and GPT-4.1 nano. These models bring significant improvements to coding capabilities, instruction following, and context processing. With an updated knowledge cutoff of June 2024, they can handle up to 1 million tokens of context—enough to process more than 8 complete copies of the React codebase at once. This leap forward in AI processing power is designed to make a meaningful impact, especially for developers and businesses tackling complex, data-heavy projects.

Here are some key points about the new release:

Improved coding performance: GPT-4.1 is better equipped to generate, debug, and manage code across complex systems with more precision and efficiency.
Extended context window: With up to 1 million tokens, these models can handle larger contexts, allowing for smoother workflows and fewer disruptions when processing extensive documents or tasks.
Mini and nano versions for flexibility: The mini and nano versions offer a more lightweight and cost-effective solution while maintaining high performance for various use cases.
Developer-friendly features: Optimized for real-world coding tasks, GPT-4.1 focuses on helping developers tackle common challenges such as code refactoring, debugging, and understanding complex code structures.
Real-world applications: Companies like Windsurf and Qodo are already benefiting from the new capabilities, reporting faster development cycles and more accurate outcomes.
End of GPT-4.5 support: OpenAI is phasing out GPT-4.5 by mid-2025, making GPT-4.1 the new go-to model for developers in the AI landscape.

The introduction of GPT-4.1 and its smaller variants offers something that feels practical and grounded. These updates are less about flashy features and more about solving real pain points—things like staying within context limits, keeping code clean, or just getting more consistent results from prompts that require precision.

It’s also worth noting how much more accessible this release feels. With Mini and Nano versions available, the barrier to integrating strong AI performance into smaller apps or edge devices is lower. That could change how and where people apply AI—from large-scale systems to quick, on-the-fly tools built by smaller teams.

What stands out isn’t just the technical leap, but how these changes might encourage a wider range of people to experiment, build, and test what’s possible. Whether you’re knee-deep in code or just curious about what new models can do, this release makes it easier to explore and harder to ignore.

Read the full article here.

Watch the livestream here.

OTHER INTERESTING AI HIGHLIGHTS:

Car Dealers Turn to AI to Offset Trump Auto Tariffs

/Nikolas Lanum on FOXBusiness

Car dealers are embracing AI to handle the uncertainty caused by proposed tariffs on imported vehicles and parts. From conversational AI that manages customer questions to predictive pricing tools, dealerships are using automation to boost sales, optimize inventory, and personalize outreach amid shifting policies. As consumers rush to buy before potential price hikes, AI helps streamline communication, schedule service, and adapt marketing strategies on the fly. Industry leaders say these tools are becoming essential for both new and used vehicle sales during this volatile period.

Read more here.

Copilot Now Works in Paint and Notepad

/David Nield on WIRED

AI has quietly arrived in two of Windows’ most classic apps: Paint and Notepad. Paint now includes generative tools like image creation, background removal, and AI-powered erasing, while Notepad adds AI-assisted text editing features like tone shifts, rewriting, and formatting options. Some features require Microsoft 365 or Copilot Pro credits, but basic tools are free to try. Whether you’re editing a photo or punching up a paragraph, AI is now just a click away in your everyday Windows apps.

Read more here.

Get some Copilot help with your compositions in Notepad. Courtesy of David Nield.

SOME AI TOOLS TO TRY OUT:

Offdeal – Calculate how Trump’s tariffs impact your small business.
Whatting – A customizable iPad diary with notes, to-dos, timers, and flexible widgets.
Pippit – Create powerful marketing content—no design skills needed.

That’s a wrap on today’s Almost Daily craziness.

Catch us almost every day—almost! 😉

EXCITING NEWS:

The Another Crazy Day in AI newsletter is on LinkedIn!!!

Leveraging AI for Enhanced Content: As part of our commitment to exploring new technologies, we used AI to help curate and refine our newsletters. This enriches our content and keeps us at the forefront of digital innovation, ensuring you stay informed with the latest trends and developments.

Another Crazy Day in AI: Automating Compliance the Right Way

Apr 14, 2025
4 min read

Hello, AI Enthusiasts.

We hope your weekend was a little more relaxing than your inbox!

Just as the tax dust settles for individuals, businesses are knee-deep in exemption certs. Thomson Reuters' new integration might actually make it bearable.

On another note, NVIDIA’s AI supercomputers will now be built entirely in the U.S.—yes, chips and all.

Oh, and AI’s now your marketing funnel. Search engines are out. Chatbots are in. Welcome to the zero-click era.

That’s your Monday AI memo—back to pretending your inbox is under control.

Here's another crazy day in AI:

Smarter Tax Operations with CERTifyTax
NVIDIA brings AI supercomputer production to the US
When the AI agent becomes the buyer’s guide
Some AI tools to try out

TODAY'S FEATURED ITEM: Smarter Ways To Stay Compliant

Image Credit: Wowza (created with Ideogram)

Could your tax certificates actually help your bottom line?

In today’s featured read, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting takes a closer look at how some companies are using automation to clean up the messy world of tax exemption certificates. It’s based on a recent webinar with folks from CERTifyTax and Thomson Reuters, who’ve spent years in the trenches of tax work. They talk about how AI tools are being used to manage exemption certificates more efficiently—and maybe even prevent some audit stress down the line.

This kind of tech might not make taxes exciting, but it does raise some practical questions—especially now, when tax compliance is top of mind for a lot of businesses. If your company’s tax team is still chasing down missing paperwork or playing defense during audits, this might be something worth knowing about.

A few takeaways from the conversation:

Many tax teams still rely on spreadsheets and manual filing systems, which often means missing or outdated certificates.
AI tools can help organize and verify exemption certificates in real time, reducing errors before they snowball into bigger issues.
Automating exemption certificate collection and validation can ease the burden during audits and free up internal resources.
Some businesses are integrating these tools directly into their websites or ERP systems for smoother day-to-day operations.
One company saw a major drop in exposure within weeks of switching to an automated setup—fewer surprises, more predictability.
This approach also makes it easier to maintain consistent documentation across multiple states or tax jurisdictions.

While tax exemption certificates might seem like a small piece of the puzzle, they can quickly become a pain point if they’re mishandled or incomplete. This article doesn’t offer silver-bullet solutions, but it does give a look into how others are quietly reworking their processes to avoid the scramble. Especially for teams already stretched thin, small improvements here can help prevent bigger problems down the road.

So, is this something every company needs to jump on right now? Maybe not. But for anyone who's dealt with last-minute certificate hunts or unexpected audit findings, it’s a timely nudge to check how things are being tracked—and whether there’s room to make it less painful. Even just knowing what's out there might help you ask better questions internally.

Read the full blog here.

Watch the webinar here.

OTHER INTERESTING AI HIGHLIGHTS:

NVIDIA Brings AI Supercomputer Production to the US

/Published on NVIDIA Newsroom

For the first time, NVIDIA will manufacture its AI supercomputers entirely in the United States. Blackwell chip production is now underway at TSMC facilities in Arizona, while new NVIDIA AI factory plants in Texas—built in partnership with Foxconn and Wistron—are ramping up. These efforts are projected to produce up to half a trillion dollars in AI infrastructure over the next four years and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. NVIDIA’s advanced AI, robotics, and digital twin technologies will power operations across these new state-of-the-art manufacturing sites.

Read more here.

When the AI Agent Becomes the Buyer’s Guide

/Natasha Sommerfeld, Rishi Dave, and Daniel Webster-Clark, on Bain & Company

Recent data highlights the magnitude of a shift in how consumers make purchase decisions. With AI-powered search and large language models like ChatGPT now handling product research, recommendations, and comparisons, traditional website traffic is dropping—while AI referral traffic is climbing fast. Studies show that zero-click journeys are replacing multi-step funnels, meaning brands are increasingly missing the opportunity to engage customers directly. To stay relevant, marketers must now optimize for the AI agents guiding these journeys—adapting their strategies for visibility in a world where machines, not people, hold the keys to discovery.

Read more here.

SOME AI TOOLS TO TRY OUT:

Hebbia – Searches massive documents and answers questions.
Autoread – Auto-replies to iMessages with custom prompts so you can ghost productively.
Tanka – Delivers smart replies, to-dos, and insights as your team’s second brain.

That’s a wrap on today’s Almost Daily craziness.

Catch us almost every day—almost! 😉

EXCITING NEWS:

The Another Crazy Day in AI newsletter is on LinkedIn!!!

Another Crazy Day in AI: The Workspace You’ve Been Waiting For

Apr 11, 2025
4 min read

Hello, AI Enthusiasts.

Before you ghost your inbox…

Google just gave Workspace a glow-up. Think smart writing help, audio summaries, and workflows that practically run themselves. Google says it's all about making AI useful for everyone—not just tech wizards.

Mazda’s also shifting gears—its sales training now runs on AI personalization and sleek brand vibes.

Also, a Software Engineer Tech Lead from Google just published a prompt guide that makes “zero-shot” sound like something you do, not dodge.

That’s your AI fix—now back away from the screen and reclaim your weekend.

Here's another crazy day in AI:

Google Workspace just got a major upgrade
Mazda trains dealership staff with AI
Learn prompting from a Google expert
Some AI tools to try out

TODAY'S FEATURED ITEM: From Meetings to Memos: Gemini Levels Up

Image Credit: Wowza (created with Ideogram; edited with Canva)

Could the latest Workspace AI upgrades finally bring intelligent automation to everyone's daily workflow?

Google has announced a suite of new AI capabilities for Workspace, detailed in a blog post by Yulie Kwon Kim, VP of Product for Workspace. The announcement highlights how Google is integrating Gemini AI directly into familiar tools like Docs, Sheets, Meet, Chat, and more, while also introducing a new automation system called Workspace Flows. According to Google, Gemini in Workspace already provides over 2 billion AI assists to business users monthly, helping companies like Air Liquide, Equifax, Etsy, and Salesforce improve productivity.

Here’s what’s being rolled out:

Workspace Flows: A new automation tool that connects tasks and approvals across apps like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. Gemini agents—called Gems—can be customized to guide or carry out multi-step workflows.
Audio in Docs: Read-aloud functionality and podcast-style summaries designed to make it easier to absorb content without being tied to a screen.
Help me refine in Docs: A writing improvement tool that goes beyond grammar to offer suggestions on clarity, structure, and tone.
Help me analyze in Sheets: Uses Gemini to help explore and interpret spreadsheet data without requiring complex formulas or pivot tables.
AI-generated video in Vids: Combines Veo 2 and Gemini to assist with video creation, from outlining to production, directly within the new Google Vids app.
AI features in Meet: Tools to prep presenters, provide summaries, and organize key points during and after video meetings.
@Gemini in Chat: A built-in assistant that keeps track of ongoing threads, summarizes discussions, and helps with follow-ups.
Enterprise-grade data controls: Enhanced security and management options to support organizational data needs, especially for regulated industries.

There’s a lot happening under the hood with this rollout, but the core idea is simple: make everyday tasks a little easier through well-placed AI support. Instead of flashy new platforms, Google is choosing to strengthen what people already use—quietly layering in automation where it counts. These aren’t standalone tools; they’re meant to be part of the background, assisting without getting in the way.

Whether these updates lead to real workflow improvements will come down to usability and adoption. The promise of intelligent automation is appealing, but only if it fits naturally into how people already work. The tools need to be not just capable, but trustworthy and intuitive. If Google gets that part right, this could be a meaningful step toward more seamless, intelligent collaboration. Otherwise, it may just be another set of features waiting for the right use case to emerge.

Check the full announcement here.

OTHER INTERESTING AI HIGHLIGHTS:

Mazda Trains Dealership Staff with AI

/Eileen Falkenberg-Hull, Senior Editor, Autos, on Newsweek

Mazda is using AI to modernize its dealership training programs and enhance brand engagement among sales teams. By consolidating disparate learning systems into a single AI-assisted portal, the automaker is delivering personalized, trackable learning experiences for associates. The goal is not just better sales outcomes, but stronger brand identity and retention through a sense of community and upskilling. AI is already helping tailor content based on role performance and will soon adapt training modules dynamically based on changes in Mazda’s lineup and technology.

Read more here.

Learn Prompting from a Google Expert

/Lee Boonstra, Software Engineer Tech Lead, Google, Office of the CTO, published on Kaggle

In an in-depth whitepaper, Google’s Lee Boonstra demystifies prompt engineering for large language models (LLMs) like Gemini. It covers essential techniques like zero-shot, few-shot, chain-of-thought, ReAct, and system/role prompting. Boonstra emphasizes that anyone—not just developers—can write effective prompts, and highlights best practices such as using examples, designing for simplicity, and leveraging model configuration (temperature, top-K/top-P). This guide is a must-read for educators, developers, and anyone working closely with generative AI systems.

Read more here.

Source: Prompt Engineering, February 2025 by Lee Boonstra

SOME AI TOOLS TO TRY OUT:

ScreenStudio – Create stunning recordings and share them instantly with a link.
askplexbot – Perplexity’s new Telegram bot for chatting or dropping into group chats.
Crono – Rewrites your sales messages using personalized prospect data—paid, starts at €5.

That’s a wrap on today’s Almost Daily craziness.

Catch us almost every day—almost! 😉

EXCITING NEWS:

The Another Crazy Day in AI newsletter is on LinkedIn!!!