📊 MARKET PULSE

Amazon Commits $10B to North Carolina for AI-Driven Data Center Expansion

AWS is building a massive AI and cloud campus in North Carolina—one of the largest tech investments in state history. The move will create 500+ skilled jobs, power next-gen AI workloads, and fund local STEM education.

👉 Here’s what it means for Amazon, the industry, and the Southeast >>

🗞️ YOUR DAILY ROLLUP

Top Stories of the Day

📞 Phonely’s Voice AI Sounds Just Like You
Phonely’s AI phone agents now hit 99.2% accuracy with near-zero latency, making them nearly indistinguishable from humans. Powered by Groq’s chip architecture and Maitai’s optimization, the system slashes awkward delays and boosts realism. One client is replacing 350 agents this month. The advance signals a new era in voice-based customer support.

🔗 ChatGPT Now Integrates with Outlook, Gmail, & More
OpenAI has rolled out new connectors for ChatGPT, allowing Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users to pull in live context from tools like Outlook, Gmail, Google Drive, and more. Team admins can also build custom integrations using the new Model Context Protocol. A macOS "record mode" for meeting transcription and planning is also launching.

📟 Mistral Joins AI Coding Wars with Vibe Coding Tool for Enterprises
French AI startup Mistral has launched Mistral Code, an AI-powered coding assistant tailored for enterprise developers. Built on the open-source Continue project, it combines several proprietary models for code generation, search, and chat—directly challenging GitHub Copilot and CodeWhisperer. With support for over 80 languages and enterprise-grade controls, it’s already being piloted by Capgemini and SNCF.

📝 Claude Now Has a Blog—Sort Of
Anthropic has launched Claude Explains, a blog written by its Claude AI model with human editorial oversight. Marketed as a collaborative showcase, Claude generates technical content that’s then refined by staff. Despite the AI’s starring role, posts aren’t end-to-end machine-written. It’s a polished experiment in AI-human co-authorship.

 🧰 Find trending AI tools: 
Browse the Forward Future AI Tool Library

☝️ POWERED BY ENEY BY MACPAW

Meet Eney – Your First Computerbeing

MacPaw is launching Eney – your personal Computerbeing, a Mac companion designed to simplify your digital life through natural conversation and real actions.

No more switching between apps or complex commands. Eney understands what you need and gets it done – from enhancing images to summarizing meetings or optimizing your Mac.

We’re inviting you to join the closed beta and help shape what’s next.
🚀 Join Eney in Closed Beta

Experience the first Computerbeing in action. As a beta user, you'll help us refine how Eney learns, acts, and grows – turning your feedback into a better, smarter, more personal Mac experience.

🏛️ GOVERNANCE

FDA Debuts Generative AI Tool Elsa, Aims to Boost Speed and Cut Bureaucracy

The FDA has launched Elsa, its generative AI assistant, ahead of schedule and under budget, marking a significant step in federal AI adoption. Elsa supports agency staff with tasks like scientific reviews, summarizing adverse events, and even generating code. Officials say it can complete work in minutes that once took days.

Housed securely in GovCloud and not trained on regulated industry data, Elsa is designed to safeguard sensitive information. Still, its rollout comes amid concerns about AI "hallucinations" and the need for human oversight—especially following the FDA's April layoffs of 3,500 employees, including scientists. As Elsa matures, the agency plans to expand its role across operations. → Read the full article here.

👾 FORWARD FUTURE ORIGINAL

Rethinking Minds, Meaning, and Machines

Our community member Christopher Watts contributed this thought-provoking essay exploring how large language models—trained on billions of digital tokens—begin to mirror the analog nature of human thought. It’s a meditation on meaning, minds, and what AI might be revealing about us. → Read the full article here.

📸 SAFETY

Obvio Raises $22M to Tackle Reckless Driving with AI-Equipped Stop Sign Cameras

San Carlos-based startup Obvio has raised $22M to expand its AI-powered stop sign cameras, designed to curb reckless driving without enabling mass surveillance. Installed in five Maryland cities, the solar-powered pylons flag serious violations like rolling stops and unsafe turns, then send verified infractions to law enforcement.

To ease privacy concerns, footage is processed locally and deleted within 12 hours unless a violation is detected. Founders Ali Rehan and Dhruv Maheshwari aim to balance enforcement with community trust, saying their tech should deter dangerous behavior—not just generate revenue. The company gives cities the cameras for free, sharing in citation revenue instead. → Read the full article here.

🛰️ NEWS

What Else is Happening

✝️ Pope Leo XIV Challenges AI Power: The new pope warns that unchecked AI risks dehumanization, urging global ethics and justice to protect workers and dignity in the digital age.

🚧 Anthropic Cuts Claude 3 Access: With less than 5 days’ notice, Anthropic pulled Claude 3.x capacity from Windsurf, forcing a scramble to shift loads despite Windsurf offering full payment.

🤳 Snapchat Launches Mobile Lens Studio: Snap debuts iOS and web tools for creating AR Lenses on the go—making AI effects and Bitmoji fun more accessible to casual creators than ever.

🎬 Guadagnino to Helm OpenAI Drama: Artificial, based on Sam Altman’s 2023 ousting and return, is fast-tracked at Amazon with Andrew Garfield in talks to star as the embattled CEO.

🍿 AMC Strikes AI Deal With Runway: AMC will use Runway’s Gen-4 tech for marketing and pre-visuals, aiming to cut costs without sacrificing quality as streaming pressure continues to mount.

🔬 RESEARCH PAPERS

Themis AI Builds “Uncertainty Engine” to Make AI Know What It Doesn’t Know

MIT spinout Themis AI has launched Capsa, a platform that helps AI models detect and correct uncertainty before errors turn into high-stakes failures. Designed to work with any machine learning model, Capsa flags outputs that show signs of ambiguity, bias, or incomplete reasoning. It's already helping sectors like telecom, pharmaceuticals, and energy improve reliability and reduce risk. → Read the full paper here.

📽️ VIDEO

Prompt Engineering Guide - From Beginner to Advanced

Learn prompt engineering from beginner to advanced—master zero-shot, chain-of-thought, role prompting, and more with real-world tips and examples. Watch Matt break it all down! 👇

That’s a Wrap!

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Thanks for reading today’s newsletter—see you next time!

Matthew Berman & The Forward Future Team

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