DeepSeek's new model rivals Claude and GPT

PLUS: Adobe reinvents the PDF, Google's new Pixel 10, and always-on AI glasses

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Gen AI Art
August 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

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A major new competitor has emerged from China, with AI lab DeepSeek releasing a massive new model. The 685B-parameter V3.1 is reportedly matching the performance of industry leaders like Claude and GPT, especially in complex coding tasks.

As a powerful open-source release with drastically lower operating costs, this model puts top-tier AI directly in the hands of developers. Does this signal a major shift, proving that world-class performance no longer needs to be locked behind expensive, closed-source APIs?

Today in AI:

  • DeepSeek’s new 685B model rivals GPT-4

  • Adobe’s AI reinvention of the PDF

  • Google’s AI-first Pixel 10 hardware

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What’s new? Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has released V3.1, a massive 685B-parameter model that is demonstrating performance on par with leading proprietary models from OpenAI and Anthropic, particularly in complex coding tasks.

What matters?

  • The model shows top-tier coding ability, scoring 71.6% on the prestigious Aider benchmark, which puts its performance in the same league as closed-source competitors like Claude 4 Opus.

  • With 685 billion parameters and a 128K context window, this powerful open-source model gives developers and researchers unprecedented access to a state-of-the-art foundation model.

  • The model also offers a dramatic cost reduction, completing coding tasks for just $1.01 compared to nearly $70 for comparable proprietary alternatives, lowering the barrier to entry for building with advanced AI.

Why it matters?

DeepSeek’s release intensifies the competition between open-source and proprietary AI, proving world-class performance doesn't have to be locked behind expensive APIs. This development places more powerful tools directly into the hands of creators, which is likely to accelerate innovation across the industry.

What’s new? Adobe has launched Acrobat Studio, a new AI-powered workspace that transforms documents into conversational assistants, allowing you to get summaries and create new content on the fly.

What matters?

  • The platform’s core feature is PDF Spaces, a hub where you can upload up to 100 files—including PDFs, Word docs, and web pages—and use AI agents to ask questions and extract key insights across all of them at once.

  • It deeply integrates with other Adobe tools, letting you turn document insights directly into presentations, reports, or social media posts using Adobe Express, with images generated by Adobe Firefly.

  • Adobe is targeting businesses with a major focus on enterprise-grade security, running AI in sandboxed environments and guaranteeing it won't train models on customer data.

Why it matters?

Adobe is embedding AI directly into its foundational products to create a more connected and intelligent workflow. This move positions the PDF not just as a static file, but as an interactive knowledge hub for modern work.

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What’s new? Google unveiled its Pixel 10 lineup, shifting the focus from hardware specs to new experiences powered by its Gemini AI assistant. The launch signals a major bet that proactive, intelligent software is the future of mobile.

What matters?

  • New features include an AI “coach” in the camera to help you take better pictures and a proactive assistant that surfaces relevant info without being asked.

  • Many of the AI integrations, like real-time call translation, were earlier unveiled at its developer conference and are now rolling out to consumers.

  • Despite the AI push, Google's market share remains low at 4.3% in the U.S., prompting the company to expand sales into new markets like Mexico for the first time.

Why it matters?

Google's move shows the industry is shifting from a battle over hardware specs to one centered on AI-driven experiences. This means your next device will be judged less on its camera megapixels and more on how well its AI anticipates your needs.

Everything else in AI

Meta restructured its AI organization again, creating the new Meta SuperIntelligence Labs (MSL) which will be responsible for building new foundation models like Llama.

An MIT study found that 95% of companies are getting zero return from their AI investments, a reality check that sent tech stocks, including Nvidia and Palantir, tumbling.

NIST proposed new security control overlays for AI systems, providing a framework for managing risks across five key use cases including generative assistants, predictive AI, and multi-agent systems.

Microsoft warned through its AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman about the dangers of "Seemingly Conscious AI," calling research into model welfare "premature and frankly dangerous" and urging companies to build AI for people, not to be a person.s for tasks ranging from playtesting and code generation to content optimization.

Used by Execs at Google and OpenAI

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