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Welcome to The Prompt by Kuro House, your daily dose of AI news and insights. Today, we’re diving into some exciting product launches and strategic moves shaking up the AI landscape. Let’s get right into it.
First up, OpenAI is gearing up to launch a brand-new social app focused entirely on AI-generated videos. Called Sora 2, this app looks a lot like TikTok with a vertical swipe-to-scroll feed, but every video is created by AI. Users can make clips up to 10 seconds long using OpenAI’s latest video model, and there’s even an identity verification system to control how your likeness is used. According to Wired, the app was launched internally last week and has already received positive feedback from OpenAI employees. This move positions OpenAI to compete with Meta and Google as they roll out their own AI video tools, while TikTok takes a more cautious approach to AI content.
In other news, Marissa Mayer is closing down her AI startup Sunshine and transferring its assets to a new company called Dazzle. Sunshine, founded in 2018 after Mayer’s Yahoo tenure, focused on AI-powered personal assistant apps but struggled with privacy concerns and product flops like its Shine photo-sharing app. WIRED reports that nearly all shareholders have approved the sale, and Mayer plans to continue innovating in AI under Dazzle. The roughly 15 Sunshine employees are expected to find new roles there, signaling a fresh start rather than a full shutdown. It’s a reminder that even experienced leaders face challenges in the fast-evolving AI space.
OpenAI is also making a bold move in e-commerce with its new Instant Checkout feature inside ChatGPT. Users in the U.S. can now purchase items directly from Etsy and soon from over a million Shopify merchants without leaving their chat. TechCrunch explains that this feature supports payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, and credit cards, streamlining the buying process. OpenAI is open sourcing the underlying Agentic Commerce Protocol, allowing other merchants to integrate similar AI-powered checkout experiences. This could shift power away from giants like Amazon and Google, giving AI chatbots a bigger role in product discovery and sales.
On the safety front, OpenAI has introduced a new safety routing system and parental controls for ChatGPT to address concerns over harmful interactions. The system detects sensitive conversations and switches to GPT-5, which is designed to handle these topics more safely and responsibly. According to TechCrunch, parents can now customize their teens’ ChatGPT experience with quiet hours, content filters, and alerts if there’s risk of self-harm. This update has received mixed feedback, with some praising the protections and others worried about over-cautious restrictions. OpenAI acknowledges the system isn’t perfect and plans to iterate over the next 120 days.
Finally, Apple is quietly testing a new internal chatbot called Veritas, which aims to upgrade Siri with more powerful AI capabilities. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Veritas lets Apple employees experiment with features like searching personal data and editing photos via chat. Unlike ChatGPT, this tool is not planned for public release anytime soon. Instead, Apple may lean on Google’s Gemini for AI-powered search, highlighting the challenges Apple faces in catching up in the AI race. It’s a fascinating peek into how one of tech’s giants is approaching AI innovation internally.
That’s a wrap for today’s AI highlights. From new social apps and shopping breakthroughs to safety upgrades and strategic pivots, the AI world keeps evolving fast. Thanks for tuning in to The Prompt by Kuro House. Catch you tomorrow for more AI updates.
