Good morning! This is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

🤖 OpenAI launches Operator

📱 Perplexity launches an assistant for Android

🔍 Google agrees to crack down on fake reviews

💥 Meta in panic mode as DeepSeek gains traction

🎮 Epic brings third-party titles to its mobile game store

🎁 + 9 other news you might like

🔮 + 4 handpicked research papers and tools

🤖 OpenAI launches Operator LINK

OpenAI has introduced "Operator," a web automation tool powered by the new Computer-Using Agent (CUA) model, which manages computers through a visual user interface similar to human interaction.

Currently, Operator is accessible to ChatGPT Pro subscribers for $200 monthly, with future plans to expand availability to Plus, Team, and Enterprise users, and eventually integrate these features into ChatGPT and its API.

The system works by capturing screenshots to understand the computer environment and then uses AI to decide and execute actions, enabling it to manage complex tasks across various applications.

📱 Perplexity launches an assistant for Android LINK

Perplexity has introduced a new Android app that functions as an AI assistant, capable of executing tasks like booking rides and identifying objects using voice, text, and camera interactions.

The assistant integrates real-time information from its search engine to provide up-to-date answers, enhancing its intelligence and versatility compared to many competitors.

This launch is part of Perplexity's broader strategy to expand its ecosystem, aiming to offer an AI assistant that becomes an essential tool in everyday activities.

🔍 Google agrees to crack down on fake reviews LINK

Google has agreed to enforce stricter measures against UK businesses that use fake reviews to enhance their ratings on its platform, following an announcement by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

If businesses continue with suspicious review practices, Google will suspend new reviews for them and delete existing ones for at least six months, while also banning repeat offenders and erasing their review history.

Over the next three years, Google will report to the CMA to ensure compliance with the agreement, while similar changes in the past have been implemented globally through Google Maps.

💥 Meta in panic mode as DeepSeek gains traction LINK

Meta employees are in "panic mode" as leaked internal discussions reveal growing anxiety over DeepSeek's success and the company's bloated AI organizational structure..

DeepSeek's open-source AI model, developed with just $5.5 million, has outperformed Meta's much more expensive solutions on third-party benchmarks.

The free MIT-licensed availability of DeepSeek's models poses a direct challenge to Meta's massive AI investments and traditional development approach.

🎮 Epic brings third-party titles to its mobile game store LINK

Epic Games is expanding its mobile store by adding nearly 20 third-party games on Android globally and in the EU on iOS, starting with free games like Bloons TD 6.

To support developers on iOS, Epic will cover the Core Technology Fee for one year, a cost that arises after apps exceed 1 million annual downloads using third-party stores.

This move is part of Epic's ongoing battle with Apple, as the company seeks to establish a more competitive app store environment under the EU's Digital Markets Act.

Other news you might like

• Meta to Increase Spending to $65 Billion This Year in A.I. Push LINK

• Apple admits next-gen CarPlay is late, but still in development LINK

• Sony to cease Blu-ray production, leaving physical media fans concerned LINK

• Apple introduces a new API to support more in-app purchase formats LINK

• Google’s Identity Check for Android keeps phone thieves out of your digital accounts LINK

• Researchers optimize simulations of molecules on quantum computers LINK

• Anthropic’s new Citations feature aims to reduce AI errors LINK

• Fitbit fined $12 million for Ionic smartwatches that burned 78 people LINK

Latest research and tools

GITHUB • 236 points View Source
Show HN: Open-source AI video editor: Open-source AI video editor: a toolset that helps create AI-powered video applications by simplifying video model integration in the browser.

GITHUB • 165 points View Source
Surface-Stable Fractal Dithering: Surface-Stable Fractal Dithering: a dithering technique for 3D scenes that maintains consistent dot size and spacing on screen, regardless of surface distance changes, by dynamically adjusting dots.

GITHUB • 53 points View Source
g.co, Google's official URL shortcut, is compromised: g.co: an official Google URL shortcut that has been compromised, leading to sophisticated phishing attacks where users' Google accounts are at risk of being stolen.

GITHUB • 20 points View Source
Lightpanda: The headless browser designed for AI and automation: Lightpanda: a headless browser for AI tasks and automation, aiding in web automation, LLM training, scraping, and testing with low memory usage.

Want to get the latest news differently? Find us on:

See you tomorrow for a new dose of ☕️ Techpresso!