Here’s what’s on the agenda today…

• 🧑‍🎨 NINJA AI TOOL: Create Viral-Ready Images Instantly

• 🤝 TODAY’S PARTNER: Learn AI in just 3 Minutes a Day

• 🗞️ WHAT’S HAPPENING: AI News and Tool Updates

• 💡 HIGHLIGHTS: Featured Tools From Recent Issues

• 🔍 TUTORIAL: Create Cinematic AI Videos in Minutes

NINJA AI TOOL

🧑‍🎨 Want Viral-Ready Visuals? This AI Tool Makes Them Instantly

Ever had a brilliant idea in your head, but no way to visually express it? Whether you’re building a brand, launching a product, or just trying to make your posts pop, designing great images from scratch can be overwhelming—especially if you’re not a designer.

That’s where Ideogram comes in.

It’s a free AI-powered image generator that turns your words into stunning visuals.

You just type in what you’re imagining, and Ideogram brings it to life—with surprisingly good results. It’s especially great at blending images and text, so it’s perfect for creating things like posters, social media content, and even logos.

What can you do with Ideogram?

• Magic Prompt: Helps fine-tune your input so you get more creative, polished results.

• Remix: Want to tweak an image you made? Easily adjust the prompt or style to make new versions.

• Describe: Got an image you like and want to recreate something similar? Upload it and let Ideogram tell you how it was made.

• Canvas: An open, drag-and-drop space where you can generate, combine, and edit images all in one place.

• Styles & Aspect Ratios: Pick from different artistic styles (realistic, 3D, cartoon, etc.) and formats to match your project.

• Upscale: Improve the resolution of your image for a sharper, cleaner final version.

Getting Started is Easy

1. Go to ideogram

2. Sign up with Google or Apple

3. Type in a prompt—what you want to see

4. Choose your style and options (like Magic Prompt)

5. Click Generate and watch the magic happen

6. Edit, remix, or just download your favorites

No design skills required, and it’s 100% free to try.

👉 Give it a spin: Ideogram

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PARTNER

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

This is the easiest way for a busy person wanting to learn AI in as little time as possible:

1. Sign up for The Rundown AI newsletter

2. They send you 5-minute email updates on the latest AI news and how to use it

3. You learn how to become 2x more productive by leveraging AI

Sign up to start learning.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

🗞️ AI News and Tool Updates

The AI world never stops — and the past 48 hours brought major launches, big moves, and breakthroughs. Here’s the news you need to know:

• OpenAI unveiled o3 and o4-mini, advanced AI models with improved reasoning, coding, and visual analysis.
  → Marks a leap in general AI capability, with implications across reasoning, development, and visual tasks.

• OpenAI is reportedly in talks to acquire AI coding firm Windsurf (formerly Codeium) for about $3 billion.
  → Signals major consolidation in AI coding tools and OpenAI’s growing dominance in the dev ecosystem.

• Microsoft has introduced BitNet b1.58, a 1.58-bit LLM that matches full-precision models while running efficiently on CPUs.
  → A breakthrough in efficient AI, enabling powerful models to run without GPUs at lower cost.

• Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash adds "thinking budgets" to cut AI costs by up to 600% by limiting reasoning.
  → Introduces cost-control levers that could make large-scale AI more sustainable for businesses.

• Google Cloud unveiled five agentic AI tools and a strategy to help partners co-sell and integrate AI agents.
  → Pushes AI agents into enterprise adoption, showing where automation is headed.

• Microsoft Copilot Studio adds a feature letting AI agents control apps and websites by simulating human actions.
  → Brings us closer to general-purpose AI agents that can act across software environments.

• Google expanded AI Overviews with Gemini 2.0 and launched AI Mode for premium search users.
  → Marks a major shift in consumer-facing search with AI at the core of Google’s experience.

• Google upgraded AI tools to boost ad safety, removing 5.1 billion ads and suspending 39.2 million accounts in 2024.
  → Reflects AI’s growing role in digital security and content moderation at global scale.

• OpenAI released Codex CLI, an open-source AI coding agent that autonomously writes, edits, and executes code locally via the command line.
  → Empowers developers with local AI coding tools, offering transparency and offline capability.

• Intel told Chinese clients it now needs a license to export advanced AI chips like Gaudi, due to U.S. trade rules.
  → Highlights the geopolitical tensions shaping the global AI chip and compute supply chain.

• JetBrains launched a subscription for its AI Assistant and coding agent Junie, with free and paid tiers.
  → Makes advanced dev tools more accessible, accelerating AI integration in coding workflows.

• Biotech startup Profluent discovers AI scaling laws in protein design, releasing open-source tools OpenCRISPR and OpenAntibodies.
  → Could reshape bioengineering by using foundational AI principles for biological design.

• Chatbot Arena forms Arena Intelligence Inc. to expand its AI benchmarking while staying neutral.
  → Ensures the future of fair, transparent LLM evaluation amid rising model complexity.

• Volkswagen unveiled an AI-powered Level 2+ driving system for China, developed with Horizon Robotics, debuting in a model later this year.
  → Brings AI-assisted driving closer to mass-market adoption in the world’s largest auto market.

• Perplexity is partnering with Motorola for its upcoming Razr and in early talks with Samsung to integrate its assistant into future devices.
  → Expands AI assistant reach on mobile, challenging incumbents like Siri and Google Assistant.

• xAI's Grok now has memory for personalized replies based on past chats, but it's unavailable in the EU and UK.
  → Enhances chatbot usefulness through memory, though data privacy limits rollout.

• Google introduced AI tools for apparel image generation, virtual clothing try-ons, and AR beauty demos to enhance online shopping.
  → Shows how AI is redefining e-commerce experiences with realism and personalization.

• Google is giving U.S. college students free AI Premium access, including Gemini and 2TB storage, through Spring 2026.
  → A strategic bet to embed Google’s AI tools in the habits of the next generation.

• AMD has announced Amuse 3.0, an AI software update that enhances performance and expands support for its latest hardware.
  → Optimizes AI workloads for AMD hardware, supporting competition with Nvidia and Intel.

• Deezer sees 20,000+ AI songs daily—18% of new tracks—and is deploying detection tools and tweaking recommendations.
  → Highlights the scale of AI content flooding creative industries and the tools being built to manage it.

• Ex-YC president Geoff Ralston launched SAIF to fund startups focused on AI safety and responsible use.
  → Backs a new wave of startups focused on mitigating AI risks and long-term safety concerns.

• Alibaba's Tongyi open-sourced Wan2.1-FLF2V-14B, enabling efficient 720p video generation from first and last frames.
  → Shows rapid progress in AI video generation with open-source momentum.

• Creators are increasingly suing studios over unauthorized AI use in content, highlighting growing legal battles over copyright and synthetic media.
  → Raises important questions about creative ownership and copyright in the AI era.

HIGHLIGHTS

💡 Featured Tools from Recent Issues

In case you missed our recent issues, here’s a quick recap of the latest AI tools we’ve highlighted.

• 10Web: Easily build, host, and manage high-performance WordPress websites without coding.

• Otter AI: An AI-driven content generator designed to help businesses create AI-powered, brand-specific marketing content.

• Taskade: Create, organize, and automate tasks, projects, and workflows with customizable AI agents.

• Designs AI: Supercharge your content creation with cutting-edge generative AI. Effortlessly design stunning visuals and engaging posts.

• Writesonic: Quickly create high-quality content such as blog posts, ads, product descriptions, and marketing copy.

• ClickUp: All-in-one productivity platform that helps you manage tasks, docs, goals, and projects in one place.

AI TUTORIAL

🎬 Create Cinematic AI Videos in Minutes

If you’ve ever wanted to turn your text into a cinematic video with realistic human characters, Magic Light might just be your new favorite tool. Here's a step-by-step walkthrough on how to use it—no video editing skills required.

🔧 Step-by-Step: How to Use Magic Light

1. Visit the Website & Sign In

   • Head to MagicLight

   • Log in or sign up—you’ll get 300 free tokens to get started.

2. Generate Your AI Video

   • Click on “Generate AI Video.”

   • Upload a story (e.g., a novel or script) or let the tool generate one from your idea.

   • Sample story ideas are available if you need inspiration.

   • Choose:

     • Video duration

     • Video style

     • Language

     • Aspect ratio

3. Scene Breakdown & Editing

   • Magic Light splits your story into scenes (up to 12,000 characters).

   • Rearrange or delete scenes if needed.

   • Click Next to move forward.

4. Character Design

   • The tool detects characters and offers premade images to match.

   • Filter by age, gender, or type—or search directly.

   • Customize each character’s voice, gender, and age.

5. Create Custom Characters (Optional)

   • Can’t find the right look? Click “Create” to generate a character from a text prompt.

   • Add traits like name, age, appearance, and even upload reference images.

6. Generate Scene Images

   • Each scene gets a unique image.

   • Click “Regenerate” if you don’t like one—it won’t cost extra tokens.

   • Choose “Animate” (recommend “Hilu” or “Animate Pro”) to bring it to life.

   • Click “AI Enhance” for better quality.

7. Final Touches

   • Choose subtitle font (6 options).

   • Pick background music (or skip it).

   • Set your video thumbnail and font style for the title.

8. That’s a Wrap!

   • Your video is ready.

   • Review it and make tweaks if needed.

   • Export and share your cinematic creation!