🚀 This week absolutely broke the internet. AI went to space, Open AI dropped the GPT-5 model and everyone's fighting over who owns the future of interfaces.
Buckle up because this digest hits differently and you're gonna want to screenshot half of these takes. Keep reading, this one's loaded.
Industry moves
- Belgium's EDGX secured €2.3M to literally put AI computers in space. They're building the world's fastest orbital AI systems and already locked in a €1.1M commercial deal before even launching. Space tech is the new fintech and we're here for it.
- Trust AI raised $6M for "ChatGPT for dentistry". Funded by actual dentists who represent $100M+ in practice revenues, when your investors use your product daily, you know you're solving real problems.
- Clay confirmed their $100M Series C at $3.1B valuation. CapitalG led this round and it follows their $1.25B Series B from literally six months ago. exponential growth hits differently.
- Tavily raised $25M to challenge OpenAI and Perplexity. $20M Series A led by Insight Partners and Alpha Wave Global. Their real-time search layer is becoming the standard infrastructure for AI agents navigating the live web. Processing over a million queries per month and powering the internet of agents.
Product reality check
- GPT-5 dropped with 256k token context window, multimodal everything, and 45-80% fewer hallucinations. Finally, AI that might not gaslight us about basic facts.
- RIP Microsoft Lens. Another simple app getting absorbed into the AI everything. Sometimes we just wanted a good document scanner without chatting to an AI about it.
- NASA and Google are building an AI medical assistant for Mars missions because keeping astronauts healthy gets wild when you're months away from Earth. This is the type of AI use case that actually matters.
- Meta acquired AI audio startup WaveForms. 8 months old, $40M from a16z, now part of Meta's Superintelligence Labs. Their second major AI audio acquisition this month. Meta's really betting on voice being the future interface.
- Apple's new Siri might finally let you control apps with voice. They showed this demo in 2024, and we're still waiting. Classic Apple promising the future and delivering it eventually.
- Instagram launched a controversial Maps feature. Sharing recent activity with friends through location data. Rolling out in the US first because privacy laws elsewhere would never. You can leave "Notes" on the map which sounds either super cute or incredibly chaotic.
- Google DeepMind unveiled Genie 3. It creates entire 3D virtual worlds in real-time from text prompts. 720p, 24fps, several minutes of consistent environments. Genie 2 could barely handle 20 seconds. This is exponential improvement that breaks your brain.
Design wins that work
- Lazarev.agency helped DragonGC transform from "just another tool" to "the platform legal teams actually trust". LegalTech AI that handles 500+ compliance topics. Their market potential was strong but brand presence was holding them back. When good design literally saves your business growth.
- Motion design capturing Taoist philosophy by fafa_motion for Hong Kong International Airport's 'Ink & The City' exhibition. Sometimes design transcends commerce and becomes actual art.
- Motorola x Swarovski dropped the "Brilliant Collection". Foldable Razr 2025 and Moto Buds covered in actual Swarovski crystals in Pantone's "Ice Melt" color. Luxury tech collaborations hitting different levels in 2025.
- British chocolate brand Audrey got a complete rebrand by Duzi studio, bridging 1948 heritage with modern identity. Sometimes the classics need updating without losing their soul.
- Delta's 100th anniversary rebrand with DixonBaxi shifted from "getting from A to B" to "connecting people to expand potential." When airlines understand they're selling experiences, not just transportation.
Events to monitor
- CDAO Chicago (Aug 8-9, Chicago) — Midwest data leaders, AI strategies, practical peer learning.
- NAWBO Leadership Academy (Aug 19-20, Washington, D.C.) — Empowering women entrepreneurs with leadership skills, funding advice, and networking.
This week's reality check
How to design AI interfaces users will actually trust in 2025
AI has become the cornerstone of modern UX design, offering unprecedented opportunities to create tailored experiences. But here's the thing — all that potential means nothing without trust. A trusted user interface focuses on making digital systems secure and trustworthy by controlling who can access data and keeping information safe. Users need control over their data and protection against common threats like phishing.
Where does human-like AI actually work in real business scenarios?
Human-like AI can build genuine trust in sensitive contexts like healthcare or sales, but it risks feeling manipulative when done wrong. The key insight is that it performs best when tailored to specific audiences; what resonates with older users might completely alienate Gen Z users who can spot fake authenticity from miles away.
🔥 Next week: More wins, fewer buzzwords.
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