💬 OpenAI Tests Ads in ChatGPT—Without Touching Answers

OpenAI tests ads, AI predicts tech moves, and tools shaping what comes next.

Author

Tirupati Rao
January 18, 2026

Hey, welcome back and thank you for being here.

Table of Content

  • Top News

  • Today’s AI Tool

  • This Week’s AI Tool Updates

  • Today’s Prompt

  • AI News Highlights

  • Productivity Tools

  • Useful Resources

  • Digital Products by itirupati.com

Breaking News

Image Source: OpenAI

1) 💬 OpenAI tests ads in ChatGPT—without touching answers

OpenAI will begin testing clearly labeled “Sponsored” ads for logged-in users on the Free tier and the $8/month Go plan. Ads stay separate from AI responses, conversations remain private, and sensitive topics like health or politics are excluded. Pro, Business, and Enterprise users remain ad-free—signaling a careful balance between monetization and trust.

2) 🤖 OpenAI quietly gears up for large-scale robotics manufacturing

OpenAI is reportedly scouting U.S.-based suppliers for chips, motors, and manufacturing components, pointing to a serious push into robotics. The move builds on its recent AI device acquisition and a Foxconn partnership, suggesting OpenAI is preparing to move beyond software into physical, mass-produced AI systems.

3) 🌍 TranslateGemma brings high-quality AI translation to 55 languages

Google introduced TranslateGemma, a new open translation model suite built on Gemma 3. Available in 4B, 12B, and 27B sizes, it delivers state-of-the-art translation quality with far fewer parameters—making accurate, multilingual AI usable on phones, laptops, and single-GPU setups.

Today’s AI Tool

Emergent - Build Full-Stack Apps

Emergent is an AI-powered app builder that turns natural language instructions into deployed, full-stack web and mobile applications.

Is it worth using? Yes, if speed matters more than manual control.

Who should use it? Non-technical founders, product managers, rapid prototypers, and small teams shipping MVPs.

Who should avoid it? Teams needing strict code governance, heavy customization, or low-cost long-running builds.

This Week’s

AI Tool Updates

  1. Anthropic expands Claude into a desktop coworker with “Cowork” preview
    Anthropic has rolled out Claude Cowork, a research-preview AI agent that lets Claude access designated folders and perform real work like organizing files, extracting data, and generating reports on your desktop — no terminal required. It’s part of a broader push to make agentic AI practical for everyday tasks beyond traditional chat.

  2. Cowork built by AI — and available for non-coders
    Anthropic shared that its Cowork tool was largely built by Claude itself, underscoring how AI can now assist not just developers but everyday users with multi-step workflows.

  3. Claude for Healthcare sees life sciences boost
    Anthropic is enhancing Claude for Healthcare with secure, HIPAA-ready integrations and tools for clinical trials and life sciences workflows, expanding AI support for medical professionals and research teams.

  4. Google’s Veo 3.1 gets major realism upgrades
    Google’s AI video generator Veo launched version 3.1 with improved motion accuracy and high-definition support, helping creators produce more realistic, mobile-friendly AI-generated video content.

  5. Microsoft Copilot adds in-chat commerce features
    Microsoft debuted Copilot Checkout, enabling users in the U.S. to browse, compare, and purchase products directly inside Copilot conversations — a notable step toward conversational commerce.

Prompt of the Week

Predict a Tech Company’s Next Move

Decode tech announcements to uncover what’s really happening, why it’s happening, and what the company is likely to do next—before it becomes obvious.

Perfect for founders, investors, operators, and curious power users.

You are a senior tech strategy analyst with 15+ years of experience.

Your task is to analyze a tech company’s recent announcement and predict its next strategic moves based on business signals—not PR language.

Company:
[COMPANY NAME]

Recent announcement / news:
[PASTE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT OR ARTICLE]

Known metrics (if available):
- Users:
- Revenue model:
- Growth rate:
- Market position:
(If unknown, state reasonable assumptions.)

Analyze this using the following lenses:

1) Financial Signals
- What revenue or cost pressure does this address?
- What new costs or risks does it introduce?
- What does this suggest about runway or monetization urgency?
- What investor expectations is this trying to satisfy?

2) Competitive Signals
- Which competitor or market trend triggered this?
- What gap or weakness is being addressed?
- How does this shift their positioning or narrative?
- What does this reveal about where they think the market is heading?

3) User Strategy Signals
- Which user segment is most affected?
- What behavior are they trying to push or reduce?
- How does this impact retention, growth, or pricing tolerance?
- What tension or backlash could this create?

Now produce:

A) What this announcement actually means (beyond the headline)  
B) The real problems they are trying to solve (but not saying publicly)  
C) Three likely next moves in the next 6–12 months (ranked by probability)  
D) What users, builders, or businesses should prepare for

Be specific. Avoid hype. Reason step by step.

How to use

  1. Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini

  2. Drop in a real announcement (blog, press release, acquisition, pricing change)

  3. Run it and focus on Section C: Likely Next Moves

Pro Tip
Run the same prompt before and after a big announcement.
If the predicted moves match what later happens—you’ve found a real signal.

2 Minutes Highlights

AI News Highlights

Your 2-Minute Download of What’s Actually Changing in AI. 👇

AI News Highlights

  1. AI race hits a new phase as major players like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google reveal transformative updates and integrations across agents, assistants, and infrastructure.

  2. Apple selects Google’s Gemini to power next-gen Siri, aiming for more personalized, context-aware AI on mobile and cloud.

  3. Google updates Veo 3.1 with realistic, mobile-ready AI video generation tools for creators and professionals.

  4. Raspberry Pi launches AI HAT+ 2, enabling generative AI on edge devices like Raspberry Pi 5 with local LLM inference.

  5. China’s tech sector narrows the US AI lead, driven by risk-taking and innovation despite hardware bottlenecks.

  6. New Gmail AI features rollout, bringing contextual Gemini-powered tools to inbox workflows with privacy nuances.

  7. AI adoption across industries shifts from hype to execution, with enterprise deployments focusing on measurable value and governance.

  8. Researchers say world models could unlock the next AI revolution, offering steadier reasoning and spatial understanding.

  9. AI predictions for 2026 emphasize integration over innovation, with specialized agents and ethical engineering topping priorities.

  10. Retailers experiment with AI agents for analytics and shopping engagement, as conversational commerce takes shape.

💰 AI Startup Funding Highlights

  1. xAI raised a $20 B Series E, fueling Grok growth and AI infrastructure expansion.

  2. Aivar secured a $4.6 M seed round for AI accelerator and talent delivery.

  3. LMArena raised $150 M Series B to benchmark and rank LLMs via user comparisons.

  4. Figure AI closed a $675 M Series C to scale humanoid robotics for logistics.

  5. Perplexity AI secured $500 M Series D to expand agentic AI search capabilities globally.

Check out more updates (only summaries, no big articles) → itirupati.com/ai-pulse

Improve your Tasks

Productivity AI Tools

  1. Mindgrasp AI: An AI learning assistant that turns documents, videos, and lectures into notes, flashcards, quizzes, and summaries instantly.

  2. Coda: An all-in-one workspace that combines docs, spreadsheets, apps, and AI to help teams build custom workflows.

  3. Overchat AI: A single AI app that gives access to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and more for writing, chat, and image generation.

  4. Ninja AI: An all-in-one AI agent with access to 20+ top models for research, coding, writing, and creative work.

  5. Careerflow: An AI-powered career platform that helps job seekers optimize resumes, track applications, and land interviews faster.

Coming Hot

AI Tools of the day

  1. Laxis: An AI meeting copilot that turns sales conversations into summaries, action items, and ready-to-send follow-ups.

  2. Gamma: An AI tool that creates web-ready presentations, documents, and pages from simple prompts—no slides required.

  3. GetResponse: An all-in-one AI marketing suite for emails, landing pages, automation, and audience growth.

  4. Scalenut: An AI SEO platform that helps brands plan, write, and track content for both Google and AI search visibility.

  5. Omada: A do-it-for-me AI marketing team that runs campaigns in the background for service-based businesses.

😃 Submit your AI Tool to growing AI marketplace for creators & entreprenuers.

Useful Resources

1. Google AI Ecosystem: A Complete Guide to 22 Google AI Tools and Models: A deep dive into Gemini, NotebookLM, Veo, Imagen, AI Studio, and every major Google AI product shaping search, work, and creation.

2. Understand AI in 10 Minutes: A Simple, Practical Guide for Beginners

3. How AI, Machine Learning, LLMs, and ChatGPT Work Together: Learn the real difference between AI, Machine Learning, LLMs, GPT, and ChatGPT. Simple explanations with clear examples for creators, founders, and SEO focused websites.

4. Ultimate AI Prompt Toolkit: 5000+ curated prompts, cheat sheets, and AI tools to supercharge your productivity, creativity, and communication.

5. AI Writing & Productivity Resources by OpenAI: Official OpenAI guides covering API usage, prompt design, best practices, and example workflows—useful for developers and non-developers alike.

Digital Products by itirupati.com

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See you next Saturday—until then, stay curious!

– Team itirupati.com