PLUS: An AI copilot for particle accelerators and Intel's new Core Ultra Series 3 chip
Good morning
OpenAI is moving into the highly sensitive domain of personal health with a new feature that connects your medical records directly to its chatbot. The move aims to establish ChatGPT as a personal wellness assistant, but it arrives amid major safety concerns.
The feature places a powerful but unproven tool into the hands of consumers for critical decisions. With the severe risks of AI confabulation, can users be relied upon to understand the tool's fundamental limitations when their health is on the line?
In today’s AI recap:
OpenAI's plan for your medical records
An AI copilot for particle accelerators
Razer’s AI companion pivots to friendship
OpenAI Wants Your Health Data
The Recap: OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Health, a new feature designed to connect your personal medical records and health app data for AI-powered analysis. The move aims to position the chatbot as a personal wellness assistant, but it arrives amid significant safety concerns.
Unpacked:
ChatGPT Health lets you summarize care instructions, prepare for doctor appointments, and understand test results. OpenAI says it developed the feature with input from over 260 physicians to help users feel more informed about their health.
The launch comes just days after a report detailed how a teenager died following erroneous AI guidance from the chatbot, highlighting the severe risks of AI confabulation in high-stakes conversations.
Despite its health-focused purpose, OpenAI’s own terms explicitly state its services are not for diagnosis or treatment. The company maintains this policy for ChatGPT Health, positioning it as a tool to support, not replace, professional medical care.
Bottom line: This feature places a powerful but unproven tool directly into the hands of consumers for critical health decisions. Its success will depend on its ability to provide consistently safe guidance and on users understanding its fundamental limitations.
AI Runs a Particle Accelerator
The Recap: Researchers at Berkeley Lab are now using an AI copilot to help operate a complex particle accelerator, a major step in automating high-stakes scientific instruments. This new system can autonomously run experiments and troubleshoot issues, according to the groundbreaking work published by the team.
Unpacked:
The AI assistant helps manage the accelerator's 230,000 process variables, tackling a system so complex that even minor interruptions can halt 40 concurrent scientific experiments.
Engineers use simple text prompts to direct the AI, which then generates and runs Python scripts to analyze data, visualize results, or safely interact with the accelerator's hardware.
The system has already demonstrated its ability to reduce experimental setup efforts by 100x, and the framework is now being deployed at other major facilities, including the ITER fusion reactor.
Bottom line: This project provides a blueprint for applying AI agents to other complex scientific and industrial facilities, from fusion reactors to telescopes. It marks a shift toward AI not just analyzing data, but actively participating in the scientific process itself.
Intel's AI Gambit
The Recap: Intel is making a major push to challenge Nvidia's AI dominance with its new Core Ultra Series 3 chip. The company is aiming to power not just the next wave of PCs but also emerging devices like humanoid robots.
Unpacked:
Intel's new chip will appear in over 200 new PC designs, improving battery life and boosting performance for on-device AI tasks like enhancing video calls.
The strategy extends beyond laptops, targeting emerging fields like humanoid robots, where one company is already switching from Nvidia to Intel to gain performance and lower costs.
The company's turnaround is bolstered by support from the US government, with President Trump recently highlighting the investment after he posted on Truth Social about meeting with Intel's CEO.
Bottom line: Intel's strategy aims to solidify its core PC business with AI features while aggressively expanding into new hardware frontiers. Its success hinges on executing this plan faster than its powerful rivals in the high-stakes race for AI chip supremacy.
Razer's AI Companion Pivots to Friendship
The Recap: Razer's Project Ava has shifted from its original concept as an AI gaming coach to a holographic anime companion designed for friendship and assistance. You can now reserve a unit for its planned release later this year.
Unpacked:
Originally teased as a serious gaming assistant, Project Ava now focuses on providing a 24/7 digital partner in the form of an anime-style character.
The companion avatars, designed by Animation Inc., are powered by Grok's AI model to interact with users and provide in-game feedback.
Razer’s marketing, which calls Ava a “Friend for Life,” is sparking a debate about whether AI should be positioned as a personal companion or remain a productivity tool.
Bottom line: Project Ava’s new direction highlights a growing trend of creating emotionally resonant AI, blurring the lines between digital assistants and personal companions. This shift tests consumer appetite for AI that offers not just utility, but also a sense of connection.
AI Pulse
Tesla approved a new $29 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk, explicitly linking the award to the company’s strategic transition towards becoming a leader in AI and robotics.
CEOs boast that shrinking headcounts are a positive signal of AI adoption and efficiency, reframing staff cuts as a strategic accomplishment rather than a sign of trouble.
Rod Stewart sparked fan debate after using AI-generated visuals in a concert tribute that showed the late Ozzy Osbourne alongside other deceased music legends like Freddie Mercury and Amy Winehouse.