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AI Is Painful for Journalists, But Good for Journalism

Google unveils Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental, Figure AI moves away from OpenAI, Google lifts AI weapons ban and more!

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Everyday AI
February 05, 2025

Outsmart The Future

Today in Everyday AI
7 minute read

🎙 Daily Podcast Episode: AI always has its pros and cons. So how can AI be painful for journalists but good for Journalism? We break down the future of AI in Journalism. Give it a listen.

🕵️‍♂️ Fresh Finds: OpenAI’s new rebrand, Google’s Gemini Ad plan and Musk fights back on AI lawsuit. Read on for Fresh Finds.

🗞 Byte Sized Daily AI News: Google unveils Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental, Figure AI moves away from OpenAI and Google lifts AI weapons ban. For that and more, read on for Byte Sized News.

🚀 AI In 5: We give you the pros and cons of Mistral’s AI agents and see how they stack up against custom GPTs. See it here

🧠 Learn & Leveraging AI: What effect does and will AI have on Journalism? We dive into what it means for the future of journalists. Keep reading for that!

↩️ Don’t miss out: Did you miss our last newsletter? We talked about DeepSeek's training cost revealed, OpenAI’s partnership in South Korea, Salesforce cutting 1,000 jobs and U.S. Gov. agency proposing AI strategy. Check it here!

 AI Is Painful for Journalists, But Good for Journalism 📝

This one's personal for me.

I talk GenAI every day. For 7 years, I was a journalist.

So what's the future like when the journalism and AI worlds collide?

Pete Pachal, Founder of The Media Copilot, joins us to discuss.

Join the conversation and ask Jordan questions on AI here.

Also on the pod today:

• Journalism's Perceptions of AI 🤔
• Benefits of AI for Journalism ✅
• Monetization and Legal Implications 💸

It’ll be worth your 30 minutes:

Listen on our site:

Click to listen

Subscribe and listen on your favorite podcast platform

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Here’s our favorite AI finds from across the web:

New AI Tool Spotlight – Salesify is a personal AI sales coach, AICamp is an AI platform for your business and Inkeep is an AI search for your docs and content.

OpenAI – OpenAI has once again rebranded, including a new logo.

OpenAI has also teased a new CRM-esque integration for their Japan-specific version of ChatGPT.

Google – 
In a recent investors call, Google’s CEO spoke on the company’s ideas for native ads in Gemini.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has 6 major concerns with AI.

Google has edited Gemini’s AI response in a Super Bowl commercial to remove an incorrect statistic.

Trending in AI – Elon Musk is looking to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of using AI-generated, copyright-infringing images inspired by "Blade Runner" at a Tesla event.

AI Tech - AMD has moved up the release of its next-gen data center GPUs.

AI Research – Scientists are studying whether or not the Internet and AI is affecting our memory.

AI in Media - Marvel is denying using AI on a recent poster released for its upcoming Fantastic Four movie.

1. Google Unveils Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental and Flash Thinking Models ⚡️ 

Google unveiled its latest flagship AI model, Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental, alongside the Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking, now accessible through the Gemini app. This release aims to capture attention as the tech world buzzes over Chinese startup DeepSeek's affordable, high-performing models. With enhanced coding capabilities and a massive context window, Gemini 2.0 Pro sets a new standard in Google's AI lineup.

Meanwhile, Google's introduction of the cost-efficient Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite appears to be a strategic response to DeepSeek’s market disruption, offering businesses potent AI tools at competitive rates.

2. Figure AI Drops OpenAI for a "Major Breakthrough" 🦿

Figure AI announced its departure from a collaboration with OpenAI to focus on its own AI innovations, promising something unprecedented for humanoid robots within 30 days. The decision to part ways stems from integration challenges; Figure AI's CEO Brett Adcock emphasized the need for vertically integrated AI tailored to specific hardware.

This move could signal a shift in the robotics industry, where proprietary systems akin to Apple's ecosystem may become the norm. Meanwhile, OpenAI seems to be exploring humanoid technology on its own, as demonstrated by a recent trademark filing, hinting at potential future developments.

3. Google Lifts AI Weapon Ban, Sparking Controversy 😳

Google’s parent company Alphabet has lifted its longstanding ban on using artificial intelligence for weapon and surveillance development. This decision has drawn criticism from Human Rights Watch, which warns it could complicate accountability for life-or-death battlefield decisions.

With AI's potential military advantage highlighted by recent conflicts like the Ukraine war, concerns over autonomous weapons systems are mounting. Alphabet argues that democracies should lead AI development to support national security, but critics say this shift underscores the need for regulation.

4. Workday Slashes 1,750 Jobs Amid AI Hiring Plans 👥

Workday has laid off 1,750 employees, marking an 8.5% reduction of its workforce. This decision aligns with recent tech layoffs by other giants, such as Okta and Cruise. Unlike its peers, Workday plans to pivot by hiring AI talent, signaling a shift in strategy under CEO Carl Eschenbach's leadership.

As companies navigate evolving market demands, this highlights the growing emphasis on artificial intelligence roles within the tech industry.

5. Google's Big Plans for Search in 2025 🔎

In a recent earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled ambitious plans to transform Google Search using AI, promising 2025 as a milestone year for innovation.

With Project Astra and Gemini Deep Research in the works, Google aims to evolve Search into an advanced AI assistant capable of handling complex queries and producing detailed reports. Pichai hinted at a future where Search operates more like a chatbot, allowing users to interact and ask follow-up questions.

6. Hugging Face Takes On OpenAI's Deep Research Tool 🥊

Developers at Hugging Face, including co-founder Thomas Wolf, have unveiled Open Deep Research, an open alternative to OpenAI's deep research tool, which is currently only available to premium subscribers. This new project uses OpenAI's o1 model and an open-source framework to autonomously navigate the web and conduct detailed research—although it doesn't quite match OpenAI's o3 model in performance. Despite a rocky start with heavy demand bogging down its demo launch, the team is committed to refining the experience and has made the source code available for public feedback.

7. Amazon To Announce Alexa Upgrade on February 26th 🗓

Amazon is gearing up for a wave of excitement as it schedules a product event on February 26th in New York City, promising a significant update on its Alexa digital assistant. With Panos Panay and the Alexa team at the helm, this update aims to bolster Alexa’s AI capabilities amid fierce competition from AI giants like OpenAI and Google.

Amazon has been striving to revamp Alexa with advanced AI, potentially introducing a subscription model to manage costs. This move marks a pivotal moment in Amazon’s quest to enhance Alexa’s functionality and profitability.

Mistral AI Agents: What they are and how to build one or free

AI startup and LLM maker Mistral allows you to make AI agents….for FREE!

There’s some good upsides to why you might want to use Mistral’s AI Agents over custom GPTs and Claude Projects.

We go over the pros and cons.

🦾How You Can Leverage:

AI summarization is forcing media companies to create actual value (and maybe that's exactly what we needed.)

Cuz let's be honest, shorties - journalism sold its soul to the algorithm gods years ago. 

We traded investigative reporting for Instagram reactions. Deep analysis for dopamine hits. Original sources for "optimized content."

Not anymore.

The Media Copilot Founder Pete Pachal joined us to break down how AI is fundamentally restructuring the economics of journalism. 

Pete has spent the last year training newsrooms on AI implementation, and his verdict might surprise you: The robots aren't coming for journalism's soul. They're coming for all the empty calories we've been pumping out instead.

What happens when AI can generate surface-level content faster than humans? 

Where's the money when summarization kills the pageview game? 

Can journalism actually level UP in the age of AI?

Buckle up. This gets wild. ☕️

1 – The End of Empty Calories 🤖

Remember "Let's see what Twitter thinks" articles?

AI does them better now. Faster too. It summarizes social reactions, aggregates basic facts, and churns out routine coverage with zero effort.

The commoditization of low-value content is accelerating. Newsrooms clinging to quick-hit strategies are watching their foundation crumble.

Pete watched minds explode when he first demonstrated AI content generation in newsrooms. 

A year later? Those same journalists are asking for advanced techniques. 

They've accepted that basic content creation is a losing game.

Try this: 

Run a content audit identifying everything that could be automated. Be ruthless.

Then reallocate those resources toward original reporting that machines can't replicate. Start with one section or beat. Document the impact. Scale what works.

2 – The Power of Must-Include Content 🎯

AI summarization tools are reshaping how people consume information.

These tools don't just regurgitate - they prioritize. They seek out comprehensive, unique, and authoritative content. The kind of journalism that has to be included in any meaningful summary of a topic.

Pete calls it "definitive content." Stories built on exclusive access, unique analysis, or previously unreported facts.

Try this: 

Before starting your next piece, write down what makes it essential to understanding the topic. 

No unique value? 

Go deeper. Find the untold story. Connect unexpected dots. Interview overlooked sources. Create something an AI summary can't ignore.

3 – Welcome to the Licensing Economy 💰

Journalism's business model is being reconstructed in real-time.

Page views don't matter when AI summarizes your content. Display ads mean nothing when readers never visit your site. The entire economic engine of digital media needs a rebuild.

Major publishers are already pivoting to licensing deals. They're treating AI summarization more like syndication than aggregation. Small publishers are exploring content marketplaces to monetize AI usage.

The age of cramming pages with ads until they're unreadable? DONE.

Try this: 

Start building direct relationships with AI platforms now. Explore content licensing opportunities. Most importantly - create journalism valuable enough that people will pay to get it straight from the source.

Quality journalism isn't dead. It's just been hibernating under an avalanche of optimized garbage. Time to dig it out.

⌚

Numbers to watch

$8 Billion

European AI startups attending the AI Action Summit in France collectively raised $8B in 2024

Now This …

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