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AI or You're Fired? Why Duolingo and Shopify's New Hiring Rulebook Will Be The Norm
Google widens access to AI mode, NVIDIA and Anthropic clash on U.S. chip restrictions, Meta Ray-Bans make voice recording default, future of the AI workforce and more!
Everyday AI
May 01, 2025
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Outsmart The Future
Today in Everyday AI
7 minute read
š Daily Podcast Episode: AI or youāre fired? We dive into why more AIs than humans might be your companyās future. Give it a listen.
šµļøāāļø Fresh Finds: Microsoft launches Phi series models, Meta to add a paid tier to its AI app and Google testing ads in chatbots. Read on for Fresh Finds.
š Byte Sized Daily AI News: Google widens access to AI mode in search, NVIDIA and Anthropic clash on U.S. chip restrictions and Meta Ray-Bans make voice recording default. For that and more, read on for Byte Sized News.
š§ Learn & Leveraging AI: Wondering why companies like Duolingo and Shopify are making the switch to AI employees? We break down what you can expect for the future of the AI workforce. Keep reading for that!
ā©ļø Donāt miss out: Did you miss our last newsletter? We talked about OpenAI rolls back GPT-4o update, NVIDIA's 3D AI image generator tool, Meta launches LlamaFirewall and job security & AI. Check it here!
AI or You're Fired? Why Duolingo and Shopify's New Hiring Rulebook Will Be The Norm š
AI or you're fired?
That's kinda been the trending train of thought recently with Duolingo and Shopify's new statements on AI in the workplace.
Some people are shocked. We're not.
We'll explain why this seemingly shocking workplace rulebook will become the new norm.
Also on the pod today:
ā¢ AI's Impact on Hiring Practices š¼
ā¢ Effect of AI on Entry-Level Jobs š§āš¼ļø
ā¢ Company Adaptation to AI Workforce š¢
Itāll be worth your 46 minutes:
Listen on our site:
Click to listen
Subscribe and listen on your favorite podcast platform
Listen on:
Hereās our favorite AI finds from across the web:
New AI Tool Spotlight ā LLMrefs is an AI SEO keyword rank tracker for LLM search engines, Querri is an AI data platform and AgentRunner is a friendly AI agent builder.
Microsoft ā Microsoft has launched three compact Phi series language modelsāPhi-4-reasoning, Phi-4-reasoning-plus, and Phi-4-mini-reasoningāthat deliver advanced reasoning performance, surpassing larger models.
Meta ā Metaās AI app plans to add a paid tier and ads.
Google ā Google is reportedly showing ads inside chats of third-party AI chatbots.
Microsoft ā Microsoft has launched three compact Phi series language modelsāPhi-4-reasoning, Phi-4-reasoning-plus, and Phi-4-mini-reasoningāthat deliver advanced reasoning performance, surpassing larger models.
LLMs ā A new study from Cohere, Stanford, MIT, and AI2 alleges that Chatbot Arenaās LM Arena, gave preferential private testing access to AI giants like Meta, OpenAI, Google, and Amazon.
Trending in AI ā Visa just announced a major push to connect AI personal assistants from top developers like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic directly to its payment network.
AI Startups - Sam Altmanās World is partnering with Tinder and Visa to use its ID verification tech. The company also unveiled the Orb Mini, a sleek, smartphone-like device designed to scan eyeballs and verify humans on the blockchain.
Future of Work ā Duolingo says that itās doubled its language courses thanks to its switch to AI employees.
Social Media ā Pinterest is adding AI labels to its platform to easily identify AI-generated content.
Read This ā The BBC deepfaked Agatha Christie to have her teach a writing course.
1. Google Widens Access to AI Mode with Smarter Search Features š
Google is dropping the waitlist for its AI Mode, making the experimental feature available to all U.S. users 18 and older enrolled in Labs, while also testing an AI Mode tab directly in Search. The update brings smarter capabilities, like visual cards for places and products, real-time info on local businesses, and personalized shopping recommendationsāturning Search into a more interactive assistant.
Users can now also resume past AI Mode sessions via a new desktop sidebar, perfect for ongoing projects or deep-dive research.
2. NVIDIA and Anthropic Clash Over AI Chip Export Controls āļø
In a rare public spat ahead of May 15 export restrictions, NVIDIA slammed Anthropicās claims about Chinese smuggling tactics involving AI chips hidden in āprosthetic baby bumpsā and ālive lobsters,ā calling them exaggerated. Anthropic, backed by Amazon, urges tighter U.S. controls to protect Americaās AI compute edge, warning that looser rules risk leaking critical tech to China.
NVIDIA counters that Chinaās AI expertise is formidable and that restrictive policies could stifle U.S. innovation and competitiveness. This debate unfolds as the Biden-era āAI Diffusion Ruleā takes effect and Trump reportedly considers changing the restrictions, signaling ongoing uncertainty in the global AI race.
3. Metaās Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Default to Always-On Voice Recording š¶
Meta has updated the privacy settings for its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, making automatic voice recording the new default, with no option to fully disable itāusers can only delete recordings afterward or turn off voice control entirely. According to Meta, these changes aim to improve AI functionality by using voice data to train speech recognition and command processing, while camera recordings remain excluded from AI training for now.
This shift raises fresh privacy concerns, especially as the AI-powered camera stays active unless voice control is completely disabled.
4. Amazon Unveils Nova Premier, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet šļø
Amazon has just launched Nova Premier, its latest AI model designed to handle text, images, and videos with a massive context window of 1 million tokens, making it one of the most context-aware models available today. While it lags behind rivals like Googleās Gemini 2.5 Pro on coding and STEM benchmarks, it shines in knowledge retrieval and visual understanding, positioning it as a powerful tool for specialized AI tasks.
Available through Amazon Bedrock at competitive pricing, Premier is aimed at āteachingā smaller models via distillation rather than deep reasoning or fact-checking.
5. Google and Apple Near Gemini AI Partnership For iPhone š²
In a recent court hearing, Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that Google is close to finalizing a deal to integrate its Gemini AI into Appleās iPhone, potentially enhancing Siri with more advanced AI capabilities by the end of 2025. This move, confirmed during the search monopoly trial and backed by past hints from Appleās Craig Federighi, signals a shift toward offering users choice in AI models on Apple devices.
Pichai also disclosed discussions with Apple CEO Tim Cook about expanding third-party AI options within Apple Intelligence later this year. If successful, this partnership could reshape how millions interact with AI daily, blending Googleās cutting-edge tech directly into Appleās ecosystem.
6. Microsoft and Meta Surge on Strong AI Earnings Boost š
Shares of Microsoft and Meta Platforms jumped significantly after both companies reported quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, driven by robust AI and cloud-computing growth. Microsoftās Azure cloud and Metaās AI-powered ad tools reassured investors that their heavy AI investments are starting to pay off, pushing NVIDIA and AMD shares higher as well.
Amazon and Alphabet also saw gains ahead of upcoming earnings reports, signaling broad market optimism around AIās role in tech growth.
7. Google Gemini Adds Native Image Editing to Its AI Chatbot šø
Googleās Gemini chatbot now allows users to edit both AI-generated and personal images directly within the app, rolling out gradually starting today across most countries with support for 45+ languages. This new feature builds on Googleās earlier AI image-editing experiments and promises more nuanced, multi-step editsālike swapping backgrounds or changing hair colorāintegrated seamlessly with text prompts.
To address deepfake concerns, Google will embed invisible watermarks in all Gemini-edited images and is testing visible ones as well.
š¦¾How You Can Leverage:
Your boss may soon say: prove AI canāt do your job.
How would you respond?
Shopify and Duolingo just blew up the internet with their new hiring rule: prove AI can't do it before we'll hire a human and replacing contractors with AI.
And guess what? They're prolly right.
By the end of 2025, your company better have more AI systems than human employees or you'll be financially crushed by competitors who do.
Ex: each full-time employee should have access to (and be trained on!) more than 1 AI system. (Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.)
So while the recent Shopify and Duolingo AI moves may seem a bit shock and awe, itās actually sound business advice that puts humans first.
Cuz if you arenāt swapping antiquated human-only roles with State of the Art LLMs, that actually means youāre giving up on the humans driving your company forward.
We dug into this uncomfortable truth on today's show, breaking down why this "use AI or you're fired" approach isn't just a passing trend.
Itās the new normal AI playbook for U.S. companies.
Hereās what you need to know. š
1 ā Why Every Employee Needs Multiple AI Assistants š¤
Every single person at your company should have access to at least 2-3 different SOTA LLM licenses or agentic AI tools right now.
Not tomorrow. Today.
This isn't some futuristic fantasy. It's happening at companies that are eating everyone else's lunch.
Your marketing team needs access to specialized AI for creative work. Your developers need Cursor or Replit or Windsurf. Your support team needs customer service AI.
On top of that? Everyone needs general AI assistants and autonomous agents through workspace tools (Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini) plus enterprise-grade ChatGPT.
Count it up, shorties.
That's multiple AI "employees" per human. And that ratio will only increase.
If you still have more humans than AI āemployeesā next year, good luck.
Try this:
Audit your team's current AI access today. Make a spreadsheet with every employee's name and which AI tools they currently use.
Then add columns for which tools they SHOULD have based on their role. Include domain-specific tools (like Cursor for developers or IconAI for marketers) alongside general tools.
Calculate your current human-to-AI ratio. If it's less than 1:2, you're already behind the curve.
2 ā The New Business Playbook: AI-First or Slowly Die š
When we say "use AI or you're fired," it sounds harsh.
It is.
But it's also necessary shorties.
Duolingo literally just launched 48 AI-built courses days after announcing their AI-first policy. They didn't just talk ā they showed what's possible. And sprinted.
The uncomfortable truth? If you're not forcing this transition, your competitors are. And they'll demolish you with 10x productivity while you're still debating whether AI is "readyā and worrying about hallucination rates.
(You REALLY think Jim in marketing isnāt dropping 32 plates a day?! Cmon.)
A Pew survey found only 32% of workers expect AI to cut jobs. The other 68% are living in a fantasy world.
That's literally the entire point of AI ā to do more with less human labor.
Try this:
Pick one department in your organization and list EVERY task they perform.
Create a simple two-column document: "Tasks AI Can Do Now" and "Tasks Only Humans Can Do." Be brutally honest.
Use the most advanced AI available for your assessment ā Claudeās 3.7 Sonnet, OpenAIās o3, or Gemini Advanced with 2.5 Pro ā not basic models.
Now look at your "Only Humans" column.
Is it smaller than you expected? That's your reality check. Share this document with department leaders and ask them to defend any human-only classifications they disagree with.
3 ā Creating Your AI-First Transformation Plan š
Smart companies aren't just "adding AI" to existing workflows.
They're completely reimagining how work happens.
Shopify now requires teams to document their AI attempts before requesting additional staff or resources. They've added AI proficiency to performance evaluations.
Why? Because they say some employees are achieving TENFOLD productivity gains.
Even if you can 2X productivityā why the frick would you not do that?
The gap between AI-native companies and everyone else is about to become a canyon. And you don't want to be on the wrong side.
Try this:
Identify your AI champions today.
These aren't necessarily your tech people. Look for employees who already experiment with AI tools without being prompted. The curious ones. The adapters. Form a small task force (3-5 people) and give them a 30-day challenge: find three processes that can be completely reimagined with AI.
Not just enhanced ā reimagined. Have them document current time/resource costs versus AI-native approaches.
Present findings to leadership with concrete implementation plans. Make sure to address compliance issues for your specific industry and location.
Adapt or fade away.
Your choice.
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