📰 News Roundup

• Need a Valentine? Grok launched its female companion Ani to much press last month, now she has a male companion to join her, by the name of Valentine. Valentine and Ani are part of the $30 a month package by Grok. Both have a NSFW mode, as the world of AI companions rapidly accelerates.

• AI trading bots are rigging the market without being asked: In a report from The Wharton School, researchers have found that AI trading bots are working out how to rig the market without being instructed to do so. Winston Dou from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology adds: “For humans, it’s hard to coordinate on being dumb because we have egos. But machines are like ‘as long as the figures are profitable, we can choose to coordinate on being dumb.”

• Digital Heartbeat: Eleven Labs has launched its new AI music service, creatively named Eleven Music. There has been a polarizing debate over AI music services in the past, with the major labels taking a strong stance, but Mati Staniszewski, CEO and co-founder of Elevenlabs states regarding the major labels: “Currently we aren’t using their data in our model.” Check out the WSJ article to hear some of the creations and try it out for yourself!

• AI Physio App halves UK waitlist for medical treatment: In a three-month trial as part of the NHS, the UK’s health service has cut treatment waiting lists by 55% for back pain. In a testimonial, patient Annys Bossom had been waiting for treatment for 17 weeks when offered the app stating: "I started my treatment the same day, and was able to get appointments and complete exercises whenever I liked. I was back to normal after a couple of weeks."

🛠️ Tool Of The Week: Higgsfield

Higgsfield is potentially the best AI tool for creatives out there right now. Its ‘consistent characters’ and multi-reference image tools are second to none. Enabling creators and creative directors to produce campaigns like never before.

For instance their multi-reference image tool enables you to take two reference images and merge them into a complete ‘copycat’ ideal for marketing products or editorial campaigns. In this example Sydney Sweeney and a Parisian street style photo have been merged for this campaign image.

Try out Higgsfield HERE.

🕵️‍♀️ The era of SEO is over. Say hello to GEO

We reported last week that the New York Times had signed a deal worth $20 million with Amazon, whilst still being in a hot legal battle with OpenAI. As the publishing industry tries to grapple with AI advancements, one of the most significant challenges for publishers is that as AI agents turn into web crawlers, the user may never leave the AI platform, and never visit the publisher at all. A whole industry based around Search Engine Optimization is rapidly shifting to something called Generative-Engine Optimization, which in-short is seen by experts as “Answer Optimization”, a method of understanding how to still monetize platforms in a world of answer generation.

Aleyda Solis of SEO firm Orainti stated “Chatbots keep all the users on the platform until they have a satisfying answer, and if it’s informational, they might not visit you at all.” While speaking with New York Magazine.

The CEO of Profound, James Cadwallader adds: “We’re at the inflection point where people don’t need to visit websites… ChatGPT visits on my behalf, a new webpage is created, these are the citations, this is where it came from, and no one cares. Answer engines hijack, or steal, the relationship.”

In the race to answer faster, publishers risk becoming invisible, present in the data, but absent from the experience. But for those willing to evolve, there’s a new frontier to shape: Where storytelling, trust, and innovation redefine how information is delivered and valued.

👾 Watch: “Innovating Inside The Machine” From the NY AI & Creativity Summit

As we look ahead to our LA Summit this November, we’re reflecting on some of the powerful conversations that took place at our inaugural AI & Creativity Summit in New York this past April.

One standout session brought together Mike Houston (Amazon), Hannah Elsakr (Adobe), and Chaim Haas (Bloomberg) for a deep dive into how AI is driving a new era of creativity within large organizations. From reimagining enterprise workflows to sparking ground-up innovation, the panel explored the tension, and opportunity, between top-down AI tools and grassroots creative experimentation. This session offered a rare glimpse into how some of the world’s biggest companies are adapting to this shift.

If you missed it, you can now watch the full panel online, and if you're interested in joining us in LA, tickets for the November Summit are available below.

🚨 GPT-5 Has Been Released

In the final few minutes before this weekly newsletter landed in your inboxes, Sam Altman announced the release of GPT-5. Luckily, we all expected it, after all it’s known that OpenAI has penchant for announcing new advancements on a Thursday. Whilst we all unpack the announcement, what we do know is:

• GPT-5 is available to ALL users, although there will be a cap for free users.

• OpenAI tested the model for five thousand hours to best prepare for AI safety concerns.

• Altman’s opinion is that GPT-5 is “The best model in the world at coding.”

• OpenAI is adding four personality themes to customize how the model responds: “Cynic,” “Robot,” “Listener,” and “Nerd.”

Nick Turley (the head of ChatGPT) instantly referenced the vibes, stating:

We’re looking forward to next week’s newsletter, where GPT-5 has either created a viral trend, an unintended use-case, or become sentient.

Til next time,

Dani Van de Sande (Founder), James Joseph (The Weekly Newsletter’s Editor) & the Artist and the Machine team.

ARTIST AND THE MACHINE is a free newsletter featuring the latest in AI x culture. Subscribe so you never miss an issue, and if you liked it, share with 1-2 friends.

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