Artificial Intelligence

Mar 6, 2026

OpenAI is launching "ChatGPT for Excel," a beta add-in that lets users create, edit, and analyze spreadsheets through natural language. The tool runs on the new GPT-5.4 model, which OpenAI says is specifically optimized for financial tasks like modeling, scenario analysis, and data evaluation.

ChatGPT running as an add-in inside Microsoft Excel. The left side shows a balance sheet with financial data from 2020 to 2023, while the right panel shows ChatGPT responding to a cash flow analysis question and making changes directly in the worksheet. | Image: OpenAI

OpenAI tested its own models alongside Opus 4.6 on an internal benchmark designed to evaluate real investment banking tasks, such as building a three-statement model with correct formatting and sources.

Model	Average Score (higher is better)
GPT-5	0,437
GPT-5.2 Thinking	0,684
GPT-5.2 Pro	0,717
GPT-5.4 Thinking	0,873
Opus 4.6	0,641

OpenAI is also rolling out financial data connections for providers like FactSet, Moody's, S&P Global, and LSEG. ChatGPT for Excel is initially available in the US, Canada, and Australia for Business, Enterprise, Pro, and Plus users. A version for Google Sheets is planned to follow.

Comment Source: OpenAI

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 6, 2026

Short News

Oracle is planning to cut thousands of jobs to manage the massive costs of its AI data center expansion, Bloomberg reports. The cuts will affect multiple divisions and could be implemented as early as March. Some reductions target job categories the company expects to need less due to AI. Oracle had around 162,000 employees worldwide as of the end of May 2025. Under Chairman Larry Ellison, Oracle is investing heavily in data centers for AI customers like OpenAI.

Analysts expect the company's free cash flow to turn negative in the coming years before the spending starts to pay off around 2030. In February, Oracle announced plans to raise up to $50 billion this year through debt and equity sales. The stock has fallen 54 percent from its September 2025 high. Oracle had already disclosed in September a restructuring plan costing up to $1.6 billion – the largest in the company's history.

Comment Source: Bloomberg

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 6, 2026

AI research

AI models can barely control their own reasoning, and OpenAI says that's a good sign

With GPT-5.4 Thinking, OpenAI is reporting on “CoT controllability” for the first time – a measure of whether AI models can deliberately manipulate their own reasoning. An accompanying study finds that reasoning models almost universally fail at this task, which OpenAI says is encouraging for AI safety.

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Matthias Bastian

Mar 6, 2026

AI in practice

Anthropic's new study shows AI is nowhere near its theoretical job disruption potential

Matthias Bastian

Mar 6, 2026

Short News

Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude is adding more than a million new users daily. Mike Krieger shared the milestone on X. The Instagram co-founder joined Anthropic in 2024, initially as Chief Product Officer, and now leads the AI lab's new experiments division.

Mike Krieger announced that more than a million people are signing up for Claude every day. | Image: Anthropic

The surge likely has several drivers. In the consumer space, Anthropic has benefited from the ongoing Pentagon controversy, where the company is widely considered the moral winner compared to OpenAI.

At the same time, AI adoption is growing across the board. Since October 2025, annualized revenue for both companies is estimated to have roughly doubled—from $13 billion to $25 billion for OpenAI, and from $7 billion to $19 billion for Anthropic. That said, both companies are still burning through cash, with massive costs and liabilities offsetting those revenue figures.

Comment Source: Krieger via X

Matthias Bastian

Mar 5, 2026

AI in practice

OpenAI launches GPT-5.4 Thinking and Pro combining coding, reasoning, and computer use in one model

Matthias Bastian

Mar 5, 2026

AI in practice

ChatGPT users research products but won't buy there, forcing OpenAI to rethink its commerce strategy

OpenAI wanted to turn ChatGPT into a shopping destination, but only about a dozen retailers signed up and users weren’t buying. Now the company is handing off purchases to app partners like Instacart and Target.

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Matthias Bastian

Mar 5, 2026

Short News

Google is expanding its AI-powered search into the workplace. The company has rolled out the "Canvas" feature in AI mode for all users in the US. Canvas is a workspace built into Google's chat systems that lets users organize projects and plans over time. ChatGPT and Claude offer similar functionality.

The update also adds support for creative writing and coding tasks. Users can create documents or build interactive tools and dashboards directly within search: just type in a prompt, and Google generates a working prototype that pulls together current web information and data from Google's Knowledge Graph. Results can be tested, code viewed, and everything refined through chat. The feature is available now at google.com/ai in the US.

With Canvas, AI mode is looking more and more like the Gemini app. Google seems to be gradually unifying its chat offerings, adding features that blur the line between search and a full AI assistant. At some point, AI mode and Gemini could merge into a single product, giving Google its own direct equivalent to ChatGPT.

Comment Source: Google

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 5, 2026

Short News

Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Oracle, xAI and OpenAI signed a voluntary pledge at the White House to cover the electricity costs of their data centers themselves. The commitment is not legally binding. The goal is to prevent the massive energy demand of AI data centers from driving up electricity bills for households and small businesses, Reuters reports.

President Trump first announced the so-called "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" during his State of the Union Address. The companies promise to secure their own power sources or expand existing plants and cover grid upgrade costs.

Critics like Jon Gordon of Advanced Energy United doubt that new power plants can be built fast enough to relieve the grids, according to Reuters. Especially since the administration is focusing on natural gas rather than faster-to-build solar and wind energy. The initiative comes ahead of the November midterm elections, where rising energy costs are a key voter concern.

Comment Source: Reuters

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 5, 2026

AI in practice

Yann LeCun wants to replace the AGI concept with "Superhuman Adaptable Intelligence"

A new paper by researchers at Columbia University and NYU, including Yann LeCun, argues that AGI is a flawed concept. Human intelligence is not general, they say, but specialized. Instead, they propose the term “Superhuman Adaptable Intelligence”.

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