Gregor Kobsik

Aug 8, 2026

Backflip AI has released its second AI model for CAD generation. It converts 3D scans and mesh files into fully editable, parametric CAD models. This process normally takes a lot of time and deep CAD expertise. Backflip says it cuts that down to just a few minutes. The demand is real: according to CEO Greg Mark, most factories have digital models for less than one percent of their parts. Digitizing components matters especially in the automotive and aerospace industries, where it plays a key role in prototyping and designing new parts.

CAD-Modell in Autodesk Fusion 360 mit Backflip.AI-Plugin | Bild: Backflip AI — CAD model in Autodesk Fusion 360 with the Backflip.AI plugin | Image: Backflip AI

Unlike earlier AI models that only generate triangle-based surface meshes, Backflip produces actual CAD operations like extrusions and revolutions. That means the results stay easy to modify. The tool runs as an add-in for Autodesk Fusion. Four reconstructions are free, and paid plans start at $20 per month after that. The startup has been active since December 2024 and is backed by $30 million in funding.

Comment Source: Backflip AI

Gregor Kobsik

Aug 2, 2026

Short News

Getting AI agents to work reliably in real business settings is still a messy problem. OpenAI is trying to fix that with Presence, a new offering aimed at enterprise customers. The company's existing Workspace Agents, which are customizable "GPTs," are mostly built for internal use cases. Presence goes further and targets production deployments in customer service and internal workflows.

When a use case goes beyond what Presence can handle out of the box, OpenAI's Forward Deployed Engineers step in. They work directly with the customer to pick the right workflows, connect existing systems, set up guidelines, and manage testing through to the production launch.

Presence is currently available to qualifying enterprise customers but isn't an open product. How OpenAI handles specific compliance requirements like the EU AI Act remains unclear. The company mentions trust mechanisms but hasn't shared any legal details.

Comment Source: OpenAI

Gregor Kobsik

Aug 2, 2026

Plus AI in practice

Claude Opus 5 pushes prompt-to-game AI from rough color blocks to full 3D prototypes with physics and music

Gregor Kobsik

Aug 1, 2026

Short News

ByteDance shipped Seedance 2.5, a new version of its AI video model. It generates video and audio in one pass, producing clips up to 30 seconds long that can be extended multiple times. Google's Gemini Omni Flash tops out at about 10 seconds. Users can upload up to 30 images, 10 video clips, and 10 audio files as reference to create scenes with multiple characters and camera angles. Textures, lighting, and skin detail have also improved.

ByteDance showcases the model’s capabilities in a short film produced entirely with Seedance 2.5. For ads and visual content, this lets teams build full productions in one pipeline instead of stitching together individual clips.

Short film “The Missing Pair” created entirely with Seedance 2.5 | Video: ByteDance

Seedance 2.5 is live on Jimeng AI and Doubao Pro, with API access through BytePlus ModelArk coming later. The previous version, Seedance 2.0, leads the image-to-video leaderboard for models with audio, according to Artificial Analysis. "District 9" director Neill Blomkamp used that version to create "Nightborne," a 13-minute short film generated entirely with AI.

Comment Source: ByteDance

Gregor Kobsik

Jul 30, 2026

Short News

Microsoft AI is making token efficiency a competitive focus, favoring small specialist models over general-purpose frontier models. AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman writes that the industry has to weigh top performance against cost. Rather than one all-purpose model, the company trains compact models for single fields. Its latest cybersecurity model MAI-Cyber-1-Flash tops the CyberGym benchmark by 12 percentage points over Anthropic's Mythos at half the cost, Suleyman says. But that result requires the MDASH system, which orchestrates several models and still routes hard tasks to OpenAI's reasoning models. Microsoft also says MAI-Image-2.5-Flash cuts GPU costs by up to 84 percent compared with GPT-Image-2.

Suleyman also wants swappable models that keep Microsoft from relying on one model family. Whether the small MAI models partly replacing OpenAI can match its performance remains doubtful.

Competition is moving from individual models to harnesses, the software that routes tasks and supplies context. Orchestrators send most work to cheaper specialists and reserve frontier models for hard cases. Anthropic modeled this approach for Claude Fable 5, while Sakana built Fugu around it.

Comment Source: Microsoft

Gregor Kobsik

Jul 24, 2026

Short News

Anthropic has expanded Claude's voice mode to run on the more powerful Opus and Sonnet models, not just Haiku. Users can switch models mid-conversation across the mobile app, desktop app, and web chat. The mode supports eleven languages and can tap into connected tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, or Slack to compose and send emails by voice.

Claude's updated voice mode lets users pick their model, switch languages, and grant access to external tools like Gmail. | Image: Anthropic

OpenAI's GPT-Live uses full-duplex audio, speaking and listening at the same time, while Claude uses a turn-based system that waits for the user to finish before responding. Google's Gemini Live takes a similar approach but is limited to smartphones. In practice, both OpenAI and Google feel more natural thanks to better speech processing. All three handle voice-based searches well, but Claude's edge is tool integration: Anthropic is currently the only provider that lets users compose and save an email directly from audio mode.

Comment Source: Anthropic