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Dear Readers,
Suddenly, assistants are no longer passive—they click, scroll, and complete tasks independently. OpenAI's new ChatGPT agents are ushering in an era in which AI actively intervenes in digital processes: Excel analyses with formulas, complete PowerPoint presentations, booking trips—all without human intervention. Enhanced by reinforcement learning, they work like invisible colleagues who are constantly improving. The exciting question is: Who will be the first to harness this potential and set new standards in productivity?
In this issue, we go into detail: We analyze how ChatGPT agents are transforming work and business models, why Reid Hoffman believes a single “AI employee” is worth billions in revenue, and why Softbank is planning 1,000 agents per job. Also: Trump's change of course on Nvidia chips for China – a geopolitical bombshell with consequences for the global AI race.
In Today’s Issue:
OpenAI's new agents can now do your work for you, from booking trips to building PowerPoints.
Elon Musk reveals the name of Grok's new male companion: Valentine.
Common Ground lets you build and manage your own team of AI agents.
Mistral's Le Chat just got a massive upgrade with a new voice, deep research, and more.
And more AI goodness…
All the best,
OpenAI’s Chat GPT Agent
The Takeaway
👉 ChatGPT agents act independently in apps and tools – a leap from reactive chat to active action
👉 Developers can build customized agents and automate entire workflows.
👉 The resulting ecosystem creates new business models and productivity gains.
👉 Those who start early will secure decisive advantages in the age of “assistant AI.”
With the new ChatGPT Agents, OpenAI is taking a big step forward: AI is no longer a passive conversation partner, but can perform tasks independently. Whether booking a trip, automating complex workflows or coordinating several apps - the agents act directly in digital ecosystems and carry out processes that were previously reserved for humans.
The new ChatGPT Agent takes on demanding tasks in real working life: It creates complex Excel spreadsheets with formulas and pivot analyses, generates PowerPoint presentations including transitions, diagrams and layout - all without human intervention. This is made possible by a virtual computer that works with visual web control (clicks, scrolls) and constantly optimizes itself thanks to reinforcement learning.
The exciting question now is: how quickly will we be able to use this new generation of assistants productively and fully exploit their potential?
Why it matters: ChatGPT agents make AI proactive and open up a new chapter in human-machine interaction. They could automate and redefine the way we work.
Sources:
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In The News
Grok Gets a Male Companion
Elon Musk has announced that the male companion to his AI, Grok, will be named Valentine, after the protagonist from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land—the same novel that inspired the name Grok itself.
Introducing Common Ground
This new platform has been launched to help users build, direct, and inspect teams of AI agents by visualizing their dynamics and providing tools for transparent reasoning and shared memory.
Mistral's Le Chat Gets Major Upgrade
Mistral has rolled out powerful new features for its "Le Chat" assistant, including deep research reports, a voice mode powered by its new Voxtral model, advanced multilingual reasoning, and integrated image editing.
Graph of the Day
ChatGPT agent will soon be able to edit Excel spreadsheets on a human level.
Reid Hoffman: $100 million for an AI “employee”?
Reid Hoffman reflects on the provocative thesis that in the future, a company could generate billions in revenue with just one AI “employee.” This vision changes existing power structures and challenges democratic processes.
Softbank: 1,000 AI agents will replace 1 job
Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son announces that 1,000 AI agents could take over the work of one human being in the future. This raises questions about the concentration of power, labor markets, and the need for global regulation. The geopolitical dimension: Who controls these systems?
US lifts ban on Nvidia H20 chip exports to China
Trump recently lifted the export ban on Nvidia's H20 AI chips to China, a move that undermines the nearly three-year-old US strategy to slow China's progress in AI hardware. This decision could significantly strengthen China's technological position and reshape the global power struggle for AI computing power.
Put Your AI & Politics Insight in Front of 200,000+ Readers
Exploring how AI is reshaping politics, policy, or governance? We’re featuring sharp analysis and research on the intersection of AI and political systems in Superintelligence, read by 200k+ people.
If you have significant comments on AI and politics (unemployment, geopolitics, proposed legislation) and would like to have this discussion presented in the newsletter, get in touch via a brief summary to [email protected] with the subject line “Politics Submission”. We’ll reach out if your work is a fit for a future issue.
Question of the Day
Tweet of the Day
I had early access & ChatGPT agent is, I think, a big step forward for getting AIs to do real work
Even at this stage, it does a good job autonomously doing research & assembling Excel files (with formulas!), PowerPoint, etc.
It gives a sense of how agents are coming together
— #Ethan Mollick (#@emollick)
5:05 PM • Jul 17, 2025
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