Leap, Lunge, or Lag?

Who’s pulling ahead in the AI feature race?

• ChatGPT's Memory for Everyone
  Free ChatGPT users now see conversations remembered across sessions—no more re-pasting context every time you log in.

• Midjourney v7 Defaulted for All
  The image generator leveled up with richer textures and more photorealistic details. It's now the default model, and you don’t have to lift a finger to use it. Although creating images is still a bit of a learning curve, I’m a v7 fangirl.

• Google’s Veo 3 Debuts with Audio
  June was a busy month for Google’s Veo 3, their latest AI video generation model. Veo 3 is reportedly capable of generating cinematic-quality 8‑second videos with synchronized sound, dialogue, ambient audio, and realistic motion physics. There are some seriously juicy features I look forward to digging into.

• Gemini Gets a Robot Brain
  Google’s Gemini model now works on-device for simple robotic tasks like recognizing objects or following voice commands—no Wi-Fi required.

Drama Mama of the Month

No shortage of AI drama in June. Biggest business drama in the AI world for June goes to… META

Meta snags top OpenAI researchers—seven in total—sparking a talent arms race that has Silicon Valley buzzing. OpenAI claimed “no one important left.” Meta’s CTO clapped back that OpenAI was “trying to make it weird.”

This is more than gossip—it’s about who controls the next wave of smart machines. When you see AI improve fast, it’s probably because someone just changed teams.

NOTE: Yep, a bit boring with just text… next month’s edition will be much sexier!

Hot & Handy: Tools You'll Actually Use

Here are some choice updates on broadly useful tools for us busy professionals.

• Midjourney’s Video Preview Tool
  Generate animated clips from still images—great for marketing or social media. It’s short-form video without a shoot. Haven’t dug into this yet but will in July.

• ChatGPT Memory for All Users
  It remembers what matters—like your company’s tone or recurring tasks. Think of it like an assistant that finally takes notes.

• Gemini Scheduled Actions
  You can now say things like “Remind me every Monday to send the sales deck,” and it just... does it. Not revolutionary—but very practical.

• ElevenLabs introduced… 

  …Voice Design v3, featuring new upgrades for more expressive voice outputs and support for over 70 languages with accurate accents, making voice work “more natural” in many languages. These are admittedly getting pretty good.

• Gamma App
  Turn your bullet points or rough notes into beautiful, mobile-friendly decks. Great for sales, training, and strategy meetings. I’ve been seeing the all over, but haven’t used it yet myself.

• Bonus extra: Creative Commons Unveiled CC (creative commons) Signals,

  For you marketers and creators, this is designed to spell out how AI models may reuse original work. Based on the same principles as the CC licenses and tens of billions of works openly licensed online today, CC Signals is a mechanism to convey preferences for how owned content can be reused by machines based on a set of limited but meaningful options shaped in the public interest.

Megatrend in Motion

AI talent wars are the new space race.

Hardware was yesterday. Today, it’s all about who’s got the brainpower. The biggest companies in tech are throwing tens of millions at recruiting top AI researchers—and locking them into long-term, secretive “superintelligence” projects.

What this means for you? Your own talent strategy needs to include AI-savvy employees. That might mean training, recruiting, or retaining differently. Don’t assume your ops lead won’t get poached… they might.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

AI’s misstep of the month

Google’s Gemini Overreach Backfires
Google quietly announced that Gemini would start reading your phone activity—including WhatsApp and Messages—to offer “helpful suggestions.” How very very Meta. Users pushed back hard. Google has since scrambled to explain it better and walk parts of it back.

Takeaway: even the biggest AI companies forget that “smart” must still mean respectful. Always communicate clearly when rolling out AI features, especially if data is involved.

AI's Mic Drop Moment

The biggest success story of the month is something I am deeply passionate about: AI’s positive impact on the future of our health and healthcare.

Google DeepMind just released AlphaGenome, a new AI model that predicts how DNA mutations affect thousands of molecular processes by analyzing sequences. It can read DNA stretches 100x longer than previous tools, predicting how nearby genes will behave and how other regulatory regions function.

Why it matters: What once took years in the lab now takes seconds. AlphaGenome even helped explain a mutation linked to leukemia—without touching a petri dish. It’s a massive leap for biotech, and a reminder that AI isn’t just writing emails—it’s rewriting what’s possible in science—today.

Under-the-Radar Rockstars

These AI tools may not get headlines, but I see them gaining momentum quietly—but powerfully. In case any are of interest to you or your team…

• FutureHouse by MIT – Automates early scientific research tasks. Great for research-driven startups.

• Synthesia – Make “talking head” videos in 140+ languages using AI avatars. Ideal for HR training and marketing intros.

• HingeSelect – AI-assisted physical therapy matching system. One to watch for healthcare orgs and wellness companies.

• Wysa Gateway – Mental health chatbot used by care providers and insurance plans. Smart, ethical AI for patient comms.

• LeanTaaS iQueue – Makes hospital scheduling more efficient. Quietly being adopted across major hospital systems.

Wait… What?

Pretty amazing…

Someone turned a photo of a cactus into a full-on cinematic desert scene using Midjourney’s new video tool—complete with sound effects and camera sweeps.

AI nature documentaries from houseplants? Apparently, yes.

Sandra Peterson, CEO & Founder
Sandstone Partners