Intelligent Automation Newsletter #187

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If you’re new here, we celebrate the ways Artificial Intelligence is?making our world more Human. Make sure you check my new book and community.

This week’s 5 top stories you can't miss:

1?? [AI AGENT] OpenAI is reportedly?preparing to launch?a suite of specialized AI agents with price tags ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 a month for skills like knowledge work and Ph.D.-level research.

The details:

• OpenAI is planning three agent tiers: business professionals ($2k/mo), advanced software devs ($10k/mo), and PhD-level researchers ($20k/mo).
• Investor SoftBank has already reportedly committed $3B to these agent products for 2025 alone.
• The agentic offerings are expected to generate up to 25% of OpenAI's long-term revenue as the company expands beyond its current offerings.
• In January, CEO Sam Altman?predicted?that 2025 would see the first AI agents “join the workforce and materially change the output of companies.”

Why it matters:?With price tags rivaling senior employee salaries, OpenAI is betting big that specialized AI agents can deliver enough value to justify the enterprise-level subscription. The move could set new precedents for AI agent pricing while revealing just how much companies are willing to pay for automated expertise.

2??[AI MODEL] Alibaba’s Qwen team?released?QwQ-32B, a new AI reasoning model that leverages reinforcement learning to match or surpass the performance of larger competitors like DeepSeek-R1 at a fraction of the cost.

The details:

• QwQ-32B uses reinforcement learning at scale, significantly boosting performance on advanced math, coding, and reasoning-based tasks.
• The model is roughly 20x smaller than?DeepSeek-R1?yet delivers comparable or superior performance across key benchmarks.
• It is?priced?at just $0.20 per million input and output tokens, a roughly 90% reduction compared to similar performing models like R1 and o1-mini.
• Qwen has open-sourced the model under the Apache 2.0 license, with availability on Hugging Face and Alibaba Cloud's ModelScope platform.

Why it matters:?China’s open-source models continue to accelerate — with this latest launch from Qwen showing off some major performance gains despite shrinking size (near-frontier intelligence on-device is here) and cost. Clever training approaches are still proving their worth over raw model size as labs continue to push closer to AGI.

3??[SEMICONDUCTOR] TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, is?making?a massive?$100 billion investment?in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing over the next four years, expanding its Arizona operations to boost?AI?chip production.

The details:

• Expanding U.S. Manufacturing?– TSMC’s new investment adds to its existing?$65 billion?commitment, bringing its total U.S. investment to?$165 billion.
• AI?Chip Focus?– The company aims to?increase production of?AI?chips, critical for powering the next wave of?artificial?intelligence?advancements.
• Tariff & Policy Implications?– Trump has floated new tariffs on foreign chip production and has criticized the?CHIPS Act, raising concerns about potential disruptions to U.S.?AI?progress.
• Geopolitical Concerns?– The U.S. sees TSMC’s heavy presence in?Taiwan as a strategic risk?and has reportedly pushed the company to manage struggling Intel plants.

Why It Matters: With?AI?demand soaring,?TSMC’s expanded U.S. presence could be a game-changer for domestic chip production. However, experts caution that the investment may be contingent on?policy negotiations and tariff delays. As tech giants like OpenAI and Apple pledge massive U.S. investments, questions remain on how these ambitious projects will materialize.

4?? [SMARTPHONE] Honor announced a $10 billion investment in AI and unveiled plans for an "agentic" smartphone powered by Google's Gemini AI.

The details:

• This is significant because it represents one of the first mainstream consumer devices built specifically for agentic AI, potentially transforming how users interact with mobile technology by automating complex tasks based on contextual awareness.
• The new smartphone will employ a mobile AI agent to streamline tasks, reducing dependency on apps by integrating information from various sources like calendars and traffic data.
• Includes image upscaling and deepfake detection, enhancing security across flagship models like the Magic 7 Pro.

Why It Matters: Honor’s $10B commitment signals a clear intent to lead the new agentic AI smartphone race, but the real challenge lies in balancing automation with user control. While Google's Gemini AI integration is promising, reliance on a single ecosystem (Google) could limit interoperability compared to more open agent frameworks. This move intensifies the competition with Apple and Samsung, who have yet to unveil true agentic smartphones, potentially forcing them to accelerate their AI strategies.

5?? [SMARTPHONE] Perplexity is partnering with Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile's parent company) to develop an AI-powered phone priced under $1,000, launching later this year.

The details:

• Features a dedicated AI button for instant access to Perplexity's search and AI agent, enabling conversational task completion.
• Deep integration with AI search and agentic assistance, making it unique compared to other AI phones.
• Deutsche Telekom will leverage its network infrastructure to support the phone’s adoption.

Why It Matters: Perplexity’s approach is distinct from Honor’s—prioritizing a conversational AI-first experience rather than deep task automation. While an AI button for instant agent access sounds appealing, the true test will be whether this phone can replace traditional search behaviors rather than just supplement them. If executed well, this could challenge Google’s search monopoly on mobile, much like ChatGPT threatens traditional web search.

[Sponsored] ??? Podcast | Helping to eradicate food insecurity for thousands of people — with security & speed. On the latest episode of SAP Better Together, I had the privilege of joining Matthias Beeler and Keywan Nadjmabadi, two incredible co-IT leads from Essen für Alle Schweiz, and Thulium CEO Tamara McCleary to discuss how technology can serve humanity.

Essen für Alle Schweiz, a nonprofit organization founded during COVID-19, uses innovative technology to combat food insecurity in Switzerland and reduce food waste.? The power of youth leadership—Matthias developed the original system at the age of 13! ??? Scaling impact: 20 tons of food distributed weekly to 10,000+ individuals in need.

In this episode, we explore:? How technology drives impact with empathy and speed.? The synergy between AI, automation, and human uniqueness.? Building ethical, inclusive, and sustainable tech solutions.

?? As I shared, “Technology pushes us to be more human by helping us cultivate uniquely human abilities.”

?? Tune in to learn more: https://lnkd.in/epVwiy5X

#EssenfurAlle #btp #InnovationForGood #TechForGood #FutureOfFood #ImpactInnovation #DigitalTransformation

The two posts you can't miss this week:

?? Spokeless Wheels: The Future of Mobility?

?? Hexa, the pioneering commercial drone globally.

Let us join hands to make our world more human! —?Pascal

#artificialintelligence #intelligentautomation #futureofwork #AI #automation #management #technology #innovation