Talking dolphins & more (April 15, 2025)

Chris Raroque
Co-Founder
Elevenlabs AudioNative Player

Hey friends,
Today’s AI news feels like a sci-fi fever dream (in the best way). OpenAI’s new model has a name that makes zero sense, Google is trying to talk to dolphins, and China just dropped a video AI that might outpace the West on efficiency alone.
Let’s break it down, byte by byte.
⚙️ AGENTIC FOUNDATIONS
📦 OpenAI drops GPT-4.1 — and it’s API-only, baby
- OpenAI’s new GPT-4.1 family includes Mini and Nano versions
- Supports 1M token context (that’s like 8 React codebases worth)
- Cheaper, faster, better at coding, instruction following, and long-term memory
- OpenAI is phasing out 4.5 and punting GPT-5 past May
4.1 Nano = their fastest and cheapest model yet
Bonus: It’s 26% cheaper than GPT-4o
🔬 AI models make new discoveries — not just summarize them
- Rumor: OpenAI will release o3 and o4-mini models this week
- These “reasoning” models may be able to invent scientific ideas
- Could cost up to $20K/month for enterprises
- Early testers say they can detect pathogens, design recycling experiments, and more

🌊 Under The Sea
🎥 ByteDance’s Seaweed is crushing it
- 7B parameter video model that punches above its weight
- Dominates in image-to-video and multi-shot storytelling
- Outperforms models like Sora despite being smaller
- Focus on realistic human motion and lip sync
🐬 Google wants to talk to dolphins. Literally.

- DolphinGemma is an AI model trained on dolphin calls
- Uses Pixel 9-based underwater CHAT devices
- Designed with Georgia Tech to decode vocal patterns
- Could open up true interspecies communication
- Open-sourcing this summer
⚒️ NEW TOOLS
🛠️ 5 AI tools worth trying this week
- Pippit: Design marketing content with no skills required
- Sherlock: Catches AI cheating during interviews
- Video Ocean: Turn ideas into animated video scenes
- Kintsugi: Handles your sales tax like a chill accountant
- iAsk AI: No-login answer engine with scary-good precision
💡Also trending:
- ChatGPT adds full memory recall across chats
- Canva’s AI suite now handles everything visual
- Appsmith Agents: Secure, embedded data-connected agents
- Google Classroom's AI now autogenerates quizzes
- Meta's training its next LLM on EU public content (you can opt out... maybe)

🧪 PROMPT OF THE DAY
Collaboration Mastermind Mode
Prompt: Help me improve team collaboration and delegation for a project I’m leading. Break down how I can assign tasks based on individual strengths, keep everyone aligned without micromanaging, and maintain momentum. Include creative delegation techniques like "delegation poker" or rotating leadership roles.
⚡ TL;DR
- OpenAI 4.1 is cheaper, smarter, longer-winded, and totally API-focused
- New models (o3, o4-mini) may invent science — but you’ll need deep pockets
- Seaweed from ByteDance is a quiet beast in the video AI space
- DolphinGemma may help us decode dolphin speech (and we’re into it)
- AI Tools are coming for your quizzes, sales tax, and job interviews
See you tomorrow.
— Chris
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