Siri meets Gemini, Claude steps up & more (January 13, 2026)

Good morning,

Apple, Google, and Amazon are reshaping the assistant layer, while enterprise AI pushes deeper into healthcare and collaboration. Big platforms are tightening distribution as regulators push back on unsafe AI use. Product bundling and agent wars are accelerating.

Let’s dive in 👇

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🍎 Platform & Assistant Wars

🤖 Apple and Google explore Siri + Gemini

Apple and Google are exploring a deeper partnership that could let Gemini power parts of Siri. The move reflects Apple’s slower pace on foundation models and Google’s push to embed Gemini everywhere. If finalized, it would reshape how AI assistants are built, branded, and monetized on mobile platforms.

🗣️ Amazon says Alexa upgrade hits most devices

Amazon says 97% of its devices can support its new AI-powered Alexa experience. The company is framing this as a massive installed-base advantage as generative assistants roll out. The real test will be whether users actually adopt the new conversational features at scale.

🎨 Apple launches Creator Studio bundle

Apple launches a Creator Studio bundle priced at $12.99 per month, targeting video, audio, and social creators. The bundle signals Apple’s intent to lock in creators with software subscriptions, not just hardware. It also positions Apple against Adobe and emerging AI-native creator tools.

🏥 Enterprise & Agentic AI

🏥 Anthropic unveils Claude for Healthcare

Anthropic announces Claude for Healthcare days after OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health reveal. The product focuses on clinical documentation, patient communication, and compliance-heavy workflows. Healthcare is quickly becoming the next major battleground for foundation model vendors.

🤝 Anthropic previews Cowork research agents

Anthropic previews Cowork Research as a collaborative, multi-agent workspace for teams. The tool is designed to coordinate research tasks across agents instead of single-prompt chats. This hints at a shift from chat-first AI toward shared, agent-driven work environments.

💬 Salesforce rolls out new Slack AI agent

Salesforce rolls out a new Slackbot AI agent as competition with Microsoft Copilot intensifies. The agent is positioned as workflow-native rather than a generic assistant. Slack is becoming a key surface in the enterprise AI arms race.

🧰 Tools of the Day

→ Cowork – Multi-agent research workspace built on Claude.
→ Atoms – Modular AI building blocks for teams and developers.
→ Alpine – Lightweight AI assistant focused on speed and clarity.

⚡ Quick Hits

→ Google removes AI health summaries after safety investigation.
→ Brazil orders Meta to reverse WhatsApp chatbot ban.
→ Google bets on AI shopping agents for retailers.
→ Trump pushes Microsoft power pricing changes tied to AI.
→ Meta-backed Hupo pivots from wellness to AI sales coaching.
→ AI drug discovery startup Converge Bio raises $25M.

🧠 TLDR

Big tech is consolidating the AI assistant layer through partnerships, bundles, and device leverage. Healthcare and enterprise collaboration are emerging as the most competitive verticals for foundation models. Regulators are forcing rollbacks where AI moves too fast, while agents quietly become the new default interface.

Cheers,
David