Microsoft debuts Mico, AI browser war & more (October 24, 2025)

Good morning,

Today’s edition dives into how OpenAI and Microsoft are redrawing the AI battlefield. From OpenAI bringing automation to Macs, to Mico giving Copilot a friendly face, to the newest AI browser wars, the week’s developments show just how personal and competitive AI has become.

Let's dig in👇

💰 Money Moves

📊 Microsoft’s “Mico” is Copilot’s new logo

Microsoft unveiled “Mico,” a playful animated character for Copilot that channels nostalgia for Clippy while adding a modern personality. By enabling real time reactions, memory features, and avatar style interaction, Microsoft is redefining how users engage with AI beyond text. It points to a bigger shift toward AI companions that live in your workspace and evolve with your workflow.

🏢 Open AI acquires Mac automation startup

OpenAI has acquired Software Applications Inc., the startup behind “Sky” for Mac to bring natural language AI control to macOS. The deal gives OpenAI a foothold in Apple’s ecosystem and positions Mac users as part of its consumer AI strategy. This move signals that OpenAI is going beyond cloud and chat and into desktop interfaces, with tighter Apple integrations likely to follow.

🌐 Government accelerates power for AI data centers

The U.S. administration is moving to speed up data center power hookups to support the surging AI infrastructure boom. Regulators are being pushed to shorten wait times for hyperscale data centers to get grid access as energy demand spikes. Expect grid modernization and energy policy to become as crucial to AI progress as model innovation itself.

🚀 New Launches

🧭 Microsoft launches AI Browser following OpenAI’s Atlas

Just days after OpenAI revealed Atlas, Microsoft launched its own AI Browser with nearly identical capabilities. The new browser blends Bing Chat, Copilot memory, and integrated web agents into a unified experience. It marks the start of a direct competition for dominance in AI powered web navigation.

📢 Netflix “all in” on AI for advertising and production

Netflix confirmed it is all in on AI using it to personalize ads, streamline post production, and generate creative assets. The company aims to scale global content while cutting localization and editing costs. This could redefine how entertainment is made and marketed, pushing traditional studios to rethink their workflows.

🔬 Pokee Research launches open source 7B research agent

Pokee AI released its open source PokeeResearch 7B agent designed for advanced reasoning and academic discovery. The lightweight model can summarize research papers, generate citations, and assist with hypothesis generation at scale. It signals a growing wave of open models challenging proprietary research tools.

🧰 Tools of the Day

→ Google Skills – Build AI skills for tomorrow, today
→ HakkoAI – Your best friend and advisor in PC games
→ Gelt.dev – AI agents build, run, and deploy your next full stack app

✍️ Prompt of the Day

"You are an AI workflow designer. Given this spreadsheet [paste data], generate a visual dashboard with charts and KPIs that summarize performance trends, anomalies, and actionable insights. Then write a three bullet executive summary explaining what decisions should be made based on this data."

⚡ Quick Hits

→ AI agents face unprecedented threats.
→ Super X fuels regional AI with new Nvidia investment.
→ Apple begins shipping American made AI servers from Houston.
→ Australia’s biggest Tesla investor outperforms market with AI moves.
→ Gostex launches AI powered white label payments suite.

🧾 TLDR

OpenAI’s Mac automation buy, Microsoft’s Mico avatar, and its Atlas rival show that AI is moving deeper into our devices, browsers, and daily tools. The U.S. government’s data center push underscores how power supply is now part of the AI race. Across creative, research, and infrastructure fronts, AI’s expansion is reshaping everything from entertainment to energy policy.

Cheers,
David