Hey AI Explorers,

Here’s what’s in store for you today:

• Meta’s New AI Chatbots May Soon Slide Into Your DMs — Unprompted

• Perplexity Launches $200/Month ‘Max’ Plan to Woo Power Users

• Google Rolls Out Veo 3 Video Generation Model to 159+ Countries

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

Meta’s New AI Chatbots May Soon Slide Into Your DMs — Unprompted

Imagine you’re chatting with friends on Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp — and suddenly, an AI named The Maestro of Movie Magic chimes in:
"I hope you’re having a harmonious day! Discovered any new favorite soundtracks lately?"

That’s not a prank. It’s Meta’s next big AI move.

 According to leaked documents seen by Business Insider, Meta is working with data labeling firm Alignerr to develop proactive AI chatbots—customizable virtual personas trained to message users unprompted, remember past interactions, and keep the conversation going across apps.

While it may sound a little Her and a lot like Character.AI or Replika, Meta insists there are strict limits:

• A chatbot can only message you within 14 days of your last interaction

• You must have sent at least 5 messages first

• No replies? No follow-ups

Meta projects its AI tools could generate up to $3 billion in 2025 revenue, and as much as $1.4 trillion by 2035, much of it through ads, subscriptions, and partners using Llama models. That’s a lot riding on AI companions.

So, is it emotional support, marketing automation, or both?

As Meta positions its bots as cures to loneliness, many are asking:
What’s the real cost of a “meaningful” AI friendship?

Perplexity Launches $200/Month ‘Max’ Plan to Woo Power Users

AI search startup Perplexity has introduced a $200-per-month “Max” subscription tier aimed at its most dedicated users. The new Perplexity Max plan includes unlimited access to Labs (its spreadsheet and report generation tool), early access to features like its upcoming Comet AI browser, and priority usage of top-tier models like OpenAI’s o3-pro and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.

Perplexity now joins OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Cursor in offering premium AI subscriptions, seeking to convert usage into serious revenue. Alongside Max, the company offers a $20 Pro plan, a $40 Enterprise Pro plan, and plans to roll out Max for enterprise customers soon.

Despite reaching $80 million in ARR earlier this year, Perplexity reportedly burned $65 million in 2024, largely due to high model and infrastructure costs. The company is also rumored to be raising $500 million at a $14 billion valuation — even as competition heats up from Google’s AI Mode and OpenAI’s growing search ambitions.

Google Rolls Out Veo 3 Video Generation Model to 159+ Countries

Google has officially begun the global rollout of Veo 3, its latest AI video generation model, making it available to Gemini Advanced subscribers in over 159 countries.

First showcased at I/O in May, Veo 3 enables users to create up to 8-second videos from simple text prompts. However, access is limited — only users on Google’s AI Pro plan can use the tool, and video generation is currently capped at 3 videos per day.

Veo 3 is part of Google’s larger push to integrate multimodal creativity into its Gemini ecosystem. According to Google’s Josh Woodward, the goal is to democratize high-quality video creation by simplifying the production process through natural language.

The tool supports a range of styles — from cinematic footage to stylized animation — and comes with an intuitive prompt editor and timeline preview, making it ideal for creators, marketers, and educators exploring short-form AI-driven content.

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

• 📸 Kontext – BFL’s advanced image editing model

• 🔎 Perplexity Labs – Build reports & dashboards with tools

• 📋 Manus Slides – Generate custom slide decks with AI

• 🗣️ EVI 3 – Create custom voices via speech-to-speech

🔥 Money in AI

• 💰 EdgeCortix gets $21M for edge AI

• 💸 Grammarly secures $1B non-dilutive funding

• 🌍 Humain launches $10B AI fund

• 🗣️ Ringg AI raises $1M seed round

📰 Everything else in AI today

• 🗣️ ElevenLabs drops Conversational AI 2.0

• 🧠 OpenAI teases “ambient” hardware devices

• 💰 Anthropic hits $3B annualized revenue

• 🔐 Meta automating 90% safety reviews

• 🎥 Veo 3 used in millions of videos

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