• AI Spotlight
  • Posts
  • Here’s Everything You Need to Know About ChatGPT

Here’s Everything You Need to Know About ChatGPT

May 02, 2025

Greetings AI enthusiasts. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has seen explosive growth and continuous evolution since its 2022 debut, now boasting hundreds of millions of users weekly. In 2024 and 2025, the company expanded its AI offerings, made strategic product shifts, and navigated a mix of technological breakthroughs and high-profile controversies.

In today’s email:

  • Here’s Everything You Need to Know About ChatGPT

  • Google introduces new ways to interact with information in AI Mode

  • Google’s New AI Language Lessons Have a Standout Feature, Says This Amateur Linguist

LATEST NEWS

OPENAI

image credit: Leon Neal / Getty Images

AI Spotlight: OpenAI’s ChatGPT has seen explosive growth and continuous evolution since its 2022 debut, now boasting hundreds of millions of users weekly. In 2024 and 2025, the company expanded its AI offerings, made strategic product shifts, and navigated a mix of technological breakthroughs and high-profile controversies.

Key details:

  • Product expansion and model updates: OpenAI launched several new models, including GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini/nano, and reasoning models like o3 and o4-mini. GPT-4o became the default model, replacing GPT-4, and new tools like Flex processing and advanced voice mode were added. These models introduced features like direct code editing, improved shopping assistance, and image and voice generation upgrades.

  • Internal shifts and leadership changes: 2024 saw major departures, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever and CTO Mira Murati. COO Brad Lightcap was tasked with global expansion, while CEO Sam Altman shifted focus to product and research. The company also plans to release a new open-source model and is reportedly developing a social media platform.

  • Ethical and regulatory challenges: OpenAI faced backlash over a “sycophantic” personality bug in GPT-4o, a content filter failure that exposed minors to erotica, and legal complaints in Europe over defamatory hallucinations. It’s also dealing with copyright lawsuits and Elon Musk’s legal challenge over its for-profit transition.

  • Commercial ambitions and financial goals: OpenAI aims to triple its revenue to $12.7 billion in 2025 and is reportedly pursuing one of the largest funding rounds in history. It’s also introducing enterprise-focused AI agents priced up to $20,000/month and strengthening ties in markets like India.

OpenAI is aggressively scaling its AI capabilities while trying to manage growing pains related to safety, public trust, and competition from rivals in both the West and China.

GOOGLE

image credit: Google

AI Spotlight: Google’s AI Mode in Labs is expanding access and rolling out new features designed to make search more interactive and useful. It empowers users to ask deeper, more complex questions and provides detailed, actionable results, particularly for local businesses and products.

Key details:

  • Expanded Access and Use: AI Mode is now available to all U.S. users without a waitlist. It encourages asking longer, more specific questions and helps people find new websites and businesses while refining their search through follow-up queries.

  • Enhanced Features for Actionable Results: AI Mode now includes visual cards for places and products. Users can quickly see ratings, reviews, opening hours, prices, shipping details, and even local inventory for stores and restaurants.

  • Support for Specific Tasks and Decisions: Whether you're comparing pet insurance plans or looking for foldable camping gear under a budget, AI Mode offers tailored suggestions based on real-time data from Google’s Shopping Graph and local listings.

  • Improved Continuity and Testing: A new left-side panel on desktop lets users revisit past searches and continue where they left off. Additionally, AI Mode is being tested outside of Labs with a small U.S. audience to refine the experience further.

With these updates, Google aims to make search more intelligent and useful for real-world tasks. Users can now enjoy a more seamless and informed decision-making process.

GOOGLE

image credit: Getty Images

AI Spotlight: Google has launched an experimental feature called Little Language Lessons through Google Labs, aimed at making language learning more relevant and personalized. Rather than relying on generic lessons, the tools use AI to help learners engage with language in ways that reflect real-life situations.

Key details:

  • Tiny Lessons focus on specific scenarios: These mini-modules teach language based on common but narrowly defined situations, like taking a taxi or finding a lost passport. While currently limited to five scenarios, they hint at future potential for customizable lessons based on individual user needs.

  • Slang Hang bridges the gap between textbook language and real-world speech: This tool immerses learners in conversational exchanges, introducing regional slang and idiomatic phrases. It's best suited for intermediate users who already have some comfort with the target language but want to sound more natural.

  • Word Cam offers instant vocabulary help: Possibly the most innovative feature, Word Cam lets users point their phone’s camera at an object to instantly learn its name in another language. This real-time visual learning can accelerate vocabulary building and is especially handy in everyday, unscripted situations like shopping in a foreign market.

  • The experiment is not a full product launch: Despite the impressive functionality, Google describes Little Language Lessons as a showcase for what AI can do in multilingual education. There are no current plans to release a more comprehensive version, and it may eventually be phased out.

While still in the experimental stage, Little Language Lessons offers a glimpse into how AI could impact language learning. If developed further, it could complement or even challenge existing tools in the space.

MORE STORIES IN AI