Good Morning! Big AI updates this week! Claude just got web search, meaning it can finally fetch real-time info instead of pretending it’s stuck in 2023. Google dropped Canvas, a live coding playground inside Gemini that lets you generate, edit, and preview code in one place. And Aardvark Weather is shaking up forecasting, using AI to predict the weather in minutes—no supercomputer required.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Claude Just Got a Superpower: Real-Time Web Search

Anthropic just announced that Claude can now search the web in real time, making it far more useful for devs, researchers, and anyone who relies on fresh info. This brings it in line with ChatGPT’s browsing capabilities and competitors like Perplexity, which have had this feature for a while.

What’s New:

• Real-time web search: Claude can now pull the latest information when responding to queries.

• Citations included: You can see where Claude gets its data—goodbye, AI hallucinations (hopefully).

• Limited release: Only US-based paid users get this feature for now, but Anthropic promises a broader rollout soon.

Why This Matters for Devs: Say you’re debugging a dependency issue in TypeScript 5.5 and need to check breaking changes. Instead of scouring docs or GitHub issues, Claude can fetch and summarize the latest updates for you—no more knowledge cutoff headaches.

Google’s Gemini Just Got a Code Playground: Meet Canvas

Context: Google just rolled out Canvas, an interactive workspace inside Gemini. Similar to Cursor where you can generate, tweak, and preview code all in one place—no more copy-pasting between your AI assistant and your editor. Plus, Google also introduced Audio Overview, which turns dense documents into podcast-style AI discussions (because who has time to read anymore?).

What’s New:

• Canvas: A real-time, collaborative workspace for coding and document editing inside Gemini.

• Live previews: Generate a form in HTML? Instantly see how it looks and tweak it on the fly.

• Audio Overview: Upload a doc, and Gemini will summarize it as a discussion between two AI voices—like an AI-powered audiobook.

If you’re prototyping a web app or debugging code, Canvas lets you iterate quickly without context-switching. Need a newsletter signup form? Generate, edit, and preview it in one place. Working on a Python script? Tweak and run it instantly.

Google is clearly trying to step up the AI dev game, making Gemini more than just a code suggester.

AI Weather Forecasting Just Leveled Up – Meet Aardvark

Context: Weather forecasting has always been a high-stakes game. Supercomputers churn through mind-bending calculations for hours to predict storms, heatwaves, or the weekend rain that ruins your BBQ. But now, Aardvark Weather is shaking things up, using AI to make accurate forecasts in minutes on a regular desktop—no supercomputer required.

Developed by researchers at Cambridge, the Alan Turing Institute, Microsoft Research, and ECMWF, Aardvark ditches traditional physics-based models entirely, replacing them with machine learning trained on raw weather data.

What’s New:

• 1000x less computing power – No more waiting hours for forecasts.

• More accurate long-term predictions – Could extend forecasts from 5 days to 8 days.

• Highly customizable – Industries like renewable energy or agriculture can get tailor-made forecasts.

Why This Matters: This isn’t just about making weather forecasts faster—it’s about democratizing them. Right now, reliable forecasting requires massive resources, leaving many developing regions behind. Aardvark could bring high-quality predictions to anyone with a computer.

It also hints at the future of AI-powered science: fewer massive simulations, more direct learning from data. If this works for weather, what’s next? Earthquake predictions? Climate modeling? AI-driven disaster response?

Either way, your weather app might finally stop lying to you about tomorrow’s sunshine.

🔥 More Notes

1. AI in Your Drive-Thru: Yum Brands, the folks behind Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, are partnering with Nvidia to sprinkle some AI magic into their drive-thrus. Think voice-activated ordering and streamlined operations. ​

2. Data Stored in... DNA?: With our data needs skyrocketing, researchers are exploring DNA as the next big thing in storage. Imagine fitting entire data centers into a test tube! ​

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