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OpenAI found that enabling two API settings—retained reasoning and compaction—tripled GPT-5.6 Sol's scores on the ARC-AGI-3 benchmark, raising its score from 13.3% to 38.3% while cutting output tokens by 6x. The official harness discarded private reasoning after each action and used rolling truncation, forcing the model to reinterpret games from scratch each turn. OpenAI's Responses API retains reasoning across turns and replaces truncation with compaction, matching how GPT-5.6 Sol is deployed in ChatGPT and Codex. Humans averaged 48% on the benchmark.

Microsoft has released over a dozen MAI models cutting GPU costs 50–89% across products. MAI-Cyber-Flash topped the CyberGym benchmark, beating Mythos by 12 points at half the cost. MAI-Voice-Flash reduces GPU costs 89% in Dynamics 365 Contact Center. MAI-Image-2.Flash cuts PowerPoint GPU costs 84% and boosted OneDrive save rates 26%. MAI-Code-Flash powers GitHub Copilot for millions of developers. MAI-Transcribe-1.5 serves 170,000 medical providers across 58 languages, halving transcription errors.

Google Gemini is offering a free video creation trial that lets users generate up to ten videos at no cost through August 4, 2026, at 11:59pm PT. The offer is available exclusively to users without an existing Google AI subscription plan. Users can access the feature by selecting "Create video" in Gemini's tools menu, which supports creating, editing, and remixing videos. The trial is powered by Gemini's Omni model capabilities.

xAI has launched Grok Voice Think Fast 2.0, its most capable speech-to-speech voice model, featuring improved intelligence, transcription accuracy, and conversational ability. The model scores 82.9% on Artificial Analysis's overall speech-to-speech quality index, outperforming GPT-Realtime-2.1 at 79.1% and Gemini 3.1 Flash at 69.5%. It delivers a 0.second time to first audio and shows 1.5–2.0× better transcription than Deepgram Nova 3 across 24 languages. Priced at $0.08 per minute, it becomes the default grok-voice-latest model on August 5, 2026.

OpenAI is launching ChatGPT for Academic Researchers, a free program giving 100,000 scientists, mathematicians, and engineers access to frontier models including GPT-5.6 Sol Pro. Starting with 10,000 researchers this summer at institutions like the Institute for Advanced Study and École normale supérieure, the program expands through 2027. Participants get higher usage limits, expanded deep research, and over 75 life science skills. The initiative is part of a broader $250 million commitment to support external scientific research.

Ideogram has launched Object Remover, a new AI tool that erases selected objects, text, logos, or distractions from images while preserving shadows, reflections, and lighting shifts. The tool reconstructs clean surfaces beneath removed elements without altering the rest of the image. On the RemovalBench benchmark, Ideogram Object Remover ranks first in removal quality, outperforming Nano Banana 2, FLUX Erase, and GPT Image-2, and also offers the lowest price per request.

HeyGen has launched Video Podcast, a new tool that converts documents, links, or ideas into two-host video shows. Unlike audio-only podcast generators, the tool produces fully produced video content featuring studio scenes, multi-camera cuts, and B-roll footage. The output is ready in minutes and described as ready to publish directly. HeyGen positions the tool as a step beyond competitors that stop at audio, offering a complete visual show format instead.

Replit has launched Replit Design, a new AI-powered creative suite aimed at making design accessible to everyone. The tool reimagines how AI-assisted design works, allowing users to bring their ideas to life with the same energy, ambition, and emotion they originally envisioned. Replit says the product is built so that anyone can become a designer, regardless of prior experience. The suite is now available to try at replit.com.

Google has launched Lyria 3.5, its newest music generation model, now available in Google Flow Music. The update delivers improvements across four key areas: musicality, with richer and more complex melodic structures; lyrics, featuring better prompt adherence and structural awareness; vocals, offering more realistic and emotionally nuanced expression with improved pronunciation; and creative control, allowing users to more easily adjust tempo and duration of outputs. Google says the model empowers users to craft songs they love with greater creative flexibility.

Martha Stewart has co-founded Hint, an AI-powered home management app launching today on iOS. The app builds a profile of your home using public data like property records, soil, and weather information, then lets homeowners upload documents and appliance photos to get personalized maintenance schedules, insurance guidance, and energy insights. Co-founder and CTO Kyle Rush says Stewart is a genuine equity-holding co-founder who actively reviews the app twice weekly. Hint is backed by $10 million from investors including Slow Ventures and Tusk Venture Partners.