Sunday Rundown #137: Redesigned Coders & Danny Lisa

Live & Learn #2: Four AI no-code app builders. Tested.

Happy Sunday, friends!

Welcome back to the weekly AI news roundup.

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In case you missed it, here’s this week’s Thursday deep dive:

If you’re consistently missing out on my emails, remember to check your “Promotions” tab and mark whytryai@substack.com as a “Safe Sender.”

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🗞️ AI news

Here’s what happened in AI this week:

👩‍💻 AI releases

1. Alibaba open-sourced Qwen3.6-35B, a sparse coding agent that matches larger models on agentic tasks. (Try for free on Hugging Face.)

2. Anthropic news:

   1. Claude Code “Routines” let you schedule automated workflows that run in the cloud without relying on your computer being awake.

   2. Claude Desktop app was redesigned for better Claude Code workflows with parallel coding agents, built-in terminal, in-app editing, and more

   3. Claude Opus 4.7 is the newest frontier model with improved reasoning and complex agentic coding, as well as better vision capabilities.

   4. Claude Design turns prompts into polished prototypes, slides, and visuals with built-in collaboration and design elements.

3. Blackmagic Design released DaVinci Resolve 21 with a dedicated Photo page and expanded AI editing tools for video and image workflows.

4. Character.ai news:

   1. PipSqueak 2 is a faster and smarter chat model paired with an upgraded Memory, so your characters remember more details across conversations.

   2. c.ai Books lets you “step inside” classic novels like Alice in Wonderland and role-play through the plot as different characters.

5. Google news:

   1. AI Studio added a Tab Tab Tab prompt autocomplete feature to its vibe-coding environment, so Gemini can intelligently supplement your ideas.

   2. Chrome added Skills that let you save and trigger custom Gemini prompts with one click directly from the browser.

   3. Gemini app is now available on Mac as a native desktop experience.

   4. Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS is the latest text-to-speech model with audio tags that let developers build AI voice apps with more natural, expressive speech.

   5. Google desktop app for Windows has built-in AI Mode search and lets you share your screen to ask questions about its contents.

   6. Personal Intelligence uses Nano banana to generate AI visuals from your Google Photos library.

6. Microsoft launched MAI-Image-2-Efficient, an image model that’s 22% faster and 41% cheaper than its bigger cousin.

7. Midjourney launched V8.1 Alpha, which generates native 2K HD images three times faster and cheaper than V8 and features an overhauled “Describe” tool.

8. Mozilla released Thunderbolt, an open-source, self-hosted AI client that keeps your conversations local and private.

9. OpenAI updated Codex with computer use, a built-in browser, 90+ plugins, image generation, and memory, turning it into a full-on desktop agent.

10. Opera launched a Browser Connector MCP that lets Claude and ChatGPT read your open tabs and take screenshots directly in the browser.

11. Perplexity released Personal Computer for Mac that can manage local files, apps, and web actions in a secure sandbox environment. (Max subscribers only.)

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🔬 AI research

1. Adobe previewed Firefly AI Assistant, a tool that automates multi-step tasks across Creative Cloud apps in response to plan-language prompts.

2. Canva announced AI 2.0, a major platform overhaul with prompt-based editing, persistent brand memory, and HTML import.

3. Microsoft is testing OpenClaw-style always-on AI agents inside Microsoft 365 Copilot that proactively handle business tasks across apps.

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📖 AI resources

1. “2026 AI Index” [REPORT]: Stanford HAI’s annual deep-dive on the state of AI with key takeways on adoption trends, economic impact, etc.

2. “Automated Alignment Researchers” [REPORT]: Anthropic’s study on using Claude to automate scalable AI oversight research.

3. “Half of Americans Use AI Services” [POLL]: Ipsos/Epoch poll of Americans’ AI usage and workflows.

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🤦‍♂️ AI fail of the week

When Gemini thinks you’re the epitome of classic beauty…

Shoutout to Leor of Exploring ChatGPT for sharing this gem with me!

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📹 Live & Learn #2: Four AI app builders

Last session, I tested four no-code AI app builders with the same app request. The contenders came in different flavors and had their own spin on the task.

During the next “Live & Learn,” I’ll be test-driving several AI slide deck makers.

The session will be on Friday, April 24, at 2:00 PM CET:

To help me make the session more useful and relevant, share your thoughts:

(The survey is just one open-ended question with AI-assisted follow-ups.)

Thanks!