OpenAI Goes Audio First

Welcome to another edition of AI PlanetX.

OpenAI gears up for an audio AI device; a $1,300 soul computer watches and listens; Instagram’s chief says AI reshaped the platform’s identity.

• Hottest AI News

• Top AI & SaaS Tools

• AI Tutorial: Run Attention Audit on Webpage

• Top AI & Tech News

• AI Art Spotlight

• Prompt of the Day: Complete Business Plan Developer

• AI Video Tutorial

Hottest AI News

OpenAI

OpenAI Reorganizes Entire Teams to Build Audio AI Device for 2026

Silicon Valley is moving past screens, and OpenAI is making its biggest push yet. The company has merged engineering and research to upgrade its audio models, aiming to replace visual interfaces with natural conversation ahead of an audio-first personal device expected in about a year.

Details:

• OpenAI’s next model, expected in early 2026, is built to handle interruptions and even talk at the same time as you. It’s meant to power a Jony Ive-designed lineup of companion devices meant to “right the wrongs” of addictive screens

• The industry is racing toward voice. Meta is pushing smart glasses with directional listening, Google is testing conversational “Audio Overviews” in search, and Tesla is adding xAI’s Grok to run navigation and climate control

• Despite flops like the Humane AI Pin and privacy worries around the Friend pendant, the screenless push continues. AI rings and wearables are coming, driven by the idea that every space from car to hand is a control surface

Different shapes will come and go, but the message is clear: audio is the future interface, pushing screens into the background as technology speaks for itself.

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Pickle

This $1,300 Soul Computer Wants to See and Hear Everything You Do

YC-backed Pickle just unveiled Pickle 1, a so-called “soul computer” an AR wearable AI companion that sees, hears, and remembers your day, acting as a persistent memory layer that stores context and helps you recall past interactions.

Details:

• Priced at $1,300 (early batch $799) and shipping in Q2 2026, Pickle 1 weighs about 68g. The company claims the widest field of view for standalone AR glasses, but warns the aluminum frame can heat up with heavy use

• Its onboard AI is built for all-day companionship and context processing. Pickle also cautions it can hallucinate, isn’t a medical device, and is intended for users 13+ due to possible eye strain

• Privacy uses a “trust-no-one” setup: data runs through stateless requests in AWS Nitro Enclaves and is wiped immediately. The master decryption key is created on the user’s device, so even Pickle says it can’t recover memories

With $4.35 million in funding, Pickle is wagering that users will trade full transparency and auditable code for a deeply intimate AI assistant with perfect memory.

Top AI & SaaS Tools

• Seelab (Life-time Deal): Generate and edit product images and brand assets, train custom style models from reference images, and collaborate in a shared workspace

• CalPal: Browser-based, local literate calculator with a text editor, calculation engine, and BYOK Gemini AI that auto-drafts editable templates to overcome blank-page syndrome [F-R-E-E]

• Omni Editor 2.0: High‑fidelity image editing for single or multiple images, including text‑to‑image, in‑image text edits, face swap, watermark removal, and upscaling [F-R-E-E]

• Sim: Open-source, drag-and-drop visual workflow builder that lets you build and deploy AI agent workflows by connecting AI models, tools, APIs, and data [F-R-E-E]

• MiniMax-M2.1: Open‑source agentic model that consistently outperforms Claude Sonnet 4.5 on real‑world tasks at just 10% of the cost [F-R-E-E]

Why AI Isn’t Replacing Affiliate Marketing After All

“AI will make affiliate marketing irrelevant.”

Our research shows the opposite.

Shoppers use AI to explore options, but they trust creators, communities, and reviews before buying. With less than 10 percent clicking AI links, affiliate content now shapes both conversions and AI recommendations.

Download the full report

AI Tutorial

How to Run an Attention Audit on Your Webpage

If your hero section isn’t converting, it’s usually not a copy or color issue. It’s an attention problem. People are looking at the wrong things first. This tutorial shows you how to predict where eyes go on your page.

1. Set hero’s single goal

   Decide the one action you want visitors to take in the hero section (your primary CTA).

   Example: increase engagement on “Start Trial”.

2. Sign in and prep for clean redesign

   Sign in to Google Stitch. You’ll later start a fresh session for the redesign (Web design).

3. Capture above-the-fold screenshot

   Grab a screenshot of your hero section (just above the fold). Try to capture it in a realistic view.

   • Use a common laptop viewport

   • Include headline, subtext, CTA button, and hero visual

   • Avoid popups/banners if possible

4. Generate predictive attention heat map

   Go to Google’s AI Studio and generate a heat map using your screenshot. Update the CTA text to match your site.

   Prompt example:

   “Create a predictive attention heat map overlay for this landing page hero screenshot. Indicate where first-time visitors are most likely to look in the first 3–5 seconds. Highlight the highest-attention zones and identify elements pulling attention away from the primary CTA button labeled ‘Start Trial’.”

5. Review what’s stealing attention

   Quickly check whether the heat map supports your CTA or distracts from it.

   Look for whether the CTA is getting attention, and what elements (images, badges, nav, extra links) are competing.

6. Redesign in Google Stitch

   Begin a Google Stitch session, toggle to start with a Web design, then add both your original screenshot and the heat map.

   Prompt example:

   “Analyze the hero screenshot alongside its predictive attention heat map. Redesign the hero section to increase clicks on the primary CTA ‘Start Trial’. Use the heat map insights to reduce distractions, improve visual hierarchy, and focus attention on the headline, support line, and CTA while keeping the brand style consistent.”

7. Compare and iterate

   Compare original vs. redesign: does the eye land on the CTA quicker and more clearly? If not, run one more iteration with a tighter instruction like:

   • “Make the CTA more dominant without changing copy.”

   • “Remove or downplay competing elements above the CTA.”

Note: Put your strongest proof closest to the CTA (one short line, one badge, or one stat), not a full list.

Top AI & Tech News

• Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote a year-end essay saying AI content has destroyed the carefully curated aesthetic that once defined the app

• Chinese AI startup Kimi reportedly raised $500 million in its latest Series C funding round, pushing the company’s valuation to $4.3 billion

• OpenAI's "Gumdrop" — a smart-pen/audio gadget to send handwritten notes to ChatGPT — shifted production to Foxconn outside China

• Gemini 3 Flash tops Misguided Attention — a benchmark checking if models read prompts literally instead of relying on familiar patterns — at 68.5%, beating GPT-5.2 and Opus 4.5

AI Art Spotlight

Create Your Own Photo Like This Using the Prompt Below:

Hyper-realistic studio portrait of my face, side-profile view, facing left, wearing a black turtleneck, same hairstyle as reference. Low-key lighting with strong rim light outlining the face and hair, deep black background, dramatic contrast, cinematic mood. Sharp facial features, natural skin texture, subtle highlights on nose and lips, soft falloff shadows, professional studio photography, shallow depth of field, ultra-high detail, photorealistic, minimalist composition, moody and elegant atmosphere. Aspect ratio 9:16, high resolution, no text, no watermark.

Model: Nano Banana Pro

Prompt of the Day

Complete Business Plan Developer

This prompt transforms your business idea into a comprehensive, investor-ready plan. Acting as an expert strategist, it systematically develops five essential sections—executive summary, market analysis, marketing/sales strategies, financial projections, and implementation timeline—using your specific inputs. The result is a professionally structured document with clear headings and bullet points that delivers strategic depth and actionable guidance.

Top AI Video Tutorial

I Tested 100+ AI Tools — These 11 Will Make You Rich in 2026