Netflix’s First AI-Generated VFX: A Glimpse of Film’s Future
With Cursor's Talent Acquisition and Perplexity's Pre-Install Partnership in Focus
TLDR; In today’s Signal
Perplexity Eyes Pre-Install Partnership to Embed AI Browser Comet on Phones
VC Bets on AI’s “Multiplayer Mode” to Build Real Social Connections
Netflix Uses AI to Create VFX Sequence for the First Time
Cursor Snaps Up Koala Talent in Bid to Outcode GitHub Copilot
OpenAI Launches $50M Nonprofit & Community Fund for AI Impact
Lowe’s Taps AI to Redesign Shopping
Benchmark Eyes $180M Valuation for Greptile in AI Code Review Bet
BrightAI Grabs $51M for AI-Driven Infrastructure Monitoring
THE AI SIGNAL PICKS
Perplexity Eyes Pre-Install Partnership to Embed AI Browser Comet on Phones
Perplexity AI is in early-stage discussions with major smartphone makers—potentially including Apple and Samsung, to pre-install its AI-powered browser, Comet, on mobile devices. This move aims to leverage built-in browser stickiness to gain billions of users and challenge entrenched defaults like Chrome and Gemini.
VC Bets on AI’s “Multiplayer Mode” to Build Real Social Connections
Menlo Ventures believes the next frontier for consumer AI startups lies in fostering true human connection—specifically through “multiplayer mode” AI apps that facilitate group interactions and real-life relationships, beyond the chatting or gaming bots dominating today. Menlo identifies areas ripe for innovation—routine tasks, creative expression, health & wellness, learning, and importantly, social connection through shared experiences
Delta Uses AI to Personalize Ticket Prices—and Boost Revenue
Delta is transforming its pricing model by adopting AI to dynamically set individual ticket prices. Through a partnership with startup Fetcherr, the airline aims to personalize fares based on each customer’s willingness to pay, moving away from rigid static pricing grids
Elvis Evolution: London Immersive Show Misses the Mark
Elvis Evolution, a new immersive experience in London, promised a futuristic mix of AI, VR, holograms, and live performance to bring Elvis Presley "back to life." However, early reviews reveal it falls short on the technology hype and instead relies heavily on traditional stagecraft, live music, and archival footage to tell the story
DuckDuckGo Lets You Filter Out AI-Generated Images
DuckDuckGo has introduced a new feature allowing users to hide AI-generated images in its Search platform. Available both in the Images tab dropdown and the general Search Settings, this filter gives users control over whether they see AI-generated visuals. Users can toggle a new “AI images” setting—choosing to show or hide them directly from image results, or enable the filter permanently via settings
THE BIG LEAP
Netflix Uses AI to Create VFX Sequence for the First Time
Signal Scoop: Netflix has officially integrated generative AI into one of its original TV shows. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed the streamer used AI to create a visually complex building-collapse scene in the Argentine sci-fi series El Eternauta. According to Sarandos, the AI-rendered sequence was completed ten times faster than traditional VFX methods and made the project financially feasible
The Full Picture
El Eternauta marks Netflix's debut use of final AI-generated footage in an original series, underlining a turning point in its production toolkit
The building-collapse scene was completed in one-tenth of the usual time, enabling high-end VFX in a show with a mid-range budget
Sarandos insisted AI tools supported—not replaced—human creators, adding control over previs, shot planning, and storytelling enhancements across production
The announcement coincided with Netflix reporting $11.08 billion in Q2 revenue. Sarandos noted ongoing experimentation with AI across areas like search, personalization, and advertising
What You Can’t Miss
Netflix’s experiment signals a shift: AI is becoming a partner in storytelling, not just a cost cutter. As Hollywood remains wary of AI’s impact on jobs, Netflix’s controlled rollout suggests a path forward that enhances creativity and efficiency while preserving human craftsmanship.
Cursor Snaps Up Koala Talent in Bid to Outcode GitHub Copilot
Signal Scoop: Cursor’s creator, Anysphere, has acquired key engineering talent from enterprise AI startup Koala, signaling a bold step toward strengthening its position in the AI coding tools market. This reverse acquisition focuses on talent, not product—Koala’s core CRM tool will shut down, but its engineers will join Cursor to bolster its enterprise-readiness efforts
The Full Picture
Cursor, the AI-native code editor developed by Anysphere, has acquired key team members from Koala, an enterprise-focused AI CRM startup. Though Koala is shutting down its product, the acquisition wasn’t for IP or customers—it was to strengthen Cursor’s enterprise engineering and support infrastructure.
Cursor plans to integrate Koala’s team to launch an enterprise readiness division, focusing on compliance, security, and tooling. This move comes as large corporations increasingly demand robust, secure AI development tools that can meet enterprise-grade standards.
GitHub Copilot, deeply embedded into Microsoft’s ecosystem and favored for its scale, is Cursor’s main rival. However, Cursor is quickly gaining ground by offering a full AI-powered IDE experience, independent of traditional platforms like VS Code or JetBrains.
Cursor has seen rapid adoption across major enterprises—reportedly being used by teams at Nvidia, Uber, and Adobe. This positions it as a serious challenger in a space once considered unshakably Microsoft’s.
Alongside Koala’s team, Cursor also brought on Travis McPeak, former CEO of Resourcely and an expert in cloud security. These hires aim to fortify enterprise offerings around security, observability, and on-premise deployments—critical for regulated industries.
Cursor, is seizing this moment by absorbing valuable talent and accelerating into enterprise segments where demand for developer AI tooling is intensifying.
Cursor’s strategy is not just about being a Copilot alternative—it's about becoming the default AI development environment for modern engineering teams, combining coding, refactoring, testing, and task execution in one seamless, AI-native interface.
What You Can’t Miss
Cursor’s "reverse acqui-hire" strategy shows how mid-tier AI startups can quickly bolster capabilities and compete with the platform giants. Koala’s shutdown highlights the harsh reality that even well-funded AI startups can falter without scale. Cursor saw opportunity and moved fast. Cursor’s pivot from a developer tool to enterprise platform—with dedicated security and support—is crucial for challenging entrenched players.
ON THE AI EDGE
OpenAI Launches $50M Nonprofit & Community Fund for AI Impact
OpenAI has unveiled a $50 million fund to support nonprofit and community organizations, marking its first major philanthropic endeavor following recommendations from its newly formed nonprofit commission. This initiative aligns with OpenAI’s mission to deploy AI for public benefit.
Lowe’s Taps AI to Redesign Shopping
Lowe’s is embracing artificial intelligence to transform the in-store experience, making shopping “simpler, faster, and more fun.” From predicting product demand to redesigning store layouts virtually, the retailer is leveraging AI to deliver personalized, efficient, and tech-enhanced service across its 1,700+ stores.
Decart’s Mirage Brings Instant Style to Live Streams
Decart has unveiled Mirage, a groundbreaking real-time video-to-video transformation model capable of altering live video streams with new visual styles—instantly and without post-production. This marks a pivotal leap in video generation, where video becomes a responsive, editable medium instead of a static asset.
AI START-UP NEWS
Benchmark Eyes $180M Valuation for Greptile in AI Code Review Bet
Greptile, a Y Combinator–backed startup that builds AI-powered code-review tools, is currently in Series A fundraising talks led by Benchmark. The proposed round is $30 million, valuing the company at around $180 million—a strong signal of investor confidence in its mission to help teams write better code automatically
BrightAI Grabs $51M for AI-Driven Infrastructure Monitoring
BrightAI, leveraging AI for power systems and pest control infrastructure monitoring, raised $51 million in a funding round backed by investors like Khosla Ventures and Inspired Capital
NEW TOOLS, NEW POSSIBILITIES
Kreado AI: A tool to create multilingual language videos.
MetaVoice Studio: Record your voice and this tool will convert it to other voices
Revocalize AI: A tool to convert audio into vocal tracks and change voice.
Genmo Mochi-1: Create videos from text with AI
Verbatik: A tool for multilingual text to voice generation.
Unboring.ai: A platform to edit photos and videos online.
AI CAREER HORIZON
Samsara: Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Edge AI/Model Optimization(Remote, U.S)
Stripe: Machine Learning Engineer, Identity Product(Remote, U.S)
Abnormal AI: Staff Machine Learning Engineer(Remote, U.S)
Jobright.ai: AI/Machine Learning Engineer (Remote, U.S)
Atlassian: Senior Machine Learning Engineering Manager (Remote, U.S)
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