Apple hires Google veteran as its new vice president of AI

Mistral AI has launched the Mistral 3 family, a suite of 10 open-source models designed for diverse applications, including smartphones, drones, and enterprise systems. This release represents a significant advancement in Mistral's efforts to compete with major tech players like OpenAI and Google, as well as emerging competitors from China.

All major web browsers now support WebGPU, following updates from Mozilla and Apple, enabling desktop-class graphics on Windows, Mac, and Android devices. This new API allows browsers to access a device's GPU for running complex applications that were previously limited by the older WebGL standard.

John Giannandrea, Apple's head of artificial intelligence, has announced his retirement effective in 2026, raising concerns about potential shifts in the company's AI strategy. This change comes amid ongoing challenges with Apple's Siri voice assistant, which has faced criticism for its performance.

Google has launched the Nano Banana Pro, an advanced image generation model that integrates with Gemini’s multimodal reasoning stack to produce aesthetically pleasing and contextually accurate visuals. This model marks a significant evolution in AI image synthesis, moving beyond traditional diffusion workflows.

Google has emerged as a significant player in the AI art landscape with the introduction of its Nano Banana Pro model, which showcases enhanced image generation capabilities that rival established models like DALL-E and Midjourney. This shift marks a notable change in sentiment within the AI community, indicating that Google has caught up in terms of visual fidelity and performance benchmarks.

Apple's head of AI, John Giannandrea, has announced his resignation, effective spring 2026, amid ongoing challenges with the Siri voice assistant. This departure marks a significant shift in leadership for the company's artificial intelligence division, which has faced scrutiny over its performance and capabilities.

Google is emerging as a significant threat to both OpenAI and Nvidia, leveraging its structural advantages in the AI landscape. OpenAI, despite having over 800 million ChatGPT users, is urged to develop an advertising model to compete effectively against Google, which is rapidly advancing in AI capabilities.

Google has launched a new accelerator for LiteRT, named Qualcomm AI Engine Direct (QNN), aimed at enhancing AI performance on Snapdragon 8 SoC-powered Android devices, achieving up to 100 times faster execution compared to CPUs and 10 times faster than GPUs.