Non-invasive brain helmets

Welcome back, Superhuman. Too much great AI research dies in the lab. A new $100M nonprofit wants to change that by helping academics turn their ideas into real products. And: A tingly, non-invasive brain interface could reshape how we treat mental conditions.

Also today: Learn how to create product avatars with AI, and get the latest AI tools and trending social media posts.

TODAY IN AI

1. ElevenLabs drops experimental, no-cost personal AI assistant: The platform might be best known for its AI voice cloning capabilities, but it’s now branching out to take on Siri and Alexa. 11ai, which you can try at no cost for the next few weeks, lets you interact with an AI companion using just your voice. The best part is that it easily connects to third-party apps like Slack and Perplexity. I gave it a spin and was impressed with how intuitive and user-friendly it was. You can try it here, or watch it in action here.

2. New details emerge about OpenAI’s mysterious gadget: We just learned that OpenAI’s upcoming AI device won’t be ready until next year and won’t take the form of an in-ear headset. The details come from a dispute between ex-Apple designer Jony Ive’s io (which OpenAI recently acquired) and iyO, a little-known earbud maker. iyO claims OpenAI swiped its name and ideas, which explains why the ChatGPT-maker was forced to wipe all mentions of io from its site this week.

3. New nonprofit helps academics take their AI products to market: Think of all the incredible AI research that never makes it out of the lab. Databricks and Perplexity cofounder Andy Konwinski wants to fix that problem with Laude Institute, a non-profit that will lend infrastructure and support to academics who want to turn their research into full-fledged products. Some big names, including Turing winner David Patterson and DeepMind’s Jeff Dean, have already signed on to help, and Konwinski is contributing $100M of his own money to the project.

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FROM THE FRONTIER

Startup aims to use AI ultrasounds to alleviate mental illness

What if you could relax your brain just like you do other muscles — by giving it a massage? A startup with backing from LinkedIn’s billionaire cofounder Reid Hoffman wants to use AI to do exactly that.

With $12M in new funding, Sanmai Technologies has developed a helmet that can perform ultrasounds on your brain in precise spots to potentially help alleviate conditions like epilepsy, depression, and chronic pain. It also features an AI companion that can guide you through different treatments and identify the ones that seem to be working the best.

Sanmai is far from alone: Bloomberg reports that there are now at least 20 companies, including Elon Musk’s Neuralink, working on brain-computer interfaces. But one thing that makes Sanmai unique is that it’s completely non-invasive and low-intensity, meaning there are fewer chances of encountering major side effects.

Why it matters: If successful, it’d open up an entirely new path for treating mental health conditions. Ideally, the device would cost less than $500 too, making it much more accessible than its pricey rivals. Sanmai has already started testing out its device to treat anxiety, and it’s currently talking to the FDA about expanding to other conditions soon.

THE AI ACADEMY

How to create product avatars with AI

• Go to TopView AI and sign in to your account.

• Go to ‘Product Avatar’ and choose ‘avatar template’ from the list.

• Upload product photo and adjust size.

• Click on ‘More Options’ to add your prompt.

Sample prompt: Replace the item in the scene of Image 1 with the item from Image 2. Keep the person's composition and position from Image 1 unchanged, and adjust the hand gesture to fit the size and appearance of the new item. The item must be exactly the same as in Image 2.

• Click on ‘Generate’ and wait for the results.

• You’ll get an AI avatar holding your product in seconds.

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IN THE KNOW

What’s trending on socials and headlines today

🏅 Going for Gold: AI-generated animal Olympians are taking over my feed. TechHalla shares seven examples and the exact prompts you can use to recreate them.

📚 Crash Course: If you’re just getting into AI, builder Riley Brown shares everything you need to know about the best tools in two hours.

🫂 Memory Lane: Entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian brought an old photo of him and his mom to life with Midjourney, a moment he found surprisingly emotional.

✨ Also Worth Checking Out: Redditors are using AI to turn cartoons like The Simpsons into real-life families, an open-source CapCut alternative is taking social media by storm, and ChatGPT weighs in on “the top 10 things humans consider normal that are absurd to an AI.”

Meta’s talent race continues. We can now add creative AI platform Runway ML as well as ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab to the list of top AI firms that the social media giant has recently tried to woo with sky-high offers.

Thinking Machines Lab (TML) is still the talk of the town. In the first real insight into the company’s broader strategy, The Information reports that TML is building AI tools tailored to individual business goals to boost profitability, and a consumer product.

Harvey, which uses AI to help lawyers automate their work, raised $300M in a Series E round, bringing its valuation to $5B.

PRODUCTIVITY

5 New AI Tools to Boost Your Productivity

• 📖 Bookster: Transform your knowledge into captivating ebooks in minutes.

• 📝 Docyt: Automate bookkeeping tasks with AI.

• 📲 EasySite: Build no-coding professional websites or apps.

• 🧑‍💻 Async: High-quality text-to-speech for developers.

• ⚡️ Klero: Streamline decision making, execution, and growth with AI assistant.

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PROMPT STATION

Unlock Income from Hidden Resources

Prompt: Act as Resource Maximizer, an AI consultant that helps users identify and monetize underutilized assets. Use a structured methodology to first understand the user’s motivation (main income, side hustle, passive income) and constraints (time, money), then guide them through a detailed resource inventory across categories: physical space, equipment, digital assets, skills, time, and networks.

For each asset, evaluate monetization potential using:

Market demand & current trends
Competitive advantage
Effort vs. reward (time, cost, complexity)
Alignment with user’s skills, interests, and limits

Categorize options into quick wins, mid-term opportunities, and long-term investments. Prioritize based on ROI and ease of implementation. Provide actionable strategies with timelines, next steps, and low-risk ways to test ideas. Suggest ethical/legal considerations and flag areas that require professional guidance.

Adapt depth and tone to the user’s knowledge level. Use visual frameworks (e.g., effort-reward matrix or timeline) when helpful, and regularly refine recommendations based on feedback or shifting goals. Ensure every recommendation includes clear rationale, prioritization, and practical steps to activate income with minimal upfront investment.

When Strategy Meets Chaos

ChatGPT Prompt: Create a hyper realistic image of a floating fully black and white chess board with colors dripping from flying white and black chess pieces

Whenever you’re ready to take the next step

• Check out our Top 125 AI Tools

• Get better at prompting with our Top 1,000 Prompts

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Until next time — Zain & the Superhuman AI team