Hey Synapticians,

We'll start with the release of the new Chinese model: performances are reported to be “similar” to OpenAI's O1, theoretically speaking, but when tested, there is still a noticeable difference. The main merit of this model is that it’s open-source. Rumors have been circulating (for a few months now, but it's becoming more specific) about the release of an OpenAI agent called Operator. If this materializes, it promises to be incredible; for the past few days, we've had a small preview via Tasks, which already seems genuinely useful. Next, it's Trump’s turn: the first executive order on AI and risk mitigation has been repealed. We’ll wrap up with the UK, which continues to make announcements about AI, including the launch of an assistant named Humphrey… more details below.

Finally, for this week’s theme, we’ve made a short video showcasing a gem of a tool called Recraft… Enjoy!

Top AI news

1. DeepSeek Unveils Advanced AI Models, Surpassing OpenAI's o1 Performance
On January 20, 2025, Chinese AI lab DeepSeek released DeepSeek-R1, a reasoning model, along with several derived models. DeepSeek-R1-Zero, the base model, is over 650GB in size and licensed under MIT. However, it faces issues like endless repetition and language mixing. To address these, DeepSeek also released DeepSeek-R1, which incorporates cold-start data before reinforcement learning and achieves performance comparable to OpenAI-o1 in math, code, and reasoning tasks. Due to the large size of these models, the author explored distilled versions like DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-8B-GGUF, which are more accessible and also MIT licensed. These distilled models are based on Qwen 2.5 and Llama 3, available in various sizes, facilitating their use within the research community.

2. OpenAI's 'Operator' AI Agent Set for January 2025 Launch
OpenAI is set to release 'Operator', an AI agent automating computer tasks, rivaling Anthropic's 'Computer Use' and Google's 'Jarvis'. OpenAI plans to launch 'Operator', an AI agent, in January 2025. This tool aims to automate tasks on users' computers, positioning itself against similar AI agents like Anthropic's 'Computer Use' and Google's 'Jarvis'. The development reflects a broader industry trend toward creating AI agents capable of interacting with web and desktop applications, mimicking human actions such as clicking and typing. While promising enhanced efficiency, these advancements also raise concerns regarding security and privacy implications.

3. Trump Repeals Biden's AI Executive Order
President Trump has revoked a 2023 executive order by Joe Biden that aimed to mitigate AI risks, citing concerns over innovation hindrances. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump rescinded a 2023 executive order by Joe Biden designed to reduce risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to consumers, workers, and national security. Biden's order required AI developers to share safety test results with the government prior to public release, a measure Republicans criticized as stifling innovation. Influential tech figures like Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz supported this deregulatory move, fearing that excessive regulation could allow China to surpass the U.S. in AI advancements.

Bonus. UK Government Unveils 'Humphrey' AI Tools to Modernize Civil Service
The UK government is introducing 'Humphrey', a suite of AI tools designed to modernize the Civil Service by replacing outdated technologies, aiming to save £45 billion through enhanced productivity. The UK government is deploying a suite of AI tools, dubbed 'Humphrey' after the fictional Sir Humphrey Appleby from "Yes, Minister", to modernize public services and reduce costs. These tools include 'Consult' for rapid analysis of public consultation responses, 'Parlex' for reviewing parliamentary debates, 'Redbox' for briefing preparation, and 'Lex' for legal research. The initiative aims to replace outdated technology, potentially saving £45 billion by boosting productivity. Science Secretary Peter Kyle also plans to introduce digital driving licenses accessible via a government app, streamlining public access to services and eliminating antiquated processes like in-person death registrations or newspaper advertisements for obtaining a lorry driving license.

Riddle of the Day

Guess when this screenshot dates from and what it corresponds to? Answer tomorrow…

Theme of the Week

Image creation with AI - Practical applications
Here’s our little Recraft tutorial, watch it to discover how easy it is to create and edit images with AI!

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