Codex turns ChatGPT into a full-on AI engineer

Hey there, we're going to talk about the new AI agent from OpenAI and Microsoft two very different visions for what AI teammates could become. Let’s explore!

In today’s post:

• OpenAI’s Codex agent makes AI a real coding teammate

• TikTok’s AI Alive animates photos inside Stories

• Hedra’s viral baby podcast app lands big VC backing

• Microsoft’s “agentic web” and memory-first AI vision

• Trending AI tools + 3 best courses to start your AI journey + other free resources to master AI

What’s Trending Today

Launch

OpenAI’s Codex is here. It writes code and fixes bugs for you

OpenAI just launched Codex, its most advanced AI coding agent yet. It’s live now for ChatGPT Pro, Team, and Enterprise users.

Here's everything you need to know:

• Codex is powered by a new model called codex-1, optimized for software engineering.

• It writes cleaner code than its predecessor, follows instructions tightly, and tests its own output.

• Codex connects to GitHub, runs in a virtual cloud environment, and can handle multiple coding tasks at once.

• OpenAI says it takes between 1 and 30 minutes to complete tasks like bug fixes, feature builds, and codebase Q&A.

• You can keep using your computer while Codex runs in the background, like a real coding teammate.

• Codex appears in ChatGPT’s sidebar with buttons for “Code” and “Ask” making it feel like pair programming with AI.

• Access is generous for now, but OpenAI will soon add rate limits (with paid credits to unlock more usage).

Here’s what I think:

Codex shows how fast we’re moving from AI as an assistant to AI as an autonomous teammate. The ceiling for productivity gains is high but so is the margin for error. Watching how real developers use (and trust) tools like Codex will say a lot about where software engineering is heading next.

Learn more about it here

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TikTok Ai Alive

TikTok’s new AI tool brings your photos to life

TikTok just launched AI Alive, a new creative feature inside Stories. It animates your photos using AI, no editing skills required.

Here's everything you need to know: 

• AI Alive lives in TikTok’s Story Camera and transforms a single photo into a dynamic, short-form video.

• It adds motion, effects, and ambient sound to create cinematic, immersive moments.

• Think sunset skies shifting colors, group selfies coming to life, or memories made more vivid.

• The tool is designed for everyone—not just experienced editors—to make content creation seamless.

• You can post animated stories that appear in the For You and Following feeds and your profile.

• TikTok uses multiple safety checks and moderation layers to prevent misuse of the feature.

• Each AI-generated video includes a transparency label and embedded metadata to mark it clearly as AI-made.

Here’s what I think:

TikTok isn’t just embracing AI it’s making it feel like a native part of self-expression. AI Alive isn’t about deepfakes or spectacle. It’s subtle, simple, and focused on creativity. If it catches on, it could change how a whole generation approaches storytelling with photos.

Investment

Hedra raises $32M to power AI-generated talking baby podcasts

Hedra, the AI video platform fueling the talking baby trend, has raised $32 million. The Series A was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from previous backers.

Here's everything you need to know:

• Hedra lets users create expressive, AI-generated characters in video, complete with style and voice control.

• It powers viral clips where pets and babies appear to have full-on podcast conversations.

• The Character-3 model launched in March and helped trigger a wave of creator interest.

• The company plans to use its new funding to train a more customizable model and enable user interaction with AI characters.

• Hedra also integrates with tools like Veo 2, Kling, Imagen3, and ElevenLabs for full media generation.

• CEO Michael Lingelbach says Hedra fills the gap between avatar tools like Synthesia and cinematic AI like Runway.

• Andreessen Horowitz’s Matt Bornstein is joining the board and says Hedra is building “AI that tells stories, not just clips.”

Here’s what I think:

AI video is moving past gimmicks. Hedra’s focus on expressive characters and long-form storytelling could define the next phase of this space. If they get user interaction right, it won’t just be a platform for creators it might become a new kind of digital stage.

Future with AI

Microsoft wants AI agents to remember more and work together

Ahead of its Build conference, Microsoft laid out a bold vision: AI agents that collaborate across platforms and remember past conversations.

• Microsoft is backing Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard from Anthropic for connecting AI agents.

• MCP could enable an "agentic web," much like how HTTP made the internet scalable and interoperable.

• CTO Kevin Scott says the goal is a future where agents from different companies work seamlessly together.

• Microsoft also wants agents to retain memory so interactions feel more continuous, not transactional.

• One approach they’re exploring is structured retrieval augmentation, which stores key points from user conversations.

• This method mimics how human memory works, building context without reprocessing everything from scratch.

• Scott acknowledges this is compute-intensive but sees it as essential to the next evolution of AI utility.

Here’s what I think:

This feels like a foundational moment. If Microsoft can turn AI from a one-off helper into a long-term collaborator, the shift could be as big as the move from static websites to interactive apps. Memory, context, and collaboration might be the new baseline for useful AI.

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