Innovation Profs - 11/4/2025

Your weekly guide to generative AI tools and news

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Innovation Profs
November 04, 2025

Latest Gen AI News

Getty Images and Perplexity strike multi-year image partnership

On Friday, Getty Images and Perplexity announced a deal that incorporates the Getty Images API into Perplexity’s AI search platform. According to a Getty Images executive, “We are pleased to reach this agreement with Perplexity, which acknowledges the importance of properly attributed content and its value in enhancing AI-powered products.”

George R.R. Martin Wins First Battle In Game Of Thrones Copyright Lawsuit

Last week, a judge ruled that a class action lawsuit against OpenAI, filed by a group of authors that includes George R.R. Martin, can proceed. As part of the ruling, the judge noted that a ChatGPT-generated outline for a sequel to Martin’s A Clash of Kings that took the Game of Thrones series in a different direction than A Storm of Swords could potentially count as copyright infringement, stating, “A reasonable jury could find that the allegedly infringing outputs are substantially similar to plaintiffs' works.”

Universal Music Group and Udio Partner on Licensed AI Music Creation Platform

In yet another licensing deal, Universal Music Group (UMG) and AI music generation platform have partnered together to create a new subscription service that provides “an innovative, new commercial music creation, consumption and streaming experience.” As part of the deal, UMG and Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit. In addition, Udio will train a new music generation model using licensed UMG content to be included as part of the new subscription service.

Quick Hits

Anthropic’s AI Models Show Glimmers of Self-Reflection - Decrypt

Anthropic’s Claude models showed early signs of self-awareness, detecting “injected thoughts" and both thrilling and unnerving researchers.

decrypt.co/346787/anthropics-ai-models-show-glimmers-self-reflection

Large Language Models Get All the Hype, but Small Models Do the Real Work

For many tasks in corporate America, it’s not the biggest and smartest AI models, but the smaller, more simplistic ones that are winning the day

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/large-language-models-get-all-the-hype-but-small-models-do-the-real-work-225d3145

AI Artist Xania Monet Becomes First to Chart on Billboard...

An AI artist called Xania Monet has reportedly become the...

www.complex.com/music/a/markelibert/ai-artist-xania-monet-becomes-first-to-chart-on-billboard-radio-rankings

Vibe coding platform Cursor releases Composer, its first LLM

The vibe coding tool Cursor, from startup Anysphere, has introduced Composer, its first in-house, proprietary coding large language model (LLM) as part of its Cursor 2.0 platform update.

venturebeat.com/ai/vibe-coding-platform-cursor-releases-first-in-house-llm-composer-promising

Microsoft’s Copilot can now build apps and automate your job — here’s how it works

Microsoft has added powerful no-code tools to Copilot, enabling Microsoft 365 users to build apps, automate workflows, and create AI agents using natural language — transforming office workers into software creators.

venturebeat.com/ai/microsofts-copilot-can-now-build-apps-and-automate-your-job-heres-how-it

Where does human thinking end and AI begin? An AI authorship protocol aims to show the difference

Students – and all manner of professionals – are tempted to outsource their thinking to AI, which threatens to undermine learning and credibility. A philosophy professor offers a solution.

theconversation.com/where-does-human-thinking-end-and-ai-begin-an-ai-authorship-protocol-aims-to-show-the-difference-266132

When Working With AI, Act Like a Decision-Maker—Not a Tool-User

While AI can create space for higher-order thinking, it can also tempt us to outsource that thinking altogether.

hbr.org/2025/10/when-working-with-ai-act-like-a-decision-maker-not-a-tool-user

Context engineering: Improving AI by moving beyond the prompt

While prompt engineering will remain vital, getting consistent, situationally aware results from AI models will require IT teams to build context ingestion processes for agentic AI.

www.cio.com/article/4080592/context-engineering-improving-ai-by-moving-beyond-the-prompt.html

Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities | Los Angeles Review of Books

Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/literature-is-not-a-vibe-on-chatgpt-and-the-humanities/?utm_source=newsletter.innovationprofs.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=innovation-profs-11-4-2025

Tool of the week: alai

Alai is an AI-powered presentation tool that lets users input plain text (e.g., a proposal or outline) and instantly receive multiple well-designed slide options. It emphasises rapid creation and iteration, reducing time spent on layout and design so that users can focus on storytelling and content. Pricing follows a freemium model (free tier + paid Plus/Pro tiers), making it accessible for individuals and more serious users alike.

AI-generated image of the week

It’s been a couple years since we made the Innovation Profs logo, so we decided to play around with some new possibilities. Not necessarily crazy about any of them yet, but here’s one idea. 

Prompt: logo for an AI company called "Innovation
Profs" that includes two men, one with short gray beard, gray hair and glasses and one with short brown beard and brown hair. Simple illustration style.

What we found

Coca-Cola rolled out its 2025 holiday campaign with AI-generated versions of its classic “Holidays Are Coming” ads, produced in just 30 days with studios Silverside and Secret Level. Last year’s attempt drew criticism for its odd human characters. The brand’s leadership says AI is now central to its marketing strategy, signaling that big companies plan to push through creative backlash and normalize AI-driven production as the technology rapidly improves.

Porter vs. Snider update

The votes are in, and by a margin of just one vote, you chose Snider’s vibe coded Potion Mixer game over Porter’s Jack-o’-Memory Carver. Not sure what we are talking about? Check out Friday’s newsletter for more.

This puts Snider up 2-0 in the Porter vs. Snider challenges.