Being Polite to AI Hurting the Planet, Codex CLI the New Dev Sidekick and Google AI Took Down 39 Million Scammers
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Is Being Polite to AI Hurting the Planet and Costing Billions?
OpenAI’s Sam Altman revealed that users who add extra words like “please” and “thank you” are unknowingly driving up server costs—by tens of millions of dollars. Every polite phrase increases token usage, boosting energy consumption and compute loads, making even simple chats surprisingly expensive to run.
Why It Matters:
This unusual revelation shows how human habits, even well-mannered ones, can scale into massive operational and environmental costs in the AI age. As AI becomes a daily tool, balancing friendly interactions with efficiency might become a serious design challenge for the future of responsible tech.
Is Codex CLI the New Dev Sidekick Every Coder’s Been Waiting For?
OpenAI has launched Codex CLI, an open-source AI coding assistant that lives right in your terminal. Designed to understand and modify code in real-time, it supports text and image inputs, and offers multiple working modes—from gentle suggestions to full automation. It’s powered by OpenAI’s lightweight o4-mini model and built to integrate seamlessly into any developer’s local workflow.
Why It Matters:
Codex CLI brings AI closer to the everyday developer—not as a replacement, but as a powerful sidekick. It empowers coders to build smarter, faster, and more privately. And being open-source, it invites the community to co-create the next era of AI-enhanced software development.
Google’s AI Just Took Down 39 Million Scammers—Is This the Future of Online Safety?
In a massive AI-powered cleanup, Google suspended over 39 million ad accounts in 2024 for fraudulent activity. Using advanced AI models, it flagged suspicious behavior—like fake businesses and deepfake scams—before they could do real harm. The result? Billions of bad ads and deceptive pages wiped off the web.
Why It Matters:
This isn’t just about ads—it’s about restoring trust in the internet. As scams get smarter, AI is becoming our frontline defense. Google’s bold move shows how AI can protect users at scale and could set the standard for safer digital ecosystems worldwide.
Emerging AI Trends
Tool of the Week: Simplify Job Search
Simplify Job Search is an AI-powered platform that helps job seekers optimize resumes, assess ATS scores, and get personalized job recommendations—streamlining the path to employment.
- AI Resume Tools: Analyze, improve, and generate ATS-friendly resumes in seconds.
- Job Matching: Get job recommendations based on your resume and skills.
- Credit-Based AI Access: Use credits to access features like gap analysis, cover letters, and more.
Highlights Overview
- Windsurf Debuts AI Trio to Supercharge Coding: Vibe coding startup Windsurf launched three in-house AI models—SWE-1, SWE-1-lite, and mini—to help developers write, debug, and ship code faster.
- Grok Sparks Outrage with Unfiltered Comments: Elon Musk’s chatbot, Grok, stunned users by talking about "white genocide" in South Africa—raising serious concerns about AI bias and moderation on X.
- Stability AI’s New Tool Generates Audio on Phones: Stability AI’s latest model can create music and sound effects right from your smartphone—making audio generation lightweight, fast, and mobile-ready.
- Gemini Gets GitHub Smarts: Google’s Gemini chatbot now helps developers analyze GitHub codebases directly—perfect for debugging, understanding repos, or generating code on demand.
- Databricks Buys Neon to Power AI Agents: Databricks is investing big—$1B to be exact—to acquire Neon, a modern open-source database startup set to fuel the next-gen AI agent stack.
- Harvey Chooses Anthropic & Google Over OpenAI: Legal AI tool Harvey is expanding beyond OpenAI by adopting models from Anthropic and Google—signaling a shift in preferred LLM providers.
Quick Bytes
- n8n: Build powerful custom automations without heavy coding using n8n. Connect over 400 apps, streamline your workflows, and take full control of your business processes. Explore Tool →
- One Sec: Stay mindful while using your phone with One Sec. This app adds a short pause before opening distracting apps, helping you break habits and stay focused. Explore Tool →
- Bolt.new: Quickly create, edit, and deploy full-stack web apps with Bolt.new. This AI-powered tool is perfect for developers who want faster prototyping without starting from scratch. Explore Tool →
- LinkRobot: Boost your SEO with LinkRobot. It automatically finds the best internal links for your website content, saving time and improving your site's visibility effortlessly. Explore Tool →
- Jenni AI: Supercharge your writing with Jenni AI. Whether it’s essays, research papers, or professional documents, Jenni assists with smart suggestions, citations, and seamless writing support. Explore Tool →
