Blurred Lines: AI Frontier Labs Continue to Vertically Integrate
AI Week may be over, but the updates keep coming. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are turning labs into platforms, bundling features into super apps, and redefining enterprise utility. Is this GenAI’s “iPhone flashlight” moment?
Originally published on LinkedIn.
Just 2 weeks after this years unofficial AI Week (Google I/O, Microsoft Build AND the first Code with Claude conference), the momentum hasn’t slowed. Frontier labs are still shipping big updates to their models as they continue to push into the application of AI, wiping out startups in the process. Is this Generative AI's "iPhone flashlight" moment?
Open AI
- Chat Completions API enhancements: Added built-in tools like image generation, Code Interpreter, and improved file search capabilities.
- Codex Updates: Codex gained internet access for tasks like installing dependencies and running tests. Codex is now available for the Pro-tier, something I'll be playing with this coming week.
- ChatGPT Connectors: Pro, Team, and Enterprise users can now pull data from Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Box directly into ChatGPT — citations, permissions, and all.
- Record Mode: Team users on macOS (sorry Windows users) can now record meetings or voice memos. ChatGPT transcribes and generates smart summaries + action items (audio only, for now).
- PDF Download for Deep Research Reports: Users can now download deep research reports as well-formatted PDFs.
- Agent SDK in TypeScript: The SDK is now available in TypeScript with support for handoffs, tracing, guardrails, and more — part of OpenAI’s push into AgentOps.
- Memories for masses: The free tier now has memories enabled, this allows ChatGPT to remember specific details about you across conversations — part of the personalization settings.
The ability to search and extract from Drive, SharePoint, and Box gives OpenAI more enterprise utility and appeal — and puts pressure on Microsoft and Google in the Enterprise Search space, where both have been leaders since before the AI explosion.
Google Gemini
Google announced an upgrade to Gemini 2.5 Pro (preview) — it’s now stronger on reasoning and noticeably better at code generation. It may not top MMLU or coding benchmarks (yet), but it’s priced aggressively and performs well in designing UX flows. I’ve been using Gemini 2.5 Pro for building PRDs and UI design prompts — I'm excited to take it for a spin in Cursor this weekend.
Anthropic
Anthropic unveiled Claude Gov — secure, air-gapped models built specifically for the U.S. national security ecosystem. They're already deployed in classified settings, with use cases across strategy, intelligence, and ops.
Anthropic’s CEO went on record opposing the proposed 10-year ban on state-level AI regulation — pushing instead for a federal transparency standards just a week after saying that in the next couple of years AI could eliminate half of all white collar jobs — I think we're closer to 5 years out for a number of reasons, primarily due to compute constraints that I think are going to come to a head in '26/'27.
Other GenAI News
- Cursor 1.0 is here
- Perplexity hit 780M queries in May
- Mistral launched an Agents API
- Notion quietly bundled meeting recording + deep research into their stack
Final Thoughts
Competition is heating up with Anthropic cutting off Windsurf, recent OpenAI acquisition, from its access to their first-party API with less than 5 days notice. At the same time we're seeing a convergence of capabilities and the bundling of AI tools into "Super Apps", for example Notion added deep research and recorded meetings.
The frontier labs continue to blur the line between lab and full-stack platform as they try to balance model stability with launch of new features to compete with the next generation of technology titans. I think they expansion into the application of AI means they're seeing the writing on the writing on the wall and have been not so subtly telling us how they plan to build their moat.
#OpenAI #Anthropic #GoogleAI #ChatGPT #Claude #Gemini #AIProductivity #EnterpriseAI #FutureOfWork #AIAdvancements #Notion
Written by JD Fetterly - Data Governance PM @ Apple and Founder/Product Builder at ChatBotLabs.io, and Generative AI enthusiast.