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Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Companys weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here. The model is not the product Back in 2023, software engineer Matt Rickard wrote a short post titled, The model is not the product. Its looking like he was absolutely right. He published it not long after the first wave of AI chatbot products hit the markettools that let users query large language models trained on a compressed snapshot of the internet. I remember getting a demo of Microsofts Bing Chat at an event in Redmond that year and telling an enthusiastic Microsoft employee, Yeah, this is cool, but it doesnt seem to know anything usefullike flight information or baseball scores. The model only knew what had been on the internet up to a certain cutoff date. It was an impressive AI model, surebut not much of a product. Today, the race to build the smartest AI model is still onbut its becoming increasingly clear that this wont be the exclusive domain of a few wealthy tech giants. DeepSeek has already demonstrated whats possible with its somewhat-open models. The real value, though, lies in what happens around the model. For example, LLMs became significantly more useful when they gained the ability to fact-check themselves using real-time web dataand cite their sources. Now, models are beginning to operate systems beyond themselves. Both Anthropic and OpenAI, for instance, have models that can control aspects of a personal computer. Most recently, a small Chinese company called Butterfly Effect released Manus, which it describes as the first general autonomous agent. Manus is a system of agents and subagents built using Anthropics Claude 3.5 Sonnet model, along with specialized versions of Alibabas Qwen model. At the center of it is an executor agent that breaks down tasks and assigns them to subagentssome focused on specific objectives, others serving as knowledge or planning agents. Together, they collaborate under the executors direction to handle research, data analysis, report writing, workflow automation, and even code generation and deployment. And all of this happens autonomously in the cloud, without human supervisionso the user can simply walk away while the work gets done. The real magic of Manus isnt in the models themselvesthe team is just using Anthropic and Qwen via APIs available to anyone. Whats powerful is the systems architecture: a network of coordinated agents capable of sourcing information and collaborating dynamically. Manus may well be an early glimpse of where things are headed. A frank talk about the future with Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch Im at the HumanX AI conference this week in Las Vegas, and Ive had a number of conversations with people trying to sell AI models to enterprises. One of my most candid dialogues was with Arthur Mensch, cofounder and CEO of the French AI company Mistraloften referred to as Europes OpenAI. Mistral has seen strong adoption among European enterprises, some of which are drawn to the idea of working with a European lab rather than a U.S. one, Mensch told me. The company has now established a beachhead in the U.S., with a team of engineers based in Palo Alto. Mensch is bullish on Mistrals U.S. prospectshe expects to grow the companys American customer base tenfold by the end of 2025. Enterprise leaders are thinking differently about AI in 2025. Several founders here told me that unlike in 2023 and 2024, buyers are now focused squarely on ROI. They want systems that move beyond pilot projects and start delivering real efficiencies. Mensch says enterprises have developed high expectations for AI, and many now understand that the hard part of deploying it isnt always the model itselfits everything around it: governance, observability, security. Mistral, he says, has gotten good at connecting these layers, along with systems that orchestrate data flows between different models and subsystems. Once enterprises grapple with the complexity of building full AI systemsnot just using AI modelsthey start to see those promised efficiencies, Mensch says. But more importantly, C-suite leaders are beginning to recognize the transformative potential. Done right, AI systems can radically change how information moves through a company. Youre making information sharing easier, he says. Mistral encourages its customers to break down silos so data can flow across departments. One connected AI system might interface with HR, R&D, CRM, and financial tools. The AI can quickly query other departments for information, Mensch explains. You no longer need to query the team. Eventually, Mensch says, every department will be represented by an agent. These agents will take on much of the day-to-day work: compiling research, writing proposals, building marketing campaigns. Theyll share data, coordinate, and collaboratewhile humans shift into oversight roles. The big change? Humans will no longer query the AI for information as they do now, Mensch says. Increasingly, the AI agents will query the humans. Agents will tap the right people for domain expertiseasking someone to review a proposal, weigh in on strategy, or greenlight a document for the CEO. The result, Mensch predicts, will be a flattening of organizations, with traditional middle-management roles gradually disappearing. Google DeepMind creates a brain for robots In keeping with the theme, Googles Gemini model is reaching into new realmsfinding physical embodiment. This week, the company announced two new robotics models designed to serve as the brain for a wide range of robots, from simple robotic arms to more advanced humanoids. The first, called Gemini Robotics, brings Geminis general world knowledge into robotic systems. Its multimodalmeaning it can reason across visual, auditory, and textual inputs. In a demo, a robotic arm equipped with a camera eye sat in front of a toy basketball hoop. When asked to do a slam dunk, it picked up the ball and scoredeven though it had never been specifically trained on that task. Thanks to Geminis broad, generalist understanding, it knew what a slam dunk was and how to perform it. The second model, Gemini Robotics-ER (for Embodied Reasoning), builds on that foundation by integrating physical reasoningan understanding of how objects move through space and time. This enables a robot to detect objects, predict their motion, and anticipate the consequences of its own actions. It might understand, for example, that an egg shouldnt be gripped too tightly. Of course, giving robots this level of intelligence and autonomy raises serious safety concerns. AI models are increasingly capable of acting independentlyand when that autonomy is projected into the physical world, the risks grow. Google DeepMind acknowledges this, pledging to apply a multilayered safety framework to the Gemini robotics models. These systems will inherit Geminis existing safeguards against harmful or dangerous content, and will nclude an added layer of constitutional AIa kind of built-in ethical guidance, reminiscent of Isaac Asimovs Three Laws of Robotics. More AI coverage from Fast Company: Moonvalley launches an AI video generator built for moviemaking NASAs new AI satellites could revolutionize disaster response Box CEO Aaron Levie finds a middle ground on tech policy during Trumps second term Dubbing is terrible. Can AI fix it? 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Struggling chipmaker Intel has hired former board member and semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as the latest in a succession of CEOs to attempt to turn around a once-dominant company that helped define Silicon Valley.Tan, 65, will take over the daunting job next Tuesday, more than three months after Intel’s previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, abruptly retired amid a deepening downturn that triggered massive layoffs and raised questions about the chipmaker’s ability to survive as an independent company.This won’t be Tan’s first time running a semiconductor company, nor his first association with Intel. He spent more than a decade as CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which makes software that helps designs processors, and joined Intel’s board of directors in 2022 before stepping down last August. Tan will rejoin Intel’s board in addition to becoming CEO.“Lip-Bu is an exceptional leader whose technology industry expertise, deep relationships across the product and foundry ecosystems, and proven track record of creating shareholder value is exactly what Intel needs in its next CEO,” Intel’s interim Executive Chairman Frank Yeary said.Intel has been led by interim co-CEOs, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, since Gelsinger walked away from a job that he undertook in February 2021.Although Gelsinger arrived at Intel amid high hopes, his tenure was a major letdown as Intel’s stock price plunged 60%, wiping out $160 billion in shareholder wealth. Leading up to his departure last year, Intel laid of 17,500 of its employeesabout 15% of its workforceand suspended its dividend to save money on its way to an annual loss of $19 billion.More recently, Intel delayed the opening of two new chip factories in Ohio to ensure the projects are completed in a “financially responsible manner.” The project is supposed to draw upon the $7.8 billion in funding earmarked for Intel in the CHIPS Incentives Program created during the administration of President Joe Biden.It was the latest sign of distress for Intel, a Santa Clara, California, company that helped launch Silicon Valley by developing the microprocessors that enabled the personal computer revolution under the leadership of its CEO at that time, Andy Grove.But as its leadership changed Intel missed the technological shift to mobile computing triggered by Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone, and it’s lagged more nimble chipmakers. Intel’s troubles have been magnified since the advent of artificial intelligencea booming field where the chips made by once-smaller rival Nvidia have become tech’s hottest commodity.Nvida now boasts a market value of $2.8 trillion compared to Intel’s $90 billion. Intel’s stock price rose more than 10% in Wednesday’s extended trading after Tan’s hiring was announced, indicating investors believe he will revive the company’s fortunes.While Tan was Cadence Design’s CEO from January 2009 to May 2021, the company’s stock price increased by 44-fold.Tan’s past accomplishments resulted him being named winner of the Semiconductor Industry Association’s 2022 Robert Noyce Awardan honor named after one of Intel’s co-founders. Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer
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TD Bank is planning to close at least 37 branches across 10 states and Washington, D.C., as part of a broader effort to streamline operations and adapt to changing customer banking habits. The decision comes amid ongoing recovery efforts for the company, which is still grappling with the fallout from a $3 billion payout after pleading guilty to money laundering and failing to prevent illegal transactions. In October 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that over a six-year period, TD Bank had neglected to monitor more than $18 trillion in payments, enabling the laundering of over $600 million. As part of the settlement, the bank was required to pay hefty fines and cap its worth at $434 million. The branch closures were listed in filings to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Some of the locations were reported earlier by local publications, including the Philadelphia Business Journal. The move will impact communities in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast, with affected branches spanning Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. We’ve reached out to TD Bank for comment and to ask about the reason for the closures. Below is a state-by-state list of the locations: Connecticut (2) North Branford Branch 1289 Foxon Road, North Branford, New Haven County Torrington Commons 215 High St, Torrington, Litchfield County District of Columbia (1) Georgetown 1611 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Florida (3) Beville Nova 1590 South Nova Road, Daytona Beach, Volusia County Main Blvd 160 NW Main Blvd, Lake City, Columbia County South Beach 5th Street Branch 500 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County Maine (5) Fairfield 112 Main St, Fairfield, Somerset County Fort Kent 62 West Main, Fort Kent, Aroostook County Gorham Branch 95 Main Street, Gorham, Cumberland County Houlton 6 North St (PO Box 713), Houlton, Aroostook County Massachusetts (6) Bradford 860 South Main St, Bradford, Essex County East Longmeadow 465 North Main St, East Longmeadow, Hampden County Framingham Franklin Street 420 Franklin St, Framingham, Middlesex County Holyoke 50 Holyoke St, Holyoke, Hampden County Methuen Broadway 547 Broadway, Methuen, Essex County Tewksbury 2345 Main Street 2345 Main Street, Tewksbury, Middlesex County New Hampshire (4) Bristol NH 10 North Main St, Bristol, Belknap County Contoocook/Main 884 Main St, Contoocook, Hillsborough County Hampton 40 High St, Hampton, Rockingham County Wilton Lyndeborough 905 Elm St, Wilton, Hillsborough County New Jersey (5) Cedar Grove 85-107 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, Essex County Marlton East Branch 191 E Route 70, Marlton, Burlington County Ringwood 145 Skyline Drive, Ringwood, Passaic County Royal Road One Royal Rd, Raritan Township, Hunterdon County Spring Lake Heights 555 Warren Avenue, Spring Lake Heights, Monmouth County New York (5) 42nd and Madison Branch 125 Park Avenue, New York, New York County 45th and Lexington Store 451 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York County Dolson Avenue 156A-B Dolson Avenue, Middletown, Orange County Downtown Branch 136 Margaret Street, Plattsburgh, Clinton County Greenlawn 460 Pulaski Road, Greenlawn, Suffolk County Pennsylvania (3) Chestnut Hill Branch 8600 Germantown Pike, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County Frazer Branch 101 Lancaster Avenue, Frazer, Chester County Morrisville Branch West Trenton Ave & Carlisle Ave, Morrisville, Bucks County South Carolina (2) Columbia Main Branch 1501 Main Street, Columbia, Richland County Thornblade Branch 6 Elmshorn Drive, Greer, Greenville County Virginia (2) Centreville Branch Centreville Drive and Machen Road, Centreville, Fairfax County Reston 1750 North Hampton Avenue, Reston, Fairfax County
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