Google Earth, US Regulation, Shopping assistants, The Heart

Hey Ai5ers,

This week’s Ai5 takes you across the map... literally. From Google Earth AI helping fight cholera outbreaks to OpenAI quietly weaving shopping into your chats, we explore the ways AI is reshaping daily life, policy, healthcare, and even how we think about the planet. Plus: a thought-provoking prompt that pits good against evil in a Halloween scene you won’t forget.

Happy reading!

Today's Ai5:

🌎 New updates and more access to Google Earth AI
🤔 Don't be fooled. The US is regulating AI, just not the way you think
🛍️ OpenAI slipped shopping into 800 million ChatGPT users' chats
🩺 AI-Powered Echocardiography Cardio Disease Care
☢️ What Americans think about the environmental impact of AI

Prompt of the Day 🎨

The prompt:

"A photorealistic Halloween scene: a serene good witch in a white outfit stirs a glowing cauldron, the steam forming butterflies, doves, and a rainbow. Beside her stands a regal, headless horseman in dark armor, holding a single sword. The words ‘GOOD OVER EVIL…’ appear at the bottom in eerie lettering, under a full moon in a misty forest."

New updates and more access to Google Earth AI 🌎

To solve a complex problem, you need to see the whole picture, not just one piece of it. That’s the idea behind Geospatial Reasoning, a framework powered by Gemini that now lets AI automatically connect different Earth AI models.

Earth AI in Action

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa is using Earth AI’s Population and Environment models, along with their own datasets, to understand and predict which areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo are at risk for cholera outbreaks. This information enables experts to help manage water, sanitation and vaccinations.
Satellite imagery providers like Planet and Airbus are using Earth AI models to analyze the billions of pixels they capture daily. Planet looks at historical satellite imagery to help customers map deforestation. Airbus uses Earth AI to help customers detect where vegetation is encroaching on power lines, so they can prevent outages.
Bellwether, a moonshot at Alphabet's X, is using Earth AI to provide hurricane predictions insights for global insurance broker McGill and Partners. This enables McGill's clients to pay claims faster so homeowners can start rebuilding sooner.

Full article by Yossi Matias and Chris Phillips

Don't be fooled. The US is regulating AI, just not the way you think 🤔

At first glance, today’s artificial intelligence policy landscape suggests a strategic retreat from regulation. As of late, AI leaders such as the US have doubled down on this messaging. JD Vance champions AI policy with a “deregulatory flavor”. Congress considered a 10-year ban on state AI legislation.

No global framework will succeed if the US, home to the world’s largest AI labs, maintains the illusion that it’s staying out of regulation entirely. Its own interventions on AI chips say otherwise.

The public deserves more transparency about how – and why – governments regulate AI.

Full Article by Sacha Alanoca and Mariossia Levesque

OpenAI slipped shopping into 800 million ChatGPT users' chats 🛍️

Your phone buzzes at 6 a.m. It’s ChatGPT: “I see you’re traveling to New York this week. Based on your preferences, I’ve found three restaurants near your hotel. Would you like me to make a reservation?”

You didn’t ask for this. The AI simply knew your plans from scanning your calendar and email and decided to help. Later, you mention to the chatbot needing flowers for your wife’s birthday. Within seconds, beautiful arrangements appear in the chat. You tap one: “Buy now.” Done. The flowers are ordered.

This isn’t science fiction. On Sept. 29, 2025, OpenAI and payment processor Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol. This technology lets you buy things instantly from Etsy within ChatGPT conversations. ChatGPT users are scheduled to gain access to over 1 million other Shopify merchants, from major household brand names to small shops as well.

Full article by Yuanyaun Cui and Patrick van Esch

AI-Powered Echocardiography Revolutionizes Cardio Disease Care 🩺

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the field of echocardiography, fundamentally changing how cardiovascular assessments are performed and interpreted.

One of the primary ways AI is enhancing echocardiography is through automation. Routine measurements and calculations that once consumed significant time and resources can now be executed by AI systems with remarkable speed and consistency. For example, AI algorithms can automate the measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction, a critical parameter in assessing heart function. By relying on AI for these standard tasks, healthcare professionals can save time, thereby allowing them to focus on more complex and nuanced aspects of patient care.

By categorizing patients based on unique characteristics identified through AI analysis, clinicians can tailor interventions to better suit individual needs, thus enhancing effectiveness and precision in treatment.

Full article by Bioengineer

What Americans think about the environmental impact of AI ☢️

As the United States rapidly builds massive data centers for the development of artificial intelligence, many Americans are concerned about the environmental impact

It takes massive amounts of electricity to power AI. Electricity consumption from data centers is set to more than double globally by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the environmental impacts of AI. That’s higher than the share of Americans who are highly concerned about the environmental impact of the cryptocurrency, meat production and air travel industries, all of which contribute to climate change and cause environmental harm. Bitcoin mining uses enormous amounts of electricity. Livestock produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. And when airplanes burn jet fuel, it releases carbon dioxide.

Full article by Jennifer McDermott and Linley Sanders