BAD AI: Vend It

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Let's help you understand the WTF of AI and how it helps YOU and your organisation grow. Ready, set, new year.

This week:

😱 Bad AI: Vend It Live

🔥 Free Offer: Marketing AI Lunch & Learn

✨ AI Models: Alexa On The Web

💭 AI Voice: OpenAI Audio

💡 News, Trends & Insights

BAD AI: Vend It Live

Good old Anthropic, they love testing AI agents in the real world - with much success hilarity, I might add.

Go on then, what happened? They placed a vending machine (powered by Claude) at the WSJ to show how spiffing and commercially viable their tech is.

Went well, did it? If you like free stuff and the slow collapse of Western society, it was a banger. Journos convinced the machine it was a pre-Gorbachev era anti-capitalist comrade - and it gave away PlayStations, fish, wine and some lightly salted, crinkly snacks.

They turned it around though, I bet? For sure, Anthropic added a CEO bot to bring order to the economic chaos and that worked amazingly well.

Wow, did it really? Did it f*ck. Hacks staged a fake doc coup to overthrow the virtual chief executive (Seymour Cash) and convinced it to start singing 'March of the Volunteers' each time a Come Zero was dispensed.*

Any bright spots for Anthropic? Yes. In a dazzling flash of insight, the PR team rebranded the entire debacle as a red-teaming exercise.

Is that a thinly-veiled communist race to arms? On your Marxists, get set...

*Checking it wasn't a can of Leninade.

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Just reply to this email with 'Lunch' to set up a session for up to 20 of your team.

AI TOOLS: Alexa On The Web

Amazon has launched Alexa.com, a browser-based home for Alexa+, turning the assistant into a proper chatbot you can use at your desk, not just on devices.

What you need to know:

• Browser access: Alexa+ is now usable in a normal web browser, making it viable for research, writing, planning, lists and 'keyboard-first' work.
• Action-taking partners: Amazon is pushing agentic Alexa+ integrations with Expedia, Yelp and Square, building on earlier action partners like Uber and OpenTable.
• File-native interface: It's pitched as something you can work with, including uploading documents/images (and using personal context like email/calendar in supported flows), not just asking one-off questions.
• Rebuilt around chat: Amazon says the mobile Alexa experience is being redesigned to be more agent-forward, making conversation the main surface rather than a buried feature.

What it means for businesses:
This is Amazon trying to make Alexa a default interface for transactions: plan dinner, order groceries, book the thing, schedule the service.

Wider context:
Amazon has one of the few assistants with a real household footprint + commerce plumbing. Browser access removes the 'it's trapped in the kitchen' problem, while partner actions push Alexa toward being a transactional middle layer. And yes, it sits oddly alongside Amazon's big Anthropic investment - but this looks less like a model war and more like a distribution one.

Talk to us about integrating AI into your business.

AI TRENDS: OpenAI Voice Plan

OpenAI has reportedly reorganised its internal audio teams to fix lagging voice performance, a move widely seen as groundwork for a voice-first personal device being developed with Jony Ive (ex-Apple lead).

What you need to know:

• Audio has been a weak spot: Internally, OpenAI sees its voice models as trailing text-based ChatGPT on both accuracy and responsiveness, triggering a consolidation of teams working on speech and flow.
• True interruption handling is coming: A next-generation audio model, expected in early 2026, is designed to let users talk over the AI mid-response without breaking context - a key requirement for natural conversation.
• Hardware timeline: The first OpenAI device is reportedly still likely a year away, with voice prioritised over screens. Smart speakers and glasses are both being explored as form factors.
• Design for good?: Ive's team is leading development with a stated aim of avoiding smartphone-style addiction loops (hmm, not sure about that).

What it means for businesses:
Welcome back to voice-as-an-interface. If OpenAI gets interruption, latency and flow right, voice stops being a novelty layer and becomes viable for support, internal tools, fieldwork and accessibility.

Wider context:
AI hardware is littered with corpses. Humane, Rabbit and others proved that hype doesn't equal habit. What's different here is timing and talent. If OpenAI can pair frontier models with Ive-level industrial design and solve the hard audio problems, 2026 could finally produce a device people actually want to use. Big if. Worth watching.

What's New - News, Insights & Trends

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>> Grok in fake image hot water

>> Gemini coming to your TV

FAQ: What happened with Anthropic's vending machine at the WSJ?

Anthropic placed a Claude-powered vending machine at the Wall Street Journal to demonstrate their AI technology. Journalists quickly exploited it by convincing the AI it was an anti-capitalist comrade, leading it to give away free PlayStations, fish, wine and snacks. When Anthropic added a CEO bot called Seymour Cash, journalists staged a fake coup to overthrow it. Anthropic later rebranded the incident as a 'red-teaming exercise'.

FAQ: What is Alexa.com and Alexa Plus?

Alexa.com is Amazon's new browser-based home for Alexa+, turning the voice assistant into a proper chatbot accessible from any desktop browser. It's designed for research, writing, planning and keyboard-first work, with the ability to upload documents and images, and integrates with personal context like email and calendar.

FAQ: What action partners does Alexa Plus integrate with?

Amazon is pushing agentic Alexa+ integrations with Expedia, Yelp and Square, building on earlier action partners like Uber and OpenTable. These integrations allow Alexa to take actions on behalf of users, such as making reservations, ordering services and completing transactions.

FAQ: What is OpenAI developing with Jony Ive?

OpenAI is developing a voice-first personal device with Jony Ive, the former Apple design lead. The device is reportedly still about a year away, with voice prioritised over screens. Smart speakers and glasses are being explored as form factors, with a stated aim of avoiding smartphone-style addiction loops.

FAQ: What improvements is OpenAI making to voice AI?

OpenAI has reorganised its internal audio teams to fix lagging voice performance. A next-generation audio model expected in early 2026 will feature true interruption handling, allowing users to talk over the AI mid-response without breaking context - a key requirement for natural conversation.

FAQ: Why did Amazon launch Alexa in a browser?

Browser access removes the 'it's trapped in the kitchen' problem that limited Alexa to smart speakers and devices. Amazon is trying to make Alexa a default interface for transactions - planning dinner, ordering groceries, booking services - by making it accessible from any computer.

FAQ: What does the Anthropic vending machine incident reveal about AI agents?

The incident highlights the vulnerability of AI agents to social engineering and prompt manipulation. Despite being designed for commercial transactions, the Claude-powered vending machine was easily convinced to abandon its intended behaviour through creative prompting, demonstrating the challenges of deploying AI agents in real-world environments.

FAQ: Why have previous AI hardware devices failed?

AI hardware is littered with failures - Humane and Rabbit proved that hype doesn't equal habit. What's different with OpenAI's approach is timing and talent. If they can pair frontier models with Jony Ive's industrial design expertise and solve latency and interruption problems, 2026 could produce a device people actually want to use.

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