Google’s New Gemini 2.5 Pro Takes The Lead For Coding Models

Also, turns out using ChatGPT is not “like pouring out a water bottle” as some environmentalists have been touting

Author

Jack Lajoie
May 07, 2025 • read time ~ 10 minutes

⚡️ Headlines

🤖 AI

Unregulated AI use in corporate settings is creating compliance headaches and increasing legal exposure for businesses. [CFO Brew]

ŌURA adds AI-powered meal logging and glucose tracking to its health platform, leveraging wearable biosensor integration. [Business Wire]

Microsoft debuts a 13-inch Surface Laptop with Snapdragon X Plus chip, emphasizing AI features at an affordable price point. [The Verge]

ServiceNow enters the CRM space with a new AI-enhanced platform aiming to streamline and automate customer workflows. [Constellation Research]

Elon Musk’s xAI faces backlash for operating gas turbines in Memphis without proper air pollution permits. [Politico]

Google's new AI Max tools improve ad campaign performance with enhanced prediction and creative generation capabilities. [Adweek]

Google introduces a 'Simplify' feature in its iOS app, using AI to make dense text more digestible. [9to5Google]

Gemini 2.5 Pro surpasses Claude 3.7 Sonnet in coding benchmarks, establishing itself as the new top AI coding assistant. [VentureBeat]

🦾 Emerging Tech

Zoox, Amazon’s autonomous vehicle unit, issues a recall due to software risks that could cause sudden stops. [CNBC]

A Trump-themed meme coin gains attention amid regulatory scrutiny and political controversy. [CNBC]

IntoTheBlock and Trident combine to launch Sentora, a $25M-backed DeFi platform aimed at institutional investors. [The Block]

🤳 Social Media

Patreon adds support for web-based payments in its app following changes to U.S. app store policies. [TechCrunch]

Spotify introduces public podcast play counts to offer transparency and better creator insights. [TechCrunch]

LinkedIn rolls out an AI search tool allowing users to find jobs by describing what they’re looking for in plain language. [The Verge]

🔬 Research

Researchers find people can better identify AI-generated text with real-time feedback, improving their judgment accuracy. [arXiv]

⚖ Legal

The U.S. Justice Department seeks to dismantle Google’s ad empire to address antitrust violations. [WSJ]

BakerHostetler publishes an AI litigation tracker monitoring key class actions and copyright disputes. [BakerHostetler]

Elon Musk's attorney dismisses OpenAI's recent corporate changes as irrelevant to the ongoing legal battle. [Bloomberg]

Microsoft reportedly resists OpenAI's nonprofit-to-profit restructuring, complicating internal negotiations. [Bloomberg]

Meta secures a $168M judgment over spyware used in WhatsApp, holding an Israeli firm liable. [Courthouse News]

🎱 Random

Goat Gaming launches ‘Amy,’ an AI-trained competitor for professional gaming events. [VentureBeat]

Microsoft confirms it will sunset Skype as part of its shift to newer communication tools. [Washington Post]

🔌 Plug-Into-This

Google has released the Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), enhancing its coding capabilities ahead of the upcoming Google I/O conference. This update focuses on improved front-end development, code transformation, and the creation of complex agentic workflows.

  • The model now leads the WebDev Arena Leaderboard, surpassing its predecessor (Claude 3.7) by 147 Elo points.

  • It achieves an 84.8% score on the VideoMME benchmark, indicating state-of-the-art video understanding.

  • Developers can access the updated model via the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.

  • The enhancements aim to simplify the development of interactive web applications.

  • The update is available earlier than planned due to positive feedback from the developer community.

🧑‍💻 Gemini 2.5 Pro promises to make building complex web apps as straightforward as writing a single prompt. By advancing its coding capabilities, Google positions Gemini 2.5 Pro as a leading tool for developers.

Simon Willison highlights Hannah Ritchie's analysis, which suggests that individual use of ChatGPT has a negligible carbon footprint. Ritchie, Head of Research at Our World in Data, argues that while AI's overall energy demand is significant, the impact of individual interactions with ChatGPT is minimal.

  • Ritchie emphasizes that personal guilt over using ChatGPT is misplaced, as the energy consumption per query is minimal.

  • She acknowledges that AI's aggregate energy demand is a concern but distinguishes it from individual usage.

  • Arthur Clune's analysis indicates that heavy AI usage, such as developers spending $100 daily on tokens, equates to the carbon footprint of a short-haul flight.

  • Clune also warns that large-scale AI applications, like processing video from millions of security cameras, could require energy equivalent to a 1GW nuclear plant.

  • Willison concludes by cautioning against building extensive AI surveillance systems, referring to them as a "panopticon."

🌎 Phew, turns out we don’t have to feel bad about asking stuff like “why does my tummy hurt” anymore. Using ChatGPT occasionally is like leaving a light on for a short time—it's simply not a significant environmental concern, despite what you may have heard.

Google introduces AI Max for Search campaigns, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to enhance ad performance. This feature aims to expand reach, improve ad relevance, and increase conversions through advanced targeting and creative optimization.

  • AI Max utilizes broad match and keywordless technology to identify high-performing search queries beyond existing keywords.

  • Text customization features generate new ad assets based on landing pages, ads, and keywords, enhancing relevance.

  • Advertisers activating AI Max have seen up to a 14% increase in conversions or conversion value at similar CPA/ROAS.

  • For campaigns primarily using exact and phrase keywords, the typical uplift is even higher at 27%.

  • The feature offers granular controls and reporting transparency, allowing advertisers to fine-tune their campaigns.

📈 AI Max helps your ads find more interested customers, even if they use different search terms than expected. Google's commitment to leveraging AI for more effective advertising is clear as they continue to provide tools that adapt to evolving search behaviors and advertiser needs.

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