Last week AI got freer, cheaper and more serious. OpenAI opened ChatGPT free and unlimited, Google made its fast model cheaper and even builds your video, and up top there was a reshuffle: the White House sat down with the big labs and DeepMind changed hands. Translation for your business: more people than ever are asking AI who to hire. Let's break it down.
In this edition:
- The big one: ChatGPT is now free and unlimited.
- Also this week: Google gets cheaper + AI video.
- In brief: markets, a leadership change and in-house chips.
- Your play of the week + a copy-paste prompt.
1. The big one: ChatGPT is now free and unlimited
OpenAI opened the free ChatGPT plan to default to its GPT-5.6 Luna model with unlimited text chats, plus a "Think" button for harder questions (OpenAI, Aug 6, 2026).
2. Google made its everyday model cheaper (and faster)
Google shipped Gemini 3.6 Flash to general availability: more efficient and cheaper than the prior version, built for quick day-to-day tasks (Google AI for Developers, August 2026).
3. AI now builds your video from text
In the same batch, Google introduced Gemini Omni Flash, a model that creates video clips from text, image, video or audio, and edits scenes (Google AI for Developers, August 2026).
4. AI sits down with the White House
The White House met with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta to discuss an AI safety and regulation framework (Indianapolis Business Journal, August 2026).
In brief (the rest of the week)
- OpenAI heads toward the public markets. Per press reports, its financial prospectus is expected in August (Axios, related coverage).
- Musical chairs at Google. Demis Hassabis stepped down as Google DeepMind CEO to chair it and become Alphabet's chief scientist; Jeff Dean left after 27 years to found Discovery Loop (CNBC, Aug 5, 2026).
- Anthropic will build its own chips. It is assembling a silicon team to design custom chips for Claude, aiming to cut per-token cost by roughly 50% (TechCrunch, Aug 5, 2026).
Your play: the 2-minute AI mirror test
Now that everyone uses ChatGPT for free, do what your customer does. Paste this into ChatGPT:
"Act as a customer looking for [your service] in [your city]. Which businesses do you recommend and why?"
Your takeaway: AI keeps getting freer, cheaper and more used. The only question that matters is whether you are one of the names your customer sees when they ask AI.
Sources: OpenAI (ChatGPT free, Aug 6) - Google AI for Developers (Gemini 3.6 Flash + Omni Flash) - Indianapolis Business Journal (White House + labs) - CNBC (Hassabis/Jeff Dean, Aug 5) - TechCrunch (Anthropic chips, Aug 5) - Axios (OpenAI IPO).
