When AI Hits the Big Leagues: From Pentagon to YouTube Shorts

Hey Creator,

Here’s what’s bubbling in the AI world today—news, tools, and trends that actually impact how you create, build, and earn.

• OpenAI x Pentagon – A $200M government deal kicks off a new era of AI in defense

• Veo 3 Hits YouTube Shorts – Google’s stunning video model goes public (finally!)

• AI x Influencers – Meet the tools quietly powering the Creator Economy OS

• Smile or Frown? – AI menus now read your face before you order 👀
  Tool Spotlight: Runway ML Gen-3 Alpha – Movie-quality video from text prompts

• 5 Must-Try AI Tools – Handpicked for creators who want speed, style & results

• Creator’s Pro Tip – One smart idea to help you do more with less

Let’s get into it ↓

Top AI News

OpenAI Enters the Pentagon: $200M AI Push for Government

OpenAI is taking its generative AI toolkit to the heart of federal power, securing a $200 million Pentagon contract under its new “OpenAI for Government” program—aimed at enhancing everything from battlefield support to bureaucratic back-office operations..

Veo 3 Lands on YouTube Shorts: AI Video for All

YouTube is embedding Google’s Veo 3 video-generation AI directly into Shorts from Summer 2025. With powerful generative visuals—and even audio—built right in, creators can produce pro-grade clips in seconds, though subscription details remain murky.

AI + Influencer Power: Building the Creator Economy OS

As the creator economy balloons past $200 billion, savvy brands are turning to AI-driven “Creator Economy OS” platforms to better measure, predict, and scale influencer campaigns—bridging the gap between creativity and data-driven marketing.

Smile or Frown? AI Waits on You With Smart Menu Picks

At NTT East’s Wellness Lounge in Tokyo, a café is trialing an AI-powered system that reads customers’ facial expressions and voice tones to suggest cafe items—bringing personalized dining to the next level through emotional intelligence.

Tool Spotlight

Runway ML (Gen-3 Alpha)

Turn simple text into stunning video—no camera, crew, or editing suite required.

Imagine this: You type a prompt like “A lone astronaut walks across a neon-lit Mars landscape” and seconds later, you get a short cinematic video that looks like it came out of a sci-fi blockbuster.

That’s Runway ML’s Gen-3 Alpha—a generative video tool built for creators who want to bring big ideas to life, fast. Whether you’re a YouTuber, indie filmmaker, marketer, or content creator with zero editing skills, Runway lets you produce realistic video clips from just text or images.

The Gen-3 model is their most powerful yet. It understands motion better, creates more consistent characters, and adds visual effects that feel straight out of a production studio.

What makes it a game-changer?

• Text-to-video creation: Describe the scene you want, and Runway builds it out frame by frame.

• Image-to-video: Upload a still image and bring it to life with motion.

• Cinematic quality: The model is trained for realistic lighting, camera angles, and storytelling dynamics.

• Faster + smarter: Gen-3 offers smoother movements and higher fidelity than previous versions.

Why creators love it:

No filming, no editing headaches, and no need for a big budget. It’s like having a mini movie studio in your browser.

Try it out: runwayml.com
(Note: Gen-3 Alpha is currently available to Pro users, with wider rollout planned.)

5 AI Tools For Educators

Save time, personalize lessons, and make learning more engaging—with a little help from AI.

1. MagicSchool AI: Create lesson plans, rubrics, IEPs, parent emails, and more—in minutes. AI built just for teachers. Say goodbye to late-night planning marathons.

   🔗 magicschool.ai

2. Diffit: Turn any article or text into a reading passage at your chosen grade level. Includes vocabulary lists, questions, and summaries. Ideal for differentiated instruction.

   🔗 diffit.me

3. Curipod: Generate interactive slide decks with polls, open questions, and activities—instantly. Just type a topic. Let Curipod do the heavy lifting for your next lesson.

   🔗 curipod.com

4. TeachMateAI: Over 50 custom tools for lesson planning, classroom management, and grading. From learning objectives to classroom rules—this one’s a teacher’s sidekick.

   🔗 teachmateai.com

5. Edpuzzle (AI-Powered): Add questions and summaries to any video using AI. Makes flipped learning smarter. Track engagement and understanding effortlessly.

   🔗 edpuzzle.com

Creator’s Spotlight: Greg Isenberg

Greg Isenberg explores Perplexity Labs, the AI agent product from Perplexity — and it's not your average AI tool.
He pushes it across use cases: film storyboards, sales lead gen, content strategy, and even financial analysis.
The result? Surprisingly deep outputs.
✅ Visual storyboards that feel studio-ready
✅ Dashboards that could pass for analyst-grade
This might just be the future of AI agents.