🖼️ Google releases Nano Banana 2

Good Morning! Google just dropped Nano Banana 2, an upgraded image model that finally fixes one of AI’s most obvious flaws: bad text rendering. Plus, you will learn how to instantly generate realistic user-generated content ads

Plus, in today’s AI newsletter:

• Google releases Nano Banana 2

• Study shows LLMs can unmask anonymous users

• Block Cuts 40% of Staff, Citing AI Efficiency

• How to Create Viral AI Influencer Ads in Minutes

• 4 new AI tools worth trying

AI MODELS

🎨 Google releases Nano Banana 2

Google unveiled Nano Banana 2, its latest image generation model, powered by real-time web search data for stronger world knowledge and more realistic outputs. The biggest leap? Clean, accurate text inside images.

• Dramatically improved text rendering, making AI images harder to spot and usable for print

• Better instruction following, character consistency, and production-ready outputs (512px–4K)

• Can generate infographics, diagrams, and data visualizations with structured accuracy

• Available across Gemini, Search, AI Studio, Google Cloud, and Google Ads

Text has long been the Achilles’ heel of AI image generators, limiting real enterprise adoption. If Nano Banana 2 truly delivers reliable typography and layout control, it could push AI image tools from “creative toy” to serious marketing and design infrastructure, though copyright risks may still give enterprises pause.

AI MODELS

🔍 Study shows LLMs can unmask anonymous users

A new paper, “Large-Scale Online Deanonymization with LLMs,” reveals an automated pipeline that extracts identity clues from anonymous posts, searches the web, and matches them to real people, no human investigator required.

• Achieved 67% correct identification on Hacker News users; when it guessed, it was right 90% of the time

• Identified 52% of pseudonymous Reddit academics and 9/33 redacted scientist transcripts

• Uses a four-step ESRC pipeline: extract signals, search candidates, reason with models like OpenAI’s GPT-5.2, then calibrate confidence

• Scaling reasoning compute significantly boosts recall, meaning stronger models automatically strengthen the attack

The researchers conclude that persistent pseudonyms should no longer be considered safe. As frontier models improve, deanonymization gets cheaper, faster, and more accurate, turning years of “anonymous” internet history into searchable identity data.

AI IMPACT

🤖 Block says it is laying off 4,000+ of its 10,000+ employees, Citing AI Efficiency

Block, the fintech giant behind Square, Cash App, and Afterpay, is laying off over 4,000 employees, shrinking its team to under 6,000. According to Jack Dorsey, AI “intelligence tools” now allow much smaller teams to move faster and do more.

• 40% workforce reduction as AI tools replace and automate internal work

• Dorsey says most companies will make similar structural cuts within a year

• Company insists business is strong, with gross profit still growing

• Investors responded positively, sending shares up as much as 24%

This marks a turning point. AI is no longer just boosting productivity, it’s restructuring companies at scale. If Dorsey is right, widespread AI-driven downsizing may soon redefine how modern organizations are built.

HOW TO AI

🗂️ How to Create Viral AI Influencer Ads in Minutes

In this tutorial, you will learn how to instantly generate realistic user-generated content ads using Arcad AI, a platform that lets you create custom influencers, add product placements, and animate scenes without ever touching a camera.

🧰 Who is This For

• Marketers and startup founders needing high-converting video ads

• AI researchers exploring the cutting edge of synthetic media

• Content creators wanting to scale their brand with realistic digital avatars

• Anyone who wants to produce professional product commercials directly from their laptop

STEP 1: Cast Your Actor

Head over to the Arcad AI platform and decide who will be the face of your campaign. You can browse their massive library of incredibly realistic pre-made actors or use their video presets for a fully generated character.

If you want something entirely unique to your brand, head to the actor creation tab and type a descriptive prompt to design a custom face from scratch.

STEP 2: Write the Script and Add Emotion

Once your actor is selected, paste your marketing script directly into the text interface. To make your digital influencer sound like a real human rather than a robot, use the slash command to bring up emotion tags.

Apply tags like excited, laughing, or curious throughout your script so the voiceover fluctuates naturally. Generate this talking head video and download the clip to your computer.

STEP 3: Put Your Product in Their Hands

A great ad needs the influencer actually holding the item. Take a screenshot of your generated actor from the video you just downloaded and upload it to the image section along with a picture of your product.

Write a prompt instructing the AI to show the actor holding the product in a studio setting. Generate a few variations until you get a perfect static image of your custom actor interacting with your item.

STEP 4: Animate and Assemble Your Ad

Now you need to turn that static product shot into dynamic B-roll video. Click the transform to video option on your image, making sure to select Google Veo or Kling instead of Sora to avoid animation errors with realistic reference faces.

Once your motion B-roll is generated, drop it into a free editor like CapCut alongside your original talking head clip, overlay the visuals, and your fully AI-generated commercial is ready to export and share.

Dario Amodei says Anthropic cannot “in good conscience” accede to DOD's request to remove safeguards and will work to ensure a smooth transition if offboarded.

Meta has signed a multiyear deal to rent Google's TPUs to develop new models and has also been in talks to buy TPUs for its data centers as soon as 2027.

Two members of Thinking Machines Lab's founding team, Christian Gibson and Noah Shpak, left the startup and have been working at Meta for a few weeks.

Jeff Bezos' Project Prometheus is raising tens of billions to buy companies hit by AI; it was valued at ~$30B in November 2025 when it raised $6.2B.

💼 Claude Cowork: Anthropic’s team AI platform with plug-ins

🚀 Perplexity Computer: AI agent system that can handle long tasks using multiple models

🎞️ Quick Cut: Adobe Firefly’s AI tool that turns raw videos into quick first edits

⚙️ Rork Max: AI tool to build native iOS apps

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY

Thanks for making it to the end! I put my heart into every email I send, I hope you are enjoying it. Let me know your thoughts so I can make the next one even better!

See you tomorrow :)

- Dr. Alvaro Cintas