Innovation Profs - 6/17/2025

Latest Gen AI News

OpenAI releases o3-pro

OpenAI has released o3-pro, its most advanced AI model yet, available to ChatGPT Pro, Team, Enterprise and Edu users. O3-pro, a reasoning model designed for better performance in areas like math and coding, replaces the previous o1-pro. It’s also available via API, priced at $20 per million input tokens and $80 per million output tokens.

Disney sues Midjourney

Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against AI start-up Midjourney, accusing it of using copyrighted content without permission to train its image-generating software. The 110-page suit, filed in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney copied iconic characters from both studios and calls the company a “copyright free-rider.” This marks the first time major Hollywood studios have taken legal action over generative AI, joining a broader wave of lawsuits from authors, artists, and media companies. Industry creatives have criticized studios for their silence on AI-related copyright issues, calling it a failure to protect intellectual property.

Altman shares where AI is headed

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in an essay that the singularity (a theoretical point in the future when artificial intelligence becomes so advanced that it surpasses human intelligence in all respects) isn’t a distant event. It’s already unfolding quietly, with AI systems like ChatGPT surpassing humans in many cognitive areas. He envisions a future of rapid but normalized change, where robots handle real-world tasks by 2027 and productivity soars, yet it all feels "impressive but manageable.”

Quick Hits

Tool of the week: Pippit

Need a quick solution to make short-form videos? Pippit is an AI-powered video creation platform built by ByteDance (the same company behind TikTok and CapCut). It’s designed mainly for e-commerce, entrepreneurs, and marketers who want to create short-form, social-friendly videos quickly and at scale.

AI-generated image of the week

We’re teaching a kids’ creativity and innovation camp this week. One students wanted a sticker of a pickle wearing a tutu. A Google search failed us, but Ideogram did not!

Prompt: A black and white logo of a whimsical pickle wearing a fluffy pink tutu. The pickle has a cheerful expression, with tiny cartoon eyes and a friendly smile, posed elegantly on a white background.

What we found

TikTok is upgrading its Symphony AI ad platform to let brands create influencer-style videos using AI-generated avatars that showcase products. This allows companies to produce scalable, low-cost content without needing real influencers, though it raises concerns about authenticity and trust. TikTok says AI-generated ads will be clearly labeled and reviewed for safety.