Mistral released an open-sourced voice model that could rival paid voice AI, such as those from ElevenLabs and Hume AI, which the company said bridges the gap between proprietary speech recognition models and the more open, yet error-prone versions. The company said Voxtral “offers state-of-the-art accuracy and native semantic understanding in the open, at less than half the price of comparable APIs.” Voxtral, at a 32K token context, can listen to and transcribe up to 30 minutes of audio or 40 minutes of audio understanding. It offers summarization, meaning the model can answer questions based on the audio content and generate summaries without switching to a separate mode. Users can trigger functions and API calls based on spoken instructions. The model is based on Mistral’s Mistral Small 3.1 and supports multiple languages and can automatically detect languages. Mistral added enterprise features to Voxtral, including private deployment, so that organizations can integrate the model into their own ecosystems. These features also include domain-specific fine-tuning and advanced context and priority access to engineering resources for customers who need help integrating Voxtral into their workflows. Mistral stated that Voxtral outperformed existing voice models, including OpenAI’s Whisper, Gemini 2.5 Flash and Scribe from ElevenLabs. Voxtral presented fewer word errors compared to Whisper, which is currently considered the best automatic speech recognition model available.
Vidnoz AI unveils product avatar and interactive avatar, redefining marketing video- Product Avatar- features realistic hand positioning, shadowing, lighting, and advanced lip-syncing; . Interactive Avatar enhances real-time engagement for customer-facing industries with natural speech interaction, multilingual communication
Vidnoz AI launched two groundbreaking features set to fundamentally transform marketing video creation, enabling businesses to produce engaging, personalized, and cost-effective content at scale. With these tools, users can easily empower their brand with UGC, product, and advertising videos, eliminating upfront costs or complex technical hurdles. Product Avatar is a breakthrough solution: upload any product image, select an avatar template, and instantly generate a lifelike avatar holding the item. This virtual human features realistic hand positioning, shadowing, lighting, and advanced lip-syncing. Such realism enables the creation of UGC and advertising videos that deeply integrate products into everyday scenes, fostering stronger resonance and empathy with audience for optimal brand promotion. Beyond the diverse pre-set library, users can also upload their unique brand spokesperson to create a custom Product Avatar. Interactive Avatar enhances real-time engagement for customer-facing industries. This intelligent virtual assistant supports natural speech interaction, multilingual communication, dynamic facial expressions, and contextual responses, making it ideal for sectors like banking, insurance, healthcare, training, and public services. Embedded into websites, apps, or smart terminals, Interactive Avatars provide 24/7 automated front-desk support, assisting with inquiries and information delivery, reducing human workload while maintaining consistent service quality.
OpenAI is planning to integrate a payment checkout system into ChatGPT in a bid to boost revenues.
OpenAI is planning to integrate a payment checkout system into ChatGPT in a bid to boost revenues. OpenAI is reportedly planning to take a share of eCommerce sales made via ChatGPT. That’s according to a report Wednesday (July 16) by the Financial Times (FT), which says this move is part of a plan by the artificial intelligence (AI) startup to derive new revenues from online shopping features. The company already displays products on its platform with the option of clicking through to online retailers, and inked a partnership with eCommerce platform Shopify in April. Now, sources told the FT, OpenAI hopes to integrate a checkout system into ChatGPT, to make sure users complete transactions within the platform. Sellers who make sales this way would pay a commission to OpenAI. PYMNTS has contacted OpenAI for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. The FT notes that this marks a shift in strategy for OpenAI, whose revenue has chiefly come from subscriptions to its premium services. Getting a slice of eCommerce sales would let OpenAI earn money from people using its free service. The report adds this move is another threat to Google’s business model, with consumers increasingly turning to AI chatbots for online search and shopping. OpenAI is already building its own browser in a separate challenge to Google, per a report last week by Reuters. While the feature is still in development, the sources told the FT that OpenAI and partners like Shopify have been presenting early versions to brands and discussing financial terms.
Amazon has success with four-day Prime Day with total sales and ad spend up year-over-year
Marketplace advertising platform Pacvue reported a set of preliminary sales data from Prime Day 2025. Prime Day occurred July 8-11, the first time Prime Day, which had been a two-day event since 2017, lasted four days. Pacvue analysis indicates Amazon’s move to a four-day sale closed on a generally positive note, with total sales and ad spend up year-over-year. Data collected by Pacvue includes: Year-over-year total brand average sales were up 34% compared to the 48-hour Prime Day 2024. Year-over-year total ad spend was up 48%. However, year-over-year average daily spend was down 26% as brands spread budget across more days and average daily sales dropped 33% compared to the prior year’s Prime Day event. Despite slower sales growth tracked by Pacvue during the first two days of the event compared to the prior year prior (as predicted given the 2025 sale period was twice as long), strong performance during the second two days drove sustained sales volume. Pacvue’s hourly sales and spend data indicates customers favored early morning shopping on the first day and a final push during the evening of the fourth day (Friday, July 11), with consistent mid-day shopping behavior for days two and three. From an advertising perspective, Pacvue says most companies approached the four-day window with measured investment, prioritizing Amazon as their key channel while still maintaining visibility on Walmart and Target.
Mobility Market Intelligence’s AI-powered chatbot for LOs can field questions and queries, including the identification of top lenders, broker wallet share and mortgage retention rates by tapping into 500 million origination records and real-time insights across > 150 million properties
Mortgage technology company Mobility Market Intelligence (MMI) has launched ChatMMI, which claims to be the industry’s first conversational AI interface built specifically for lenders, recruiters and other mortgage professionals. The tool allows MMI users to skip dashboards and spreadsheets to directly ask questions via a chat function. The AI-powered chatbot is powered by MMI’s mortgage intelligence, which includes 500 million origination records spanning 25 years, more than 8 terabytes of data, and real-time insights across more than 150 million properties and 3,000 counties. The chat history saves and updates with the latest data automatically, making the experience “personalized” for users. The chatbot can field questions and queries, including the identification of top lenders, loan officer rankings, broker wallet share and mortgage retention rates. LOs can even ask MMI which clients in their book of business have the greatest potential to refinance. Ben Teerlink, founder and CEO of MMI, said “What gives ChatMMI such an advantage is, we have incredible data that we’ve fine-tuned for years, so instead of just plugging a chatbot into the big data that you can buy anywhere, we’ve plugged it into something that we’ve been perfecting for years. Now you can dig into it and ask it questions that you’ve really never been able to uncover because of what it can compute, and also how accurate the data is that it’s pulling from.”
Two-thirds of BNPL users noted that they would likely increase their usage if tariffs impact prices
52% of consumers have used flexible financing options in the past, with younger consumers (66% of Gen Z and 48% of millennials) leading the charge, according to a new survey from CouponBirds. 68% BNPL users noted that they would likely increase their usage if tariffs impact prices. 27% of those surveyed said they are “very likely” to increase buy now, pay later usage if prices increase, while 41% said they are “somewhat likely.” Even among those who have never used buy now, pay later programs before, 43% report they would consider it if tariffs cause significant price increases. Increasingly, BNPL programs are being used for basic needs. Gen Z (51%) and Gen X (24%) lead all age groups in using these services to finance healthcare costs, a stark contrast to baby boomers at just 12%. Overall, 42% of BNPL users say they’ve used it to make their medical expenses more affordable. While 24% of all users report using these services for rent, mortgage, or utilities, the number jumps to 32% among Gen Z and 19% among millennials. With increased usage comes looming payments. According to the survey, over the past year, 51% of Gen Z users have missed at least one payment, significantly higher than millennials (41%), Gen X (32%) and baby boomers (18%). Among Gen Z users who paid late, 38% report multiple missed payments, while those earning under $50,000 annually are nearly twice as likely to miss payments as their higher-earning counterparts. Among all BNPL users, 66% report being “very confident” in their ability to make payments, while 27% said they are “somewhat confident” and 5% are not very confident.
Zendesk’s AI agents for email can automate over 50% of email interactions instantly with responses that reflect a brand’s tone and style
Zendesk is enhancing its Resolution Platform, an AI-first solution that integrates automation, intelligence, and human context to resolve issues faster. The company is introducing new capabilities, including AI Agents for Email, no-code automation, tailored quality controls, AI-powered Generative Search, and proactive real-time monitoring. These enhancements drive faster resolutions, scalable operations, and high-quality experiences, transforming how businesses engage with and support customers. Zendesk’s focus is on building AI-powered solutions that are simple, easy-to-use, and scalable, ensuring businesses can enhance their customer and employee experience without complexity or compromise. The company’s latest innovations in AI, analytics, and workforce management are aimed at making interactions smarter, more relevant, and reflective of India’s market dynamism. AI and Automation Breakthroughs. Intelligent, autonomous tools streamline customer and employee support and deliver tailored responses for better outcomes: Agentic AI³: Zendesk’s agentic architecture enables AI Agents to reason, adapt, and resolve issues end-to-end without manual setup or fixed flows. AI Agents for Email: Automate over 50% of email interactions instantly with responses that reflect a brand’s tone and style. Instructions for AI Agents: Set custom guidelines to keep AI responses accurate, on-brand, and compliant. Multiple Content Sources for GenAI: AI agents access external knowledge like web crawlers to answer across channels. Use Case Suggestions: AI suggests topics to improve automated resolutions with AI agents. Generative Search: Deliver instant AI-powered answers in the Help Centre, powered by generative AI. Agent Instructions in Copilot: Real-time, step-by-step guidance for agents to resolve complex tasks faster without breaking workflow. Auto Assist Enhancements in Copilot: Suggests accurate responses based on solved tickets.
Orchestra AI’s analytics platform for mid-market businesses detects and categorizes AI agent traffic across major platforms in real-time and measures how AI mentions translate to actual website traffic
Orchestra AI announced the launch of Spyglasses, the first analytics platform designed specifically for mid-market businesses to track and optimize their visibility across AI search platforms. Spyglasses detects and categorizes AI agent traffic across major platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. The platform provides businesses with crucial metrics including AI conversion rates, brand mention frequency across AI responses, and visibility share compared to competitors. Spyglasses utilizes advanced detection algorithms to identify AI agent traffic patterns while providing businesses with actionable insights about their AI search performance. The platform’s analytics dashboard reveals which content AI systems access most frequently, how often brand mentions occur in AI responses, and whether AI-driven awareness translates to website visits and conversions. The platform provides: Real-time AI Agent Detection: Identifies visits from AI systems across all major platforms; AI Conversion Tracking: Measures how AI mentions translate to actual website traffic; Competitive AI Intelligence: Shows how often competitors appear in AI responses; Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Insights: Provides actionable recommendations for improving AI visibility; Multi-platform Integration: Works with WordPress, WebFlow, Shopify, Next.js, Ruby, Python, and more.
Algebrik’s integration of Spinwheel’s debt APIs to enable banks to access real-time, verified consumer credit data and balances across credit cards, student loans, auto loans, mortgages, personal loans and non-traditional sources using just a phone number and birthdate from within LOS
Algebrik AI Inc. announced that Spinwheel will be natively integrated into Algebrik One — Algebrik’s agentic AI-powered lending suite that includes Digital Account Opening, the Lender’s Cockpit (LOS), Omni-channel Point-of-Sale (POS), AI Decision Engine, and Portfolio Analytics. This empowers credit unions, community banks, and fintech lenders to access verified consumer debt information and integrated payment processing directly within the lending journey—streamlining approvals, enhancing member experiences, and improving decision confidence. Through this integration, Spinwheel’s debt APIs, using just a phone number and birthdate, provide real-time, verified consumer credit data, insights, and balances across credit cards, student loans, auto loans, mortgages, personal loans and non-traditional sources to remove costly errors and friction from loan applications and disbursement. Key Benefits of the Integration: Verified Consumer Debt Data at Point of Origination: Enables access to real-time credit and debt balances to Algebrik’s LOS across major categories without requiring manual document uploads—lifting borrower friction and improving data accuracy. Embedded Payment Capabilities: Supports direct debt-related payments and balance transfers in-line with application flows—helping borrowers manage existing obligations seamlessly. 1-Click Decisioning Enhancements: With Spinwheel’s platform, lenders can incorporate verified debt signals into Algebrik’s AI-powered underwriting policies quickly and confidently. Better Borrower Experience & Compliance: Deliver more informed loan options and packaging, while ensuring full transparency—reducing borrower drop-off and improving consent-driven data usage.
Delta Air Lines is testing new AI-based dynamic (“surveillance”) pricing system that tailors fares to individual customers based on the personal data collected; with plans to expand it to 20% by the end of the year
Delta Air Lines is testing a new AI pricing system that tailors fares to individual customers, a move that could reshape how airline tickets are sold and priced. The system, developed in partnership with Israeli startup Fetcherr, is already being used on 3% of Delta’s flights, with plans to expand it to 20% by the end of the year. Personalized pricing — or surveillance pricing as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calls it — is pricing tailored to the individual based on the personal data collected. That’s different from dynamic pricing, which is determined by market factors such as real-time supply and demand and pricing by competitors. While the price changes, everyone sees the same price at a given time. Airlines, ride-sharing and other companies already use dynamic pricing. In a nutshell, dynamic pricing changes based on when a consumer buys. Personalized pricing changes based on who the consumer is. Delta seeks to gain a “first-mover advantage,” President Glen Hauenstein added. “We do believe that we are ahead of our competitors in terms of implementing this and in changing our business processes and rules around it.” Ultimately, this is “a full reengineering of how we price — and how we will be pricing in the future,” Hauenstein said.