A lot of news about AI filmmaking advancements and new policies around AI technology so let’s dive right in.
Welcome to WednesdAI – Pixel Dreams’ weekly update with top stories from the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence.
This Week’s Episode
This Week’s News
Top Story
🎨 Higgsfield Face Swap Demo
Higgsfield AI launched its free Face Swap Demo, enabling users to instantly swap faces in photos and videos with hyper-realistic results, preserving identity, lighting, and style across photorealistic or animated formats in seconds. The simple three-step tool, upload source face, select target media, generate—powers creative applications in fashion, marketing, and content creation, replacing costly shoots with AI-driven personalization. With over 11 million users and five free daily swaps (plus paid unlimited plans), it emphasizes ethical use while accelerating workflows for creators.
👉 Watch WednesdAI for the full demo and live examples of this breakthrough in visual AI!
📰 Read more from Higgsfield.
🛍️ Commerce in the AI Era
Shopify says AI traffic is up 7× since January, AI-driven orders up 11×
Shopify has reported a dramatic surge in AI engagement, with traffic from AI tools to its online stores skyrocketing 7x since January and AI-attributed orders climbing 11x, signaling a rapid shift toward agentic commerce where AI agents handle discovery, purchases, and post-sale tasks. President Harley Finkelstein emphasized during the Q3 earnings call that “AI is not just a feature at Shopify. It is central to our engine that powers everything we build,” highlighting internal tools like the Sidekick assistant, which powered nearly 100 million conversations in Q3, and Scout for analyzing merchant feedback to drive faster decisions. The company has partnered with OpenAI, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity to integrate shopping into AI chats, featuring a universal checkout via Shop Pay, while a survey shows 64% of shoppers are likely to use AI for holiday purchases. Looking ahead, Shopify anticipates AI will transform the entire customer journey, from conversation-based discovery to autonomous reorders, positioning merchants to capture revenue in emerging channels amid projected mid- to high-20% Q4 revenue growth.
📰 Read more about it from Pymnts and TechCrunch.
Pinterest CEO touts open-source AI “tremendous performance” with reduced costs
Pinterest CEO Bill Ready has praised the company’s shift toward open-source AI models, stating they deliver “tremendous performance” for visual AI use cases, comparable to leading proprietary models but at a fraction of the cost. In early testing, fine-tuned open-source models achieved orders-of-magnitude reductions in expenses compared to off-the-shelf proprietary options, enabling Pinterest to better control costs while maintaining high value for users. This move aligns with broader plans to expand open-source AI across more applications, including the development of agentic shopping tools like the Pinterest Assistant, which offers personalized recommendations drawn from users’ boards and preferences. Ready emphasized that open-source approaches allow Pinterest to innovate faster in visual discovery, blending human and AI curation for features like personalized boards, positioning the platform to capture more engagement in a cost-efficient manner.
📰 Read more about it from Yahoo and TechCrunch.
🏭 Manufacturing & Infrastructure
Foxconn to deploy humanoid robots on AI server lines
Foxconn’s CEO Young Liu announced plans to deploy humanoid robots on assembly lines for AI servers at the company’s U.S. facilities within the next few months, marking a significant step in automating high-precision manufacturing for Nvidia’s next-generation chips. The initiative aims to address labor shortages and enhance efficiency, with robots from Foxconn’s own development and partnerships with firms like Tesla’s Optimus project handling complex tasks such as wiring and component placement. Liu emphasized that “humanoid robots will be the key to scaling AI server production,” projecting a 30% cost reduction and faster output to meet surging demand from data centers. This move aligns with Foxconn’s broader strategy to invest $1.5 billion in U.S. operations, including a new AI server plant in Texas, amid intensifying global competition in semiconductor assembly. While initial trials show promise, Liu noted challenges in robot dexterity for delicate tasks, but expects full integration by mid-2026 to boost overall productivity.
📰 Read more at Nikkei Asia.
OpenAI releases its “AI Progress and Recommendations” report
OpenAI released its “AI Progress and Recommendations” report on November 6, 2025, revealing that frontier models now exceed human performance across most intellectual benchmarks and are approaching 80% readiness to function as autonomous AI researchers, while the cost of intelligence has fallen 40x annually. The report predicts small-scale AI-driven scientific breakthroughs by 2026 and transformative discoveries by 2028 in areas like drug development, climate solutions, and education, potentially ushering in an era of abundance if society adapts swiftly. It highlights persistent AI weaknesses, catastrophic misalignment risks from superintelligent systems, and the critical need for robust safety controls, stating that no organization should deploy such models without proven alignment. To address these challenges, OpenAI calls for shared safety protocols among leading labs, tiered public oversight, an “AI resilience ecosystem” inspired by cybersecurity, and transparent societal impact reporting.
📰 Read the article from Your Story.
🌍 Macro View & Human Story
McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI Report
McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI Report reveals a surge in AI adoption, with 88% of organizations now using AI regularly in at least one business function, up from 78% last year, though two-thirds remain stuck in experimentation phases without full-scale deployment. The report highlights the rising prominence of AI agents, as 62% of respondents experiment with them and 23% are scaling their use in areas like IT and knowledge management, particularly in tech, media, and healthcare sectors. While 64% of leaders say AI drives innovation and delivers cost or revenue benefits in functions such as software engineering and marketing, only 39% see meaningful enterprise-wide EBIT impact, often below 5%. High performers, comprising just 6% of organizations, unlock greater value by redesigning workflows, accelerating AI agent scaling, and allocating over 20% of digital budgets to AI, amid evolving workforce expectations where 32% anticipate a slight headcount reduction but hiring for AI roles surges. Looking ahead, the report stresses that committed leadership and robust risk mitigation strategies will be key to transforming AI from pilots into a competitive edge as tools like agents mature.
📰 Get the updates from McKinsey.
Meet the woman behind chart-topping AI artist Xania Monet
Telisha “Nikki” Jones, a 31-year-old from Mississippi who taught herself AI tools just four months ago, has created Xania Monet, an AI-generated music artist she views as a real extension of herself, drawing from her own poetic lyrics inspired by personal tragedies like losing her father at age 8. The production process is remarkably accessible: Jones inputs her poems into an AI music-generator app, adds prompts for elements like slow-tempo R&B, soulful female vocals, light guitar, and heavy drums, and generates full tracks without ever singing herself. Xania Monet has made history as the first known AI artist to debut on Billboard radio charts through sufficient airplay, landing spots on at least five charts with her hit “How Was I Supposed to Know?” and securing a multi-million-dollar exclusive recording deal with Hallwood Media. Jones embraces AI as “the new era” and a vital instrument for creators, while addressing representation concerns by emphasizing her identity as a Black woman and entrepreneur behind the project.
📰 Dive into more insights from CBS News.
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