Good morning ☀️, leader of the next gen.

The future belongs to you. Let’s make conscious leadership the norm and embrace innovation as the driving force for positive change 🌍✨

WHAT’S AT STAKE TODAY ⚡

• 📜🇪🇺 EU drops AI Act banned uses guide. Europe's robot rulebook gets clearer!
• 👥😱 Deepfakes getting scarily realistic. Digital doppelgangers level up!
• ✨📊 UnDatasIO enters the chat. Another AI tool wants spotlight!
• 🧮🔍 Neuralk-AI focuses on structured data. Making sense of spreadsheet chaos!
• 🛍️🤖 Ex-Google folks bag $10M for AI shopping agents. E-commerce gets robotic!
• 💰🇮🇳 SoftBank billionaire drops $230M on Indian AI. Krutrim gets cash shower!
• 🇰🇷🤝 OpenAI teams with Korea's Kakao. K-pop meets AI!
• 🍁💻 StackAdapt scores $235M for AI ads. Canadian programmatic gets funded!
• 🎨📱 Snap launches mobile text-to-image AI. Snapchat gets artsy!

⚡ Latest in AI

EU Issues Comprehensive Guidance on Prohibited AI Uses Under New AI Act

EU's AI Act sets clear boundaries on prohibited AI applications.

The European Union has taken another significant step in implementing its landmark AI Act by releasing detailed guidance on prohibited uses of artificial intelligence. This development comes just days after the first compliance deadline for the regulation, marking a crucial phase in the EU's efforts to establish a comprehensive framework for AI governance.

Understanding the Guidance

The European Commission's newly released guidelines aim to provide developers and companies with clear direction on what constitutes "unacceptable risk" in AI applications. The guidance specifically addresses uses that are outright banned under the legislation, including social scoring systems that could lead to discriminatory treatment and manipulation techniques using subliminal technologies.

This documentation represents the Commission's effort to ensure consistent interpretation and application of the AI Act across all member states. While the guidance itself is not legally binding, it serves as a crucial reference point for organizations seeking to align their AI development and deployment with the new regulations.

Penalties and Enforcement

The stakes for non-compliance with these prohibited use cases are particularly high. Organizations found in breach of these restrictions face severe penalties of up to 7% of their global annual turnover or €35 million, whichever is greater. These substantial fines underscore the EU's commitment to enforcing strict boundaries around AI development and deployment.

Implementation Timeline and Practical Considerations

The guidance has been released in draft form, pending translations into all official EU languages before formal adoption. This staged approach to implementation reflects the complex nature of rolling out such comprehensive regulations across the diverse European market.

While the initial compliance deadline has passed, the full implementation of the AI Act continues to evolve. Member states have until August 2 to designate their national oversight bodies responsible for enforcing the regulations. This staggered implementation approach allows for a measured transition while ensuring proper regulatory infrastructure is in place.

Key Areas of Focus

• Social Scoring Systems: The guidelines clarify what constitutes prohibited social scoring, particularly focusing on systems that could lead to unfair treatment or discrimination.
• Manipulation and Exploitation: Technologies that manipulate behavior through subliminal techniques or exploit vulnerabilities of specific groups.
• Real-time Biometric Identification: Restrictions on AI use in public spaces, particularly real-time biometric identification systems, with limited exceptions.

Impact on AI Development

For developers and companies operating in the EU market, this guidance provides essential clarification on compliance requirements. Organizations must now carefully evaluate their AI applications against these guidelines to ensure they don't fall into prohibited categories.

Industry Response and Adaptation

The AI industry faces significant challenges in adapting to these new regulations. Companies must now:

• Review existing AI applications for compliance
• Modify development pipelines to incorporate compliance checks
• Establish internal governance structures for AI risk assessment
• Implement documentation processes to demonstrate compliance
• Train staff on regulatory requirements and prohibited uses

Global Implications

While the guidance specifically applies to the EU market, its influence extends globally. Companies operating internationally are likely to align their global AI development practices with EU standards to maintain operational efficiency and ensure compliance in the European market.

Looking Forward

As the AI Act continues to roll out, further guidance and clarification are expected. The Commission has indicated that additional documents will address other aspects of the regulation, including requirements for high-risk AI systems and transparency obligations.

The success of these guidelines will largely depend on how effectively they can be implemented in practice and how well they balance innovation with protection against harmful AI applications. The challenge now lies in maintaining technological progress while adhering to these new regulatory boundaries.

⚡ The companies of the future

Deepfake videos are getting shockingly good

ByteDance's OmniHuman-1 advances deepfake technology.

ByteDance researchers have demonstrated OmniHuman-1, an AI system capable of generating highly realistic deepfake videos from a single reference image and audio input. The system, trained on 19,000 hours of video content, can create convincing fake footage of varying lengths and aspect ratios, though it struggles with certain poses.

While ByteDance hasn't released the system, its capabilities raise concerns about deepfake proliferation. In 2023 alone, deepfake scams contributed to $12 billion in fraud losses and were widely used to spread political misinformation across multiple countries.

Why it matters: As AI-driven deepfakes become more convincing, they pose increasing risks to trust in media, cybersecurity, and global elections. Policymakers and tech companies will need to work together to address potential misuse while balancing innovation in AI-generated content.

⚡ The AI Edge: Smart Solutions for Business Growth

What is UnDatasIO Used For?

UnDatasIO simplifies AI-ready data processing.

UnDatasIO is an enterprise platform designed to convert unstructured data from various file formats—including PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files, images, and HTML—into AI-ready assets. It specializes in extracting structured information through document parsing, intelligent table detection, and seamless API integration.

Businesses and developers use UnDatasIO to automate data processing workflows, improve data management systems, and extract actionable insights from complex documents. With support for multiple formats and strong security measures, it helps enterprises handle large volumes of data more efficiently.

⚡ More AI Bites

1. 🧠 📊 Neuralk-AI is developing AI models specifically designed for structured data
2. 🛒 🤖 AI agents for e-commerce startup, founded by Google and DeepMind alums, raises $10M seed
3. 💰 🇮🇳 SoftBank-backed billionaire to invest $230M in Indian AI startup Krutrim
4. 🤝 🇰🇷 OpenAI partners with Korea's Kakao after inking SoftBank Japanese JV
5. 🇨🇦 💻 Canada's StackAdapt snaps up $235M for its AI-based programmatic platform
6. 📱 🎨 Snap unveils AI text-to-image model for mobile devices

⚡ Trends for the Future

LogicStar Raises $3M to Build AI Agents for Software Maintenance

LogicStar Founders

The details:

Swiss startup LogicStar has secured $3 million in pre-seed funding to develop AI agents focused on autonomous software maintenance, offering a new approach to AI-assisted development. Led by European VC firm Northzone, with participation from angel investors from DeepMind, Fleet, Sequoia scouts, Snyk, and Spotify, the funding will help the company expand its platform beyond its current Python support.

Founded in summer 2024, LogicStar is taking a different path from typical AI coding assistants that focus on development. Instead, the company aims to create AI agents that can automatically identify and fix bugs in deployed applications. CEO and co-founder Boris Paskalev, who previously sold his code review startup DeepCode to Snyk in 2020, sees potential for these maintenance agents to complement existing AI development tools.

LogicStar's approach combines traditional computer science methods with large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's GPT and DeepSeek. Instead of building its own LLM, LogicStar creates a "knowledge base" of each monitored application, mapping inputs, outputs, and dependencies. This allows its AI agents to precisely identify affected code areas when bugs appear.

Why it matters: AI-driven code maintenance is still in its early stages, but LogicStar's focus on fixing bugs rather than just writing new code could revolutionize software development. The startup plans a beta release later this year, with a waiting list already open for early adopters.

Do you have a business problem keeping you up at night?

Here’s your chance to get it solved! Share your most staggering challenges with us, and I’ll use the power of AI to find solutions tailored just for you. I’ll feature the answers in one of our upcoming Supercharged issues—let’s tackle it together!

⚡ AI Playground: Be Smarter with AI ⚡

⚡ This Week’s Tool: Alphana AI - Your Content Multiplication Engine 📱 ⚡

Overview: Alphana AI is revolutionizing the way creators handle content distribution. This powerful AI assistant transforms single pieces of content into a goldmine of engaging social media posts, articles, and marketing materials. Whether you're a podcast host, content creator, marketer, or founder, Alphana AI streamlines your content workflow and maximizes your reach across all platforms. 🚀

Why Is It Better Than Other Video Slicing Tools? ✨

• 🎯 Comprehensive Coverage: Unlike basic video choppers, Alphana creates 50+ pieces of content from a single video.
• 🤖 AI-Powered Copy: Automatically generates platform-specific copy for each piece of content.
• 🎨 Multi-Platform Optimization: Tailors content for YouTube Shorts, X threads, LinkedIn posts, and more.
• ⚡ Record-Breaking Speed: Transform videos and podcasts into shareable content in minutes, not hours.

What Does It Do Best? 🌟

• 📝 Content Multiplication: Turns one video into dozens of engaging posts.
• 💡 Hook Generation: Creates attention-grabbing hooks for maximum engagement.
• 📊 Cross-Platform Distribution: Optimizes content for every major social platform.
• 🎯 Viral Potential: Uses AI to identify and highlight the most shareable moments.

Quick Start Guide:

1. 🎥 Upload your video or podcast.
2. 🎯 Provide context for better AI understanding.
3. ⚡ Watch as Alphana generates 30+ pieces of content.
4. 📱 Download and schedule your content across platforms.
5. 📈 Track engagement and optimize your strategy.

🎉 Exclusive Offer for Our Readers: Ready to supercharge your content creation? Use code SUPERCHARGED40 to get an exclusive discount on your Alphana AI subscription. Join thousands of creators who are already automating their content workflow!

💡 Pro Tip: Start with your best-performing long-form content to maximize your results. One video can turn into weeks of engaging social media content!