Google is back at the top. Here's what that means for you.

Last week, Google launched Gemini 4 Argon, its first top-tier AI model in more than seven months. It's built for coding, legal and finance work, and keeping software secure.

Independent testers at Artificial Analysis now score it 53 on their Intelligence Index. That puts it level with OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra.

The number we liked most: when it doesn't know something, it makes up an answer far less often than its rivals. In Artificial Analysis's test, that happened 15% of the time, against 51% for GPT-6 Astra.

It's also cheaper to run for now. At Google's launch discount, an average task costs about 60% of what GPT-6 Astra costs.

For your team, this means three strong top-tier choices again. When the big labs are this close, prices tend to fall and new features arrive faster, so it's a good moment to keep your options open.

Who gets it: Cybersecurity teams in Google's Fairwind program first. Paying Gemini API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers come next, with no date yet.

1Everyone wants their own AI helper

Personal AI helpers are the new race. Meta's Muse reportedly passed 5 million downloads in under a month, joining OpenAI's Dots and xAI's Grok Bot.

There's plenty of room to grow: a16z's latest list of the top 100 AI apps found only 4.5% of Americans pay for a chatbot.

Who should care: Anyone deciding which AI helper their team should try first.

2AI search is sending fewer visitors to websites

A study that tracked 1,100 Google users found that AI answers in search cut the number of clicks to outside websites. Making people use AI Mode also lowered how happy they were with Search.

Who should care: Anyone whose business depends on Google traffic. The Steal this below is for you.

3An American open AI model you can run yourself

Reflection AI, a $25B startup founded by former DeepMind researchers, introduced Beam, its first model. It plans to release Beam this month under a licence that lets businesses customise it and run it on their own servers.

Who should care: Teams whose data can't leave the building.

Until next Wednesday,

P.S. Know someone choosing between Google and OpenAI for their team? Forward them this note.

Check how AI describes your business. It takes about 5 minutes.

We're now an OpenAI Select Partner

We're excited to share that Futurelab Studios has been named an OpenAI Select Partner, as part of the OpenAI Partner Network.

We look forward to continuing our work with OpenAI to help organizations build, deploy and scale AI solutions responsibly and effectively. We're proud to be part of this next chapter.

5,000+ professionals

Founders, business leaders and practitioners working through the AI shift together, one conversation at a time.