Welcome to Get The Gist, where every weekday we share an easy-to-read summary of the latest and greatest developments in AI—news, innovations, and trends—all delivered in under 3 minutes! ⏱

In today’s edition:

• Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro Now Available to Free Users

• Elon Musk Merges X and xAI into a $113 Billion Powerhouse

• Google Meet Uses AI to Fit More Faces on Screen

• Perplexity AI to Roll Out Its Search Feature to All Android Users

• And more AI news….

Top Developments

Google Gemini

Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro Now Available to Free Users

The Gist: Google has unexpectedly rolled out its powerful new Gemini 2.5 Pro model to free-tier users, just days after launching it for paid subscribers. While free access comes with restrictions, the model brings major upgrades in coding, math, and reasoning.

Key Details:

• The Gemini 2.5 Pro experimental model is currently available only via the web, with plans to expand to mobile.

• Free-tier users face rate limits, while paid subscribers get a larger context window.

• Benchmarks show Gemini 2.5 Pro outperforming industry rivals in coding and scientific queries.

• Google has previously trickled down paid features to free users, but this move happened unusually fast.

xAI

Elon Musk Merges X and xAI into a $113 Billion Powerhouse

The Gist: Elon Musk has merged X (formerly Twitter) with xAI, his artificial intelligence company, in an all-stock deal valuing the combined entity at $113 billion. The move consolidates user data, AI development, and platform distribution under one umbrella.

Key Details:

• The deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, despite X’s previously declining valuation.

• xAI, creator of the Grok chatbot, aims to integrate AI more deeply into Musk’s social media platform.

• X’s 600 million active users provide a massive data source for xAI’s model training.

• Critics question the valuation and see the merger as a financial maneuver to improve X’s outlook.

Google

Google Meet Uses AI to Fit More Faces on Screen

The Gist: Google Meet is introducing "Dynamic layouts," an AI-powered feature that crops out background space to fit more people on-screen during large meetings. The update also increases the number of pinned tiles from three to six.

Key Details:

• AI-powered "portrait tiles" focus on faces by removing unnecessary background space.

• "Dynamic tiles" separate video feeds for people in the same conference room, improving visibility.

• Users can now pin up to six tiles, making it easier to highlight key speakers.

• These updates roll out to Google Workspace users starting March 31, with full availability by late April.

Quick Gist

Microsoft has halted data center projects in the US and Europe, canceling 2 gigawatts of planned capacity due to oversupply concerns and shifting AI demand. (Read More)

Yutori, a startup founded by ex-Meta executives, raised $15 million in seed funding to develop personal AI assistants and plans a closed beta launch in 2025. (Read More)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that Grok, xAI’s chatbot, is now the top free app on the Google Play Store, surpassing TikTok and ChatGPT. (Read More)

Perplexity AI will soon roll out its search feature to all Android users, expanding accessibility and enhancing the user experience. (Read More)

Isomorphic Labs, a Google DeepMind spinout focused on AI-driven drug discovery, raised $600 million in its first external funding round, valuing it at $3.6 billion. (Read More)

Google updated Gemini Live, making the Astra camera and screen sharing features available to all users, with a gradual rollout for Gemini Advanced subscribers. (Read More)

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY!