Each week we’ll gather headlines and tips to keep you current with how generative AI affects PR and the world at large. If you have ideas on how to improve the newsletter, let us know!
What You Should Know
Claude Gets Access to the Internet
It finally happened. Last week, Anthropic plugged Claude into the World Wide Web. This marks a decisive moment for an AI tool that previously operated within the confines of its training data. U.S. paid users get first dibs, with global and free user access “coming soon.”
Internet access was ChatGPT’s biggest differentiator over Claude. Previously, users had to do the research themselves and upload PDFs of articles or reports to give Claude context. Now it can do that research directly. Much like ChatGPT, Claude synthesizes information from multiple sources and provides citations for verification. Also like ChatGPT, it may be limited in what sites it can access if they use AI blockers.
In its blog post, Anthropic said, “When applicable, Claude will search the web to inform its response,” but we’ve found you often have to prompt it accordingly, with phrases like “find me more about…” or “do research on…,” at least on the desktop version. In the mobile app, there’s a globe icon very similar to ChatGPT’s buttons for file uploads or search that you can easily toggle on and off from the chat interface.
If you prefer Claude’s writing style, this update means you no longer face the choice between quality output and current information. Claude can monitor breaking news, analyze competitors, verify facts, and draft responses — all without the browser-tab-hopping dance that fragments attention.
Elsewhere …
- PODCAST: The AI-Driven Metric That Could Change How We Manage People
- Italian Newspaper Says It Published World’s First AI-generated Edition
- Microsoft Announces Security AI Agents to Help Overwhelmed Humans
- China’s DeepSeek Releases AI Model Upgrade, Intensifies Rivalry with OpenAI
- Generative AI Market in Health Care Gains Momentum
- AI Weather Forecasting Just Took a Big Step Forward
Tips and Tricks
How to quickly compare AI outputs
What’s happening: If you’ve ever been unimpressed with AI results and wondered if you’d have better luck with another tool, this one is for you. Late last year, an AI agent called OverallGPT launched to provide that very insight.
Why it matters: While you don’t have to use the tool for your entire task, it can be a good way of getting off to a quick start with a few options.
How to use it: You can log into the tool using a Google account and receive three free credits per day. Type in a prompt and upload a file (only images or PDFs) and see how OpenAI GPT-4.5, Deepseek R1, X-AI Grok 2, Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Google Gemini 2 flash compare. Text outputs cost one credit, image requests cost five, and videos 10 (users can buy credits in addition to the three free daily credits).
Keep in mind: If you like what you see from a model, you’ll need to copy the output and take it with you as you start working with that tool individually. Going to ChatGPT, for example, and starting the process over again won’t give you the same output verbatim.
Quote of the Week
“I think the true innovation in this model is more, ‘Hey, we can remove the reliance on NWP models and go purely data-driven with AI and have it reasonably work.’
“I think we in the community were waiting for this day that a model could be built on observations alone.”
— Aaron Hill, Meteorology Professor at the University of Oklahoma, to Axios on a new AI weather forecasting system called Aardvark Weather
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