🎨 ChatGPT can now turn a product photo into a GIF

OpenAI released Images 2.6 on 4 November, adding GIF creation and faster image generation to ChatGPT and Codex. Think a product shot with a little movement, or a brand mascot brought to life.

OpenAI says images generate 50% faster, with more precise edits and better consistency for products, characters and brand details as you refine them.

What this could mean for you:

Availability: globally across all ChatGPT and Codex subscription tiers on web, desktop and mobile. Developers also get two API models, Flare and Sunburst.

My take: the useful upgrade is getting from a still image to a usable variation with fewer editing rounds. Brand details still need your eyes on them.

Try this: upload one product photo and ask for a gentle looping animation. Specify what may move and which logos, label text and colours must stay unchanged. Check the result before publishing.

Higgsfield has previewed Miracle, a tool designed to edit footage you already have. Type a change and the aim is to see it appear while the clip plays, without a separate render queue.

The company is working on recolouring objects, adding or removing elements, changing on-screen text, swapping backgrounds and adjusting lighting. The promise is to change the selected part while keeping the rest of the shot consistent.

This is coming soon, not a public release. Miracle is in early testing with selected partners, with a waitlist open. Higgsfield says exact performance, supported formats and the final tool set will be confirmed at launch.

My take: changing one detail without rebuilding the whole clip would solve a real production headache. The demo is worth watching; reliable results on your own footage are the test that matters.

Watch for this: when an object changes colour, do its edges, shadows and reflections stay convincing as it moves? That's where a useful editing tool has to hold up.

Perplexity has introduced Teammates: agents you give an ongoing responsibility, rather than prompting each task separately. They plan work, run tasks in parallel and follow through until results are ready for review.

Each teammate draws on your Computer tasks, Skills, memory and tools. Perplexity's examples include preparing an inbox and meeting brief, watching competitors for price changes, and drafting customer support replies.

Available now to Max subscribers on the web. Teammates can also collaborate with other teammates or message colleagues in Slack.

We covered Dots and Claude Duet recently, so the idea will sound familiar. My take: if you're already using Perplexity Computer, the interesting part is carrying that existing work and context into a recurring job.

Try this: “Monitor these three competitors for pricing changes. Send a weekly summary with source links. Flag significant changes, but don't contact anyone or edit our prices.” Review the first few reports before adding more responsibilities.

Anthropic announced Personal Finance in Claude on 5 November. Connect bank and card accounts, then ask questions about spending, balances and upcoming payments in everyday language.

Accounts connect through Plaid, where you sign in to your bank and approve access. Claude doesn't see your bank password. Access is read-only: it can analyse your data, but can't move, manage or invest your money.

It can help spot duplicate charges, unexpected fees and rising bills, or build a spending chart and a calendar of payments due.

Availability: a beta rolling out to US Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers. Australian users will have to wait for a broader rollout.

Anthropic says conversations inside the Personal Finance hub aren't used to train its models. Your normal privacy settings apply outside that hub.

My take: useful as a second set of eyes. Ask which transactions support an answer and verify important figures with your bank.

On this week's Lab call I lined up the new wave of proactive agents side by side: Meta's Muse, Grok Bot, ChatGPT Dots, Instinct and Claude Duet, and showed which one I'd actually use for which job.

We went through the pattern behind all of them (notice, prepare, ask), the prompts I'm running, like a Monday overdue-invoice sweep and an hourly inquiry rescue, and how to get your Claude ready for Duet before it reaches Australia.

Inside the Lab you get the full recording, every prompt and install step, plus a live Hot Seat call each week where we get you unstuck on whatever you're building.

If this week's issue made you want an agent watching your inbox or preparing recurring work, that's exactly what we set up in there.