Product & Design Pulse v52

New AI Models and Features Galore đŸ€–

Author

Malcom Jones
August 11, 2025

Welcome to this week’s edition of Product & Design Pulse, where we explore the latest in tech, product, design, and innovation! Google says its AI-powered search features are driving more queries and delivering “higher-quality” clicks to publishers, countering fears that AI summaries hurt traffic. ESPN struck a landmark deal with the NFL to acquire key media assets, deepen content integration, and reshape game distribution ahead of its direct-to-consumer launch. Disney confirmed it will retire the standalone Hulu app by next year, fully folding its content into Disney+ for a unified streaming experience. Meanwhile, Ben Thompson explored the “winner’s curse” facing tech incumbents during paradigm shifts, and The New York Times spotlighted how AI chatbots still struggle with “delusions” despite rapid advances.

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Last week


  1. Google Says AI Search Drives More Queries and Higher-Quality Clicks

    Google reported that its AI-powered search features are increasing the number of user queries and leading to more “high-quality” clicks for publishers. The company claims AI Overviews help users refine searches and connect to more relevant web pages. The announcement comes amid industry debate over whether AI summaries hurt or help publisher traffic.

  2. ESPN to Acquire NFL Media Assets

    ESPN and the NFL announced non‑binding agreements under which ESPN would acquire NFL media properties in exchange for a 10% equity stake in ESPN, with plans to integrate NFL Network into ESPN’s forthcoming direct‑to‑consumer service. A separate pact would license additional NFL content to ESPN, and merge NFL Fantasy with ESPN Fantasy into the league’s official season‑long game. The framework also adjusts game distribution: ESPN’s platforms would license three extra games for NFL Network, and four ESPN games would shift to NFL Network, which would continue to present seven games per season. 

  3. Hulu App to Be Phased Out as Disney+ Fully Integrates Content

    Disney will retire the standalone Hulu app in the U.S. by 2026, fully merging Hulu content into Disney+. The move is part of Disney’s unified streaming strategy following the completion of its Hulu acquisition. Executives say the integration will simplify the user experience and boost engagement.

  4. Paradigm Shifts and the Winner’s Curse

    Ben Thompson examines how paradigm shifts in technology can lead to a “winner’s curse,” where dominant players struggle to adapt to new models. He draws parallels between past platform shifts and the current AI revolution, noting that incumbents often face structural disadvantages. The piece argues that the biggest risk for leaders is overextending in pursuit of maintaining dominance.

  5. AI Chatbots Still Struggle With “Delusions”

    A New York Times report highlights how leading AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, still produce confident but false or nonsensical responses—referred to as “delusions.” Despite advancements, these issues persist in complex tasks like reasoning and fact-checking. Experts warn that without better evaluation methods, these hallucinations could undermine trust in AI systems.

đŸ—“ïž Upcoming Events

đŸ“± Product & Feature Highlights

Openvibe combines news and social media in one app | TechCrunch

The addition makes Openvibe more useful for keeping up with your interests and other important information without having to switch between multiple newsreaders, websites, or social networking apps.

techcrunch.com/2025/08/08/openvibe-combines-news-and-social-media-in-one-app

Claude Opus 4.1

Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.

www.anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-4-1

We’re testing a new, AI-powered Google Finance.

Beginning this week, you'll see us testing a new Google Finance, reimagined with AI at its core. Here’s what to expect:Research your finance questions with AI: Now, you 


blog.google/products/search/google-finance-ai

Eleven Music is Here | ElevenLabs

Studio-grade music generated with natural language prompts in any style and for countless uses

elevenlabs.io/blog/eleven-music-is-here

New Gemini app tools to help students learn, understand and study even better

Try these new tools to learn, study and understand complex topics even better.

blog.google/products/gemini/new-gemini-tools-students-august-2025/?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=og&utm_content=&utm_term=

New Instagram Features to Help You Connect

We’re launching features that make it easier to connect with your friends on Instagram.

about.fb.com/news/2025/08/new-instagram-features-help-you-connect

Introducing study mode

A new way to learn in ChatGPT that offers step by step guidance instead of quick answers.

openai.com/index/chatgpt-study-mode

Introducing gpt-oss

gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b push the frontier of open-weight reasoning models

openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-oss

Introducing GPT-5

Our smartest, fastest, most useful model yet, with built-in thinking that puts expert-level intelligence in everyone’s hands.

openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5

🧠 For the Nerds

New Method Is the Fastest Way To Find the Best Routes | Quanta Magazine

A canonical problem in computer science is to find the shortest route to every point in a network. A new approach beats the classic algorithm taught in textbooks.

www.quantamagazine.org/new-method-is-the-fastest-way-to-find-the-best-routes-20250806

👀 Fun & Interesting Things

Getting into the groove: How music shaped the scatter brushes in Figma Draw | Figma Blog

Today, we’re adding 10 new scatter brushes to push the creative possibilities in Figma Draw. Here’s how the team drew inspiration from Doo-wop, Vaporwave, and other music genres to design them.

www.figma.com/blog/figma-draw-scatter-brushes