As editor of AI Sportswire, I've immersed myself in the world of AI tools specifically for our industry. I've witnessed firsthand how these technologies can transform race organizations and sports brands. From marketing to participant communications, AI can cut your workload in half while improving results.

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This week, we explore the latest advancements in AI, from major player movements to innovations revolutionizing the sports and fitness industry. Let's dive in!

Quick Takes:

• OpenAI's Operator AI agent and Deep Research now more widely available

• Perplexity teases new Comet web browser and launches $50M venture fund

• Anthropic releases its "most intelligent" AI model yet with Claude 3.7 Sonnet

• Amazon unveils Alexa+ with advanced AI capabilities and subscription model

• AI adoption in healthcare jumps 78% in just one year

• New AI tools for health coaching, personalized wellness, and sports scheduling

• A prompt to analyze your event’s race results against industry trends

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AI News Bytes

Amazon has finally unveiled Alexa+, a generative AI-powered upgrade to its digital assistant that can perform complex tasks like booking restaurants, ordering groceries, and scheduling repairs. For the first time, Amazon will charge for an Alexa service at $19.99 monthly (free for Prime members), with the company using multiple AI models including its own Nova models and those from Anthropic.

Anthropic has unveiled Claude 3.7 Sonnet, a "hybrid" AI model the company claims is its most intelligent yet. The new model combines real-time response capabilities with an advanced reasoning mode that can "stop and think" about complex questions, eliminating the need for users to choose between different model types for various tasks.

Deep research capabilities previously costing $200/month are now available to all ChatGPT Plus subscribers at the standard $20 monthly fee. Users can now generate comprehensive research reports with proper citations, with Plus subscribers receiving 10 queries per month while Pro users get access to 120 monthly queries.

Perplexity AI is developing a new web browser called Comet, promising to revolutionize web browsing as they did with search. The company has opened a sign-up list for interested users, though no specific launch date has been announced yet.

A $50 million venture fund is being launched by Perplexity AI to back promising early-stage AI startups. The fund will leverage insights from Perplexity's network of 80,000 developers to identify investment opportunities, with the company serving as an anchor investor alongside outside limited partners.

🧰 Tools and Tips

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• Cut through online noise with GigaBrain, which scans billions of Reddit and community discussions. The tool extracts the most valuable insights and comments relevant to your search queries.

• EasyGen provides free AI-powered tools, like a LinkedIn profile generator and trend finder, to help you grow your brand and presence on LinkedIn.

• Document upload is now available to all Gemini users for free. Upload multiple Google Docs, PDFs, and Word documents from Google Drive or your device and get quick summaries, personalized feedback, and actionable insights.

• Use AI to listen to articles, PDFs, emails, etc. in your podcast player with Audioread.

Prompt of the Day

Use AI to Compare Your Race with Industry Trends

Today’s prompt was borrowed from RunSignup and their 2024 Annual Race Trends Report. You can see the results they came up with here.

Prompt 1: Comparing Your Race from 2023 to 2024

Use this prompt to evaluate year-over-year growth and identify areas for improvement in participation, demographics, and performance.

Upload a spreadsheet(s) of your race results over the past two years to ChatGPT4o (this version should be able to analyze your spreadsheets).

Analyze my race event by comparing the results from 2023 and 2024. Specifically, I want to understand:

• Total Participation: How did the number of registrants change? What is the percentage increase or decrease?

• Gender Breakdown: Did male or female participation grow more? Are there notable shifts in the gender ratio?

• Age Group Trends: Which age groups grew the most? Were there any significant declines?

• Repeat Participation (if data is available): How many runners returned from the previous year? How does this compare to industry retention rates?

• Performance Metrics: What was the average finish time, and how did it change? Were top finisher times faster or slower?

• Opportunities for Growth: Based on these insights, what specific areas should I focus on to improve participation and retention for next year?

• Upload a spreadsheet of your race results over the past two years to ChatGPT4o (this version will be able to analyze your spreadsheets)

Prompt 2: Compare Race Results to Industry Trends

Use this prompt to benchmark your race’s performance against national participation trends.

Upload RunSignup’s 2024 Annual Race Trends Report.

Compare my race event's 2024 results to the industry trends outlined in the 2024 Race Trends Report. Specifically, analyze:

• Overall Growth: My event grew by [X%]—how does this compare to the industry average of 8.2%? Am I ahead or behind similar-sized races?

• Gender Participation: My race saw [X]% female and [Y]% male participation—how does this compare to the national trend of 53% female participation?

• Age Group Shifts: The largest growth in my event was in [X age group]—does this align with the national increase in 18-29-year-olds?

• Retention Rates: The industry average for repeat participation is 17.4%—if I have repeat runner data, how do I compare?

• Race Size Benchmarking: My event falls into the [small/mid/large] category—how does my growth compare to races of similar sizes?

• Pricing Trends: 10K prices increased by 5.3% nationally—if I adjusted my pricing, did it align with the trend, and how might it have affected participation?

• Strategic Takeaways: Based on this comparison, what industry-backed strategies can I implement to improve my event for next year?

AI in Sports and Fitness

Onvy HealthTech has secured over $2 million in seed funding to expand its AI-based health coaching platform that integrates more than 320 wearables and health sensors. The Munich-based startup plans to advance its B2B "AI Health Coach-as-a-Service" offerings and target competitive sports, helping athletes maintain peak performance, optimal recovery, and mental fitness.

Physician adoption of healthcare AI has jumped 78% in just one year, with two-thirds of doctors now using the technology according to a new American Medical Association survey. The study found increased enthusiasm for AI's potential to reduce administrative burdens, with 57% of physicians seeing this as the biggest opportunity area.

Empirical Health, an app that transforms smartwatch data into personalized healthcare using AI, has expanded to Android devices with Wear OS support. The app works with Samsung Galaxy watches, Google Pixel Watches, and Fitbits to provide AI-powered health plans reviewed by human doctors, offering services like at-home sleep apnea testing and monitoring of over 40 biomarkers.

Sports scheduling technology leader Fastbreak AI has acquired Barcelogic, a European schedule optimization provider serving FIFA, Spain's La Liga, and other prestigious leagues. The acquisition strengthens Fastbreak's European presence, helping leagues balance logistics, broadcasting priorities, and competitive fairness while reducing athlete travel and increasing fan accessibility.

The role of AI as a supportive tool in sports was recently highlighted by IOC President Thomas Bach in an interview with China Media Group. Bach emphasized that AI should enhance rather than replace the human element, noting "In sport, the 100 meters will always have to be run by an athlete, by a human being," while explaining how AI can help create more personalized training programs and improve the spectator experience.

AI Art

Send us your AI image here for next week’s issue using the prompt: Kayakers in a river of pasta

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