In today's email:

🏀 NBA partners with AWS for AI-powered game insights and analytics

🏋️ Peloton unveils AI coaching across new Cross Training equipment line

💰 OpenAI hits $500B valuation as world's most valuable private company

🛒 ChatGPT enables direct purchases from Shopify and Etsy merchants

🌐 Perplexity launches free AI browser Comet worldwide

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AI in Sports and Fitness

The NBA partnered with Amazon Web Services as its official cloud and AI partner, launching NBA Inside the Game powered by AWS. The platform will turn billions of data points into insights with AI-driven live stats during games, including shot difficulty, defensive strategy, and a "Gravity" feature showing how players affect teammates even away from the ball.

Peloton announced a complete product overhaul with its Cross Training Series featuring five redesigned devices with swiveling screens, enhanced audio, and upgraded connectivity. The Plus line includes built-in movement-tracking cameras and Peloton IQ AI coaching that corrects form, counts reps, suggests weights, and creates self-paced workouts adapting to user progress.

X Games unveiled a full rebrand and the X Games League, the first-ever year-round, team-based league in action sports launching summer 2026. The transformation includes AI-powered judging via The OWL for real-time transparent scoring, sports betting integration, and festival-like live events blending competition with music and culture.

On's new COO Scott Maguire is expected to scale the brand's Lightspray robots for shoe production. The AI-powered manufacturing system uses robot arms to produce ultra-light one-piece running shoe uppers in three minutes with 75% fewer carbon emissions, with plans for similar facilities worldwide.

University of Missouri developed an AI-powered portable concussion testing device using machine learning to track body motion and detect possible signs through walking, balance, and reaction-time tests. The Mizzou Point-of-Care Assessment System was able to quickly differentiate between healthy individuals and those with concussions with high accuracy.

UC Santa Cruz researchers designed a-Heal, an AI-powered smart bandage that speeds wound healing by 25%. The wearable device uses a tiny camera and AI to detect healing stages and deliver personalized treatment through medication or electric fields, with reinforcement learning adapting therapy based on wound progress.

Eight Sleep launched the Pod Pillow Cover with AI-powered temperature regulation for the head and neck. The $1,049 product uses hydro channels to circulate water and maintain temperatures up to 25 degrees cooler than traditional covers, potentially reducing sleep onset time by 20%.

Ekkobar and NBC Sports launched MIRA, an AI sponsorship-matching tool that scans social media to identify athletes and influencers best suited for marketing campaigns. The platform generates EkkoScores based on audience demographics and engagement, completing in seven seconds what once took weeks and helping NBC's Athlete Direct NIL marketplace increase deal flow up to fourfold.

FanCode partnered with Camb.AI to bring multilingual AI-powered live sports commentary to Indian audiences. The collaboration offers real-time translations across multiple Indian languages with male and female commentary voices, authentic crowd noise, and real-time advertisements for FanCode's 17,000+ annual live games.

PTF Lab deployed multiregional AR virtual ads in live MMA events, claiming to be first to use the technology with handheld and jib cameras. The AI-enhanced overlay system allows combat sports promotions to display different sponsor branding based on viewership market, expanding advertising inventory without requiring additional physical space.

🧰 Tools and Tips

• I used this app and recommend for those who want to get started in meditation. Insight Timer is the world's largest free meditation app offering over 250,000 guided meditations, music tracks, and talks led by top mindfulness experts.

• Make a new site for each idea, project, drop with Faces.

• Sora 2, OpenAI’s latest video generation model, is now available. It is more physically accurate, realistic, and more controllable than prior systems. It also features synchronized dialogue and sound effects.

• AnswerThis is an AI research assistant that helps find research gaps, access and organize millions of papers, generate literature reviews with citations, and streamline the entire academic research process.

What it does: Generates a complete, detailed risk assessment checklist for organizing a trail running race in remote areas — covering weather, wildlife, injuries, communications, and aid stations.

Act as a race director's assistant. Create a risk assessment checklist for a 500-participant trail running race in a remote mountainous area during spring.

Include: weather, wildlife, injury, communication, aid stations.

Output format:

• Use tables where needed

• Include specific mitigation strategies for each risk

• End with a summary checklist of actions

• Keep it realistic for race directors and outdoor event staff

Beyond Sports: AI News Bytes

OpenAI became the $500 billion valuation world's most valuable private company after selling $6.6 billion in shares held by employees. The sale involved SoftBank, Dragoneer, Thrive Capital, MGX, and T. Rowe Price, serving as a retention tool as OpenAI faces talent raids from Meta's AI lab.

OpenAI announced partnerships with Shopify and Etsy allowing ChatGPT users to purchase products directly through the chatbot without leaving the conversation. Hundreds of millions of products from Shopify merchants will be instantly discoverable, with merchants paying a small fee on completed purchases.

Perplexity launched its AI browser Comet worldwide for free after initially offering it only to $200/month Max subscribers. The browser acts as a personal assistant that can search the web, organize tabs, draft emails, and shop, while Comet Plus subscribers get access to content from trusted publishers like CNN and The Washington Post.

ChatGPT rolled out parental controls for accounts designed for minors aged 13-17, limiting answers related to graphic content, romantic role-play, and extreme beauty ideals. Parents can set blackout hours, block image creation, and opt out of AI training, with alerts if accounts indicate self-harm thoughts.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon announced plans for ChatGPT training for 2.1 million workers launching in 2026. The initiative, developed with OpenAI, builds on Walmart's Skills-First Workforce Initiative and aims to equip employees with AI skills while McMillon insists the technology will enhance rather than replace jobs.

OpenAI and Apple filed suit against Elon Musk's xAI over claims that ChatGPT's iPhone integration creates a monopoly. Musk argued the Siri integration gives OpenAI exclusive access to billions of queries for training, but OpenAI and Apple call his calculations unfounded.

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