In today's email:

🎒 Backcountry transforms operations with AI-driven acquisition

📈 Fitness app market projected to reach $33.6 billion by 2033

🏆 SportAI secures $3M in funding to transform sports coaching

💬 Apple's UI design chief Alan Dye joins Meta to lead new creative studio

💬 OpenAI declares "Code Red" to improve ChatGPT amid Google competition

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AI in Sports and Fitness

Silversea Cruises deploys AI-powered fitness equipment and luxury golf simulators across its global fleet. Silversea is introducing AMP AI-powered strength training devices that deliver personalized feedback to passengers, alongside SeaDrivePro portable golf simulators using Foresight Sports GCQuad launch monitor technology, the same precision equipment used on the PGA Tour. After launching SeaDrivePro on Silver Dawn this December, Silversea plans to roll out both innovations across its entire classic fleet throughout 2026.

Vekta partners with Team AMANI to develop African cycling talent through AI-powered training platform. Vekta becomes the official training and coaching platform for Team AMANI's men's and women's UCI Continental squads under a three-year partnership (2025-2028). Beyond race support, the AI company is developing a talent identification platform to scout emerging cyclists across the region.

SportAI raises $3M to scale sports performance analysis to elite teams and 30 countries. SportAI secured $3M in its oversubscribed funding round from Altitude Capital, tennis champion Casper Ruud, and Endre Holen (McKinsey chairman and former Hudl board member), bringing total funding to $5.7M. SportAI's camera-agnostic approach works with any existing court camera system, making it accessible for gyms and facilities without requiring proprietary hardware.

OOFSkate brings computer vision analysis to figure skating technical judging. OOFSkate uses AI-powered computer vision to analyze jump height, rotation speed, airtime precision, and landing quality, currently requiring only a tablet or mobile phone with no sensors or wearables needed. The goal is to automate technical calling (which evaluates execution and difficulty) while preserving human judges' role in assessing artistic merit and interpretation.

Backcountry's interim president discusses AI-driven transformation of outdoor retail operations. In an interview with Kevin Lenau, interim president of Backcountry (now owned by CSC Generation Enterprise), Lenau, a former CFO and VP of Strategy/Finance at CSC, explains how the outdoor retailer is integrating AI across its core operations. The company is deploying AI for dynamic pricing, inventory optimization, demand forecasting, and personalized product matching through its Gearhead recommendation system. Recent acquisitions of Level Nine Sports and Velotech support this strategy, and the company has already achieved 7% profit improvement year-over-year through AI-enabled operations.

Global fitness app market poised for explosive growth driven by AI personalization and wearables. The fitness app market, valued at $10.6 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $33.6 billion by 2033 with a 13.5% compound annual growth rate. Growth is being driven by higher health awareness, wearable device integration, and AI-powered personalization creating tailored workout plans and real-time coaching experiences across running, cycling, yoga, and strength training.

Ultrahuman Home sleep monitor adds AI-powered respiratory health tracking. The Ultrahuman Home sleep monitor released a major software upgrade featuring dual microphones and AI trained on 500+ audio signatures to detect snoring intensity, cough frequency, and irregular breathing patterns.

🧰 Tools and Tips

• Sportable’s portable ball and player tracking technology delivers a turnkey solution for teams and leagues searching for game-winning skill and tactical insights.

• This looks pretty impressive if Excel is frequently used in your business. Shortcut.ai is an Excel-native AI that converts plain-language instructions into accurate, formula-based spreadsheet edits.

• Transform AI-generated text into natural, human-like content that bypasses detection with AI Humanizer.

• PromptGenie is a Chrome extention that helps you craft better AI prompts on your favorite ChatGPT, Claude and others.

I am getting ready to roll out a new service that I am very excited about, but have been struggling with my positioning statement. I came across this great prompt that helped me get right to the heart of what I wanted to say. This is borrowed from Zain Kahn at Superhuman.

Prompt: Analyze the message below and provide a structured evaluation across four dimensions:  

Clarity – Can a reader understand it on the first pass?  

Relevance – Does it speak directly to real customer problems or priorities?  

Differentiation – Does it clearly set the product apart from competitors?  

Emotional Impact – Does it feel compelling, memorable, and non-generic?  

After the evaluation, rewrite the message into crisper, high-signal versions suitable for:  

Website Headline  1-Line Elevator Pitch  

LinkedIn Post Intro  

Message to analyze: 
[Paste your draft line or paragraph here]

Beyond Sports: AI News Bytes

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a code red to prioritize ChatGPT improvements over other projects as competition from Google's Gemini 3 and Anthropic's Claude intensifies.

OpenAI has agreed to acquire Neptune, a Polish startup that provides AI model training and monitoring tools, for less than $400 million.

Anthropic has acquired Bun, an open-source JavaScript runtime, after Claude Code reached $1 billion in run-rate revenue in just six months.

Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for a potential IPO as early as 2026, with the company exploring funding that could value it above $300 billion.

Meta has hired Alan Dye, Apple's longtime head of UI design, as Chief Design Officer to lead a new creative studio for hardware and AI interface design.

OpenAI and Perplexity have both launched AI shopping assistants with checkout integration, with Adobe forecasting AI-assisted online shopping to grow 520% this holiday season.

Perplexity has launched its Comet browser on Android with AI-powered features including tab summarization, voice mode, and an ad blocker.

AI Jobs in Sports and Fitness

• Backcountry - AI-Native Product Manager

• Backcountry - A+ Content Analyst

• PlayOn Sports - AI Engineer

• Whoop - Numerous Software Engineering positions

• Hive - Analyst, Media & Sports

• Fastbreak AI - Professional Sports - Scheduling Lead

• Fastbreak AI - Optimization Performance Specialist

• Whoop - Senior Business Analyst (AI Product)

• Under Armour - Summer 2026 Internship, AI & Advanced AnalyticsGannett

• Patagonia - Principal, Head of AI

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