In today's email:

🏀 NBA explores Hawk-Eye optical tracking for automated out-of-bounds calls and goaltending reviews

💎 Nuna launches $299 AI necklace that tracks emotional health through voice and biometric analysis

💤 Sleep.ai raises $5.5M and rebrands to accelerate AI-powered sleep intelligence platform

⚖️ Elon Musk's xAI sues Apple and OpenAI claiming anticompetitive scheme in AI market

🎾 IBM and USTA deploy AI-powered Match Chat assistant for all 254 US Open singles matches (from the IBM/USTA story)

If you find this newsletter useful, please support us by forwarding to a friend or subscribing here.

AI in Sports and Fitness

IBM and USTA deploy AI-powered digital experiences for 2025 US Open including Match Chat assistant and enhanced SlamTracker. The features leverage IBM watsonx technologies and Granite language models to provide real-time insights during all 254 singles matches. New capabilities include live win probability calculations, AI-generated audio commentary, and three-bullet article summaries for enhanced fan engagement.

NFL explores AI officiating technology to eliminate human error in ball spotting and first down measurements using optical tracking systems. The league will replace the antiquated chain gang this fall with high-definition cameras that track ball location relative to the line to gain, while researching Sony Hawk-Eye systems for automated out-of-bounds spotting and penalty detection. The technology faces challenges in precisely detecting the moment a player is down while syncing microchip data from footballs with optical tracking.

Lululemon appoints Ranju Das as chief AI and technology officer to lead the company's technology organization and drive AI strategy development. Das brings over two decades of experience scaling AI-first innovation across healthcare, fintech, and consumer technology, previously serving as CEO of Swan AI Studios and GM for Amazon AI Services. T

Nuna unveils $299 AI necklace that tracks emotional health through voice analysis, biometric monitoring, and environmental sensing. The smart pendant uses millimeter-wave radar and on-device AI to translate heart rate variability, breathing patterns, and vocal biomarkers into emotional insights.

Sleep.ai raises $5.5 million and rebrands from SleepScore Labs to accelerate commercialization of its AI-powered sleep intelligence platform. The company leverages over 800 million hours of proprietary sleep data and 250+ scientific studies to deliver personalized sleep insights through APIs, SDKs, and consumer applications.

Virtuagym launches Max AI Coach that generates personalized workout plans in 20 seconds using library of 6,000 3D-animated exercises. The Amsterdam-based fitness software provider built the tool into its Coach mobile app to help gyms and trainers scale personal coaching by factoring in client profiles, available equipment, and injury considerations. Plans can be adjusted for training frequency and preferred styles like circuits or supersets.

Jeremy Bloom's Owl AI raises $11 million seed round to expand automated judging and refereeing technology beyond X Games action sports. The company successfully deployed AI scoring for men's halfpipe snowboarding that matched human judges' results and provided multilingual commentary in 40 languages. Major leagues including NFL and NBA show interest in equity partnerships as Owl explores applications in figure skating and other subjective sports.

Como Women launches fashion collection created entirely using AI tools, marking one of professional football's first AI-generated campaigns. The Italian club collaborated with Fashion AI School to develop twelve pieces for women, men, and children using artificial intelligence for product design and visual content creation. The initiative demonstrates AI's potential to bridge technological experimentation with practical fashion industry applications.

🧰 Tools and Tips

• Google unveiled a new image editing model in the Gemini app. Upload a photo of a person, and the new version will keep their basic look the same in every image as you place them in new scenarios. Try putting yourself in different outfits or professions, or even see how you’d appear in another decade.

• Quickly create professional infographics, charts, presentations, and social media graphics from text or data with Piktochart.

• Remove.bg is an AI-powered online tool that instantly removes backgrounds from images with just one click

• PixVerse is an advanced AI video generator that instantly transforms text prompts or photos into high-quality, animated videos.

What It Does: Analyzes and compares health supplements across efficacy, ingredients, cost, benefits, dietary fit, and customer ratings in a structured table.

Role:
Research Analyst specializing in health and nutritional supplements.

Task:
Conduct an extensive analysis of health supplements, focusing on .

Requirements:

1. Include a range of brands available worldwide for shipping or retail purchase.

2. Compare supplements based on:

   • Efficacy

   • Ingredients

   • Cost-effectiveness

   • Health benefits

   • Dietary considerations

   • Customer ratings

3. Prepare a comprehensive comparison table that includes:

   • Product type (e.g., vegan protein, whey protein, synthetic vitamins, organic sources)

   • Efficacy

   • Ingredients

   • Dietary considerations (note: placeholder for customization)

   • Price range

   • Overall customer rating (1–5 stars)

4. Highlight all relevant health benefits in relation to the specific purpose of each product.

5. Present the table in a clear format with checkmarks or notes for easy comparison.

Constraints:

• Only include supplements available for worldwide shipping or retail purchase.

• All comparisons must be based on scientifically verified information.

• Include price ranges for each product.

• Incorporate overall customer ratings (1–5 stars).

Videos To Get Started with AI for Your Race

AI can be a powerful tool for races, but knowing how to harness that power is a challenge. RunSignup's AI video series can help you get started, with short videos and in-depth webinars for race directors with all levels of AI experience.

Videos include
- Basic definition videos, such as Explaining Acronyms: AI, LLM, API, and MCP
- Practical race applications such as How AI Can Help Your Event
- Webinar recordings like AI to Streamline Event Operations

RunSignup's AI video library is continually growing to help race directors understand AI and its array of applications.

All video content is free - start learning today!

Beyond Sports: AI News Bytes

Elon Musk's xAI sues Apple and OpenAI in Texas federal court claiming anticompetitive scheme to block AI competition and maintain monopolies. The lawsuit seeks billions in damages, alleging Apple shows preference to ChatGPT in App Store rankings while preventing other AI companies from reaching top positions.

Perplexity introduces Comet Plus subscription tier that shares revenue with publishing partners when AI searches use journalistic content. The $5 monthly tier allocates $42.5 million for compensation through human visits, search citations, and AI agent actions on publisher websites.

On a related note, Japanese publishers Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun are suing Perplexity AI for $15 million each, claiming unauthorized use of content and ignoring coding designed to indicate off-limits material. The lawsuit alleges continuous large-scale reproduction of articles since June 2024 without proper authorization.

ChatGPT helps recover stolen Lamborghini Huracan after owner uses AI and Google location tools to analyze Instagram photos. Andrew Garcia fed pictures into ChatGPT and traced the car to Denver, where police confirmed recovery of the supercar stolen two years ago.

Google enhances AI Mode with new agentic capabilities for finding restaurant reservations, local service appointments, and event tickets across multiple platforms. The feature uses Project Mariner's web browsing capabilities and partnerships with OpenTable, Resy, Ticketmaster, and other services to streamline booking processes with personalized recommendations.

Google also announced it has integrated AI-powered language learning tools into Translate app, creating customized lessons based on skill level and learning goals using Gemini models. The beta feature supports English-Spanish/French practice and includes live translation capabilities across 70+ languages in select markets, positioning Google as a Duolingo competitor.

Amazon-backed Anthropic settles lawsuit from authors who accused the company of illegally downloading millions of books to train its AI system. The settlement avoids trial after a judge ruled that using purchased books for training falls under fair use, though downloading seven million books initially remained legally problematic.

Send us your AI sports image to [email protected] for next issue using the prompt: New water bottle design

Do you have ideas on what we should publish next? Respond to this email and let me know! I read every reply.

Support us by forwarding to a friend or subscribing here.