AI Agents, AI Video & Physical AI - Mega Roundup 🌍✨
AI video explodes, OpenAI Operator debuts, DeepSeek impresses, and reality bends — plus robotic dogs, lost cities, and the future of creation itself.
The year is off to an amazing start, and we’ve got a lot to cover. I had the pleasure of spending a week with a stacked group at Adobe’s Generative AI Leaders Summit, and A16z’s newest Speedrun batch in San Francisco.
But good lord is a lot else going on. And speaking of big moves...
TED AI Host to TED Curator 🎙️
I’m excited to share that I’m the new technology curator for TED Talks — focused on TED2025 and TEDNext. My goal is to map and navigate the frontier of emerging tech, and this role has given me quite the vantage point. I can’t wait to share more about the speakers I’ve curated and the session I’m co-hosting this April in Vancouver.
AI Video Is Already Unrecognizable (And It's Only February) 🎉
In this comprehensive 30 minute episode, we’ll dive into 7 new tools and research projects that are transforming filmmaking and VFX.
Plus, a deep dive into where 3D and video creation tools are headed next ft. MidJourney CEO and yours truly.
This new format is clearly resonating, because the feedback has been very inspiring for me — and we’ve recently crossed 10K subs on this channel!
Watch now on YouTube, or jump to a specific chapter below:
(00:00) AI Video Mega Update
(00:33) Pikadditions & Pika 2.1
(03:22) OmniHuman-1 (ByteDance)
(06:35) VideoJAM, SAMURAI & Movie Gen (Meta AI)
(11:38) MidJourney CEO on Future of 3D & AI Video
(16:40) 3D + AI Video Techniques
(19:37) Topaz Starlight Upscaling
(22:56) MoCapade 3.0 Motion Capture
(25:50) Future of AI Video Creation
(32:07) Unbundling & Rebundling
OpenAI Operator Deep Dive 🎤
In this hands-on 30 minute episode, I'll give you a detailed look at OpenAI Operator, DeepSeek-R1, ByteDance UI-TARS, and how China's open-source approach is impacting the AI ecosystem. Plus, we'll dive into how these AI agents evolve into AR/VR and robotics capabilities.
Watch now on YouTube, or jump to a specific chapter below:
(00:00) AI Agents & US vs. China
(00:43) OpenAI Operator Live Demos (Bookings, Memes & Deliveries)
(08:25) Claude Computer Use & Google's Project Mariner
(11:50) China's AI Agents Crush US Models
(20:04) AI Agents → AR/VR & Robotics (China's Real Strength)
(25:11) Privacy & Security Implications of Agentic AI
And as cool as these tools are, you’ll need a lot of zen to use them in their current state:
AI Quick Hits ✨
While we’re mapping the frontier, here’s what’s been cooking
CREATION & TOOLS 🎨
VIRAL MOMENTS & MILESTONES 🚀
INDUSTRY MOVES & TECH WARS ⚔️
Elon & Sam saga continues, while Zuck flexes the size of his datacenter (loved his reply to my post lol)
DEEPER CONTEXT 🎙️
My podcast interview with Neville on AI, VR, AR, Scouting & more
Why you should take every poll with the obligatory rock of salt
Wild times ahead. If you found this useful, share it with fellow reality mappers. The future's too interesting to navigate alone. See you in next month’s reality map!
Cheers,
Bilawal Sidhu
https://bilawal.ai
AI is moving so fast especially with video and agents it's exciting and a little mind blowing! The part about China's open source approach vs the US caught my attention.
Do you think AI agents will stay as helpful tools or will they start creating content on their own, changing what it means to be a creator?