The Age of AI Actors Is Here, and Hollywood Isn’t Ready

Shop with ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5, & Apple's Siri AI Upgrade

Author

Andres Franco
October 01, 2025

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Here is the latest from this week in AI:

  • OpenAI Brings Shopping Into ChatGPT With Instant Checkout

  • AI Actress Sparks Hollywood Backlash

  • Anthropic Unveils Claude Sonnet 4.5, Its Most Powerful Coding Model Yet

  • Apple Scrambles on Siri AI Upgrade

OpenAI has introduced Instant Checkout, a feature that lets U.S. users shop directly inside ChatGPT. Partnering with Stripe, it launches with Etsy sellers and will soon extend to over 1 million Shopify merchants. Users can click “Buy,” review order details, and pay without leaving the chat.

The company also open-sourced its Agentic Commerce Protocol, making integration simple for retailers. OpenAI will earn fees on sales while keeping product rankings relevance-based. Instant Checkout marks a major step toward agentic AI commerce and creates a powerful new revenue stream as shopping shifts into conversations.

Source: OpenAI

AI studio Xicoia revealed its AI actress, Tilly Norwood, is in talks with major Hollywood agencies after debuting in a comedy sketch last month. Founder Eline Van der Velden said studios are now eager to sign AI talent, calling Norwood the start of a new era.

The move has sparked outrage from actors, with some urging boycotts of any agency that signs her. With AI performers like Norwood and musician Xania Monet gaining traction, Hollywood is racing ahead even as backlash from unions and creatives grows louder.

Source: Particle6 Productions

Anthropic has launched Claude Sonnet 4.5, calling it its best coding model to date. The release delivers state-of-the-art results on real-world software benchmarks, including SWE-bench, and marks a nearly 20% jump in computer use tasks over Opus 4.1. In testing, Sonnet 4.5 coded autonomously for more than 30 hours, generating 11,000 lines of code, a massive leap over GPT-5-Codex’s 7-hour sessions.

Alongside the model, Anthropic introduced Claude Code checkpoints, memory and context editing in the API, and a Claude Agent SDK for building agents. It also rolled out “Imagine with Claude,” a short research preview for Max users that showcases real-time software generation. With these upgrades, Anthropic is pushing toward long-horizon agentic tasks that could redefine what AI systems can accomplish.

Source: Anthropic

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Apple is testing an internal chatbot called “Veritas” to stress-test new AI features for Siri after repeated delays, Bloomberg reports. The tool lets engineers trial capabilities like searching personal data and editing photos with voice commands, powered by Apple’s “Linwood” system that mixes in-house and third-party models.

Originally set for launch in 2026, the Siri overhaul has been plagued by engineering setbacks, executive reshuffles, and talent losses to rival AI labs. Apple doesn’t plan to release Veritas as a standalone app, instead folding the features directly into Siri, a risky bet as competitors race ahead.

Source: Money Control

In Other News

Stocks closed higher Tuesday, capping the S&P 500’s best September in more than a decade. The Dow rose 82 points to a record high, while the S&P gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq added 0.3%. The rally has been fueled by AI-driven momentum and the Fed’s recent rate cuts, with traders betting on more easing before year-end.

Even with a looming government shutdown, history suggests limited market impact. The S&P has risen during the past five shutdowns, averaging nearly 3% gains in those lasting over two weeks. The index also marked its fifth straight monthly advance, with analysts noting that such streaks have historically pointed to continued upside ahead.

Source: Barron’s

Cool tools of the week from insidersedge.io

Bricabrac AI - Create an AI app within minutes

LitGrades - Tool for students to create AI-generated flash cards

Vocaloid - Add lyrics & melodies to your musical compositions

SID Search - Search engine to find your files from any application

Jobs To Check Out This Week On insidersedge.io

Community Manager - Origin Protocol

Senior Data Scientist - Magic Eden

Applied ML Engineer - Hologram Labs

Senior Software Engineer AI - Ripple

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