On Monday, Anthropic’s chief product officer, Mike Krieger, said that Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) AirPods Pro could quietly become one of the mass-market AI devices.
Krieger Sees AirPods Pro As AI Gateway
Speaking on TBPN following the Anthropic’s latest AI model’s launch, Krieger argued that consumers may be overlooking the role AirPods could play in mainstream AI adoption.
“I think the AirPod Pro is going to be like the sneaky AI device that actually does the mass market,” Krieger said, noting how seamlessly voice-driven interfaces could evolve into everyday AI assistants. “Not a super controversial take.”
He added that workplaces could also transform, with employees delegating tasks to AI using tools like subvocalization devices now in development.
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AI As A Meeting Participant, Not Just A Note-Taker
Krieger also pointed to the next stage of AI in collaborative settings. Rather than acting as passive note-takers, AI systems could become active participants in meetings.
What if an AI could remind users that they skipped a topic that was meant to be covered, or flag when there’s a lot of disagreement in the room? Such capabilities, he suggested, may not require complex new hardware but will demand AI to integrate more naturally into human workflows.
Anthropic Launches Claude Sonnet 4.5
Earlier in the day, Anthropic unveiled Claude Sonnet 4.5, describing it as the company’s most advanced model yet.
Backed by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Jeff Bezos‘ Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), the startup said the system excels at coding, business tasks and specialized areas such as cybersecurity, finance and research.
According to benchmarks like SWE-bench Verified, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is currently “the best coding model in the world,” the company said in a press release.
Krieger also explained that one challenge Anthropic faces is tuning AI responsiveness.
Earlier versions, he said, were “too eager,” making unnecessary changes, while later ones were “too lazy,” requiring users to push them forward.
With Claude Sonnet 4.5, Anthropic aimed for what Krieger called “the right blend of eagerness and laziness” to ensure the model is useful but not overwhelming.
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, Anthropic has emerged as one of the most valuable AI startups, now valued at $183 billion.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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