Hey Conscious Church Fam

Apple is exploring a deal with Google to rescue Siri. Microsoft has rolled out its first in-house AI models after years of leaning on OpenAI. And Google… well, they just dropped another model that makes Photoshop look nervous (and even on a week off I’ve been playing with it at every opportunity).

In today's recap:

• 🍎 Apple considers bringing Google Gemini in to rebuild Siri

• 🎨 Google’s Flash 2.5 Image turns memes into Pixar-level edits

• 💻 Microsoft finally builds its own AI instead of riding OpenAI’s coattails

Let’s dive in 👇

💭 Josh’s Musings

I’ve been off this week for my wife’s birthday and some time with the kids before homeschool starts again.

In between, I’ve been playing with Google’s new “Nano Banana” image model. The stuff it can generate is unreal. Characters stay consistent, edits flow naturally, it almost feels too easy.

As a designer, it’s slotted into my workflow for a couple of freelance projects and easily saved me an hour or two. But honestly, my favourite use wasn’t work at all, it was putting my parents in ridiculous costumes and watching the kids cry with laughter.

That said, the tool really came alive for me when I mocked up some hats for a personal project I’ve been dreaming about. I merged together a design, fabric type, and camera angle, and in minutes I had a visual that would’ve taken me hours in Photoshop.

And then it happened… that feeling.

The glint of excitement.
The thing that was in my head was right there on the screen.
One step closer to becoming real.

That little jolt of excitement is what I love most. Not the tool itself, but the spark it gives. The reminder that ideas don’t have to stay in your head.

🙌 Stay Curious, Stay Conscious, Stay Wild
Josh

LATEST NEWS

🍎 APPLE MIGHT LET GOOGLE POWER SIRI

Recap: Apple is reportedly in talks with Google about using its Gemini models to rebuild Siri from the ground up, after setbacks pushed a major upgrade to 2026.

The Details:

• Google has already trained a custom Gemini model on Apple’s private servers for testing

• Apple is developing two internal Siri versions: Linwood (Apple’s own tech) and Glenwood (external AI)

• They’ve also explored Anthropic and OpenAI partnerships (ChatGPT already powers some Siri features)

• A final decision is still weeks away, but Apple is under pressure with top talent leaving

Conscious Take: For years Siri has felt… well, dumb (I NEVER use it nor did I much). Apple banking on Google shows just how high the AI bar has been raised. Sometimes the wisest move is to admit you need help.

🎨 GOOGLE’S “NANO-BANANA” FLASH 2.5 IMAGE

Recap: Google just launched Gemini Flash 2.5 Image — an editing model that went viral as “nano-banana” in testing. It can do precise, multi-step edits while keeping characters and styles consistent.

The Details:

• Shot straight to #1 on the LM Arena Image Edit leaderboard

• Handles multi-turn edits, blending styles, and even world-knowledge choices (adding the right plants in a jungle scene)

• Costs $0.039 per image, slightly cheaper than OpenAI’s gpt-image

• Already being used to create memes, posters, and entire re-styled artworks

Conscious Take: This is my passion area (design/creativity) and this tool is seriously good at editing and things. That’s exciting (and a little unnerving). Now for content creators and people wanting to create things (product mockups, photo manipulations, edits etc, it looks really good and will only get better. It’s not going to take the place of graphic designers though. It’s not handling layers, vectors, print files etc. (So if that is something you’re needing then my skills are still of great use haha!)

💻 MICROSOFT BUILDS ITS OWN AI

Recap: Microsoft has unveiled its first fully homegrown AI models: MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-1-preview. Until now, they’ve leaned heavily on OpenAI for everything Copilot-related.

The Details:

• MAI-Voice-1 generates a minute of natural speech in under a second — already powering Copilot Daily and Podcasts

• MAI-1-preview is a lightweight text model optimised for instruction-following and everyday Q&A

• CEO Mustafa Suleyman claims MAI-1 is “up there with the best” — though benchmarks are still missing

• Early access is available via API and LM Arena testing

Conscious Take: Microsoft shifting to its own stack is a big deal. It means they don’t want to be OpenAI’s sidekick forever. Whilst I’m not a huge Microsoft fan (I just can’t stand the whole Teams/Office365/OneDrive ecosystem), it’s good to see healthy competition.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Stay conscious,

Josh

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