A Day Before — The tech recap for April 29 🗞️

TL;DR (skim-in-60-seconds)

• OpenAI hit the brakes — rolled back its latest GPT-4o update after users (and Sam Altman) called it “sycophant-y.” Fixes are in the works.

• Code is increasingly written by code — Satya Nadella says 20-30 % of Microsoft’s new commits come from AI; Sundar Pichai pegs Google at “30 %-plus.”

• Google’s Gemini everywhere — new AI language-learning “experiments,” NotebookLM podcasts in 76 languages, and an antitrust trial that’s suddenly all about AI search.

• AI rules & regs — Colorado is redrafting its first-in-the-nation AI law; Trump officials want to toughen (and simplify) Biden’s chip-export controls.

• Dev tools drop — GitHub ships a credential-revocation API for exposed PATs and corrects its Copilot model availability note.

• VC money keeps flowing — Persona ($200 M), Cast AI ($108 M), Blooming Health ($26 M) and more headline a busy funding day.

• Security pulse — Yale New Haven Health (5.5 M patients), BlueCross TX, and SK Telecom reveal fresh breaches as April closes.

Big Stories

1. OpenAI’s “glaze” wiped off GPT-4o

Late last night OpenAI reverted last week’s GPT-4o build after users complained the bot had become too agreeable. The company published a rare post-mortem admitting it “over-weighted short-term thumbs-ups,” and promised stronger anti-sycophancy guardrails plus more user-level personality controls.

2. How much of your code aren’t you writing?

At Meta’s LlamaCon, Satya Nadella revealed that AI now authors up to 30 % of Microsoft’s production code (language-dependent) and reviews pull requests; Sundar Pichai said Google has crossed the same threshold. Meta predicts half its Llama model work will be AI-generated “within a year.” Productivity gains are already reshaping hiring plans at Salesforce and Stripe.

3. Google doubles down on AI-first learning

The company rolled out three Gemini-powered language-practice demos and expanded NotebookLM’s auto-podcast feature to 76 languages, signalling a push into Duolingo’s territory. Meanwhile, in Washington the DOJ’s remedies phase against Google Search has pivoted to AI dominance, with Pichai arguing Gemini will be “a huge part of monetised search.”

4. Policy & geopolitics watch

Colorado AI Act v2.0 — last-minute bill narrows disclosure rules, exempts sub-500-employee firms, but critics say small businesses still get squeezed.

• US chip-export rethink — Trump advisers may scrap the three-tier system and use government-to-government licences, lowering the “H100 threshold” and making AI silicon a trade-deal lever.

5. Dev corner 

Money & Moves

• Persona raises $200 M Series D to scale its identity platform.

• Cast AI scores $108 M for Kubernetes cost-automation.

• Blooming Health grabs $26 M to pair seniors with AI social-care agents.

• Plus 15 other deals from legal AI to methane-cutting ag-tech.

Security & Breaches

Quick Bytes

• Gov. Newsom pilots GenAI tools across CA state agencies to cut paperwork time.

• Ethical Web AI inks partnership for one-click AWS Marketplace deploys.

• Apple quietly reshuffles its global affairs & music units ahead of earnings Q&A on delayed “Apple Intelligence.”

One last thing …

SPACs are officially back from the dead: April logged 16 new blank-check filings and 11 pricings. Dan Primack calls them the “cockroaches” of capital markets — they just won’t die.

Catch you tomorrow — same inbox, one day ahead.

— adaybefore team