A Eye on AI - August 18, 2026, 12 PM Eastern

Perplexity's free-trial gamble pays off: India revenue up 60% after Airtel giveaway endsXiaomi sacrifices profits to bet big on AI, CFO says 'in no rush' to monetizeOpenAI launches dedicated ChatGPT 'Teen Mode' with automatic safeguards for 13-17sA Eye on AI - 12:31 PMIn this episode: Perplexity's India revenue climbed about 60% after its free Airtel giveaway expired, even as downloads fell—an early test of whether subsidized AI access creates lasting paying users. Xiaomi posted a third straight quarterly profit decline while pouring 18.2 billion yuan into R&D, with AI now nearly 30% of that spend, and executives say they're playing the long game. Chip designer VeriSilicon's revenue nearly doubled on AI-related orders, while UCloud brings Hygon's Tianxi accelerators to its public cloud. In everyday life, Google's Pet Memory still can't tell cats apart after two weeks of testing, OpenAI launches a consolidated teen mode with automatic safeguards and study-hour controls, and a new AI Observatory study reveals that company-reported usage data misses nearly half of real conversations, especially around health, relationships, and sensitive topics.Sources:- TechCrunch AI: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/18/perplexitys-free-ai-offer-left-it-with-millions-more-users-in-india/- SCMP — Business (Greater China): https://www.scmp.com/business/china-evs/article/3364458/xiaomi-no-rush-turn-vast-ai-spending-profits-despite-earnings-slump?utm_source=rss_feed- TechNode: https://technode.com/2026/08/18/verisilicon-reports-91-first-half-revenue-growth-as-ai-orders-reach-90/- TechNode: https://technode.com/2026/08/18/ucloud-brings-hygons-tianxi-ai-accelerators-to-public-cloud/- The Verge AI: https://www.theverge.com/tech/981269/google-home-gemini-pet-memory-nest-camera-review- The Verge AI: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/981333/openai-chatgpt-teen-mode- MIT Technology Review — AI: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/18/1142226/how-people-use-ai/https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/a-eye-on-ai--7245888