Howdy, it’s Barsee again.

Happy Monday, AI family, and welcome back to AI Valley.

Today’s climb through the Valley reveals:

• Clawdbot goes viral as a self-hosted "digital employee"

• Apple to launch Gemini-powered Siri in February

• CEOs say AI is making work more efficient. Employees tell a different story

• ChatGPT's lead shrinks as Gemini surges in AI traffic war

• Plus trending AI tools, posts, and resources

Let’s dive into the Valley of AI…

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PEAK OF THE DAY

Clawdbot goes viral as a self-hosted "digital employee"

Clawdbot is an open-source project by independent developer Peter Steinberger that is currently trending among tech leaders. It promises to replace passive chatbots with a proactive "digital employee" that lives inside your messaging apps.

Here's what you need to know:

Unlike passive chatbots that simply generate text, Clawdbot functions as a proactive "digital employee" with full system access to execute real work like managing files and sending emails. It reverses the typical AI dynamic by using cron jobs to "wake up" and message you first on apps like WhatsApp, while its persistent memory ensures it retains context across days rather than resetting like a goldfish. Users can even program its specific personality and work ethic through a Soul.md file to essentially write a job description for their AI, though granting this high level of autonomy and root access on your local hardware brings significant security risks that demand careful management.

Here’s how to set it up easily (guide).

What can you actually do with it?

• The "Self-Healing" Coder: A non-developer on Hacker News reported that when their Clawdbot broke, they asked it to fix itself. The bot debugged its own code, wrote a patch, and submitted a Pull Request to GitHub, all autonomously. (Source: Hacker News)

• Hyper-Personal Wellness: A user on Implicator.ai described a workflow where Clawdbot checks their calendar's stress level, writes a custom meditation script, generates it using an AI voice, and sends the audio file to their phone before they wake up. (Source: Implicator.ai)

• Household Ops ("The Grill Master"): A family set up an automation where the bot checks the weekend weather; if it's sunny, it plans a BBQ menu and automatically adds the missing ingredients to their grocery delivery cart. (Source: Implicator.ai)

• The Mac Mini Farm: The viral trend has caused a spike in Mac Mini sales, with 36kr reporting that one developer bought 12 units to run a dedicated "AI fleet" for their business, effectively replacing a human support team. (Source: 36kr) (btw here’s how you can setup FREE AWS instance for your Clawdbot, instead of purchasing a Mac mini)

Why does it matter?

This project exposes a massive gap in the AI market that Big Tech cannot fill. Companies like Apple and Google are forced to cripple their assistants for safety reasons; they cannot risk the liability of Siri accidentally deleting your files or sending the wrong email.

Clawdbot proves that power users are ready to trade those safety rails for raw utility. It signals a graduation from Prompt Engineering (chatting with a bot) to Fleet Management (overseeing agents that run while you sleep). This is the "Sovereign AI" thesis in action: software you own, data you control, and labor that doesn't clock out.

THROUGH THE VALLEY

1/ Apple to launch Gemini-powered Siri in February, with a "Reimagined" chatbot following in June

Apple is set to roll out its new Gemini-powered Siri in two distinct phases: a personalized version debuting in February, followed by a fully redesigned chatbot in June. Reports indicate this new Siri is built on Apple’s Foundation Models v10 (boasting 1.2 trillion parameters), with a v11 update planned to compete directly with Gemini 3. This revamped assistant will go beyond simple commands (it will be fully conversational, context-aware, and capable of sustaining long, complex discussions). Apple is expected to preview the technology at WWDC, releasing betas for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 this summer. To support this massive leap, the system may leverage Google’s cloud and TPUs, alongside new Mac hardware updates slated for 2026.

2/ CEOs say AI is making work more efficient. Employees tell a different story

While executives claim AI is skyrocketing productivity, most employees aren't feeling the benefits. Surveys reveal a stark gap: some CEOs report time savings of eight hours or more, yet many workers save less than two hours a week. Currently, employees tend to use AI only for basic tasks (like search or first drafts) rather than deep work. In fact, many report that AI increases their stress, as they spend significant time fixing errors and redoing the AI's output. Even CEOs are beginning to admit that AI hasn't yet delivered clear financial returns, highlighting a growing divide between corporate expectations and the reality on the ground.

3/ ChatGPT's lead shrinks as Gemini surges in AI traffic war

ChatGPT is slowly losing its stranglehold on the market as competitors rise. New data from Similarweb shows ChatGPT’s global traffic share dropped to 64.6% in mid-January, a sharp decline from 86.6% just a year ago. The clear winner is Google’s Gemini, which has climbed to a 22% share thanks to deep integration across Search, Gmail, Workspace, and Android. Meanwhile, Grok has surpassed DeepSeek, while Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot trail behind. Although ChatGPT remains the overall leader, the gap is closing fast as AI becomes embedded into more everyday products and platforms.

TRENDING TOOLS

• Gobii > Run 24/7 AI agents that browse the web, read files, and keep working when you aren't

• Claude in Excel > Create, edit, and update spreadsheets directly using Claude

• Citable > Get your brand mentioned and cited by AI agents

• Blink Agent Builder > A vibe-coding platform for agentic AI apps

THINK PIECES / BRAIN BOOST

• What’s the most impressive thing Gemini has done for you?

• Clawdbot 101: full setup guide

• Image Prompts for AI UGC

• OpenAI might be heading to be the biggest failure in history - here’s why

• Amazon is set to announce mass layoffs of around 16000 jobs starting January 27

• Former Harvard CS Professor: AI is improving exponentially and will replace most human programmers within 4-15 years

• 10 beginner-friendly ideas to build with Claude Code (Prompts included)

• Nano Banana + Gemini 3 = S-tier UI designer

• Claude Opus 4.5 Is The best model available

• 30 tips for getting the most out of Claude Code, from basics to advanced

• Spotify’s new AI lets you describe a feeling, and it builds the playlist for you

THE VALLEY GEMS

What’s trending on social today:

New way to learn new things! Just ask AI.

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

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