AI News (Week 17)

Hey clever folks,

Here are your no-fluff weekly AI agent updates.

Google Releases Agent Development Kit (ADK)

Google open-sourced the Agent Development Kit (ADK), a developer-first framework to simplify building AI agents and multi-agent systems. (Building your own AI power house now gets simpler) 

• Build agents in under 100 lines of code

• Supports Modular Control Protocol (MCP)

• Already live in products like Agentspace and Google Customer Engagement Suite.

Microsoft Offers Free AI Agents Course

Microsoft launched a free 10-lesson course that teaches beginners and developers how to build AI agents that are available in multiple languages. 

It’s an excellent resource for hands-on agent development. 

Auth0 Introduces Auth for GenAI

Auth0 released Auth for GenAI, helping developers secure chatbots, AI agents, and generative AI apps without sacrificing user experience. (Say goodbye to annoying chatbox)

Google Unveils Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol

Google announced Agent2Agent (A2A), an open standard for secure agent-to-agent communication. (Let AI talk to each other for you) 

Link

The goal is to enable cross-vendor, collaborative agent ecosystems.

Agent Fund Launches to Support AI Agent Startups

A new semi-autonomous VC fund was launched to invest in startups building autonomous AI agents.

Julius AI Tackles the Data Analytics Problem

Julius AI is taking on the $10B analytics space by using AI agents to fix the inefficiencies of tools like Tableau and PowerBI. (AI agents are not getting tired any time soon)

AgentOpsAI SDK Updated to Version 0.4.6

AgentOpsAI rolled out v0.4.6 of their SDK.

• Support for OpenAI Agents Voice mode

• Added LiteLLM instrumentation

• Bug fixes and improvements

Computer VS Code Adds Agent Mode with MCP

VS Code introduced Agent Mode, powered by MCP, letting coding agents propose edits, run commands, and integrate with external agent tools.

Conduit’s AI Platform for Housing and Hospitality

Conduit launched an agent platform targeting the housing and hospitality sectors. (AI is niching down) 

• Manages leasing, onboarding, and scheduling

• Hands off to human agents when needed

AgentOpsAI Demonstrates $0.04 Survey Simulation

AgentOpsAI simulated surveys at a $0.04 cost per response, achieving 97%+ human-level accuracy in clarity and consistency. (Save millions of dollars on survey) 

Firebase Studio: New Agentic Dev Environment

Firebase Studio, powered by Gemini, was launched as a fast, cloud-based development environment for building full-stack AI applications. (All games for the new studio?)

Showcase of OpenAI Agents SDK Projects

A collection of 10 top projects and demos built with the OpenAI Agents SDK was shared this week.

Simulation Agents for Testing Product Ideas

Simulation agents are being used to replicate human thinking and validate product ideas before spending real money.

Global Agent Hackathon: $20,000 in Prizes

A global, month-long open-source agent hackathon kicked off offering up to $20,000 in cash and credits. (You need to check this out) 

Partners: AgnoAgi, Firecrawl, Mem0AI, Unwind AI, and others.

AI Agent Creates Pacing Report in Under 5 Minutes

A live agent system generated a full pacing report using real shop data in under 5 minutes.

Grit.io Acquired by Honeycomb

Honeycomb (observability and monitoring leader) acquired Grit.io, strengthening their AI-driven infrastructure monitoring capabilities.

Local Multi-Agent Brand Monitoring with DeepSeek-R1

Using DeepSeek-R1, a fully local, multi-agent brand monitoring system was built with no cloud, no leaks.

OWL Integrates WhatsApp Using MCP

OWL in collaboration with CAMEL-AI launched real-time WhatsApp integrations powered by MCP, allowing AI agents to infer intent and select tools dynamically.

Cursor vs VS Code Agent Mode: Full Comparison

A detailed breakdown was shared comparing Cursor and VS Code Agent Mode. It is a great option if you're choosing a dev environment for agents.

Firebase Studio Reintroduced by Google Cloud Tech

Google Cloud Tech re-announced Firebase Studio, now positioned as a cloud-native agentic development environment.

Xoul: A Marketplace for Human-Like AI Agents

Xoul launched—a marketplace where you can build, share, and deploy human-like AI agents without writing code. (Imagine a superstore where you can put different AI agents in your cart.)

Zep Enhances AI Agents with Human-Like Memory

Zep created a memory layer for AI agents, using temporal knowledge graphs to simulate long-term memory. (This AI will remember your parents' birthday for you) 

Latest AI updates and more such insights coming to your inbox soon.

— Written by Aaron & The Clever Nest Team