Claude Just Got Scary Good at Your Real Work

“We went from 'AI can't do my job' to 'AI is literally doing my job' in about 18 months."

Hello Builders! 👋

Anthropic just dropped Cowork, it's basically Claude that can actually navigate your entire workspace—think beyond just coding into docs, emails, and all the messy stuff that eats your day.

Here's why this matters: we've had AI coding assistants for a while now, but they've been stuck in the IDE bubble. Cowork breaks out. Need to update documentation after shipping a feature? It handles it. Want to draft release notes while reviewing PRs? Done. The controversial bit? It needs desktop access to work its magic, which has the privacy-conscious crowd rightfully nervous.

Claude Learns to Edit Your Files - Anthropic's new Cowork feature lets Claude Desktop modify files in designated folders through chat, no coding required.

LTX-2 Generates 4K Video Locally - Open source video model creates 20-second clips at 4K resolution on your local machine, and it can handle audio too.

Self-Host n8n in 5 Steps - Docker setup guide that gets you from zero to running your own workflow automation without the cloud tax.

Build AI Language Tutors - Developer builds three different AI study partners for learning Mandarin using n8n, covering vocabulary drills to pronunciation correction.

AI Workflow Builder Tips - Best practices for turning natural language into actual working automations instead of hallucinated garbage that breaks immediately.

When Fancy RAG Actually Helps - Performance comparison of different RAG pipelines so you know when to add complexity versus when basic retrieval does the job.

7 Must-Have Tools for Your Coding Workflow - Essential developer productivity tools and resources

Claude's Usability Watershed Moment - Olivia Moore argues Claude finally made its superior agentic models accessible to mainstream developers, not just power users.

AI Coding Pessimists Vanished - Pat Walls notices the "AI won't replace coding" crowd has gone suspiciously quiet as tools actually deliver.

Vibecoding's Dopamine Problem - Developers spending 16-18 hours straight just building random stuff with AI tools, chasing that cocaine-level dopamine hit.

Anthropic's Third-Party Client Mistake - HN discussion with 200 comments roasting Anthropic's decision to cut off third-party clients that made Claude more usable.

Apple Picks Gemini for Siri - Multi-year non-exclusive deal brings Google's models to Apple's AI features, marking a wild shift in Big Tech alliances.

OpenAI Acquires Healthcare Startup Torch - Drops ~$100M on Torch to unify lab results and medical records with ChatGPT Health's consumer health play.

Anthropic Launches Claude for Healthcare - Just a week after OpenAI's health announcement, Claude adds a dozen healthcare connectors and agent skills to compete.

French Defense AI Hits Unicorn Status - Harmattan AI raises $200M Series B led by Rafale fighter jet maker Dassault Aviation, now valued at $1.4B.

Google Adds Buy Buttons to Gemini - AI search and Gemini now let you complete purchases directly, with an open standard built alongside major retailers.

v0 Hosts Global Build Week - Join the Prompt to Production Week from Jan 31-Feb 8 to ship real apps and agents, applications open for founding hosts.

Wild that Anthropic just made Claude useful for non-coders while Apple's handing Siri off to Google. Feels like we're watching two very different bets on where AI agents actually matter.

What are you building or shipping this week?

Keep shipping,

P.S. If you've been putting off self-hosting n8n, Docker's waiting for you. No more excuses about vendor lock-in.