Call Center Copilots, ASML’s AI Bet, and Google’s Existential Search Spiral

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Happy Monday! Hope your weekend didn’t involve waiting on hold for two hours with a customer service rep named “Linda” who definitely wasn’t Linda.

Because if new pilots from Google and others go mainstream, Linda 2.0 is coming, and she might actually solve your problem.

Today’s roundup takes us to the frontlines of generative AI deployments: the call center. Plus, a chipmaker backs a French LLM startup, Google gives web publishers an identity crisis, and AI tackles a very human problem: high blood pressure.

Let’s dive in.

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AI is Taking Your Call (And This Time, It Might Be Helpful)

In what feels like the most inevitable shift since Clippy got retired, AI is officially taking over the call center.

Google, OpenAI, and a swarm of voice-AI startups are racing to build emotionally aware, task-completing agents that don’t just route you, they resolve your problem.

And it’s already happening at scale.

Bank of America’s “Erica” chatbot has handled over 3 billion support interactions since its 2018 debut. Today, she’s not just answering FAQs, she’s also proactively flagging duplicate subscriptions, predicting low balances, and handing off complex cases to the right department before a human asks.

Why this matters:

For enterprise leaders, the call center is a massive cost center and a branding risk.

AI-powered agents promise:

• Cost savings: One major voice AI vendor cited 60–80% reductions in operational costs by automating Tier 1 support.

• 24/7 scalability: No burnout, lunch breaks, or accidentally hanging up on angry customers.

• Multilingual and emotional fluency: Some models adjust tone based on customer sentiment in real time.

But don’t cue the goodbye cake for your BPO just yet. Klarna’s aggressive move to replace 700 human agents with AI had mixed results, especially when identity theft and fraud came into play. The company had to rehire a small team for high-complexity cases.

Enterprise takeaway:
Call centers are quickly becoming the training ground for real, scalable generative AI. The smartest teams are rolling out AI agents for the simple stuff, keeping humans in the loop for the rest, and watching operational metrics shift fast.

News Roundup

1. ASML backs Mistral, signaling serious EU AI ambitions
   The Dutch chipmaking giant led the latest round for French LLM startup Mistral AI, becoming its largest investor.
   Read more →

2. Google’s AI search leaves publishers in the dust
   As more users get answers directly from AI instead of clicking links, web publishers are calling this an “existential crisis.”
   Read more →

3. AI helps older adults get more accurate blood pressure readings
   A study from the American Heart Association found that AI voice guidance helped seniors better self-report BP readings at home, reducing critical errors and improving chronic care outcomes.
   Read more →

TL;DR:

• Voice AI is going live: Call centers are the proving ground for enterprise-grade generative AI.

• Bank of America’s Erica has handled 3 billion+ calls and is now doing predictive support and smart handoffs.

• Full replacement is rare (and risky): Klarna’s example shows AI still needs human backup for edge cases.

• ASML’s Mistral investment shows Europe’s AI ambitions go beyond hardware.

• Publishers vs. Google: Search AI is upending traditional traffic models.

• AI in healthcare: Voice agents improve outcomes for at-home blood pressure tracking.

The call center used to be a punchline: “press 9 to scream into the void.”
Now it’s becoming one of the most practical proving grounds for enterprise AI.

Stay sharp,

Cat Valverde
Founder, Enterprise AI Group
Navigating Tomorrow’s Tech Landscape Together