Week in Edtech 8/6/25: Google's Guided Learning vs OpenAI's Study Mode, GSV Summit x BETT Merger, VR/AI Breakthroughs, Cambiar’s $100K Thrive Grants, and More! Feat. Derwin Sisnett of Cambiar Education, Dr. Alan Bekker of eSelf & Andrea Pasinetti of Kira

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Aug 15, 2025

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Andrea Pasinetti

Join Claire Zau of GSV Ventures, as she welcomes guests including Derwin Sisnett, CEO of Adaptive Commons; Dr. Alan Bekker, co-founder of eSelf AI; and Andrea Pasinetti, CEO of Kira. They explore transformative AI tools in education, contrasting Google’s Guided Learning with OpenAI’s Study Mode. Exciting VR and AI advancements are discussed, alongside the Thrive Big Ideas Challenge that offers $100K grants to innovators. The merger of BETT and GSV Summit is also highlighted as a major step in the edtech landscape.

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INSIGHT

Major Labs Build Education Modes

OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic launched scaffolded "learning modes" that guide stepwise reasoning instead of one-shot answers.
These modes aim to adapt explanations to learner levels and surface visuals, quizzes, and videos for learning.

INSIGHT

Memory Is The Missing Tutor Link

Current AI tutors lack robust memory so they cannot track long-term struggles or enable spaced repetition effectively.
Memory improvements are essential for persistent, personalized tutoring across sessions and contexts.

INSIGHT

Google's Surface Area And Context Edge

Google's advantage is vast multimodal content and deep integration across YouTube, Docs, and Classroom for contextual personalization.
Access to LMS and classroom data could let Google personalize guided learning without heavy prompting.

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Join hosts Alex Sarlin and guest host Claire Zau of GSV Ventures as they unpack a huge week for AI in education, major edtech mergers, and new funding opportunities.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:00:00] Claire Zau on AI tutor memory, personalization, and data contamination risks
[00:01:58] Google Guided Learning Mode vs OpenAI Study Mode – Socratic AI tools compared
[00:14:07] Google Classroom integration and the personalization edge from LMS data
[00:15:16] Instructure and OpenAI partnership as a counter to Google’s advantages
[00:25:20] GSV Summit and BETT merge to create the world’s largest edtech events network
[00:27:35] Acquisition roundup: Curriculum Associates, Top Hat, Alpha School, Torch
[00:31:44] VR and AI content creation with Praxis Labs, Torch, and Google Genie 3

Plus, special guests:
[00:34:04] Derwin Sisnett, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cambiar Education and CEO of Adaptive Commons on Cambiar Education’s Thrive Big Ideas Challenge
[00:54:39] Dr. Alan Bekker, Co-Founder and CEO of eSelf AI on scaling AI English tutors in Israel and building guardrails
[01:15:22] Andrea Pasinetti, Co-Founder and CEO of Kira on Kira Learning’s approach to AI-powered STEM education

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