News/New Launches
AI Ammo Vending Machines: Convenience or Controversy?
AI-powered ammunition vending machines spark controversy in Alabama and Oklahoma: American Rounds has installed vending machines that use facial recognition AI to verify a buyer's age, allowing them to purchase ammunition alongside typical vending machine items like soda and snacks. Key details of the AI-powered ammo vending machines: The machines, called Automated Ammo Retail Machines (AARMs), are currently in six locations across Alabama and Oklahoma, with plans to expand to Texas and Colorado. To make a purchase, buyers must scan their ID and undergo a 360-degree facial scan to verify they meet the legal age requirements: 18 for rifle and...
read Jul 12, 2024There’s a New Emotionally Intelligent AI Model Offering Empathetic Support and Companionship
A groundbreaking conversational AI model, HelpingAI-15B, has been introduced, setting a new standard for emotionally intelligent and empathetic human-machine interaction. Key Objectives: HelpingAI-15B is designed to engage users in open-ended dialogue while providing emotionally attuned and supportive responses: The model can recognize and validate user emotions and contexts, ensuring sensitive and ethical interactions. It aims to provide psychologically-grounded responses that cater to a wide range of emotional states and communicative needs. Continuous improvement is a priority, with the model constantly enhancing its emotional awareness and dialogue skills. Innovative Training Methodology: The development of HelpingAI-15B combines cutting-edge techniques and insights to...
read Jul 12, 2024Google’s Gemini-Powered Robot Navigates Offices, Follows Complex Commands
Google DeepMind has unveiled a chatbot-powered robot capable of navigating an office environment and following complex verbal and visual instructions, demonstrating the potential for large language models to enable more intelligent and useful physical machines. Gemini chatbot upgrade enables advanced robot capabilities: Google DeepMind's robot leverages the latest version of the company's Gemini large language model to understand commands and navigate its surroundings: The robot can parse complex verbal instructions like "Find me somewhere to write" and lead a person to an appropriate location, such as a whiteboard. Gemini's ability to handle video and text input, combined with pre-recorded video...
read Jul 12, 2024Microsoft Is Upgrading OneNote with Copilot Capabilities
Microsoft's Copilot AI is bringing handwriting recognition to OneNote to enhance note-taking capabilities for its users. Key Features: Copilot's integration with OneNote introduces powerful handwriting recognition and analysis tools: Users can write handwritten notes using a stylus, and Copilot will be able to read, summarize, and even generate to-do lists based on the notes. The AI-powered feature can convert handwritten notes into editable and shareable text, making it easier to work with notes taken by hand. Availability and Testing: The handwriting recognition feature is currently in beta testing, with promising results: Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscribers and Copilot Pro users...
read Jul 12, 2024Healthvana Thinks a Drag Queen AI Chatbot Will Revolutionize Patient Engagement
Healthvana, a patient engagement platform company, is taking a unique approach to help engage people about their health by using drag queen personas in their AI chatbot. Drag queens bring acceptance and de-stigmatization to healthcare interactions: Healthvana believes that drag queen personas provide an unvarnished, empathetic truth that is both fun and de-stigmatizing, making patients feel more comfortable discussing their health concerns. The company's AI chatbot allows patients to interact with a standard AI or a drag queen AI, with 80% of patient conversations happening with the drag queen persona. Patients are using the platform to have serious, open conversations...
read Jul 12, 2024Firefox Tests AI Chatbot Integration, Prioritizing User Choice and Privacy
Firefox is testing AI chatbot integration, allowing users to interact with AI models directly within the browser, while prioritizing user choice, agency, and privacy: Key developments: Firefox's nightly build now includes an experimental, opt-in AI chatbot feature that aims to enhance productivity by minimizing the need to switch between tabs or applications: Users can enable the feature through the settings menu and choose from various chatbot options, including ChatGPT, HuggingChat, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral. The AI chatbot integration is not built into Firefox's core elements, emphasizing the principles of user choice and optional usage. Functionality and limitations: While...
read Jul 12, 2024Anthropic’s Console Upgrade: Empowering AI Development with Enhanced Prompting and Customization
Anthropic's Console gets major upgrade, bolstering its position as a powerhouse tool for AI development; The Console, powered by Anthropic's advanced Claude 3.5 Sonnet model, now offers enhanced capabilities for building sophisticated prompts and fine-tuning AI interactions, making it an essential tool for developers and AI enthusiasts. Key features and improvements: Prompt generator: Users can input task descriptions in natural language, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet will generate high-quality, detailed prompts tailored to the specific task, streamlining the prompting process and eliminating the "blank page" problem. Customizable interfaces: The Console allows for more than just text input, enabling users to set...
read Jul 11, 2024Anthropic’s ‘Artifact Remix’ Feature Now Enables Users to Collaborate and Share Content
Anthropic has released a new Artifact Remix feature for its Claude AI chatbot, enabling users to publish, share, and build upon AI-generated content in a collaborative manner. Key features of Artifact Remix: The new feature allows users to create standalone pieces of content with Claude, such as documents, images, code, and interactive displays, and make them publicly accessible via shareable links: Users can view Artifacts created by others and remix them by modifying or iterating on the original content through conversations with Claude. Remixing an Artifact creates a new conversation in Claude, incorporating the original content and allowing for further...
read Jul 11, 2024AWS Announces Major Expansion of AI Offering
Amazon Web Services announced a major expansion of its AI capabilities, aiming to outpace competitors and solidify its position in the rapidly evolving cloud market. Rapid AI development to attract customers: AWS is betting that its speedy development of AI products will make its cloud services more attractive to customers, as it faces increasing competition in the cloud infrastructure market: AWS has launched over 320 major generative AI features into general availability this year, more than double that of all other large cloud providers combined, according to Matt Wood, AWS' vice president of AI products. 90% of these launches come...
read Jul 10, 2024Samsung’s Galaxy Ring: Ecosystem Unifier or Iterative Innovator?
Samsung unveils a new ecosystem of devices at its Galaxy Unpacked event, with a focus on AI integration and iterative updates. The Galaxy Ring takes center stage: Samsung introduces the Galaxy Ring, a wearable device that aims to be the central controller for its ecosystem of products: The Ring features a small touchscreen display and built-in microphone and speaker, allowing users to interact with their devices using voice commands, gestures, and touch. It is designed to seamlessly connect with and control other Samsung devices, such as smartphones, earbuds, and smartwatches, creating a more cohesive user experience across the Galaxy ecosystem....
read Jul 10, 2024Ex-Humane Execs Launch AI Fact-Checking Search Engine Amid Startup’s Struggles
Two former Humane execs have left the struggling AI hardware startup to found Infactory, an AI-powered fact-checking search engine focused exclusively on data. The move comes as Humane faces post-launch struggles with its much-hyped AI device. Founders' background: Brooke Hartley Moy, former Humane Strategic Partnerships Lead, and Ken Kocienda, former Head of Product Engineering, are now CEO and CTO of Infactory, respectively. Both founders have significant experience at major tech companies, with Hartley Moy previously at Humane and Kocienda spending 16 years at Apple before joining Humane. Their departure echoes Humane's own origin story, as its founders also left longtime...
read Jul 10, 2024A New Camera Is Bringing Generative AI to Movie Making
A groundbreaking AI-powered movie camera is transforming the world of filmmaking, offering new creative possibilities for directors and cinematographers. Introducing the CMR-M1: The CMR-M1, a prototype camera developed by SpecialGuestX and 1stAveMachine, utilizes generative AI to enhance and transform filmed footage in real-time: The camera sends digital film to the cloud, where a Stable Diffusion-based model transforms the footage based on pre-trained models and personalized prompts. A wheel on the side of the camera allows operators to smoothly transition between real footage and AI-generated overlays, while an NFC chip slot enables the use of personalized style cards. Embracing physical interfaces...
read Jul 10, 2024CodiumAI Is Pioneering an AI-Powered Code Integrity Platform to Accelerate Enterprise Software Development
CodiumAI is pioneering an AI agent-driven approach to accelerate enterprise application development, recognizing that fully autonomous software development is not yet feasible for complex enterprise requirements. At VentureBeat Transform 2024, CodiumAI is unveiling its new Enterprise platform, which aims to enhance code integrity and developer productivity. Incremental AI agent approach: Rather than attempting to create a single end-to-end solution like Devin, CodiumAI is focusing on integrating many small AI agents into existing developer workflows to handle specific tasks: This approach tackles individual challenges within the complex world of enterprise software development, aiming to accelerate developer productivity and complete tasks more...
read Jul 10, 2024Samsung’s New AI-Powered Galaxy Lineup Expands with Foldables, Wearables, and a Smart Ring
Samsung unveils new foldables, smartwatches, earbuds, and a smart ring at its July 2024 Galaxy Unpacked event, with a focus on AI features and ecosystem integration. Key product announcements: Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 foldable phones, Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatches, Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro earbuds, and the highly anticipated Galaxy Ring smart ring: The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 feature minor updates, such as improved durability, brighter displays, and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, but come with higher starting prices of $1,899 and...
read Jul 9, 2024Poe AI Introduces ‘Previews’ to Allow Users to Create Web Apps Within Chats
Poe AI introduces Previews feature, expanding Claude-like Artifacts to multiple language models Poe brings Artifacts-like functionality to more AI models: Poe, the AI chatbot aggregator from Quora, has launched a new feature called Previews that allows users to generate and interact with web applications directly within chat conversations: Previews works particularly well with coding-focused language models like Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, and Gemini 1.5 Pro, enabling users to create custom interactive experiences regardless of programming skill level. Examples shown include an adjustable drum machine and turning a lengthy description of gravity into interactive flash cards, all within the chat interface....
read Jul 9, 2024Google Gemini Upgrades: Always-On AI, Lock Screen Features, and Accuracy Challenges
Google Gemini's upcoming app upgrades aim to make the conversational AI more seamlessly integrated into users' daily lives. Background mode for uninterrupted chats: The Gemini app will allow users to continue their chats while using other apps or even when the screen is locked, ensuring that the AI assistant is always available: Users will be able to quickly ask questions or respond to Gemini through a persistent notification at the top of the screen, without having to switch between apps. Stopping the conversation will be simple, either by saying "stop" or by tapping on the notification. It remains unclear whether...
read Jul 9, 2024DreamFlare Launches Interactive AI-Generated Streaming Platform To Empower Emerging Creators
DreamFlare AI launches AI-generated interactive streaming platform, merging technology and creativity to deliver unique storytelling experiences that would not be possible with traditional mediums. Key Details of DreamFlare AI's Launch: The platform, led by former Google executive Josh Liss and filmmaker Rob Bralver, has raised $1.65 million in a pre-seed round and aims to provide premium AI-generated entertainment: DreamFlare AI offers two main types of experiences: "Flips" (immersive AI-generated stories with movement and audio) and "Spins" (interactive short films where viewer choices affect the storyline). The platform operates on a freemium model, with a selection of free content each week...
read Jul 9, 2024Groq’s Lightning-Fast LLM Engine Attracts Developers, Hints at AI’s Efficient Future
Groq unveils a lightning-fast large language model (LLM) engine, attracting over 280,000 developers in just 4 months, demonstrating the growing interest in efficient and powerful AI tools. Key Takeaways: Groq's new web-based LLM engine showcases impressive speed and flexibility, hinting at the potential of AI applications when powered by efficient processing: The engine achieves a blistering 1256.54 tokens per second, outpacing GPU-based solutions from competitors like Nvidia, and improving upon Groq's previous demo of 800 tokens per second in April. Users can interact with the LLM through typed queries or voice commands, with the engine supporting various models such as...
read Jul 9, 2024Microsoft’s MInference Demo Promises 90% Faster AI, Sparking Efficiency Race
Microsoft's MInference technology promises a breakthrough in AI processing efficiency for large language models, potentially slashing inference times by up to 90% while maintaining accuracy. Hands-on innovation: Gradio-powered demo puts AI acceleration in developers' hands; Microsoft's interactive demonstration on Hugging Face allows developers and researchers to test MInference's capabilities directly in their web browsers, enabling the wider AI community to validate the technology firsthand. The demo showcases performance comparisons between standard LLaMA-3-8B-1M and the MInference-optimized version, highlighting an 8.0x latency speedup for processing 776,000 tokens on an Nvidia A100 80GB GPU. This approach could accelerate the refinement and adoption of...
read Jul 9, 2024Perplexity AI Upgrades Pro Search, Aims to Beat ChatGPT as Research Assistant
Perplexity AI's upgraded Pro Search tool aims to revolutionize research and beat ChatGPT by offering more thorough, contextual answers and even conducting its own follow-up searches. Key upgrades for more advanced problem-solving: Perplexity has enhanced its Pro Search tool with several significant improvements to provide users with a more powerful research assistant: The AI now has advanced multi-step reasoning capabilities, allowing it to understand when a question requires a multifaceted approach and work through goals step-by-step, conducting its own follow-up searches as needed to ensure comprehensive and accurate results. Integrating the Wolfram|Alpha engine enables the chatbot to quickly and accurately...
read Jul 9, 2024Meta AI Just Unveiled a Mobile LLM Showing Impressive Performance Gains
Meta AI has unveiled MobileLLM, a new approach to creating compact and efficient language models designed for smartphones and other resource-constrained devices, challenging assumptions about the necessary size of effective AI models. Key innovations in MobileLLM: The research team focused on optimizing models with fewer than 1 billion parameters, implementing several design choices to improve efficiency: Prioritizing model depth over width Implementing embedding sharing and grouped-query attention Utilizing a novel immediate block-wise weight-sharing technique Impressive performance gains: MobileLLM outperformed previous models of similar size by 2.7% to 4.3% on common benchmark tasks, representing meaningful progress in the competitive field of...
read Jul 8, 2024Samsung’s Upcoming Galaxy Unpacked Event Expected to Include Multiple Innovations
Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday promises exciting updates and releases, including foldables, AI advancements, and the highly-anticipated Galaxy Ring. Foldable phones take center stage: The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 are expected to be the main attraction, with leaked renders and specs giving a glimpse of what's to come: The Z Fold 6 is set to feature a more squared-off design, brighter screens, and slightly improved battery life, while maintaining the same 4,400mAh battery capacity as its predecessor. The Z Flip 6 may see fewer changes but is rumored to include a brighter screen, vapor chamber...
read Jul 6, 2024AI Voice Assistant Moshi’s Real-Time Conversation Challenges ChatGPT, Embraces Open-Source Approach
Kyutai's Moshi AI voice assistant offers real-time conversation capabilities, potentially beating OpenAI's ChatGPT to one of its most anticipated features. Key features and development process: Moshi is designed to provide lifelike voice conversations, powered by large language models and fine-tuned using over 100,000 synthetic dialogues: It can speak in various accents and has 70 different emotional and speaking styles, and can even handle two audio streams simultaneously. Kyutai collaborated with a professional voice artist to enhance Moshi's voice quality. The AI assistant integrates both text and audio training, optimized for multiple backends, allowing it to run on devices like laptops...
read Jul 6, 2024Qdrant’s BM42 Hybrid Search Algorithm Marks Milestone for RAG Development
Qdrant introduces BM42, a hybrid search algorithm that combines keyword and vector search for enhanced retrieval-augmented generation in AI applications. Key Takeaways: BM42 offers several benefits for AI applications that rely on accurate and up-to-date information retrieval: Improved accuracy by combining keyword and contextual search Faster results with less computational power, reducing costs Compatibility with different languages and specialized vocabularies without extensive retraining Enhanced AI-generated text with more accurate and relevant information How BM42 Works: The new algorithm combines two main components to ensure precise matching and contextual understanding: Sparse vectors handle exact word matching, similar to traditional keyword search...
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