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Meta Says It Will Continue Pouring Billions Into AI
Meta's continued investment in AI and the metaverse signals the company's commitment to long-term growth, even as the tech giant faces challenges in the short term. Surging expenses amid uncertain returns: Meta's spending on AI, metaverse technologies, and computing infrastructure has risen significantly, raising questions about the company's priorities and the viability of its investments: Meta spent $8.5 billion in Q2 on AI, metaverse development, and other expenses, a 33.4% increase from the previous year. The company raised its annual spending forecast to $37-40 billion, up from the earlier estimate of $35-40 billion, indicating its willingness to continue investing heavily...
read Aug 1, 2024These AI Toothbrushes Will Clean Your Teeth — and Collect Data on Habits
Key takeaways: The emergence of AI-powered toothbrushes with companion apps has brought new privacy concerns to the bathroom: These toothbrushes use algorithms, sensors, and processors to gather data on brushing habits, which is synced to apps via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. While marketed as helping improve oral health, there is limited scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of AI in toothbrushes. Companies appear to be more interested in using these devices to source user data and drive product sales through their connected apps. Underlying factors: Personal care brands are increasingly seeking ways to monetize beyond simply selling products: Offering services and gathering...
read Aug 1, 2024Princeton Professor Creates AI Teaching Assistant for Blockchain Course
Professor creates AI teaching assistant "Blockie" for advanced engineering course; Professor Pramod Viswanath of Princeton's Electrical and Computer Engineering department has created an AI teaching assistant called "Blockie" for his advanced course on blockchain principles, which he describes as "ChatGPT on steroids." Blockie was created by feeding ChatGPT all the lectures and assignments from the course, allowing it to provide personalized assistance to students. The AI assistant helps students overcome logistical barriers in their coding assignments and simplifies office hours, significantly assisting the human teaching assistants. Contrasting approaches to AI in the classroom: While some Princeton professors have banned AI...
read Aug 1, 2024Google Pixel 9 Pro Prioritizes AI Video Boost Over Native 8K Recording
The Pixel 9 Pro is set to prioritize AI-enhanced video over native 8K recording, according to a recent leak, highlighting Google's continued focus on leveraging artificial intelligence to deliver premium features. Video Boost takes center stage: The Pixel 9 Pro will rely on Google's Video Boost feature to upscale 4K video to 8K using AI, rather than allowing users to capture 8K video directly: Despite the 50MP main lens being capable of shooting 8K video, Google has chosen to prioritize its AI-driven Video Boost feature. Video Boost, which debuted on the Pixel 8 series, enhances captured content by processing it...
read Aug 1, 2024How AI Agents Will Augment Human Decision-Making and Transform the Future of Work
The emergence of AI agents is transforming the way humans interact with and leverage artificial intelligence, with the potential to augment human capabilities rather than replace them. The Dawn of AI Agents: McKinsey & Company believes we are entering a new era where AI is evolving from knowledge-based tools to AI-enabled agents capable of executing complex workflows: These agents use foundation models to move from thought to action, helping people make better decisions by prioritizing and acting on data, especially in large, complex networks. AI agents are sophisticated software entities designed to perceive their environment, make informed decisions, and perform...
read Aug 1, 2024TikTok Spending $20M Monthly on Microsoft Cloud AI
TikTok emerges as a major customer of Microsoft's AI cloud services, with potential implications for the AI industry and Microsoft's financials. TikTok's reliance on Microsoft's AI: As of March, TikTok was paying Microsoft nearly $20 million per month to access OpenAI's models, making it one of the largest customers of Microsoft's AI cloud computing services. TikTok's payments to Microsoft accounted for almost a quarter of the revenue generated by Microsoft's increasingly profitable cloud division. Microsoft's cloud AI business was on track to earn $1 billion in annual revenue, highlighting the growing importance of AI services in the company's portfolio. ByteDance's...
read Aug 1, 2024Microsoft Names OpenAI as Competitor in Latest Annual Report
The competition between Microsoft and OpenAI is heating up as the AI race intensifies, despite their long-standing partnership. OpenAI added to Microsoft's competitor list: In its latest annual report, Microsoft has officially listed OpenAI as a competitor in AI offerings, search, and news advertising, alongside tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta. This move signifies a shift in the relationship between the two companies, as they increasingly encroach on each other's territories. Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI, reportedly pouring $13 billion into the startup and serving as its exclusive cloud provider. OpenAI recently announced SearchGPT, a prototype search...
read Aug 1, 2024Meta’s Massive AI Investments Are Already Paying Off
Meta's AI investments are already driving advertising growth, outpacing competitors like Google, Pinterest, and Spotify in the latest quarter. The company's strong performance is evidence that its significant spending on artificial intelligence is paying off in the near term, not just in the distant future. Advertising business boosted by AI: Meta's advertising revenue grew 22% year-over-year, double the rate of Google's ad business, with AI playing a key role in this success: Meta rebuilt its ad tech stack using AI, improving ad performance and lifting overall ad prices despite slowing growth in the Asia-Pacific region. AI-driven improvements to the user...
read Jul 31, 2024USPTO Has 180 Days to Issue Recommendations on Copyright and AI
Key Takeaways: The US Copyright Office (USCO) has released the first part of its report on copyright and artificial intelligence, focusing on the legal and policy issues surrounding AI-generated digital replicas of individuals' voices and appearances. The report's publication marks the start of a 180-day period for the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue recommendations for executive action on copyright and AI, as mandated by President Biden's AI Executive Order. USPTO Director Kathi Vidal emphasized the personal and valuable nature of an individual's name, voice, and likeness, stating that the USPTO will consider the report's findings in preparing...
read Jul 31, 2024Publicis’ $500M Acquisition of Influential Is Milestone for Influencer Marketing
Publicis Groupe acquires Influential in a $500 million deal, signaling a major shift in the advertising landscape and positioning the company at the forefront of the rapidly evolving creator economy. The explosive growth of influencer marketing: Over the past decade, influencer marketing has transformed from a niche strategy into a multi-billion dollar industry, driven by several key factors: Changing consumer behavior, with Americans spending an average of 2.5 hours daily on social media, has forced brands to reconsider their marketing strategies and focus on influencer partnerships. Consumers increasingly value the trust and authenticity that influencers provide, as they often develop...
read Jul 31, 2024Midjourney’s New v6.1 Update Makes Humans Look More Natural
The release of Midjourney v6.1 brings significant improvements to the AI image generation platform, enhancing its capabilities and user experience. The update focuses on refining the rendering of human features, text legibility, and overall image quality. Key enhancements in v6.1: Midjourney's latest update introduces notable upgrades to the rendering of human features and text: The depiction of arms, legs, hands, and bodies has been improved, resulting in more natural-looking skin on human subjects. Text rendering has been enhanced, making rendered text more legible and accurate, especially when words are placed within quotations in the prompt. Performance and efficiency gains: Version...
read Jul 31, 2024UAE Cancels US Meetings Amid Concerns Over Microsoft-G42 AI Deal
The UAE has unexpectedly cancelled meetings between US congressional staffers and Emirati AI firm G42, amid concerns over the potential transfer of advanced American AI technology to China, further heightening tensions surrounding the scrutiny of G42's $1.5 billion deal with Microsoft. Diplomatic fallout and congressional involvement: The abrupt cancellation of the meetings, ordered by the UAE's ambassador to the US, has raised the prospect of a diplomatic crisis and increased congressional oversight: The House Select Committee on China's spokesperson expressed heightened concerns about the G42-Microsoft deal due to the UAE's unwillingness to engage in discussions, stating, "Expect Congress to become...
read Jul 31, 2024Deep Learning Enables Eavesdropping on Digital Video Displays
Eavesdropping on digital video displays through electromagnetic emanations: Researchers have developed a deep learning-based system called DEEP-TEMPEST that can effectively eavesdrop on digital video displays, such as HDMI, by analyzing the unintentional electromagnetic waves emanating from cables and connectors: The digital case, particularly HDMI, poses a greater challenge compared to analog (VGA) due to a 10-bit encoding that results in a larger bandwidth and a non-linear mapping between the observed signal and pixel intensity. Existing eavesdropping systems designed for analog video obtain unclear and difficult-to-read images when applied to digital video, necessitating a new approach. Deep learning as a solution:...
read Jul 31, 2024How Good Data Practices Drive Productivity for Dow
Dow is leveraging generative AI to dramatically improve productivity across its global operations by building a data literate culture and strong technical foundations. Driving value with gen AI: Dow is implementing gen AI tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot and seeing significant early productivity gains in key areas: Over half of pilot users reported saving 1-2 hours per day with Copilot Gen AI is being used to enhance content development, data analysis, patent research, and document search AI has revolutionized demand forecasting and supply network planning in Dow's supply chain Building on AI foundations: Dow's ability to rapidly adopt and scale...
read Jul 31, 2024Model Complexity and High Costs Remain Barrier to Enterprise AI Adoption
The rapid growth of generative AI is transforming the enterprise landscape, but CEOs must navigate cost, complexity, and optimization challenges to harness its full potential. A new IBM report, based on a survey of U.S. executives, provides insights into the current state of enterprise AI adoption and offers guidance for informed decision-making. Key Takeaways: Specialization and diversity are crucial in enterprise AI deployment; The report emphasizes the importance of task-specific model selection, debunking the myth of a universal AI model: Organizations currently use an average of 11 different AI models and expect a 50% increase within three years, highlighting the...
read Jul 31, 2024What to Expect from Salesforce’s Low-Code AI Suite Studio 1
Salesforce introduces Einstein Studio 1, a suite of low-code AI tools to empower enterprises to create personalized customer experiences at scale while addressing data privacy concerns. Key Components of Einstein Studio 1: The new offering consists of three main tools that enable customization and integration of AI into Salesforce workflows: Copilot Builder allows companies to tailor Einstein AI for specific tasks and create new actions to seamlessly incorporate AI into their existing processes. Prompt Builder provides a platform for iterating on text prompts fed into Einstein's large language model (LLM), enabling marketing teams to optimize customer messaging. Model Builder transforms...
read Jul 31, 2024AI Startup Raises $11M to Automate Sales Workflows
The AI startup Sybill raises $11M to automate sales workflows with a new breed of proactive AI assistant, promising to transform how sales teams operate. Automated sales insights and actions: Sybill's AI captures and analyzes detailed information from sales conversations to help reps better understand customers and take appropriate next steps: The AI assistant picks up on subtle non-verbal cues like smiles and head nods to gauge customer interest and behavior during sales calls. It automatically generates detailed call reports, personalized follow-up emails, and updates to CRM systems, saving reps 5-10 hours per week on administrative work. Sybill differentiates itself...
read Jul 31, 2024Writer’s Specialized AI Models for Healthcare, Finance Are Very Good and Open-Source
The launch of specialized AI models by Writer aims to revolutionize the adoption of artificial intelligence in the highly regulated healthcare and financial services industries, addressing concerns about accuracy, safety, and compliance. Breaking new ground in domain-specific AI: Writer's Palmyra-Med-70b and Palmyra-Fin-70b models are tailored specifically for healthcare and finance, respectively, and claim to outperform larger, general-purpose AI models in domain-specific tasks: The healthcare model, Palmyra-Med-70b, achieved an average accuracy of 85.9% across medical benchmarks in zero-shot attempts, surpassing competitors like Med-PaLM-2. Palmyra-Fin-70b is the first AI model to pass the challenging CFA Level III exam, demonstrating its advanced capabilities...
read Jul 31, 2024Google to Demote Websites Harboring Deepfakes
The rapid advancement of AI technology has made it easier for individuals to create non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes, prompting Google to update its search engine algorithm and removal request process to combat this growing problem. Key Changes to Google's Approach: Google is taking proactive measures to address the issue of unwanted AI deepfakes: The removal request process for victims will be streamlined, making it easier to report and remove such content. When reported AI deepfakes are identified, Google Search will automatically filter out related search results that might appear in the future, reducing the need for repeated reporting of similar...
read Jul 31, 2024Android’s “About This Image” Feature Helps Users Quickly Combat Misinformation
The Android "Circle to Search" feature now includes an "About this image" tab to help users quickly determine the legitimacy of images, which could be particularly useful in combating misleading or out-of-context political images on social media. Key Features: Circle to Search's new "About this image" tab provides users with instant access to crucial information about an image: The tab displays an image's metadata, source, and whether a Google AI watermark is present, helping users assess its authenticity. This feature is rolling out on the latest Pixel and Samsung phones, tablets, and foldables, making it widely accessible to Android users....
read Jul 31, 2024Vultr And Run:ai Partner To Enhance AI Infrastructure
Vultr and Run:ai partner to deliver advanced GPU orchestration for AI workloads, shortly after NVIDIA's $700M acquisition of Run:ai, aimed at optimizing GPU utilization and driving broader adoption of Kubernetes in AI-driven sectors. Key Takeaways: The strategic partnership between Vultr and Run:ai brings together industry leaders to provide integrated cloud computing solutions for AI and machine learning workloads: Run:ai's AI optimization and orchestration platform will enhance the efficiency, scalability, and accessibility of AI operations on Vultr's global cloud infrastructure. The collaboration is part of Vultr's Cloud Alliance program, which creates a powerful ecosystem of cloud services by partnering with companies...
read Jul 31, 2024Galileo Benchmark Shows Open-Source AI Models Challenging Proprietary Dominance
Galileo's latest benchmark reveals open-source AI models are rapidly catching up to their proprietary counterparts, potentially democratizing advanced AI and accelerating innovation across industries. Shifting AI landscape: The second annual Hallucination Index from Galileo evaluated 22 leading large language models, revealing that the performance gap between open-source and proprietary models has narrowed significantly in just eight months: Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperformed offerings from OpenAI, which dominated last year's rankings, indicating a changing of the guard in the AI arms race. Google's Gemini 1.5 Flash emerged as the most cost-effective option, delivering strong results at a fraction of the price...
read Jul 31, 2024Study Finds Patients Are Reluctant to Embrace AI Doctors
The rise of AI in healthcare faces a significant hurdle: patient trust. Despite AI's potential to revolutionize medical care, people consistently prefer human doctors, even when the advice given is identical. Trust and empathy gap: A new study in Nature Medicine reveals that people trust human doctors more than AI, rating them higher on reliability and empathy when presented with the same medical advice: On a 7-point scale, human advice scored about a quarter point higher for reliability and empathy compared to AI-generated advice. People were noticeably less likely to follow advice when they thought AI was involved, although the...
read Jul 31, 2024An AI Replica of Alan Turing Will Be an Interactive Exhibit in England
The father of artificial intelligence, Alan Turing, is set to become an interactive display at Bletchley Park, the once-secret home of Britain's World War Two codebreakers, that will engage with visitors using groundbreaking AI technology. A first-of-its-kind interactive experience: Bletchley Park is creating a life-sized AI version of Alan Turing that will be able to answer questions from museum goers about his life and work: The AI character will tailor its responses based on whether it is speaking to an individual, group, or children, providing a unique and personalized experience for each visitor. The technology involved in creating this interactive...
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