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ElevenLabs Launches Free AI Voice Isolator, Rivaling Adobe’s Offering
ElevenLabs, known for its AI voice cloning and speech synthesis, has launched a free AI Voice Isolator tool to remove unwanted background noise from audio content, directly competing with Adobe's similar offering. Key features and functionality: The AI Voice Isolator allows creators to enhance the speech quality of their content by removing ambient noise and sounds in the post-production stage: Users can upload their audio files, such as films, podcasts, or YouTube videos, to the ElevenLabs platform, where the AI models process the content to detect and remove unwanted noise. The tool aims to extract clear dialogue, similar to studio-recorded...
read Jul 5, 2024AI Training Data Battles: Music Lawsuits, News Deals Reshape Industry Landscape
The generative AI boom is fueling a surge in demand for training data, but AI companies are facing growing challenges in obtaining it freely as data owners push back. Key developments in the AI training data landscape: The music industry's lawsuit against AI music companies Suno and Udio sends a strong message that high-quality training data is not free: Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group are suing Suno and Udio for alleged copyright infringement, claiming the companies used copyrighted music in their training data "at an almost unimaginable scale." The lawsuits could set a precedent for the...
read Jul 5, 2024Intel’s AI Innovations to Revolutionize Paris 2024 Olympic Experience for Athletes and Fans
Intel is leveraging AI to enhance the Paris 2024 Olympic experience for athletes, broadcasters, and attendees through various innovative applications. AI-powered chatbot for athletes: Intel is integrating a generative AI chatbot into the Athlete 365 app to assist over 10,000 athletes in navigating the Olympic Village and understanding the games' day-to-day operations: The chatbot, powered by Intel's Gaudi 2 platform, will provide conversational responses to athletes' queries, helping them find information that would otherwise be buried in PDFs. Intel's Responsible AI group has contributed to the chatbot's development to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. AI-driven broadcast highlights: Intel AI...
read Jul 5, 2024AI Reveals Remote Work Dominance, Demand for Experienced Talent in Tech Job Market
A Hacker News analysis reveals key job market trends by leveraging GPT-4o and LangChain to categorize over 10,000 comments from monthly "Ask HN: Who is Hiring?" threads, providing valuable insights for job seekers and industry observers. Methodology and technical implementation: The author used a multi-step process to gather, classify, and analyze the comments: Selenium was used to search for the monthly thread IDs, and the Hacker News API was then employed to collect the top comments and save them to an SQLite database. GPT-4o and LangChain were utilized to classify the comments based on a predefined HNJobPosting schema, which included...
read Jul 5, 2024Softbank’s $10B AI Gambit: Betting Big on Chips, Energy, and the Future
Softbank, the Japanese conglomerate known for its aggressive bets on emerging technologies, is seeking to borrow $10 billion to fund AI-related projects, signaling a major push into the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Key focus areas: Softbank's AI investment strategy appears to be centered around two critical components of the AI ecosystem: Nvidia chips, which have become the de facto standard for AI training and inference, are a key target for Softbank's investments, as the company aims to capitalize on the growing demand for AI hardware. Energy startups are another area of focus, as the massive energy consumption of AI systems...
read Jul 5, 2024YouTube Cracks Down on Deepfakes, Allows Takedowns of Unauthorized AI-Generated Content
YouTube steps up efforts to combat AI deepfakes with new removal policy, allowing individuals to request takedowns of unauthorized AI-generated content depicting them. Key details of the updated policy: YouTube has implemented a new policy to address the rise of AI-generated content that mimics individuals without their consent: Affected individuals can now request the removal of AI-generated content that realistically depicts them through YouTube's privacy request process. To qualify for removal, the content must depict a realistic altered or synthetic version of the individual's likeness. Content creators have two days to remove the likeness or the entire video after a...
read Jul 5, 2024Meta’s Latest AI Breakthrough: Multi-Token Prediction Models
Meta's multi-token prediction models revolutionize AI efficiency and accessibility, setting the stage for a new era of innovation and collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence. A breakthrough in AI efficiency: Meta's novel approach to training large language models (LLMs) promises significant improvements in performance and training times: By predicting multiple future words simultaneously, instead of just the next word in a sequence, these models can develop a more nuanced understanding of language structure and context. This technique has the potential to curb the trend of AI models ballooning in size and complexity, making advanced AI more accessible and sustainable....
read Jul 4, 2024AI Manager Matches Human Performance, But Partnership Delivers Best Results, Study Finds
A study comparing the performance of an AI manager to human managers found that the AI achieved similar results in keeping employees on task, but the best outcomes came from AI and human managers working together. The implications for companies introducing AI tools are explored: Key Takeaways: The study, while small in scale, points to interesting implications for companies introducing AI management tools: The AI manager achieved comparable results to human managers in getting employees to pre-plan workdays (44% vs 45%) and motivating timely log-ins (42% vs 44%). The highest success rates came when the AI manager worked in partnership...
read Jul 4, 2024Apple’s AI Privacy Strategy and How It Stacks Up Against Android
Apple's AI privacy approach sets a new standard, while Android offers a "hybrid" model: Apple Intelligence introduces a unique AI architecture focused on on-device processing and a new Private Cloud Compute (PCC) system, aiming to protect user data even when leveraging cloud capabilities. In contrast, Android devices like Samsung's Galaxy range employ a "hybrid AI" approach, handling some processes locally but relying on the cloud for advanced features, potentially exposing data to more risks. Key differences between Apple's and Android's AI privacy strategies: Apple's PCC is designed to mask data origins and prevent access by anyone, including Apple, which the...
read Jul 4, 2024AI-Powered Search Revolution: Transforming User Experience and Enterprise Strategies
The rise of generative AI is transforming the landscape of online search, with significant implications for both users and enterprises. By enabling natural language queries and providing direct answers, AI-powered search is reshaping how people seek information and how companies can deliver it. Natural language search revolutionizes user experience: Generative AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT have changed the way users interact with search engines, allowing them to ask questions in natural language instead of relying on keyword-based queries: Users can now ask questions directly and receive answers in a conversational manner, eliminating the need to sift through numerous search results....
read Jul 4, 2024WhatsApp Developing AI Avatar Generator for Personalized User Images in Various Settings
WhatsApp is developing a personalized AI avatar generator that will allow users to imagine themselves in various settings, from forests to outer space, using a combination of user photos, text prompts, and Meta's AI Llama model. Key details of the upcoming feature: The in-development "Imagine" AI feature was spotted in the latest WhatsApp Beta for Android and is expected to generate personalized avatars for users: Users will need to take photos of themselves once to train the Meta AI to produce images in their likeness. Avatars can be generated by typing "Imagine me" with a description of the setting in...
read Jul 4, 2024Amazon at 30: Navigating Antitrust, AI, and Growth Challenges
As Amazon celebrates its 30th anniversary, the e-commerce giant's success and future trajectory will be shaped by three key factors: regulatory scrutiny, advancements in AI, and the performance of its core business. Dealing with trustbusters: Amazon's dominance in online retail and cloud computing has attracted the attention of regulators worldwide: Antitrust investigations are underway in the US and EU, focusing on Amazon's alleged preferential treatment of its own products and its use of seller data to gain a competitive advantage. The company will need to navigate these legal challenges and adapt to potential new regulations aimed at curbing the power...
read Jul 4, 2024AI Hackathon Reveals Rapid Problem-Solving Potential, Heralds Specialized AI Infrastructure Era
The AI-powered hackathon hosted by Crusoe Energy and Lowercarbon Capital showcased the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in tackling complex challenges in the clean energy sector and beyond. AI accelerating problem-solving in the energy industry: The winning projects demonstrated how AI can compress months or years of traditional work into mere hours, potentially revolutionizing clean energy deployment: Verdigris developed an AI system that analyzes mortgage data to identify homeowners for zero-cost energy upgrades and generates personalized marketing materials, including AI-created images of homes with proposed improvements. Daylight created a system that rapidly extracts and maps complex stakeholder relationships from dense...
read Jul 4, 2024Artists Flock to Glaze Amid AI Threat, But Effectiveness Questioned
As AI image generators continue to advance and replicate a wider range of unique artistic styles, many artists are seeking tools to protect their work from being used for AI training without consent or compensation. The Glaze Project, which offers tools to prevent AI mimicry and even poison AI models, has seen a dramatic surge in demand amid this rapidly evolving landscape. Overwhelming demand strains Glaze's resources: The Glaze Project is struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing number of requests for access to its tools, particularly the invite-only web-based version, WebGlaze: The backlog for approving requests is growing, with...
read Jul 4, 2024AI Music Generator Jen Launches, but Struggles to Impress Professional Musicians
The AI-powered music generator Jen has launched, claiming to be an ethical alternative to other AI music tools. However, testing by professional musicians reveals significant limitations in its current capabilities: Jen struggles to generate compelling or inspired music: Despite being trained on licensed material, Jen's output is described as bland, generic, and lacking the warmth and character of human-created music: Musicians found it challenging to coax Jen into producing anything they found genuinely interesting or worth pursuing further, with one tester stating, "I always thought, 'I could have come up with something cooler on my own.'" The tool seems to...
read Jul 4, 2024GPT4All 3.0: Run AI Models Offline, Ensuring Privacy and Local Data Control
GPT4All introduces major update enabling local AI model access on personal computers: The open-source AI platform GPT4All has released version 3.0, allowing users to chat with thousands of large language models offline on their Mac, Linux, or Windows laptops, ensuring data privacy and security. Key improvements in GPT4All 3.0: Expanded Model Support: Users can now interact with a wide variety of AI models like LLaMa, Mistral, and Nous-Hermes locally on their devices. Enhanced Compatibility: The update fully supports Mac M Series chips and AMD/NVIDIA GPUs for smooth performance across different hardware configurations. LocalDocs Integration: Users can grant their local AI...
read Jul 4, 2024AI Fuels Merger Frenzy in Underpenetrated Legal Contract Management Software Market
The generative AI boom is driving a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the niche but growing market for contract lifecycle management (CLM) software. Growing momentum around contract management and AI: The convergence of several tech and market trends, including the rise of generative AI, is driving increased interest in CLM software: Legal services is one of the industries most "exposed" to generative AI according to a recent academic study, fueling interest in incorporating this technology into CLM software. "There's a lot of interest in generative AI . . . and if you look at all the predictions out there,...
read Jul 4, 2024Google’s AI Surge Threatens Its 2030 Net-Zero Goal as Emissions Soar
Google's greenhouse gas emissions surge as AI investments grow, casting doubt on 2030 net-zero target. Emissions on the rise: Google's greenhouse gas emissions have increased significantly in recent years, driven largely by the company's investments in AI and associated infrastructure: Total emissions reached 14.3 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2023, a 48% increase from 2019 levels and a 13% rise since last year. Energy-related emissions, primarily from data center electricity consumption, rose 37% year-on-year and now represent a quarter of Google's total greenhouse gas emissions. Supply chain emissions, which account for 75% of the company's total emissions, also increased...
read Jul 4, 2024Illinois Launches AI-Powered Portal to Revolutionize Youth Mental Health Support
Illinois's BEACON portal, developed in partnership with Google, aims to revolutionize youth mental health support by breaking down agency silos and streamlining access to services. The project's leader shared key insights and learnings from the development process with Government Technology. Addressing the youth mental health crisis: The BEACON portal is a direct response to the alarming rise in youth mental health challenges in Illinois, exacerbated by the pandemic and workforce shortages: According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 61.8 percent of Illinoisans aged 12 to 17 who have depression did not receive any care in 2021. The fragmented nature...
read Jul 3, 2024Salesforce’s “Tiny Giant” AI Challenges Industry Giants, Heralds New Era of Efficient AI
Salesforce's "Tiny Giant" AI model, xLAM-1B, is challenging the notion that bigger is always better in the world of artificial intelligence, potentially paving the way for a new era of efficient, on-device AI applications. Small but mighty: The power of efficient AI; Salesforce's xLAM-1B model, with just 1 billion parameters, outperforms much larger models from industry leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic in function-calling tasks, thanks to the company's innovative approach to data curation: The key to xLAM-1B's performance lies in the quality and diversity of its training data, generated by the APIGen pipeline, which leverages 3,673 executable APIs across 21...
read Jul 3, 2024AI’s $600B Question: Navigating the Bubble’s Tipping Point
The AI bubble is reaching a tipping point, and navigating the road ahead will be crucial for the industry's future success. Rapid growth in AI infrastructure investments: The gap between revenue expectations and actual revenue growth in the AI ecosystem has widened significantly since September 2023: AI's "$200B question" from September 2023 has now become a staggering "$600B question" due to the continued expansion of AI infrastructure investments. GPU supply shortages have eased, and hyperscale providers are stockpiling GPUs at historic levels, with CEOs prioritizing investments in AI hardware. OpenAI's dominance and the need for consumer value: OpenAI continues to...
read Jul 3, 2024Proton Launches Encrypted Docs, Pledging Privacy Over AI as Conversion Issues Linger
Proton Launches Encrypted Docs with Commitment to User Privacy, But Conversion Issues Persist Key features of Proton Docs: Proton, a privacy-focused Swiss tech firm, has launched Proton Docs, an encrypted document editing and sharing feature within its Proton Drive product: Documents are end-to-end encrypted, preventing their use in training generative AI models unless users actively choose to feed their content to an AI. Users can share documents with others by adding their email addresses and revoking permissions later if needed. The new feature aims to make Proton Drive a more viable competitor to Google Drive by enabling real-time editing and...
read Jul 3, 2024AI Developer Tools Poised to Dramatically Boost Software Engineering Productivity
Applying AI to software engineering is transforming developer productivity, with tools like Github Copilot enabling developers to code up to 55% faster. As this technology advances, there are significant opportunities for startups to bring AI-powered products to market that drive productivity gains across the software development lifecycle. Key design patterns and tradeoffs: Founders building AI developer tools will need to make critical design decisions that impact their product's capabilities and market fit: Solo programming involves the AI working independently like a human engineer, while pair programming has the AI collaborating with the user simultaneously on the same task. Solo programming...
read Jul 3, 2024Cloudflare Fights AI Bots as Tech Giants Clash Over Web Scraping Rules
AI is rewriting the rules of the internet, and Cloudflare is stepping in to help customers protect their data from being scraped by AI bots: Tech giants grapple with web scraping for AI: Major tech companies are changing their policies around web scraping, with some blaming third parties for ignoring robots.txt files and others seemingly asserting the right to use any publicly posted data for AI training: Google's AI chatbot Bard has updated its privacy policy, allowing it to train on data scraped from the web. Microsoft executive Suleyman has suggested that anything posted online is fair game for AI...
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