#AINews for Tuesday, October 8, 2024 - Privacy Concerns, New Products, and Big Investments
For a podcast summary of today's news, please see:
Google is adding more AI to its search engine, allowing users to ask questions about images and videos by voice. This follows a move to reduce concerns about misleading information in Google's AI Overviews. Google is now adding more links to other websites within AI Overviews, which have reduced visits to news publishers and technology review specialists.
AI is being used to streamline operations at companies like Google DeepMind and Bayer . Google DeepMind uses its Gemini AI model to handle information requests, while Bayer uses AI for regulatory filings. Both companies hope to automate paperwork so high-skilled employees can focus on high-value tasks. However, training employees on AI will take time and effort, and companies will have to value those efforts.
Fairfax County, Virginia is implementing an AI system to reduce wait times for nonemergency 911 calls, like noise complaints and animal control calls. The system will translate calls if the caller's first language isn't English. It will also triage calls and route them to the appropriate agency. The system could also support the county's towing process, which currently uses fax machines.
The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for work on machine learning with artificial neural networks. John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used tools from physics to construct methods that helped lay the foundation for today’s powerful machine learning,” the Nobel Committee for Physics said. “Machine learning based on artificial neural networks is currently revolutionizing science, engineering and daily life.”
Two Harvard University students have built an AI-powered platform that allows them to identify anyone just by looking at them through a pair of Meta 's Ray-Ban smart glasses. The system, I-XRAY, uses facial recognition to identify someone, then searches databases for personal information like their address, phone number, and relatives. The students say they are not trying to invade people's privacy, but rather to start a conversation about safety and surveillance.
Ethical Considerations and Responsible AI Development Take Center Stage: As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our lives, researchers are focusing on developing robust evaluation methods to ensure responsible development and mitigate potential risks. A team from the University of Oxford and Cohere introduced TICK, a novel approach using AI-generated checklists to evaluate the accuracy and interpretability of AI language models. This method highlights the importance of rigorous testing and human oversight in AI development to ensure ethical and reliable outcomes. Additionally, discussions about AI's broader societal impact are intensifying, particularly regarding its potential impact on climate goals and the need to balance technological progress with environmental sustainability.
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Apple 's AI features will reportedly launch on October 28 across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Open-source startup OpenBB is launching a free, AI-powered alternative to the financial data platform Bloomberg Terminal. Alphabet is using AI to display videos, forum links, and recipes in search results alongside web pages. KoBold Metals , which uses AI to find minerals, raised $491 million in a funding round. This includes a large copper discovery in Zambia.
OpenAI has secured over $10 billion in liquidity, valuing the company at $157 billion. This follows a funding round where OpenAI raised $6.6 billion from investors including Microsoft and Nvidia. The company's operating costs are high, driven by the need for GPUs to support large language model training. OpenAI is looking at restructuring options to optimize growth and sustainability.
Black Forest Labs , the startup behind the image generator Grok, has released an API. The beta API will provide access to Flux image generation models, including Flux1.1 Pro. The startup is backed by Andreessen Horowitz .
Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, is increasing its server capacity to deliver NVIDIA 's Blackwell chips. Demand for the chips, which are used in AI, is "crazy," according to Hon Hai's chairman, Young Liu. There are production delays, but Nvidia is still forecasting billions of dollars in shipments.
Hugging Face has launched OpenAI-Gradio, allowing developers to quickly create AI web applications using GPT-4 turbo.
Meta has launched Movie Gen, an AI tool for creating and editing videos and audio. This puts Meta in competition with OpenAI's Sora.
TikTok has new AI tools for advertisers, promising a greater return on investment. Intel is teaming up with Inflection AI on a new AI cloud. Google's AI can now answer questions about videos and photos. Foxconn reported record revenue for Q3 2024, driven by AI demand.