🗞️ AI News Recap

Hey TEDchats Fam!

Happy Monday! Picture this: you're handed a deck of cards, and each card represents a piece of the ever-evolving AI puzzle. Without a proper recap, it's like trying to play poker with half the deck missing - you might miss out on the winning hand! Today, let's shuffle through the deck of AI recaps together and ensure you're holding all the aces in this digital card game. Ready to deal with the past week of AI? Let's dive in!

🐇 QUICK BITES — THE PAST WEEK

Delays in GPT Store Launch!

OpenAI has pushed back the launch of its GPT Store, initially set for this year, to early 2024, likely due to leadership changes in November. Axios first reported the delay, citing an OpenAI memo that mentioned “unexpected” challenges. The memo further outlined upcoming improvements, such as a refined configuration interface and enhanced debug messages (read more).

Amazon Enters AI Image Generation with Titan

Amazon has announced the release of Titan Image Generator, expanding its AI capabilities. This new tool, a part of Amazon's Titan series of generative AI models, enables users to generate images based on text descriptions. Additionally, it offers unique features such as customization (e.g., adapting a realistic iguana into a cartoon or a sketch) and generative resizing of images. Overall, this product demonstrates Amazon's commitment to innovation in the rapidly evolving field of AI-driven image creation (read more).

ChatGPT Celebrates 1 Year!

A year ago, ChatGPT began as a research tool but swiftly evolved into a multifaceted platform, redefining how we interact with the digital world. More than a chatbot, it offers diverse capabilities, including web searching and productivity. Despite fierce competition, ChatGPT, now OpenAI's most popular product, recorded 1.7 billion website visits last month. Entering its second year, the focus shifts to integration into a broader AI-powered ecosystem, signaling the start of a new AI era (read more).

Pika Secures $55M for AI-Driven Video Editing

Pika, an emerging AI startup, has raised $55 million in funding to enhance its AI-powered video editing platform. The platform enables users to generate and edit videos using captions and still images, offering a range of styles like 3D animation and cinematic. This development comes as Pika introduces "Pika 1.0", a suite of tools aimed at simplifying and democratizing high-quality video production (see more). Co-founded by former Stanford AI lab researchers, Pika's technology represents a significant advancement in the field of AI-assisted videography (read more).

Amazon Announces New Business Chatbot

Amazon's Q, recently introduced, is more than a chatbot; it's an AI powerhouse, trained on 17 years of AWS knowledge for AWS customers (see preview). Understanding systems and data, Q tailors solutions, going beyond Q&A to grasp each business's nuances. In a fiercely competitive AI landscape, Amazon redefines the game with Q — an assistant that integrates with specific apps, offering unprecedented customization and demonstrated real-world efficiency, upgrading and testing around 1,000 apps internally (read more).

Wombo Me: A New Era of AI Avatars

Wombo, known for their AI-generated art app Dream by Wombo, has released a new application named Wombo Me. This innovative tool enables users to generate various lifelike avatars using just a single selfie. Distinguishing itself from other avatar apps, Wombo Me offers a swift and streamlined process, producing images almost instantly. It's designed for fun and social sharing, allowing users to experiment with different styles, personas, and even fantasy elements in their avatar creations (see more).

Google DeepMind's AI Material Discovery

Google DeepMind's AI system, GNoME, has identified approximately 400,000 new stable inorganic compounds, significantly expanding the possibilities for material science. Complementing this, the A-Lab, an autonomous laboratory, is now synthesizing these materials in real-time, marking a notable advance in the integration of AI and robotics in scientific research. This dual approach aims to accelerate the discovery and creation of novel materials with potential benefits in various sectors, including clean energy and electronics (read more).

Would You Read News Brought to You by AI?

Paris-based startup Capsule aspires to be the go-to source for news, using AI and human curation to transform articles, newsletters, and social updates into digestible content on its user-friendly app. The app's experience, akin to swiping through TikTok, features a vertical scrolling feed with headlines and images or post screenshots. Users can tap headlines for summaries and access full articles directly from the publisher's website (read more).

IKEA Unveils Cost-Effective Smart Home Sensors

IKEA introduces three new Zigbee smart home sensors, all said to be priced under $10 when globally released early next year. The Parasoll sensor monitors the opening/closing of doors and windows, while the Vallhorn sensor detects motion both indoors and outdoors. These sensors can be connected to automations, enabling actions like turning on lights when motion is detected. Additionally, the Badring sensor alerts homeowners to water leaks and features a built-in siren. These devices are designed for easy integration with existing smart home systems, aiming to make smart home technology more accessible and affordable (read more).

Wix Integrates AI for Web Building

Avishai Abrahami, CEO of Wix, outlines the company's strategic move towards incorporating generative AI into its web development tools in an interview with The Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel. Users can construct comprehensive websites through AI-guided processes, such as using chatbots for website layout and content creation. This development reflects Wix's adaptation to the rapidly evolving tech landscape, positioning the company to offer more sophisticated, AI-enabled solutions for web design and business management (read more).

Smartphone Sales Are in for a Comeback Thanks to AI!

Smartphone sales are poised for a rebound, defying concerns of a prolonged slump, according to projections by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley predicts a nearly 4% rebound in global smartphone shipments in 2024, driven by new on-device AI capabilities. The investment bank raised 2025 phone volume projections, emphasizing the potential of edge AI for enhanced features. Apple, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Samsung express optimism about AI, with Vivo's X100 and Xiaomi's flagship experiencing significant sales boosts. Samsung further plans to integrate generative AI into 2024 models with ChatGPT-style features (read more).

🧰 AI TOOLBOX — RECAP 

👋 UNTIL NEXT TIME

As we wrap up this week's AI recap, make sure you're holding all the aces in this digital card game. Playing your cards right means staying informed, and our recaps may be your winning strategy. What exciting developments await in the tech deck? Stay tuned for our next newsletter!