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Happy Monday! Is AI shaping our world or shaping us? From ChatGPT acquiring a physical form to the EU's AI regulations, and Google's election integrity efforts, the latest headlines speak volumes. Join us as we explore the unfolding narrative of artificial intelligence in this week's AI news recap. Let's get straight into it.

🐇 QUICK BITES — THE PAST WEEK

ChatGPT Gets a Physical Body!

OpenAI and Figure have collaborated to provide ChatGPT with a physical form. OpenAI offers high-level visual and language intelligence, while Figure's neural networks enable rapid, precise, and dexterous robot actions. The results are astonishing, and can be seen in the linked video (see Figure’s post).

Reddit May Go Public for $6.4 Billion with AI Contracts in Play

Reddit, renowned for its diverse communities and memes, faced a net loss of $90.8 million in 2023 despite revenues exceeding $800 million (read Reddit’s report, page 18). Now, preparing for one of the largest U.S. IPOs this year, Reddit will trade on the NYSE under "RDDT". With its IPO mirroring a tech adventure novel, Reddit faces significant risks due to its unproven financial track record. However, AI presents a potential solution. Reddit's vast user-generated content has attracted lucrative deals for training undisclosed AI models, including an aggregated contract totaling $203 million for terms spanning two to three years. Separately, the IPO itself aims to raise over $465 million. Showcasing its ambition to leverage AI and the public offering for financial growth, Reddit is targeting a valuation of up to $6.4 billion. See Reddit’s official IPO registration here and updates here.

Elon Musk's xAI has Open-Sourced the Grok-1 Language Model

Grok, an AI platform developed by Elon Musk's xAI startup and a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, has been accessible to customers who subscribe to X's premium+ monthly plan, priced at $16. In a notable development last week, Musk announced plans to open-source Grok. Now, xAI has released the base model weights and network architecture of Grok-1, the company's large language model. Grok-1 is a 314 billion-parameter Mixture-of-Experts model trained from scratch by xAI. However, the model is not fine-tuned for any specific application, such as conversations. This open-source move raises questions about timing, particularly in the context of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, where he challenges the profit strategies of the AI firm. Nevertheless, it also prompts important inquiries about the future of AI development and the significance of open-source technology in advancing the field (see xAI’s announcement).

Backlash Against Under Armour's AI Commercial

The advertising world is abuzz as Under Armour's recent commercial, featuring boxer Anthony Joshua, draws criticism for claiming to be the "first AI-powered sports commercial." Director Wes Walker proudly showcased the commercial on his Instagram, noting that it was created in just three weeks from concept ideation to delivery. However, industry professionals have pointed out that the ad repurposes content from previous works without crediting the original creators — a list of complaints can be found here. This incident highlights ongoing ethical debates about the integration of AI technology in creative fields and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging artistic contributions (view Under Armour’s AI commercial).

Midjourney News Part 1: Company is Addressing the Inconsistency of Characters in Image Generation

Reproducing the same character in diverse environments or during different actions has consistently led to a problem: the characters simply don't look the same. In response, Midjourney has announced the release of a new algorithm currently undergoing testing to ensure "consistent characters" across various images (see Midjourney’s announcement).

Midjourney News Part 2: Company Imposes a Ban on Stability AI Employees

Midjourney reportedly banned all Stability AI employees after a major service outage. Described as 'botnet-like activity', this disruption is allegedly connected to two accounts associated with Stability AI staff. Stability AI's CEO, Emad Mostaque, initiated an internal investigation, emphasizing in an X post that the attack was “certainly not instructed by us/Stability AI”. In response, Midjourney founder David Holz offered assistance to Mostaque, mentioning that he sent “some information to help with your internal investigation". With both firms specializing in AI-powered image generation, this public dispute signifies a notable escalation in tensions between prominent AI companies (read more).

Midjourney News Part 3: Company Updates Terms of Service Regarding Copyright Disputes

Midjourney, an AI startup renowned for its image generator technology, has recently updated its terms of service concerning intellectual property disputes, which have been a recurring topic of discussion for the company. This revision, transitioning from casual language to legally robust clauses, underscores Midjourney's dedication to shielding the company and its affiliates from potential liabilities and expenses stemming from third-party claims related to creators' actions. Previously, the policy featured humorous language regarding consequences for IP infringement, while the updated version now outlines indemnification measures against third-party claims arising from user activities (see Midjourney’s updated Terms of Service).

The EU Finalizes Rules for the First Artificial Intelligence Act

Bans will be imposed on AI applications that threaten citizens' rights, such as indiscriminate scraping of facial images for facial recognition databases, emotion recognition in workplaces and schools, social scoring, predictive policing, among others. However, there are still hurdles to overcome before they take effect, with implementation occurring 6-36 months afterward (see EU Parliament's announcement).

Google’s Newly Released SIMA is Changing the Game

Google DeepMind introduced SIMA (Scalable Instructable Multiworld Agent) to create a human-like gaming companion rather than a flawless opponent or scripted NPC. Developed with game studios such as Coffee Stain and Hello Games, SIMA operates in various games, from "Goat Simulator 3" to "No Man’s Sky", using simple text instructions. It learns through simulated Unity environments and real gameplay scenarios with humans, performing around 600 tasks like navigation and interactions in about 10 seconds each. Read more about SIMA's development here and watch video demonstrations here.

High-Tech Measures to Combat U.S. Fentanyl Trafficking

In a notable effort to combat U.S. drug smuggling, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is poised to deploy advanced AI-powered X-ray machines for scanning vehicles entering the country, targeting fentanyl and other narcotics, as reported by The Verge. While specifics remain unclear, this initiative appears to be part of a broader security overhaul supported by President Biden. In his State of the Union address, Biden articulated plans to add "100 more high-tech drug detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles from smuggling fentanyl into America". With over 43,000 pounds of fentanyl intercepted last fiscal year, the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its strategies for combating drug trafficking. According to the report, machine learning models have already led to 240 seizures, encompassing thousands of pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl (read the DHS's report here).

Apple Acquires AI Startup Specializing in Manufacturing Processes

According to Bloomberg, Apple has expanded its acquisitions in the AI domain by incorporating DarwinAI, a Canadian startup renowned for its vision-based technology. This technology is utilized to monitor manufacturing components, enhancing operational efficiency. Additionally, DarwinAI employs methods to optimize AI models, with the goal of saving manufacturers time and money, while enabling confident decision-making. This proficiency could also be advantageous for Apple's upcoming implementation of on-device generative AI features expected to debut in iOS 18 later this year (read Bloomberg’s report here).

Amazon Introduces AI-Powered Tool for URL-Based Listing Creation

In the coming weeks, Amazon will introduce a new feature allowing sellers to create product listings on its platform by submitting a URL from another website. This tool, powered by generative AI, extracts item details from the provided URL to automatically generate an Amazon listing. Initially targeted at U.S. sellers, this development is part of Amazon's initiative to streamline the listing process, enhancing efficiency by minimizing the necessity for manual entry of product information (see Amazon’s announcement).

Google Gemini Puts the Brakes on Election Queries

In a significant policy shift, Google's Gemini AI has begun restricting its responses to election-related queries in countries actively holding elections. This decision is part of a broader effort to prevent the potential misuse of AI in shaping public opinion and spreading misinformation during critical election periods. The restriction includes a range of queries about political parties, candidates, and politicians, with Gemini directing users to try Google Search for these topics. This change underscores the growing influence of AI in political processes and the challenges in ensuring accurate and unbiased information (read more).

Italian Regulators Crack Down on TikTok's Algorithmic Profiling with €10 Million Fine!

According to a press release from the Italian Competition Authority, TikTok's insufficient content monitoring and algorithmic profiling have raised concerns about the safety of minors and vulnerable individuals. Consequently, the Italian Competition Authority fined three companies within the Bytedance Ltd group, namely Irish TikTok Technology Limited, British TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, and Italian TikTok Italy Srl, jointly and severally, for EUR 10 million (see press release for more details).

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👋 UNTIL NEXT TIME

As we conclude this week's AI news recap, it's evident that artificial intelligence is deeply intertwined with our world, influencing everything from technology to regulation and ethics. The latest headlines underscore the complexities and implications of AI, and we appreciate you joining us on this exploration of the evolving AI landscape. Rest assured, we'll continue to keep you updated with fact-checked information. Here’s to the week ahead 🍻