Welcome to the second summer edition of Wayfinder. This month was quieter in tech & media, but AI development continued. Perhaps the most notable project that is generating some buzz at the moment is OpenAI’s secretive ‘Strawberry’ model.
It aims to create an AI that can browse the internet on its own and would use step-by-step reasoning to solve problems.
If it works, it could be a big advance in AI. However, given OpenAI's history of ambitious announcements, it remains to be seen how much of this potential will materialize.
Despite the slower month, there were still important updates in AI and media. Here’s what you need to know.
AI Models
August saw a flurry of new AI model releases and updates, each pushing the envelope in different directions.
- Black Forest Labs unveiled FLUX, a new suite of image models. Link
- On X, Grok is now integrated with Flux, allowing uncensored image generation. Link
- Meta introduced a new AI generator capable of transforming any image into 3D. Link
- Google released its new AI image model, Imagen 3, and added custom prompts to Gemini. Link
& Link
- LumaLabs launched Dream Machine 1.5, offering improved text-to-video capabilities. Link
- Midjourney launched a web editor for its image generation platform. Link
AI in Search and Publishing
The integration of AI into search and publishing continues to evolve, with a few new partnership announcements.
- Google expanded its AI overviews to more countries, enhancing search results with AI-generated summaries. Link
- NiemanLab interviewed 7 news audience directors about the impact of Google’s AI Overviews. Link
- OpenAI partnered with Condé Nast, signaling deeper integration of AI in traditional media. Link
- Major news publishers licensed content to ProRata.Ai, an AI startup promising fair revenue sharing from chatbot subscriptions. Link
- A judge ruled that Google violated antitrust rules to maintain its search monopoly, potentially reshaping the search landscape. Link
& Link
- Related: Bloomberg article on publishers’ new dilemma: share data with Google's AI bot or risk disappearing from search results. Link
Emerging Trends
Some interesting new approaches to media creation and community building are taking shape.
- Splice Media is pioneering "nano media," using AI to build tiny, solopreneur media companies. Link
- Newsrooms are finding innovative ways to build communities both online and offline. Link
- New research confirms that simple headlines significantly increase article engagement and clicks. Link
- Investor firm A16z thinks a "next generation Pixar," empowered by generative AI, is just around the corner. Link
- A new study maps journalists' perceptions of the perils and possibilities of generative AI in newsrooms. Link
- The BBC shared insights on how they use AI for journalism. Link
Industry Reports
Several key reports were released, offering insights into media consumption and AI adoption:
- Ofcom's annual Media Nations report highlighted an accelerated decline in broadcast TV's reach. Link
- The European Commission published a report on the impact of digitalization on citizens. Link
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) released a list of the top 100 Gen AI apps. Link
- SiriusXM and Sound Profitable both released comprehensive reports on podcast trends for 2024. Link
& Link
- Understanding the Spotify algorithm: an essential guide for podcasters. Link
- Check out this new guidebook for organisations to enhance their foresight capabilities. Link
- Google Cloud published their 2024 Data & AI Trends Report. Link
Short
Read
- Mark Zuckerberg and Daniel Ek co-authored an article advocating for Europe to embrace open-source AI. Link
- The Verge discusses the implications of easily created, realistic fake photos. Link
- Doug Shapiro examines the growing dominance of social video content. Link
- Ben Evans explores the evolving search landscape. Link
- Laura Preston visits a conversational AI conference and writes an amusing and insightful longread about the notion that AI could solve today's loneliness epidemic. Link
That's it! From next week on the regular weekly Wayfinder is back. As always feel free to share with friends and colleagues!
PS: This newsletter was curated and edited by me, with Claude's assistance in structuring and partly summarizing the content.
