AI & Startups August 21 - August 27

Gen AI Product News

?Meta debuts new?AI?tool for coders

Meta announced?the?release of a new tool called?'Code Llama’?on Thursday, which generates and discusses code via text prompts.?The?open-source LLM supports popular languages like Python and JavaScript.

Meta unveils breakthrough language?AI

?Meta has open-sourced an?AI?model called SeamlessM4T, which translates and transcribes nearly 100 languages across text and speech.

Details:

• SeamlessM4T combines speech recognition, translation, and text-to-speech in one model.
• Text-to-speech you to switch languages mid-sentence.
• The?model was trained using tens of billions of scraped sentences and?four million hours?of speech data.

OpenAI partners with Scale?AI?for fine-tuning

OpenAI named data-labeling startup Scale?AI?as its ‘preferred partner’ for fine-tuning GPT-3.5, letting?the?company apply its expertise to customize models for clients.?The?announcement?comes on?the?heels?of a recent pilot showing that fine-tuned GPT-3.5 matched GPT-4 in quality for less cost.

? 微软 eyes?AI?upgrades for Windows apps

Microsoft is reportedly adding?AI?capabilities like object recognition and generative image creation to apps like Photos, Snipping Tool, and even Paint in Windows 11.

Key points:

• ‘Photos’ could gain?the?ability to cut out people and objects using?AI, while?the?Snipping Tool and Camera may get text recognition from screenshots.
• ‘Paint’?is also potentially integrating?AI?features, based on?the?same tech that powers Bing Image Generator.
• More details are expected at Microsoft’s upcoming event on Sept. 21, with?the?next Windows platform release in 2024 expected to significantly incorporate?AI.

YouTube launches ‘Music?AI?Incubator’

?YouTube just announced a new Music?AI?Incubator, revealing plans to collaborate with artists to develop generative?AI?technologies and gather insights.

Details:

• The?incubator kickstarts a huge partnership between YouTube and Universal Music Group, which includes stars like Anitta, OneRepublic's Ryan?Tedder, and?the?Frank Sinatra estate.
• YouTube CEO Neal Mohan outlined?three core principles?to guide?the?company’s?AI?use, which signal a forward-thinking approach that aims to both protect artists and unlock new opportunities.
• The?move aims to boost innovation while avoiding copyright risks and follows a spike in?AI?interest on?the?platform.

?With nearly?three billion?monthly users, YouTube embracing?AI?could chart a completely new course for tech in?the?music industry — especially after initial backlash and copyright enforcement.

Twilio charges ahead on CustomerAI

Twilio announced?significant?updates to its CustomerAI capabilities at its annual Signal Conference. This includes new voice?intelligence?that extracts insights from conversations and ‘Generative Journeys’ that allow users to automatically build campaigns from natural language prompts.?The?company also unveiled ‘AI?Nutrition Labels’, which aim for more transparent?AI?usage.

CoDeF makes?AI?video edits seamless

Researchers have just developed CoDeF, an extremely impressive open-sourced?AI?system that allows for seamless style transfers and editing across video frames.

Key points:

• CoDeF introduced a new method that captures?the?static elements of a video with a reference image and tracks how this image changes or morphs over time to match each video frame.
• The?system offers superior consistency across video frames than other methods and is capable of tracking non-rigid objects like water and smog.
• The?model enables easy application of image edits to entire videos and can track key points without training.

Gen AI VC

Hugging Face raises $235M from tech giants

AI?startup Hugging Face announced a $235M Series D raise on Thursday, led by a star-studded roster of tech giants including 谷歌 , 亚马逊 , 英伟达 , Salesforce , and IBM .

Details:

• The?platform provides tools for sharing and running open-source?AI, as well as libraries and other tools for customizing systems — currently hosting 500,000 different models and 250,000 data sets.
• The?round brings?the?company’s total raise to $395.2M to date, putting?the?startup at a?whopping $4.5B valuation.
• CEO Clem Delangue says?AI?“is?the?new way of building all software” and hopes to have 100M?AI?builders relying on Hugging Face in?the?next five years.

Paris has a new foundational AI player. poolside AI, a startup that wants to create a ChatGPT-like tool that can write software code, has raised a mammoth $126m seed round

DP Technology , a Beijing, China-based artificial intelligence company focused on scientific applications, raised $100 million in a new funding round.

Ikigai lands $25M investment to bring generative AI to tabular data

How this VC evaluates generative AI startups

Gen AI Jobs

? IBM study: 40% of workforce may need?AI?'reskilling’

A new?IBM report?estimates 40% of?the?global workforce will need to ‘reskill’ in?the?next three years as?AI?transforms business operations.

Key points:

• The?company surveyed 3,000 execs and 21,000 workers on?AI's evolving impact in?the?workplace.
• A whopping 87% of execs reported viewing?AI?as?enhancing?rather than replacing roles, leveraging?AI?boosted revenues by 15% for tech adopters.
• People skills rose in importance, with?AI?enabling employees to accomplish more technical skills with less training
• The?report humbly stated "AI?won't replace people—but people who use?AI?will replace people who don't"

While a potentially seismic shift is coming to?the?workplace, this report is a reminder that with?the?right retraining, workers can become?enhanced?users?— not replaced.

Singapore workers are the world's fastest in adopting AI skills, LinkedIn report says

Gen AI Policy

?No copyright for?AI, federal judge rules

A federal judge slapped?down?a lawsuit trying to get copyright protection for art created by?AI?systems?alone?— upholding?the?longstanding rule that human creators have to be involved.

Details:

• Stephen Thaler sued after?the?U.S. Copyright Office rejected his application to copyright an artwork generated by his?AI?system called?the?“Creativity Machine”.
• The?judge ruled copyright law has?never?extended protection to "new technology operating without any human guidance."
• The?decision cited several precedents establishing need for?human?creativity and choices — an important distinction as?the?line between?AI?and personal creation becomes increasingly blurred.

A.I. could boost earnings nearly 20% by replacing human jobs, Goldman says. These are the short- and long-term winners of the boom

UK to spend $130M on AI chips amid scramble to buy up computing power

Gen AI Frameworks

Pandas AI

Pandas AI is a library that uses generative AI models to supercharge Pandas’ capabilities. It allows users to summarize data frames using natural language, plot complex visualizations, manipulate data frames, and generate business insights. The best part? It’s beginner-friendly, meaning even non-technical individuals can use it for complex and basic data analysis tasks.

Key Features:

• Natural Language Processing: Summarize and analyze data using simple language.
• Complex Visualizations: Create intricate plots without manual coding.
• Data Manipulation: Easily manipulate data frames to derive meaningful conclusions.