AI Weekly Digest - May 13 2024
Welcome to our comprehensive round-up of the main weekly moves in the artificial intelligence sector. Our LinkedIn newsletter readers can also sign up for free to an enhanced email edition of the AI Weekly Digest - published every Friday. See below.
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OpenAI search service set to directly challenge Google
OpenAI is reportedly developing a search service which trawls the web before returning results, directly challenging Google and AI search start-up Perplexity.
Suleyman overseeing Microsoft's major new AI language model
Microsoft is said to be working on a new AI language model large enough to compete with those from Google and OpenAI. The Information reported that the model, internally referred to as MAI-1, is being overseen by Mustafa Suleyman, the Google DeepMind co-founder and former CEO of AI startup Inflection.
Meta to expand its suite of gen AI ad products
Facebook and Instagram parent Meta is to expand its suite of generative AI ad products. This will see the social media giant offer tools that can automatically create variations of images and overlay text on them. Meta's head of?monetisation, John Hegeman, said the tool was expected to roll out globally by the end of the year. He said Meta was still working on how labelling would work for ads, with guidelines to be shared ahead of the launch.
$13bn-valued Scale AI picks London for European HQ
US artificial intelligence group Scale AI is to open a London office as the centre of its European operations. The data infrastructure company uses software and human workers to tag vast troves of data, the Times reported, adding that it is set to be valued at around $13bn at its next funding round.
PM 'delighted' by 'vote of confidence for UK economy'
The announcement by US artificial intelligence group Scale AI that it has chosen London for the centre of its European operations has "delighted" Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He said: “It’s another vote of confidence in the UK’s economy and status as a science superpower and we are determined to ensure AI helps deliver a brighter future for the next generation." Scale AI Chief executive Alexandr Wang said: “The UK has long been a hotbed for technology, talent and diverse ideas, which is why we’re proud to establish roots here.” The London HQ will initially employ more than 50 specialist engineers and software developers, the company said.
CEO Thomson: 'News Corp working to promote quality journalism in age of Generative AI'
News?Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said: “We are in the midst of an exponential digital revolution, and our own company has continued to change significantly and profitably. Importantly, we are working to promote our quality journalism in the age of Generative AI and are gratified that the most enlightened leaders in the industry appreciate the commercial and social value of that content."
Intercept urges court to reject OpenAI call to throw out lawsuit
Investigative journalism site The Intercept has urged a US court to reject OpenAI's call to throw out a lawsuit which claims it violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by copying its articles. It said: "Much like the hallucinations to which their products are prone, defendants ignore or mischaracterise both the applicable law and the allegations of the complaint. The Intercept is entitled to its day in court."
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Dotdash Meredith signs OpenAI content deal
Magazine publishing giant Dotdash Meredith, the biggest business of internet holding company IAC, has become the latest group to sign a content licence deal with ChatGPT owner OpenAI. The deal, for undisclosed terms will allow ChatGPT to answer queries with summaries attributable to America's largest digital and print publisher. The agreement follows similar ones with the Financial Times, Axel Springer, France's Le Monde and Spain's Prisa Media.
Report probes 'uncertain balance of power between AI and media'
The Guardian explored 'the uncertain balance of power between AI and media', after The Financial Times became the first UK news group to sign a licensing deal with OpenAI, while a new group of US publishers launched legal action against the ChatGPT developer. It noted that Guardian News & Media 'does not currently have a deal with OpenAI, but... remains in discussions with a range of leading AI companies'.
Informa agrees $10m Microsoft AI deal
Publishing and exhibitions group Informa has agreed an AI deal with Microsoft - worth more than $10m in its first year - granting the group access to data which will be used to train large language models. CEO Stephen A Carter said?Informa has a “significant body of data and content that renews annually”.
Report: China has four AI unicorns
The FT said Chinese start-ups Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI, MiniMax and 01.ai have been valued at $1.2bn-$2.5bn in the past three months, giving the country four AI unicorns as it seeks to compete with US groups including OpenAI and Anthropic. Forrester analyst Charlie Dai said: "There is no winner of foundation models yet in the China market. These are some of the names leading the charge to claim that title."
Reddit AI investments 'are continuing to improve relevance'
Reddit beat Wall Street expectations as it announced its first results as a public company, posting revenue up 48% year-on-year at $243m, although net losses widened from $60.9m to $531m due to IPO costs. Active daily user numbers were up 37% to a record 82.7m, and chief executive Steve Huffman said investments in AI would “continue to improve relevance, engagement and moderation”.
Analyst: AI battle 'proving costly' for Meta
BNP Paribas analyst Stefan Slowinski imposed a rare 'sell' rating on Meta, saying that while artificial intelligence “can help businesses increase efficiency and cut costs... for those developing the technology, the AI battle is proving costly”.
US bill would make it easier to impose AI export controls
A bipartisan group of US politicians has unveiled a bill making it easier for the Biden administration to impose export controls on AI models. The move, designed to protect US tech groups against foreign bad actors, was sponsored by House Republicans Michael McCaul and John Molenaar and Democrats Raja Krishnamoorthi and Susan Wild. It also contains proposals to give the Commerce Department authority to bar Americans from working with foreigners to develop AI systems which could pose risks to national security.
Apple iPad line-up features 'outrageously powerful chip' for AI
Apple said the new iPad line-up features “an outrageously powerful chip for AI”. Platform architecture VP Tim Millet said the M4 processor was “more powerful” than the equivalent chip in “any AI PC today”.
X to provide news story summaries generated by Grok
X announced it is to begin providing summaries of news stories generated by xAI’s chatbot, Grok. The posts will initially rely on user posts rather than published articles, although owner Elon Musk said: "As more information becomes available, the news summary will update to include that information."
Report: Apple works on in-house chip to run AI tools in data centres
Apple is reportedly developing an in-house chip to run AI tools in its data centres, following Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta in trying to reduce its dependence on third-party processors.