AI Weekly Digest - November 25 2024
xAI 'worth $50bn' after latest funding round
Elon Musk’s xAI has raised $5bn in its latest funding round, valuing the artificial intelligence start-up at $50bn and doubling its value from spring's $24bn valuation. The Qatar Investment Authority, and investment firms Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz were expected to participate in the round, sources said, bringing the amount raised this year to $11bn.
US AI start-up ProRata.ai agrees licensing deals with UK publishers
US artificial intelligence start-up ProRata.ai has agreed licensing deals with UK publishers including DMG Media, the Guardian, the Telegraph and Sky News ahead of it launching its AI-powered search engine next month. DMG Media will also reportedly acquire a stake in the group as part of a funding round valuing it at $130m. DMG vice-chair Rich Caccappolo described the start-up as “a vital first step towards advancing accurate and fair attribution and promoting transparency”. Sky News executive chair David Rhodes, meanwhile, said: “ProRata’s solution helps advance high-quality, impartial journalism across AI platforms and publishers.”
Anger after Google's AI chatbot Gemini tells user to 'please die'
Google's AI chatbot Gemini told a user to "please die" after it was asked a "true or false" question about the number of households in the US led by grandparents. Instead of a relevant response, Gemini answered: "This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape . You are a stain on the universe. Please die."
Google: LLMs sometimes give 'nonsensical' answers?
A Google spokesperson responded: "Large language models can sometimes respond with nonsensical responses, and this is an example of that. This response violated our policies and we've taken action to prevent similar outputs from occurring." Andy Burrows, CEO of UK Internet safety body the Molly Rose Foundation, reacted angrily to the Gemini response: "This is a clear example of incredibly harmful content being served up by a?chatbot because basic safety measures are not in place."
Indian news agency files legal action against OpenAI
Indian news agency Asian News International has filed legal action against OpenAI in the country, accusing it of illegally scraping its content to train AI models and of attributing false statements to its reporters. OpenAI said: “We take great care in our products and design process to support news organisations. We are actively engaged in constructive partnerships and conversations with many news organisations around the world, including India, to explore opportunities, listen to feedback, and work collaboratively.”
Warning over AI threat to TV industry talent pipeline
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight warned AI poses a threat to the TV industry's talent pipeline, telling the Web Summit 2024 in Lisbon: “The issue is that in the creative industries, AI is at its best when it’s replacing people who are at entry level into our industry. AI is very good at doing what apprentices do... We have to defend the process of human beings learning the craft, even in spite of the fact that the output of learning the craft could be done more economically by AI."
Elon Musk makes amendments to OpenAI lawsuit
Elon Musk has made amendments to his lawsuit against OpenAI, which accuses the group of abandoning its non-profit mission, to add Microsoft, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and former OpenAI board member Dee Templeton as defendants. The suit claims that OpenAI is now “actively trying to eliminate competitors” such as Musk's xAI by “extracting promises from investors not to fund them”. It added: “xAI has been harmed by, without limitation - an inability to obtain compute from Microsoft on terms anywhere near as favourable as OpenAI receives - and the exclusive exchange between OpenAI and Microsoft of competitively sensitive information.”
Chernin backs AI film/TV studio Promise
Veteran US media executive Peter Chernin is backing new studio Promise, which will primarily use generative artificial intelligence to create films and TV shows. The studio, also backed by tech investor?Andreessen Horowitz , was created by former YouTube executives George Strompolos and Jamie Byrne, along with Gen AI artist Dave Clark.
Xavier Niel: Europe can succeed in creating leading artificial intelligence companies
Leading tech investor Xavier Niel believes Europe can succeed in creating leading artificial intelligence companies, despite financial disadvantages compared to US rivals. The French billionaire told the FT: “I think we can create big things with a few hundred million euros. Europe can create competitive AI models today. But over the next two or three years, [success] depends on the number of initiatives and the ability of those who are the real geniuses - those building the best companies - not to be swallowed up or to sell too quickly.”
Bluesky: 'No intention' of using user content to train gen AI tools
Fast-growing social network Bluesky reassured users it has “no intention” of using user content to train generative AI tools. X rolled out new terms of service last week that allow it to use public posts to train AI, but?Bluesky said: “A number of artists and creators have made their home on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns with other platforms training on their data. We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.”
Perplexity AI approach to advertising 'a paradigm shift'
Artificial intelligence search start-up?Perplexity AI?said “our approach to advertising is a paradigm shift, and so we operate outside of the typical processes for brand advertising", after ad industry observers questioned the wisdom of selling on CPMs rather than CPCs. Analyst Debra Aho Williamson said: "The digital business models that have proven most successful over time are performance-based. Think Google and Meta — the two largest digital media companies in the world. Both have performance advertising as their core business model. Companies that launched with a premium/brand awareness model have struggled to maintain momentum.”
Chinese tech giants build US AI teams to compete with American rivals
Chinese tech giants including Alibaba, ByteDance and Meituan are currently building artificial intelligence teams in Silicon Valley, attempting to poach staff from US rivals as they bid to close the gap in large language model development.
UK CMA clears Google's $2bn Anthropic investment
The Competition and Markets Authority has cleared?Google's?$2bn investment in AI start-up ?Anthropic, concluding it does not merit an in-depth investigation. The regulator earlier cleared?Amazon's?$4bn investment in the group.
EU calls for feedback over Code of Practice
The European Union has asked for industry feedback by November 28 after posting the first draft of a Code of Practice that will apply to AI providers under the bloc’s AI Act . Officials said they hope to publish a final form by next May.
Meta adds?AI features to Ray-Ban AR glasses?in Europe
Meta?has added some AI features to its Ray-Ban Meta AR glasses in France, Italy, and Spain. It said: “Since we launched in September 2023, we have been diligently working to ensure that Ray-Ban Meta glasses comply with Europe’s complex regulatory system. We are excited to begin bringing Meta AI and its innovative features to parts of the EU and look forward to expanding to more European countries soon.”
Reports: xAI to acquire 100,000 Nvidia chips
Elon Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence start-up will reportedly acquire 100,000 Nvidia chips when it closes its fundraising round. Investment from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds ?will ascribe the group a $50bn valuation.
White House urged to fund drive to develop Gen AI
A congressional commission in the US has urged the White House to fund a Manhattan Project-style initiative to develop artificial general intelligence. Spokesman Jacob Helberg said: "We've seen throughout history that countries that are first to exploit periods of rapid technological change can often cause shifts in the global balance of power. China is racing towards AGI... It's critical that we take them extremely seriously."