This Week in AI

Excited to launch the first episode of Augment podcast with my co-host Bernard Leong powered by Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Augment is not your typical US-centric AI podcast: it covers AI's story across continents – no jargon, no hype, just engaging insights that help you stay ahead.

For our first conversation, we’re joined by Benedict Evans to explore how AI is eating the world – what’s changing, what’s overhyped, and where the real shifts are happening.?

Watch the episode here.

Podcastle Introduces Asyncflow v1.0 with Over 450 AI Voices

On March 3, 2025, Podcastle launched Asyncflow v1.0, an AI-powered text-to-speech model with 450+ voices.?

Competing with ElevenLabs, Speechify, and WellSaid, Podcastle sets itself apart with lower costs – charging $40 for 500 minutes of AI-generated speech – compared to ElevenLabs' $99. The company also plans to release an API that lets developers integrate Asyncflow into their own apps.

One of Podcastle’s biggest upgrades is in AI voice cloning. Previously, users had to read about 70 sentences to train the system. Now, just a few seconds of recorded speech is enough to generate a realistic voice clone.?

This advancement is powered by Magic Dust AI, a tool Podcastle launched last year to improve audio quality. The company acknowledges that AI-generated voices can still sound slightly robotic but is working on refining them.?

Looking ahead, Podcastle is expanding into AI-powered video production, signaling its broader ambitions in AI-driven media creation.

Malaysia Strikes $250M Chip Deal with ARM

Malaysia is expanding its chip manufacturing industry, signing a $250 million deal with ARM to develop local semiconductor capabilities.?

Announced on March 5, 2025, the agreement allows Malaysia to license ARM’s chip designs for the next 10 years, helping the country strengthen its role in AI and cloud computing semiconductor manufacturing. The deal also includes training 10,000 engineers in ARM’s technology to build local expertise.

This is part of Malaysia’s National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS), which includes $5.3 billion in funding and plans to train 60,000 engineers.?

The country already handles 13% of global chip testing, assembly, and packaging, making it a key player in the industry.?

With rising US-China tensions, companies like Intel, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia are increasing investments in Malaysia, reinforcing its growing importance in the AI-driven chip market.

Super Mario: The New Benchmark for AI Tools?

Researchers at Hao AI Lab, part of the University of California San Diego, have introduced Super Mario Bros. as a new benchmark for testing AI capabilities.?

Using a custom framework called GamingAgent, they challenged leading AI models like? Anthropic’s Claude 3.7, Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro, and OpenAI’s GPT-4o to play through the classic 1985 Nintendo game in real-time.

The AI models controlled Mario using basic instructions like “jump to dodge enemies” and received game screenshots to guide their actions.?

Surprisingly, Claude 3.7 outperformed reasoning models, while OpenAI’s o1 struggled due to slower decision-making.

The experiment highlights the challenges AI faces in real-time environments where split-second decisions matter.?

However, some experts, including former OpenAI scientist Andrej Karpathy, question whether video games are a meaningful benchmark for AI intelligence, calling it part of an ongoing "evaluation crisis" in AI testing.

Deutsche Telekom and Perplexity Launch “AI Phone”

Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile, has announced a collaboration with AI startup Perplexity to create an “AI Phone” powered by Perplexity Assistant.?

The device, set to launch in the second half of 2025, will run on Deutsche Telekom’s “Magenta AI” platform, integrating tools like Google Cloud AI, ElevenLabs, and Picsart. The AI Phone aims to simplify tasks like booking flights, making reservations, and shopping through voice commands.?

This concept mirrors the functionality of devices like the Rabbit R1, which rely on large action models to automate user interactions. While details about the hardware remain limited, leaked images suggest a midrange Android device with a distinctive pink power button.

In the meantime, the company plans to bring some AI features to existing smartphones through its MeinMagenta app, expanding access to AI-driven tools without requiring a hardware upgrade.

Google Introduces ‘AI Mode’ for Smarter Search Queries

Have you ever needed a single, clear answer from an AI assistant only to have to piece it together yourself? Instead of clicking through multiple links, what if Google could instantly pull everything together into one cohesive response??

That’s the idea behind AI Mode, Google’s latest AI-powered search feature designed to handle detailed, multi-part questions by running several related searches at once.

AI Mode works separately from Google’s main search page, processing text, images, and video using Gemini 2.0, the company’s latest AI model.? Google says search queries in AI Mode are – on average – twice as long as regular searches, suggesting users are asking more detailed and complex questions.

AI Mode will only be available to paid subscribers of Google’s AI package, marking a shift from Google’s traditionally free search model. This is seen as a response to competition from OpenAI, Perplexity, and Anthropic, which have introduced AI-driven search alternatives.?

Until next time! The future awaits.

Ayesha ??