Meta Platforms has shared additional details on its next generation of AI infrastructure. The company has designed two custom silicon chips, including one for training and running AI models and eventually powering metaverse functions like virtual reality and augmented reality. Another chip is tailored to optimize video processing. Meta publicly discussed its internal chip development last week ahead of a Thursday virtual event on AI infrastructure. The company also showcased an AI-optimized data center design and talked about phase two of deployment of its 16,000 GPU supercomputer for AI research. Continue reading Meta In-House Chip Designs Include Processing for AI, Video

Streamers will have a major presence at the TV Upfront presentations to advertisers in New York this week. Research firm Antenna says nearly 25 percent of domestic customers of Disney+, Netflix and Max opted for reduced-price, ad-supported subscriptions in February, while more than half the customers for Hulu+ and Peacock opted for the same. Antenna CEO Jonathan Carson said that “given the choice, Americans are choosing ads,” which is good news for marketers, who were initially concerned that the shift from cable to a la carte subscription streaming would edge out advertising. Continue reading Ad-Supported Streaming Tiers Vie for Piece of the Upfront Pie

TikTok is launching the #NewMusic search hub as a discovery space for global artists to showcase new songs. Prior to its Friday rollout, the hashtag already had 18 million views on TikTok, which is now fashioning it as a destination for music fans seeking content from new and established artists. TikTok says NewMusic will often feature exclusive drops and let artists connect with fans. The ByteDance company has partnered with Jonas Brothers and Miguel to promote NewMusic. Jonas Brothers’ new single “Waffle House” has amassed 1.1 billion views on TikTok’s For You pages internationally. Continue reading TikTok Rolls Out ‘NewMusic’ Global Search Hub for Discovery

Ten years ago AMD introduced the concept of smaller, interconnected chips that together work like one digital brain. Sometimes called “chiplets,” they’re generally less expensive than building one large chip, and when grouped together into bundles have often outperformed single wafters. In addition to AMD, companies including Apple, Amazon, Intel, IBM and Tesla have embraced the chiplet formula, which leverages advanced packaging technology, an integral part of building advanced semiconductors. Now experts are predicting packaging is going to be even more of a focus in coming years, as the global chip wars heat up. Continue reading Advanced Packaging for ‘Chiplets’ a Focus of CHIPS Funding

Amazon is rolling out its Inspire shopping feed to all U.S. customers. The short-form video and photo feed, which has drawn comparisons to TikTok, lets customers explore products while shopping from content created by influencers and brands. After logging in to the Amazon Shopping app, the Inspire light bulb icon will connect users to a menu of more than 20 categories, from makeup and skin care to pets, gaming, travel, health and more. Users can vertically scroll the content feed and double-tap on the screen to create “likes” for the content displayed. Continue reading Amazon Expands Its Release of ‘Inspire’ Video Shopping App

Amazon is offering advertisers a unique marketing opportunity within “Thursday Night Football,” inviting them to take advantage of new streaming tech by programming different creative messages within the same 30-second slot. “For the first time in NFL history, fans across the country will no longer view the same national commercials while enjoying live coverage provided by Prime Video on Fire TV devices,” Amazon said at the NewFronts. For example, an automotive brand could promote sports cars to younger adults, SUVs to outdoor enthusiasts and a general spot for everyone else — all in the same 30-second window. Continue reading Amazon Offers New Ad Model for Thursday Night NFL Games

Image-sharing social platform Pinterest has named Amazon as its first third-party ad partner. The multiyear strategic partnership will see the e-commerce giant marketing various brands and products on Pinterest and porting interested shoppers back to its site to complete the sale for “a seamless on-Amazon buying experience.” The integration will begin later this year and roll out over several quarters. The news was timed to Pinterest’s Q1 results, which saw revenue up by 5 percent year-over-year to $603 million. The number of global monthly active users also increased, by 7 percent to 463 million, a gain of 13 million. Continue reading Pinterest Sets Multiyear Deal with Amazon for Third-Party Ads

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, applicable as of May 1, finds tech giants scrambling to anticipate regional compliance. The regulatory framework aims to ensure tech giants don’t abuse their clout by taking advantage of consumers and smaller companies. Within two months, companies providing core platform services will have to notify the European Commission and provide all relevant information. The Commission will then have two months to identify companies that fit the DMA definition of “gatekeeper.” Those that do will be subject to DMA rules and have six months to conform. Continue reading Big Tech Braces for Potential Impact of EU Digital Markets Act

Measurement is emerging as a major issue to be addressed at this year’s advertising sales presentations known as the TV Upfronts, taking place this month in New York City. Companies slated to present range from established players like NBCUniversal, hosting May 15 at Radio City Music Hall, to Netflix, which joins the heavyweights with a May 17 event at the Paris Theater. An increased emphasis on streaming platforms, which allow specific measurements rather than the panel extrapolations that have been the norm in the broadcast era, has shifted the focus to the analytics firms that quantify consumer viewing and identify patterns. Continue reading TV Upfronts to Contend with Analytics Upended by Streaming

Amazon Freevee, formerly IMDb Freedive and then IMDb TV, is getting more than 100 Amazon Original programs from Amazon Prime Video. The ad-supported free streaming service will release the new original series and movies throughout the year. Some of the series will be limited to a few teaser episodes designed to drive customers to Amazon Prime. Amazon SVP of ad products and tech Colleen Aubrey touted this and other reveals at New York’s IAB NewFronts in the context of brands using Amazon’s ad-supported streaming TV solutions to reach an average monthly audience of more than 155 million viewers in the U.S. Continue reading Prime Originals Head to Amazon Freevee, Fire TV Goes FAST

Amazon is giving Alexa an AI update, with a “more generalized and capable” large language model in development to power the device, CEO Andy Jassy told investors on the company’s Q1 earnings call. While Jassy addressed updates to the company’s AI and machine learning tech that is now facing increased competition, it was actually advertising that gave the company bragging rights this quarter. Amazon’s ad products had 21 percent revenue growth year-over-year, totaling $9.5 billion. As many digital companies struggle to maintain ad momentum in a restrained market, the results are impressive. Continue reading Amazon Has Ad Surge, Looks to Better LLM to Power Alexa

The U.S. and a coalition of international government agencies have issued joint guidance that aims to get software companies to heighten security for their products. “Shifting the Balance of Cybersecurity Risk: Principles and Approaches for Security-by-Design and -Default” takes the position that today’s software is insecure by default and it is the customer’s burden to take steps to make it safe. Manufacturers should make their products safe before they ship by taking steps including deprecating the “default password,” writing their programs using only secure coding languages, providing free patches and setting up vulnerability reporting programs. Continue reading U.S. Agencies Join Global Coalition in Secure Software Push

Amazon is offering a new service called Bedrock that offers foundation models from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Stability AI and Amazon, which is introducing two of its own models under its new brand, Titan. The models, which are accessible via API, will allow customers to build and scale generative AI-based applications using pre-trained, off-the-shelf systems that can be customized. Amazon’s Titan line includes a generative LLM that outputs text, the other is an embeddings LLM that translates text to numeric representations that carry the semantic meaning of the text. Embeddings are typically helpful when bridging concepts, like words and images. Continue reading Amazon Intros GenAI Service Bedrock and Its Own Titan LLM

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has formed a new artificial intelligence company called X.AI Corp., which was reportedly incorporated in Nevada on March 9. Analysts are suggesting that Musk will use the new company to help launch the “everything app” called X that he’s referred to numerous times. Most media reports have also focused on the startup as a potential rival to OpenAI, a company Musk helped found. For now, X.AI has a handful of staff and 10,000 Nvidia GPUs, but the joint chief of Tesla and Twitter is said to be busy assembling investors and recruiting AI researchers and engineers. Continue reading Elon Musk Announces New Artificial Intelligence Venture X.AI

Walmart has rolled out a new online look in a bid to catch up with Amazon, simultaneously advancing its conversational AI capabilities using OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s BERT. Starting last year, generative AI has reportedly been a major initiative of the Arkansas-based retailer in key areas including search, supply chain management and virtual shopping, although it is only now that the company is emphasizing the tools to customers by expanding its offerings like Text to Shop. The text- or voice-activated way to add items to Walmart.com shopping carts is one of nearly two dozen conversational AI experiences at Walmart. Continue reading Walmart Leans into AI, Retools Site to Compete with Amazon