Fable’s AI Showrunner App Generates Complete TV Episodes

San Francisco-based startup Fable has raised the curtain on its research involving “AI Showrunner” technology, an app it’s calling SHOW-1. As part of an ongoing project dubbed “The Simulation,” Fable is proffering demonstration footage of how SHOW-1 can generate episodes of the animated television show “South Park,” inserting anyone as the star. Fable claims its Showrunner system generates more than just scripts and dialogue, but can animate, add vocal performances and edit full episodes based on something as basic as a two-sentence prompt. Continue reading Fable’s AI Showrunner App Generates Complete TV Episodes

Meta Unveils Llama 2 LLM with Microsoft as Preferred Partner

This week, Meta Platforms released Llama 2, the next generation of its open-source large language model that is free for research and commercial use. Llama 2’s pretrained and fine-tuned language models are available in sizes ranging from 7 to 70 billion parameters. Meta also named Microsoft Azure its “preferred partner for Llama 2,” offering it through the Azure AI model catalog for use with cloud-native tools that leverage content filtering and safety features. Meta says Llama 2 is “also optimized to run locally on Windows,” providing developers a seamless workflow across enterprise and consumer platforms. Continue reading Meta Unveils Llama 2 LLM with Microsoft as Preferred Partner

Wix AI Site Generator Builds Websites Using Only AI Prompts

Global SaaS and website creation platform Wix Ltd. will release an AI Site Generator that allows people to create websites using only natural language artificial intelligence prompts. The generator will include a suite of AI-powered capabilities, many of which Wix is already offering as part of its template-based site-building framework. The package “significantly streamlines the entire website-building, design and management process,” offering automated tools that provide the opportunity for Wix users to “operationalize and grow their businesses with never-before-seen ease,” the company co-founder and CEO Avishai Abrahami said. Continue reading Wix AI Site Generator Builds Websites Using Only AI Prompts

FTC Investigates OpenAI Over Data Policies, Misinformation

The Federal Trade Commission has opened a civil investigation into OpenAI to determine the extent to which its data policies are harmful to consumers as well as the potentially deleterious effects of misinformation spread through “hallucinations” by its ChatGPT chatbot. The FTC sent OpenAI dozens of questions last week in a 20-page letter instructing the company to contact FTC counsel “as soon as possible to schedule a telephonic meeting within 14 days.” The questions deal with everything from how the company trains its models to the handling of personal data. Continue reading FTC Investigates OpenAI Over Data Policies, Misinformation

AP and OpenAI Join Forces for News-Sharing and Tech Deal

OpenAI has entered into a precedential agreement to license content from Associated Press for use training large language models. OpenAI is “licensing part of AP’s text archive,” presumably leaving the door open to negotiation for video and breaking news. For its part, AP intends to “leverage OpenAI’s technology and product expertise,” according to the outlet’s own article. Financial terms were not disclosed, nor details as to AP’s intended AI use cases. Although AP is in a class by itself as a member-owned cooperative, the agreement could bode well for print journalism, which has had challenges transitioning to the digital age. Continue reading AP and OpenAI Join Forces for News-Sharing and Tech Deal

Musk Staffs xAI with Execs from Top Technology Companies

Elon Musk is sharing additional details about his latest endeavor, an artificial intelligence company called xAI. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX — and owner, executive chairman and CTO of Twitter — says his new company aspires to “understand the true nature of the universe.” While word began leaking out in February about Musk’s AI plans, he went public with his team on Wednesday (featuring executives from several notable tech firms), communicating via a newly minted website that also includes a recruitment message. Musk plans to release more information today live on Twitter Spaces. Continue reading Musk Staffs xAI with Execs from Top Technology Companies

Adobe Pursues Ethical, Responsible AI in the Creative Space

As a next step in its advances in ethical AI, Adobe has announced its Firefly generative AI platform now supports text prompts in more than 100 international languages. The company says its Firefly AI app has generated over one billion images in Firefly and Photoshop since implementation in March. Adobe has also deployed artificial intelligence in Express, Illustrator and the Creative Cloud. Positioning its latest news as an expansion of global proportions, Adobe’s generative AI products will now support text prompts in native dialects in the standalone Firefly web service, with localization coming to more than 20 additional languages. Continue reading Adobe Pursues Ethical, Responsible AI in the Creative Space

IATSE Unveils Its Core Principles for AI and Machine Learning

IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, has adopted what it is calling “Core Principles for Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Technology” in the entertainment industry. Unveiled last week, the document follows the May creation of the group’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The activity is meant to convey a proactive approach to the challenges and opportunities ahead. “With AI, the stakes for IATSE members in all crafts is high,” said IATSE International President Matthew Loeb. “There is much work to do, but I am pleased to report the union’s efforts are already well underway.” Continue reading IATSE Unveils Its Core Principles for AI and Machine Learning

OpenAI Launches a Task Force to Control Superintelligent AI

OpenAI believes artificial intelligence exceeding human intelligence “could arrive this decade.” Calling the massive compute power “superintelligence rather than AGI to stress a much higher capability level,” the company warns that even though this new cognition holds great promise it will not necessarily be benevolent. Preparing for the worst, OpenAI has formed an internal unit charged with developing ways to keep superintelligent AI in check. Led by OpenAI’s Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, the Superalignment Team will work toward “steering or controlling a potentially superintelligent AI and preventing it from going rogue.” Continue reading OpenAI Launches a Task Force to Control Superintelligent AI

ByteDance Bows Ripple AI for Music Creation, Audio Editing

China’s ByteDance is testing an AI tool called Ripple. The free app for creating music and editing audio is being made available in closed beta in the U.S. with a small group of invited testers. Aimed at creators who want to up their sound game, Ripple is designed in the manner of a portable smart digital audio workstation (DAW). Ripple incorporates what TikTok’s parent company ByteDance calls a “virtual recording studio” that allows users to record and edit audio files on a mobile device, and the company plans to release additional mobile-friendly audio tools. Continue reading ByteDance Bows Ripple AI for Music Creation, Audio Editing

Twitter Challenger Spill Spikes as Musk Imposes Read Limits

A Twitter challenger called Spill, designed by two former employees, started trending this past weekend as Elon Musk announced that Twitter is putting limits on the number of posts users can read. Spill climbed in Apple’s App Store rankings over the holiday weekend, rising to the No. 3 most downloaded app and emerging as the store’s most-downloaded social media app. Spill users call themselves “Spillionaires,” a moniker the company has embraced. On Saturday, Musk said Twitter will limit post views for non-paying users, sending Spill downloads soaring. Continue reading Twitter Challenger Spill Spikes as Musk Imposes Read Limits

JoshGPT Offers Conversational AI to Control the Smart Home

Smart home platform Josh.ai is rolling out JoshGPT and a handheld remote control that allows users to integrate operational functionalities with a generative assistant that answers questions across all topics. The new features are intended to make Josh.ai a contender against Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and the Apple HomeKit. With its Josh app, location-aware Josh Micro with Nano microphones and handheld Josh Remote, the company says Josh.ai is “more than a voice add-on, it is the industry’s only multifaceted control system.” Custom software also lets Josh Remote simplify installation and provide a dedicated experience for each household TV. Continue reading JoshGPT Offers Conversational AI to Control the Smart Home

Nvidia’s NeMo Delivers AI Customization to Snowflake Cloud

Bozeman, Montana-based DaaS firm Snowflake has partnered with Nvidia to let clients customize LLMs (large language models) using proprietary data in the Snowflake Data Cloud. Nvidia’s NeMo platform and GPU-accelerated computing will power the effort to tailor models to specific business use cases, such as chatbots with category expertise as opposed to generalists, search engines attuned to context or generative text deep knowledge. Since most companies are eager to harness brand-specific AI without having to build a model from scratch, this category of service is generating a lot of interest. Continue reading Nvidia’s NeMo Delivers AI Customization to Snowflake Cloud

Reka AI Raises $58 Million to Customize LLMs for Enterprise

Based on the premise that it is impractical to deploy an all-purpose LLM for specific use cases, a group of researchers from Google, Baidu, DeepMind and Meta founded Reka AI in July 2022. A year later the company has emerged from stealth mode with news of $58 million in Series A funding led by DST Global and Radical Ventures. Strategic partner Snowflake Ventures also participated, along with angel investor Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub. The Sunnyvale, California-based startup says it is building “enterprise-grade state-of-the-art AI assistants for everyone, regardless of language and culture.” Continue reading Reka AI Raises $58 Million to Customize LLMs for Enterprise

Databricks Acquiring OpenAI Competitor MosaicML for $1.3B

Data management firm Databricks has agreed to purchase generative AI company MosaicML in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. The three-year-old generative AI startup has developed a platform it says makes it “fast, cost-effective, and easy” for companies to train LLMs and deploy tools to use them. MosaicML has privately raised roughly $64 million to date. Its last valuation was $222 million in January, which means it was purchased for a healthy 6x multiple in a move that appears to prime Databricks for what one brokerage calls an “inevitable” IPO. Continue reading Databricks Acquiring OpenAI Competitor MosaicML for $1.3B