Apple Unveils Progress in Multimodal Large Language Models

Apple researchers have gone public with new multimodal methods for training large language models using both text and images. The results are said to enable AI systems that are more powerful and flexible, which could have significant ramifications for future Apple products. These new models, which Apple calls MM1, support up to 30 billion parameters. The researchers identify multimodal large language models (MLLMs) as “the next frontier in foundation models,” which exceed the performance of LLMs and “excel at tasks like image captioning, visual question answering and natural language inference.” Continue reading Apple Unveils Progress in Multimodal Large Language Models

Grok-1 Architecture Open-Sourced for General Release by xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has released its Grok chatbot and open-sourced part of the underlying Grok-1 model architecture for any developer or entrepreneur to use for purposes including commercial applications. Musk unveiled Grok in November and announced that it would be publicly released this month. The chatbot itself is available to X social premium members, who can ask the cheeky AI questions and get answers with a snarky attitude inspired by “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” sci-fi novel. The training for Grok’s foundation LLM is said to include X social posts. Continue reading Grok-1 Architecture Open-Sourced for General Release by xAI

Soul Machines Aims for Photorealistic Marilyn Monroe Chatbot

Soul Machines debuted a synthetic Marilyn Monroe last week at SXSW. The New Zealand-based company teamed on the Digital Marilyn project with Authentic Brands Group, a New York management firm that represents a host of fashion labels as well as personalities such as Elvis Presley, David Beckham and Muhammad Ali. The result is a sophisticated chatbot that Soul Machines describes as an “interactive experience.” Drawing on biological AI, Soul Machines is packaging a “personalized engagement opportunity” for fans and brands, which could lead to new approaches in advertising and promotions. Continue reading Soul Machines Aims for Photorealistic Marilyn Monroe Chatbot

Anthropic’s Claude 3 AI Is Said to Have ‘Near-Human’ Abilities

Anthropic has released Claude 3, claiming new industry benchmarks that see the family of three new large language models approaching “near-human” cognitive capability in some instances. Accessible via Anthropic’s website, the three new models — Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 3 Sonnet and Claude 3 Opus — represent successively increased complexity and parameter count. Sonnet is powering the current Claude.ai chatbot and is free, for now, requiring only an email sign-in. Opus comes with the the $20 monthly subscription for Claude Pro. Both are generally available from the Anthropic website and via API in 159 countries, with Haiku coming soon. Continue reading Anthropic’s Claude 3 AI Is Said to Have ‘Near-Human’ Abilities

Google Intros Gemini Advanced Chatbot, One AI Subscription

Google has rebranded its Bard chatbot as Gemini, and is launching a Gemini mobile app along with a subscription offering for Gemini Advanced that will be included as part of the new $19.95 monthly Google One AI Premium plan. As with Bard, Google will continue to make a free version of the Gemini chatbot available. Gemini Advanced is powered by Gemini Ultra, the most sophisticated of the three Gemini AI models Google unveiled in December. “Gemini Advanced not only allows you to have longer, more detailed conversations, it also better understands the context from your previous prompts,” Google explains. Continue reading Google Intros Gemini Advanced Chatbot, One AI Subscription

Otter Adds New Generative AI Features to Its Meeting Assistant

Web-based transcription service Otter.ai is expanding its toolkit with Meeting GenAI, aimed at corporate customers who want to increase meeting productivity while decreasing effort. Multi-meeting capabilities have been added using Otter AI Chat, which can respond to queries like “What did I miss in the meetings from the past two weeks?” Conversation Summary View summarizes meetings in real-time along with automatically identified action items that are assigned owners, deadlines and tracking. Otter is positioning itself as a David versus the Goliaths of AI meeting assists: Microsoft Copilot, Zoom AI Companion and Google’s Gemini for Workspace. Continue reading Otter Adds New Generative AI Features to Its Meeting Assistant

Semafor Teams with Microsoft on AI-Driven Newsfeed Signals

News site Semafor has teamed with Microsoft to create a new breaking news product called Signals it says is a template for “the newsroom of the future.” Using AI tools from Microsoft and OpenAI to assist its journalists, the multi-source Signals will offer “perspectives and insights on the biggest stories in the world as they develop,” Semafor says. Microsoft simultaneously announced deals with the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and the Online News Association. “In a year where billions of people will vote in democratic elections worldwide, journalism is critical to creating healthy information ecosystems,” Microsoft says. Continue reading Semafor Teams with Microsoft on AI-Driven Newsfeed Signals

Browser Company’s Arc Search Uses AI to Upgrade Browsing

The Browser Company, which last year issued an iPhone web browser called Arc, has now released Arc Search, which combines artificial intelligence functionality. The five-year-old New York-based company is stressing speed and an absence of clutter for its new search experience, which it concedes is still in “the earliest stages.” The main Arc Search feature is the AI-powered “Browse for Me,” which compiles results from at least six different sources into a summarized presentation informed by models from OpenAI and others. Basically, Browse for Me builds a mini webpage instead of just returning links with abstracts. Continue reading Browser Company’s Arc Search Uses AI to Upgrade Browsing

Conversational Chatbot Optimizes Google Ads, Search Results

Google’s multimodal Gemini large language model will offer chat capabilities that help advertisers build and scale Search campaigns within the Google Ads platform using natural language prompts. “We’ve been actively testing Gemini to further enhance our ads solutions, and, we’re pleased to share that Gemini is now powering the conversational experience,” Google said, explaining the functionality is now available in beta to English language advertisers in the U.S., UK and will be rolling out globally to all English language advertisers over the next few weeks, with additional languages offered in the months ahead. Continue reading Conversational Chatbot Optimizes Google Ads, Search Results

CES: Microsoft Rolling Out a Copilot Hotkey for Windows PCs

Microsoft is introducing a dedicated AI Copilot hotkey on Windows 11 laptops and PCs. The move, announced at CES 2024, heralds “the year of the AI PC,” according to Microsoft Executive VP and Consumer CMO Yusuf Mehdi, who said the keyboard enhancement will “not only simplify people’s computing experience but also amplify it.” The addition of the Copilot key is the first big change to the Windows PC keyboard since the four-paned Windows key was introduced in 1994. When pressed, the new key will open Copilot for seamless engagement with artificial intelligence. Continue reading CES: Microsoft Rolling Out a Copilot Hotkey for Windows PCs

Apple Unveils New Advances in Artificial Intelligence Research

Apple recently announced advances in artificial intelligence research that could introduce more immersive visual experiences and enable sophisticated AI systems to run on the company’s popular mobile devices. Two new research papers highlight techniques for creating 3D avatars from video content and efficiently deploying large language models on devices challenged by limited memory. The real-time ability to create avatars and 3D scenes from an iPhone camera could bring a range of new possibilities for CE devices in areas such as synthetic media, telepresence, social interaction, virtual try-on and more. Continue reading Apple Unveils New Advances in Artificial Intelligence Research

Suno Plugin Gives Microsoft Copilot a Music Creation Feature

Microsoft has added generative music capabilities to its Copilot chatbot by integrating a plugin from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup Suno AI. Microsoft calls Suno “a leader in AI music technology, pioneering the ability to generate complete songs — lyrics, instrumentals, and singing voices — from a single sentence.” Suno offers a generative tool on Discord. The Copilot plugin is specific to Microsoft, though the biggest difference is it will only generate one song per prompt as opposed to the app offered directly by Suno, which provides two. The songs are generally a minute or two in length, and come with lyric sheets. Continue reading Suno Plugin Gives Microsoft Copilot a Music Creation Feature

GenAI Lets Snapchat+ Subscribers Create and Share Images

Snapchat+ is rolling out new artificial intelligence features that let subscribers use text prompts to create generative AI images to share with friends. In addition, the Dreams feature, which creates generative AI selfies, is now able to add your friends to those photos. Snapchat+ subscribers get one pack of 8 Dreams per month as part of their $3.99 monthly fee. An onscreen button labeled “AI” lets subscribers access the AI image generator to choose from a menu of prompts (including “sunny day at the beach” and “planet made of cheese”) or they can enter their own descriptions. Continue reading GenAI Lets Snapchat+ Subscribers Create and Share Images

Google Debuts Turnkey Gemini AI Studio for Developing Apps

Google is rolling out Gemini to developers, enticing them with tools including AI Studio, an easy-to-navigate Web-based platform that will serve as a portal to the multi-tiered Gemini ecosystem, beginning with Gemini Pro, with Gemini Ultra to come next year. The service aims to allow developers to quickly create prompts and Gemini-powered chatbots, providing access to API keys to integrate them into apps. They’ll also be able to access code, should projects require a full featured IDE. The site is essentially a revamped version of what was formerly Google’s MakerSuite. Continue reading Google Debuts Turnkey Gemini AI Studio for Developing Apps

EU Makes Provisional Agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act

The EU has reached a provisional agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act, making it the first Western democracy to establish comprehensive AI regulations. The sweeping new law predominantly focuses on so-called “high-risk AI,” establishing parameters — largely in the form of reporting and third-party monitoring — “based on its potential risks and level of impact.” Parliament and the 27-country European Council must still hold final votes before the AI Act is finalized and goes into effect, but the agreement, reached Friday in Brussels after three days of negotiations, means the main points are set. Continue reading EU Makes Provisional Agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act