Meta Platforms has unveiled a new generative artificial intelligence language system called LLaMA, which doesn’t chat, but is designed as a research tool the company hopes will help “democratizing access in this important, fast-changing field.” The LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) ranges in size from 7B to 65B parameters. Touted as a “smaller, more performant model,” LLaMA enables those members of the research community that do not “have access to large amounts of infrastructure to study these models,” Meta explains. Training smaller foundation models requires less computing power and resources for testing and validation. Continue reading Meta Says Its LLaMA AI for Researchers Does More with Less

Artificial intelligence clearly is modeled after humans in that it has revealed itself to be imperfect. In the past week, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has mesmerized the public even as The New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose famously labeled it “unhinged.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is using the moment to clarify the company’s priorities, posting on Friday an apologia-cum-mission statement. If the company is successful at mass deployment of artificial general intelligence (AGI), it “could help us elevate humanity by increasing abundance, turbocharging the global economy, and aiding in the discovery of new scientific knowledge,” Altman wrote. Continue reading OpenAI CEO Details the Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence

Snapchat is launching My AI, a new chatbot running a customized version of the latest GPT technology from OpenAI. Available as an experimental feature to subscribers with a $3.99 per month Snapchat+ account, My AI rolls out starting this week, offering everything from birthday gift recommendations to weekend recreational plans, recipes and auto-generated poetry and prose. “As with all AI-powered chatbots, My AI is prone to hallucination and can be tricked into saying just about anything,” Snapchat cautions, explaining that “all conversations with My AI will be stored and may be reviewed to improve the product experience.” Continue reading Snapchat’s New AI Chatbot Is Powered by OpenAI GPT Tech

Meta Platforms is introducing a subscription bundle called Meta Verified that allows Facebook and Instagram users to authenticate their online identities. “We want to make it easier for people, especially creators, to establish a presence so they can focus on building their communities,” the company said in introducing the feature, which costs $11.99 a month for PC and Android users and $14.99 per month on Apple devices. “We’re starting with a gradual test in Australia and New Zealand later this week to learn what’s most valuable,” with the rest of the world to follow, Meta said. The news follows a similar move by Twitter with its subscription features. Continue reading Meta Verified Subscriptions Coming for Facebook, Instagram

After nine years as CEO of the world’s largest video-sharing platform, Susan Wojcicki announced last week that she was stepping down from YouTube, to be replaced by the company’s chief product officer Neal Mohan. The move comes after nearly 25 years of working for parent company Google, where she started as its first marketing manager (founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin famously set up Google’s early office space in Wojcicki’s Menlo Park garage). Wojcicki is known for leading the charge to acquire YouTube, co-creating Google Image Search and helping to launch AdSense, among numerous other accomplishments. YouTube’s number of average daily users has more than doubled under her leadership and content has expanded with new services such as YouTube TV, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. Continue reading YouTube CEO Wojcicki Steps Down After 25 Years at Google

With language models like ChatGPT dominating recent tech news, Meta Platforms has unveiled a new artificial intelligence platform of its own called Toolformer that breaks new ground in that it can teach itself to use external apps and APIs. The result, Meta says, is that Toolformer combines the conversational aptitude and other things large language models are good at while shoring up those areas in which it typically does not excel — like math and fact-checking — by figuring out how to use external tools like  search engines, calculators and calendars. Continue reading Meta Toolformer Sidesteps AI Language Limits with API Calls

IT pros are grappling with the ways ChatGPT can be worked into the enterprise stack. The generative artificial intelligence from OpenAI has demonstrated the ability to compile reports, craft marketing pitches and write software code, which makes it seem convenient for business use. Yet concerns remain, including potential security risks and sometimes erratic or inappropriate data feedback. In the past week, one third-party tester had ChatGPT pledge love for its interlocutor, while another received a detailed lecture on why cow eggs are bigger than chicken eggs. Continue reading Business World Asks if Generative AI is Ready for Enterprise

Neeva is promising a more intelligent form of AI-powered search. The company — which says it has amassed more than 2 million subscribers since it began globally launching its ad-free, subscription-based Neeva engine in 2020 — is now going global with NeevaAI, which became commercially available in the U.S. in January following a monthlong beta test. Positioned as a direct competitor to ChatGPT, NeevaAI is styling itself as a smarter, more accurate form of artificial intelligence, one that “combines the best of large language models such as ChatGPT with the authority and timeliness of search.” Continue reading NeevaAI Takes on ChatGPT in the Generative AI Search War

Google unveiled new search features during its “Live from Paris” event via a YouTube stream. The emphasis was on multisearch, which will go live globally to mobile platforms in more than 70 languages where Google Lens is used, according to the company. Introduced last year, the multisearch feature looks through images and text, driven by an AI technology the company has developed called MUM, for Multitask Unified Model. There were no new announcements regarding Bard, Google’s new conversational AI search tool, although media outlets reported that Bard responded incorrectly in a Twitter promo the same day. Continue reading Google Touts Search Plans During Its ‘Live from Paris’ Event

It appears 2023 will mark a critical inflection point for artificial intelligence, according to Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith, who calls AI “the most consequential technology advance of our lifetime” and says it will change “almost everything. Because, like no technology before it, these AI advances augment humanity’s ability to think, reason, learn and express ourselves.” One example is Microsoft’s infusion of AI in two common tools — the search engine and the web browser — with new versions of its Bing search engine and Edge browser, tools positioned “as an AI co-pilot for the web.” Continue reading AI ‘Inflection Point’ in 2023 Ushered in with Search, Browsing

Microsoft unveiled a ChatGPT-powered version of its Bing search engine on Tuesday, following Google’s announcement it is testing a conversational artificial intelligence app called Bard, expected to launch publicly in the coming weeks with applications for products starting with Google Search. Google will next month begin onboarding developers, creators and enterprises for its generative language API (which will initially utilize a lightweight version of LaMDA and eventually offer “a range of models”). Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI and Google’s new plans may be putting pressure on Apple and Meta. “A race starts today,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said. Continue reading Google and Microsoft Announce AI-Based Search Functions

Alphabet is touting artificial intelligence advances as it faces disappointing Q4 earnings, with CEO Sundar Pichai, who is also CEO of Google, telling analysts the company will soon share its own generative AI system with the public, competing head-on with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E. “In the coming weeks and months, we’ll make these language models available, starting with LaMDA, so that people can engage directly with them,” Pichai said. Google’s parent company reported a 3.6 percent decline in core ad revenue, at $59 billion in Q4, while overall revenue was up 1 percent to $76 billion. Continue reading Alphabet Reveals Major AI Push, Plans to Take On ChatGPT

Google seems to view ChatGPT as a threat to its $149 billion annual search business. OpenAI’s chatbot is said to have amazed those who’ve seen its ability to grasp concepts and generate ideas, which Google execs are concerned might translate to “a compelling new search experience,” according to reporting by The New York Times. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, is said to have wrangled Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin for “several meetings” focused on ratcheting up Google’s AI development in an effort to overtake ChatGPT’s first-mover advantage. Continue reading Google Taps Page and Brin to Take on ChatGPT for AI Search

ChatGPT came too late (end of November) to make a significant impact on CES this year, but the cacophony of opinions about the generative AI model definitely made its way to Vegas. The timing was perfect. Just as the crypto crash left the hype industry paralyzed, OpenAI launched ChatGPT in what now feels like a nerdy and frustrating tech version of the Rolling Stones’ Altamont concert in ’69 (with computer scientists as the Hells Angels). Make no mistake: this is a landmark achievement in machine learning — perhaps the single greatest since the 2006 paper by Hinton, Salakhutdinov, Osindero and Teh on backpropagation in deep neural networks. However, it’s critical that industries, including M&E, distinguish between hype and reality. Continue reading CES: Generative AI Is Having Its ‘War of the Worlds’ Moment

LinkedIn is amping up its B2B marketing features designed to give brands an edge in a recessionary climate. In an effort to drive ad spending in the midst of economic uncertainty, the company has introduced a suite of tools — unveiled at the company’s B2Believe marketing summit — that aim to provide granular control over media investments on the Microsoft-owned platform. The new capabilities include ancillary measurement tools and fresh ad formats as well as a Brand Safety hub, allowing advertisers to boost performance on the LinkedIn Audience Network while setting brand safety guardrails. Continue reading LinkedIn Adds B2B Tools to Enhance Brand Safety, Exposure