Microsoft is previewing GitHub Copilot for Azure in an ambitious expansion of its AI app development toolkit that some say could fundamentally change how developers build software for the AI era. The new premise is that switching from one software to another, as developers often do, should be seamless, not disruptive — sort of a real-time language translation and integration system for code. To fend off the move by Microsoft, AWS announced it is making its Q Developer AI code assistant available as an inline chat add-on accessible from IDEs like JetBrains and Microsoft’s own Visual Studio. Continue reading Microsoft, Amazon Jockey for Lead Among AI Code Assistants

Databricks Apps is a new platform designed to make building internal data and AI applications something that can be done in a few clicks. Available now in public preview on AWS and Azure, the template-based system lets users weave data and frameworks of choice into full-featured apps that can run in the Databricks environment. The company says the system can code and deploy a secure data app with AI integration in five minutes. “Ideal use cases include data visualization, AI applications, self-service analytics and data quality monitoring,” according to the San Francisco-based company. Continue reading Databricks Previews Toolkit for Internal Data, AI App Creation

Intel has released the second iteration of AI Playground, an app it debuted this summer as “a user-friendly AI starter app” designed to simplify artificial intelligence on Intel AI PCs. This latest version works with the new line of Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors, designed for AI under the codename Lunar Lake. The idea is to help those using Intel PCs get comfortable using AI functionality without any special account, or even an Internet connection. Intel also launched two new artificial intelligence chips, the Xeon 6 CPU and Gaudi 3 AI accelerator. Continue reading Intel Updates AI Playground App and Launches New AI Chips

Accenture is forming an internal Nvidia Business Group staffed with 30,000 global employees trained to help clients “reinvent processes and scale enterprise AI adoption with AI agents,” the consulting firm announced. Accenture will also use its AI Refinery platform to help companies customize AI models and agents using the full Nvidia AI stack including AI Foundry, AI Enterprise and Omniverse. “With generative AI demand driving $3 billion in Accenture bookings in its recently closed fiscal year, the new group will help clients lay the foundation for agentic AI functionality,” Accenture said. Continue reading Accenture Has Plans for Scaling Enterprise AI with Nvidia Unit

Visual effects studio Digital Domain has brought its Autonomous Virtual Human project to Amazon Web Services, which will provide generative AI and machine learning tools and provide Digital Domain’s creations and processes a home in the global cloud. The collaboration “aims to propel the evolution and global reach of Digital Domain’s AVH technology and expand its use for multiple industries, including entertainment, gaming, healthcare, hospitality, and commercial applications,” Amazon said in a statement that emphasizes “AWS cloud services, particularly Amazon Bedrock,” as providing the infrastructure and adaptability “to drive AVH’s growth.” Continue reading Digital Domain Leverages AWS for Its Virtual Human Initiative

Meta’s Llama 3.2 release includes two new multimodal LLMs, one with 11 billion parameters and one with 90 billion — considered small- and medium-sized — and two lightweight, text-only models (1B and 3B) that fit onto edge and mobile devices. Included are pre-trained and instruction-tuned versions. In addition to text, the multimodal models can interpret images, supporting apps that require visual understanding. Meta says the models are free and open source. Alongside them, the company is releasing “the first official Llama Stack distributions,” enabling “turnkey deployment” with integrated safety. Continue reading Meta Unveils New Open-Source Multimodal Model Llama 3.2

Amazon will become the newest member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), a move that is likely to have significant ramifications as the e-commerce giant throws its weight behind the global entertainment trade and lobbying organization. As the parent of both the Prime Video streaming service and MGM Studios, as well as the force behind Amazon Web Services, the company has clout across both entertainment and technology at a level that is unparalleled among MPA principals. At $2 trillion, it becomes the largest MPA member by market cap. Netflix, which joined in 2019, is capped at $300 billion. Continue reading Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video Latest to Join the MPA

Amazon is transferring its OpenSearch platform to the Linux Foundation’s new OpenSearch Software Foundation. By handing a third-party the open-source project it has developed internally since 2021, Amazon hopes to accelerate collaboration in data-driven search and analytics, an area of focus due to the proliferation of model training. Not to be confused with commercial search (Google, Bing), engines like OpenSearch are geared toward enterprise and academia. Because it is licensed under Apache 2.0, OpenSearch is a viable starting point for organizations that customize internal platforms for searching, monitoring and analyzing large volumes of data. Continue reading AWS Transfers OpenSearch Stewardship to Linux Foundation

Amazon has made the Amazon Titan Image Generator v2 model generally available to AWS customers using Amazon Bedrock. The improved v2 model allows creation using reference images (called “image conditioning”) and also allows editing capabilities, background removal, iteration and customization, with a focus on maintaining brand style and subject consistency. The new version “can intelligently detect and segment multiple foreground objects,” according to AWS cloud developer Channy Yun. “With the Titan Image Generator v2, you can generate color-conditioned images based on a color palette [and] use the image conditioning feature to shape your creations.” Continue reading Amazon Rolls Out New Upgrades to Its Titan Image Generator

Airtable, a 10-year-old firm focused on customized apps, is launching Cobuilder, which uses AI to turn a concept into a customizable application “in seconds,” without the need for human coding. The debut adds to a rapidly expanding field of no-code platforms that help non-technical types develop software suitable for enterprise use. “Within the next five years, teams will build the vast majority of applications in-house, customizing them to transform their most critical workflows,” predicts Airtable co-founder and CEO Howie Liu. “To get there, knowledge workers who are closest to the work need to be empowered to build.” Continue reading Airtable Enters No-Code Enterprise App Space with Cobuilder

Amazon Prime Video is releasing a newly redesigned app that promises to bring “clarity and simplicity back to streaming” with AI-powered improvements to navigation, personalization, purchases and recommendations. Among other upgrades, the app makes it easier to quickly identify movies and series that are available to Prime members at no additional cost. Prime members had been lobbying for a brighter line between what is included with a subscription and what comes with an additional cost. A global rollout began this week, and eventually the app will be available to all Prime Video customers. Continue reading Responding to Members, Prime Video Updates User Interface

The Entertainment Technology Center@USC has released the fourth and final installment of its case study, “Fathead: Virtual Production & Beyond.” Chapter 4 of the four-part white paper is titled “Key Contributors: Process Pipelines,” which summarizes key findings of the production and recommended best practices moving forward. “Fathead” — directed by c. Craig Patterson and produced by Erik Weaver, ETC’s director of adaptive production — was shot at Amazon Stage 15 in Culver City as an experiment in virtual production, in-camera VFX and collaborative, cloud-based workflows. Continue reading ETC Releases Final Section of Virtual Production White Paper

Amazon Web Services made availability announcements for services including its enterprise AI assistant Q, which now becomes available on its entry-level SageMaker tier, and introduced some new products at the AWS Summit at New York City’s Javits Center this week. Notably, the App Studio development assistant has launched in public preview. Amazon is also highlighting new features to improve AI accuracy, including a guardrail that detects “hallucinations.” Overall, the event — one in a series of daylong summits held in key cities across the nation — emphasized the comprehensiveness of the company’s generative AI stack. Continue reading AWS Expands Q Availability, Adds Guardrails for Bedrock AI

Amazon announced the public preview launch of its GenAI-powered App Studio service. The platform — which is geared toward professionals who lack extensive software development skills — builds full-featured, enterprise-level apps using natural language prompts. Users simply describe what they would like the app to accomplish and the data sources available to it and App Studio will produce in minutes what the company claims, “could have taken a professional developer days to build from scratch.” The announcement was made during this week’s AWS Summit in New York City. Continue reading AWS Releases GenAI-Powered App Studio in Public Preview

Amazon is increasingly betting on artificial intelligence as the key to its future growth. The company plans to spend $100 billion on data centers over the next decade — significantly more than it will spend on e-commerce and warehouse infrastructure. This is largely due to market forces. Thirty-year-old Amazon rode the e-retail wave to maturity, and the company’s AWS cloud service is now the new growth engine, driving the firm past $2 trillion in market value last week. The fifth U.S. company to hit that milestone is said to be building a new chatbot it hopes will surpass ChatGPT. Amazon also announced it has hired David Luan, co-founder of AI firm Adept. Continue reading Data and AI Propel Amazon to $2 Trillion Market Capitalization