The U.S. Commerce Department has issued a large package of material designed to help AI developers and those using the systems with an approach to identifying and mitigating risks stemming from generative AI and foundation models. Prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the AI Safety Institute, the guidance includes the initial public draft of its guidelines on “Managing Misuse Risk for Dual-Use Foundation Models.” Dual-use refers to models that can be used for good or ill. The release also includes an open-source software test called Dioptra. Apple is the latest to join the government’s voluntary commitments to responsible AI innovation. Continue reading Apple Joins the Safe AI Initiative as NIST Amps Up Outreach

San Francisco-based OpenAI revealed it is currently testing SearchGPT, a prototype of new AI search features that provides “fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” The testing arrives as similar technology is made available by leading search services Google and Microsoft Bing. The SearchGPT prototype, featuring a user interface similar to that of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and virtual assistant, launched last week to a group of 10,000 test users and publishers who will be tapped for feedback. The plan is to iterate an improved version and then integrate SearchGPT directly into ChatGPT, although no timeline was provided. Continue reading OpenAI Begins Testing Prototype of New AI Search Features

Alphabet announced that its revenue was up 14 percent to $84.7 billion in Q2, slightly outperforming expectations. Profits rose 29 percent to $23.6 billion, beating analyst targets by $900 million. Search continued to be a top performer, generating $48.5 billion in the three-month period ending June 30, while Google advertising was up 10.5 percent to $64.6 billion. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company’s cloud and generative AI solutions “are being used by more than 2 million developers.” The Google Cloud services unit surpassed the $10 billion quarterly revenue mark for the first time. “We are innovating at every layer of the AI stack,” Pichai added. Continue reading Alphabet Reports Q2 Profits Jump 29 Percent to $23.6 Billion

In April, Meta Platforms revealed that it was working on an open-source AI model that performed as well as proprietary models from top AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that model has arrived in the form of Llama 3.1 405B, “the first frontier-level open-source AI model.” The company is also releasing “new and improved” Llama 3.1 70B and 8B models. In addition to general cost and performance benefits, the fact that the Llama 3.1 405B model is open source “will make it the best choice for fine-tuning and distilling smaller models,” according to Meta. Continue reading Meta Calls New Llama the First Open-Source Frontier Model

Google has reconsidered its previously announced plan to turn off third-party tracking cookies in its Chrome browser in favor of an option to be controlled by consumers. The original plan was pushed back a few times but was expected to take place early next year. Competitors and regulators have raised concerns about the deprecation that would have left Google — which hauled in more than $237.86 billion in ad revenue last year — free to use its own tracking to serve targeted ads to those using Chrome. Google is now developing a new plan to let consumers make their own informed decisions about whether to allow third-party cookies. Continue reading Google Changes Direction with Plans for Third-Party Cookies

Streaming rose to 40.3 percent in June, setting a record as it nudged past the previous single-category high point of 40.1, set by cable in June 2021. The percentage marks the highest share of TV ever reported in the three years since Nielsen debuted its monthly measurement report The Gauge. Google’s YouTube and Fox’s Tubi both claimed personal bests, respectively hitting 9.9 and 2.0 percent of TV viewing. Four streaming platforms achieved double-digit usage growth: Disney+ (+14.8 percent), Tubi (+14.7 percent), Netflix (+11.8 percent) and Max (+11.0 percent) — each with 20 percent or more of that growth attributable to younger viewers. Continue reading Nielsen: Streaming Reps 40 Percent Share of June TV Viewing

A consortium of top tech firms have joined forces to launch a security group focused on artificial intelligence applications. The cybersecurity-focused non-profit OASIS will oversee operational aspects of the Coalition for Secure AI, to be known as CoSAI, described as an “open-source community.” OASIS lists Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia and PayPal as founding Premier Sponsors of CoSAI, whose “additional founding sponsors” include Amazon, Anthropic, Cisco, Chainguard, Cohere, GenLab, OpenAI and Wiz. “CoSAI is an initiative to enhance trust and security in AI use and deployment,” OASIS announced at the Aspen Security Forum. Continue reading Google, OpenAI, Nvidia and Others Form AI Security Coalition

U.S. tech companies are fighting back against what they feel are overly oppressive European Union regulations by withholding products from that market. Meta Platforms will not release its next Llama multimodal AI model there, along with future products. Apple last month said certain Apple Intelligence AI features will not be released in the EU. Previously, tech companies would accommodate regional laws by adapting global strategies so they could do business everywhere with the same products. Given the restrictions of the Digital Markets Act and other EU rules, Big Tech is signaling that may no longer be possible. Continue reading Tough EU Laws Prompt Meta, Apple to Withhold New Products

Samsung Electronics has agreed to acquire UK-based Oxford Semantic Technologies, a knowledge graph firm whose tech will help improve Samsung’s AI-equipped smartphones, TVs and home appliances. When combined with Samsung’s own on-device Galaxy AI, Oxford’s tech will allow “hyper-personalized” user experiences that keep data secure, Samsung said, adding that “knowledge graph technology stores information as an interconnected web of related ideas and process data in a manner similar to how humans acquire, remember, recall and reason over knowledge,” offering insight on “how people use a product or service.” Continue reading Samsung Buying Oxford Semantics to Boost AI Personalization

TikTok owner ByteDance lost its court battle challenging the European Union’s classification of it as a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act. The victory for EU antitrust regulators underscores its seriousness about reining in the power of Big Tech. As a gatekeeper, China’s ByteDance is lumped in with behemoths Google, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, among others. The DMA, which was passed in 2022 and came into effect this year, says gatekeepers must make certain aspects of their apps interoperable with rivals and forbids self-dealing, with stiff fines imposed for those found to fail. Continue reading ByteDance’s DMA Gatekeeper Appeal Dismissed by EU Court

Google has launched the beta version of its Gemini-powered Google Vids productivity app, which lets users create work-related video presentations that embed documents, slides, audio recordings and even additional videos into a timeline. Incorporated into Workspace Labs, Google’s AI preview space, Google says invited participants can use Vids to “build a narrative with high quality templates” or “get to a first draft faster.” Access to Google’s royalty-free stock content library and Vids recording studio means a project can be completed “without ever leaving Workspace,” according to the company. Continue reading Gemini Powering Google Vids Multimedia Presentation Builder

YouTube Music is working to improve its discovery capabilities. The Google unit is testing an AI-powered personalized radio feature for Premium subscribers in the U.S., and is also gradually rolling out something called Sound Search, which lets users describe a type of sound, including by humming it, then having it searched from a catalog that features “over 100 million official songs,” according to YouTube Music. The feature was introduced on a limited basis on Android in May, and is now expanding to iOS users, albeit on what is still a limited basis. Continue reading YouTube Music Expands Its Sound Search and Tests AI Radio

Paris-based global streaming platform Deezer is fielding an AI playlist generator in an international beta launch. The move makes the indie-centric service more competitive with Spotify and Amazon Music, which have already been testing the feature. YouTube is reportedly also experimenting with AI-powered personalized radio. As of now, 5 percent of Deezer’s paid subscribers have been selected at random to try Playlist with AI, which creates playlists from text prompts that invoke moods, genres, decades, activities or “anything else that comes to mind,” according to Deezer. Continue reading Deezer Adds AI Playlists to Compete with Spotify and Amazon

YouTube Shorts has added six new creator features designed to make it more competitive with TikTok. The automatic reconfiguration tool that converts long-form videos into Shorts is coming to Android, while another upgrade lets users type in dialogue that becomes narrated speech. An “Add Yours” sticker will now invite others to share content related to a video that’s been posted, while special effects that evoke the look and feel of “Minecraft” celebrate the 15th anniversary of the popular video game. Stylized captions and a remix tool round out the add-ons announced by YouTube Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich. Continue reading YouTube Shorts Offers New Features to Compete with TikTok

New York-based speech synthesis software startup ElevenLabs has launched its latest AI development — Voice Isolator and an API to go with it. Voice Isolator is designed to extract background noise, leaving clear dialogue for film, podcast, and interview post-production. The Voice Isolator API lets developers integrate the new product into third-party applications. To use the technology, content is uploaded and processed by the Voice Isolator model, resulting in what the company claims is speech comparable in quality to that obtained in a recording studio. The app is described as “free, with some limitations.” Continue reading ElevenLabs Voice Isolator Audio Post Tool Released with API