Synthesia, which uses AI to create business avatars for use in content such as training, presentation and customer service videos, has announced a major platform update. “Coming soon” with Synthesia 2.0 are full-body avatars that include hands capable of a wide range of motions. Users can animate motion using skeletal sequences on which the persona selected from the catalog can then be automatically mapped. Starting next month, the Nvidia-backed UK company will offer the ability to incorporate brand identity — including typography, colors and logos — into templated videos. A new translation tool automatically applies updates to all languages. Continue reading Lifelike AI Avatars to Get New Features with Synthesia Update

CuspAI, a UK startup that aims to help engineer sustainable materials, has raised $30 million from venture funds in Europe and the U.S., secured a partnership with Meta’s FAIR unit, and employed the advisory services of AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton in its mission to tackle climate change. “CuspAI leverages cutting-edge generative AI, deep learning, and molecular simulation to streamline the material design process,” the company announced. Its platform “functions like a search engine for materials, allowing users to request specific properties for new materials on demand,” speeding the process of “the discovery of materials with precise functionalities.” Continue reading Green Startup CuspAI Secures $30 Million, Meta Partnership

Zeta Labs has raised $2.9 million in pre-seed round funding and launched JACE, an AI assistant that can autonomously complete complex tasks. The LLM-powered JACE agent executes in-browser actions on command. In fact, Zeta claims JACE is so autonomous that it eliminates the need to be sitting in front of a computer while it executes requests — just tell it what you’d like it to do and let it go. London-based Zeta says it will use the money to expand its engineering team, host training models and improve JACE’s speed and reliability. Continue reading UK’s Zeta Labs Unveils JACE, a Next Generation AI Assistant

IKEA is opening a virtual Roblox store and inviting gamers to apply to work there for a real paycheck. “The Co-Worker Game,” set in the Swedish firm’s virtual universe, invites Roblox fans to “live their home furnishing dreams.” Ten participants will be hired at the rate of about $17 per hour to roleplay as retail staff in the Roblox world. In addition to allowing IKEA to explore gaming and IP, the company is hoping to create a bit of hiring cachet and groom future employees. Those who don’t make the cut as hires can participate for fun — and the opportunity to learn some potentially marketable skills. Continue reading IKEA Accepting Applications for Hires at Roblox Virtual Store

Management consulting firm PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) has ordered 100,000 ChatGPT Enterprise licenses from OpenAI, becoming the startup’s biggest third-party customer for the product, which is rolling out to all employees in the U.S. and UK. In addition, OpenAI has named PwC its first resale partner, making it the middleman for selling the AI company’s enterprise products to other businesses. PwC says embedding ChatGPT in its practice will make the Big Four accounting and consulting giant “uniquely positioned to help clients leverage ChatGPT Enterprise for better and faster ways of working.” Continue reading Endorsing GenAI, PwC Is Largest User of ChatGPT Enterprise

Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japan’s SoftBank, wants to transform the tech conglomerate’s Arm subsidiary into an AI powerhouse, and he is investing $64 billion (10 trillion yen) to implement the plan, which includes turning the UK-based unit into an AI chip supplier. Son announced that by spring 2025 Arm is expected to have its first prototype, followed by mass production by contract suppliers and commercial sales in the fall. Arm designs but does not manufacture circuitry, supplying what it calls “chip architecture” to customers including Nvidia and Qualcomm. Continue reading SoftBank’s Arm Plans to Supply AI Chips, Open Data Centers

The UK AI Safety Institute announced the availability of its new Inspect platform designed for the evaluation and testing of artificial intelligence tech in order to help develop safe AI models. The Inspect toolset enables testers — including worldwide researchers, government agencies, and startups — to analyze the specific capabilities of such models and establish scores based on various criteria. According to the Institute, the “release comes at a crucial time in AI development, as more powerful models are expected to hit the market over the course of 2024, making the push for safe and responsible AI development more pressing than ever.” Continue reading UK Launches New Open-Source Platform for AI Safety Testing

Meta will release a new Quest educational product later this year. As with 2023’s workplace-specific Meta Quest for Business, the as yet unnamed learning tool will allow teachers, trainers and administrators to access education-specific apps and features, and make it possible for them to manage multiple Quest devices at once. The classroom convenience of not having to individually update and prepare each headset for the same lesson was one of Meta’s key findings in researching what teachers wanted from virtual reality, Meta says, positioning education and training as a growing tech product sector, with lots of app activity. Continue reading Meta Education Initiative Aims to Put Quest VR in Classrooms

The United States has entered into an agreement with the United Kingdom to collaboratively develop safety tests for the most advanced AI models. The memorandum of understanding aims at evaluating the societal and national defense risks posed by advanced models. Coming after commitments made at the AI Safety Summit in November, the deal is being described as the world’s first bilateral agreement on AI safety. The agreement, signed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, envisions the countries “working to align their scientific approaches” and to accelerate evaluations for AI models, systems and agents. Continue reading U.S. and UK Form Partnership to Accelerate AI Safety Testing

Spotify is launching a test for video-based learning courses in the United Kingdom. Users are invited to test two-free classes before deciding whether to subscribe to a course series, studying topics from DJing to Microsoft Excel. The company has partnered on content with educational tech companies BBC Maestro, PLAYvirtuoso, Skillshare and Thinkific on series averaging $25 to $100 per course (£20 to £80). Topics are organized into four main categories: make music, get creative, learn business and healthy living. Pricing is the same for premium and free members. No word on when the test might expand beyond the UK. Continue reading Spotify Testing Paid Subscription Learning Courses in the UK

Slack AI is a new paid add-on for enterprise clients that want to boost productivity using artificial intelligence. Generative capabilities in the initial release include personalized responses to questions, channel recaps and thread summaries that promise to “catch you up on long conversations in one click.” Slack says pilot data indicated customers including Uber and Anthropic “could save an average of 97 minutes per user each week using Slack AI to find answers, distill knowledge and spark ideas.” Slack AI is backward compatible, generating information based on the history built over time on the platform. Continue reading Slack AI Brings Generative Features to Channels and Threads

TikTok is testing a feature designed to make all posts shoppable as it goes all-in on creating what the company hopes will be a multi-billion-dollar U.S. e-commerce business. The new technology uses machine learning to identify objects in a video then prompts viewers to “find similar items on TikTok Shop” using links and in-app search. The ByteDance-owned social platform is also reportedly planning to launch multiple live-streaming studios in cities including Los Angeles where creators can go to stream shopping-themed content. The facilities are expected to be able to host multiple studios servicing dozens of creators per day. Continue reading TikTok Tests a Feature That Tags Videos with Shopping Details

In the wake of increasing pressure from European regulators, Adobe and Figma announced they are terminating their proposed merger agreement. California-based Adobe had planned to purchase Figma’s cloud-based product design platform for $20 billion, a proposal that was 15 months into the regulatory review process. However, the two companies eventually agreed there was no possibility of obtaining regulatory approval from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). According to a regulatory filing, the decision to cancel the deal will require Adobe to pay Figma a reverse termination fee of $1 billion in cash. Continue reading Adobe and Figma Call Off Their Proposed $20 Billion Merger

Apple is emphasizing the importance of data encryption with a report that shows personal data breaches up 300 percent between 2013 and 2022. In the past two years, more than 2.6 billion personal records have been exposed, according to the newly released study “The Continued Threat to Personal Data: Key Factors Behind the 2023 Increase.” The report, created by Dr. Stuart Madnick, the founding director of Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan, cites increasing dependence on cloud computing as the main factor for the surge. U.S. data intrusions through Q3 of this year are 20 percent higher than all 12 months of 2022. Continue reading Apple Says U.S. Data Breaches Up by More Than 20 Percent

The United States, Britain and 16 other countries have signed a 20-page agreement on working together to keep artificial intelligence safe from bad actors, mandating collaborative efforts for creating AI systems that are “secure by design.” The 18 countries said they will aim to ensure companies that design and utilize AI develop and deploy it in a way that protects their customers and the public from abuse. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) jointly released the Guidelines for Secure AI System Development. Continue reading U.S., Britain and 16 Nations Aim to Make AI Secure by Design