AIR#150 - August 03, 2024
Good morning, AI aficionados! As you sip your morning coffee, get ready to dive into today's edition of AIR: The AI Recon. Leading the headlines is the return of Noam Shazeer, CEO of Character.AI, to Google, where he'll join the DeepMind team. This move comes as Character.AI inks a non-exclusive tech deal with Google, promising intriguing developments in AI collaborations. Meanwhile, Google Cloud is offering Y Combinator startups a dedicated Nvidia GPU cluster and $350K in credits, a golden opportunity for budding AI enterprises to supercharge their model development.
But that's not all! Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro is making waves by challenging GPT-4o, claiming the top spot in the AI race with its superior multimodal and technical capabilities. This is a must-read for anyone keeping tabs on the ongoing AI rivalry. And if you're a developer, you won't want to miss out on Ell, a lightweight Bash CLI for LLMs that lets you chat, ask questions, and use templates directly from your terminal. It's easy to install and extend, making it a handy tool for streamlining your workflow.
And for a touch of the uncanny, the EU's AI Act is now in force, setting stringent regulations and compliance deadlines for high-risk AI applications by mid-2026. This story delves into the regulatory landscape that will shape the future of AI in Europe. Whether you're here for groundbreaking tech updates, ethical debates, or the latest industry buzz, today's edition is packed with stories that will both intrigue and challenge you. So, sit back, sip your coffee, and let's delve into the dynamic world of artificial intelligence together!
Business
Character.ai CEO Noam Shazeer Returns to Google
Character.AI CEO Noam Shazeer returns to Google, joining the DeepMind team with colleagues. Character.AI signs non-exclusive tech deal with Google.
🔥 Google Cloud Offers Dedicated Nvidia GPU Cluster to Y Combinator Startups
Google Cloud offers YC startups a dedicated Nvidia GPU cluster and $350K in credits to boost AI model development.
Google Gemini 1.5 Pro Challenges GPT-4o in AI Race
Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro surpasses GPT-4o, claiming top spot in AI race with superior multimodal and technical capabilities.
The EU's AI Act is Now in Force
The EU's AI Act is now in force, setting strict regulations and compliance deadlines for high-risk AI applications by mid-2026.
Big Tech Fails to Convince Wall Street AI Investments Are Paying Off
Big Tech's AI investments disappoint Wall Street as Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet struggle to show profitable returns, causing stock drops.
ChatGPT Citing Plagiarized NYT Articles Amid Lawsuit
ChatGPT cites plagiarized NYT articles from DNyuz amid NYT's lawsuit against OpenAI for copyright infringement.
Government Shelves £1.3B UK Tech and AI Plans
UK government cancels £1.3B tech and AI funding, risking innovation and pushing talent abroad. Industry urges swift new proposals.
Google Pulls Controversial Olympics Ad Featuring AI-Written Letter
Google pulls Olympics ad after backlash over AI writing a girl's letter, sparking concerns about AI replacing human creativity.
Microsoft is Losing a Staggering Amount of Money on AI
Microsoft's $19B AI spend raises concerns as profits remain elusive, despite huge cloud revenue. Is the AI gamble worth it?
Figure.ai: The World’s First Commercially-Viable Humanoid Robot
Figure.ai unveils the world’s first commercially-viable humanoid robot, poised to revolutionize labor and enhance global productivity.
Big Tech's $100B AI Spending Spree Just Beginning
Big Tech's $100B AI investment is just the start, with plans to double spending despite market volatility and investor skepticism.
Character.ai Partners with Google for Next Phase of Growth
Character.AI partners with Google to accelerate growth, leveraging third-party LLMs and focusing on personalized AI products. New leadership in place.
Zuckerberg: Meta Needs 10x More Compute for Llama 4 vs. Llama 3
Zuckerberg: Meta needs 10x more compute power to train Llama 4 vs. Llama 3, pushing for major infrastructure investments.
Engineering
🔥 [GitHub] Ell: Bash Command-Line Interface for LLMs
Ell: A lightweight Bash CLI for LLMs. Chat, ask questions, and use templates directly from your terminal. Easy to install and extend. 🌐💻
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Pineboards AI HAT: Hailo-8L & NVMe Boot Storage for Pi 5
Pineboards launches AI Bundle with Hailo-8L for Raspberry Pi 5, featuring NVMe boot storage and 13 TOPS AI processing power.
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[Paper] Where Are Large Language Models for Code Generation on GitHub?
LLMs like ChatGPT and Copilot dominate GitHub code generation, mainly for small projects in Python, Java, and TypeScript.
SOTA Zero-Shot Object Detection with IRIS by Overeasy, Backed by Combinator
Overeasy's IRIS achieves SOTA zero-shot object detection, excelling in rare object recognition, backed by Combinator.
The Humane AI Pin Can't Be Resold Due to Software Lock
Humane AI Pin can't be resold; software lock prevents account transfer. Users stuck with their devices.
[GitHub] Free Alternatives to GitHub Copilot and Related Research
Discover free alternatives to GitHub Copilot with slashml's curated list of open-source AI coding tools and resources.
[GitHub] Model-Poisoner Against AI-Crawlers: konterfAI
konterfAI: A tool to poison AI crawlers with fake content, fighting back against those ignoring robots.txt. Not for production yet.
Academic
[Paper] Mapping the Misuse of Generative AI - Google DeepMind
Google DeepMind's new research maps generative AI misuse, highlighting threats and guiding safer, responsible AI development.
Navigating the Abstract: Latent Space and the Abstract Ladder
Latent space and abstract ladder are key AI concepts enabling new creativity and higher-order thinking through generative interfaces and executable books.