Everyone's a Filmmaker, Thanks to (Open)AI
FoF Specials – Generative AI News Nexus | Edition #2 (Feb 1st-29th)
Your monthly dose of all things artificial intelligence, served in bite-sized, jargon-free nuggets is here. This month, we've got news that'll make you say "wow," "wait, what?!" and maybe even "uh oh." Let’s go! 👇
Love the AI boost our newsletter adds to your inbox? Consider pledging your support to our journey towards even smarter AI tidbits. Your subscription isn't just support, it's a byte-sized investment in your AI intelligence! 🤖
Today’s ‘ÀI’ la carte:
Mistral AI’s ‘Large’ Rewrites the Language Game Script!
Algorithm A-List: 10 Must-Know AI Headlines This Month!
Code-undrum decoded, sorted by segment!
AI Alchemy: AI Resources for the Curious Minds
Meet Mistral Large, the Multitasking Mastermind
There's a new AI model in town, and it's got the smarts to tackle complex tasks in multiple languages!
Mistral AI is making a splash in the AI world with its groundbreaking new model, Mistral Large. This powerful text generation tool boasts top-tier reasoning capabilities, making it perfect for complex multilingual tasks like text comprehension, transformation, and even code generation.
Here’s what sets Mistral Large apart:
Mistral Large is natively fluent in five languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. This, combined with its nuanced understanding of grammar and cultural context, opens doors to a world of possibilities.
With a 32K token context window, Mistral Large can accurately recall information from massive documents, allowing for deeper insights and comprehensive analysis.
Mistral Large's precise instruction-following capabilities make it ideal for designing robust moderation policies. In fact, Mistral AI used it to power the system-level moderation of their chatbot, Le Chat.
Function calling is another game-changer. When combined with constrained output mode (implemented on la Plateforme), it unlocks a whole new level of application development and tech stack modernisation.
And the best part? Mistral Large is already available on Azure, thanks to a partnership with Microsoft, making this powerful tool even more accessible.
Get your GenAI fix with Edition #2: Unwrapping the latest GenAI fusion across the tech landscape!
Top 10 AI Updates from February 2024
Open AI steals the show by launching its newest AI model called Sora - a text-to-video tool that instantly makes short videos in response to written commands. It also rolled out an update that will add long-term memory for the chatbot, giving it the ability to retain pieces of information beyond a specific conversation.
Tech juggernauts put safety and cha-ching at the forefront - Google DeepMind unveiled a fresh entity: AI Safety and Alignment, uniting teams and integrating specialised GenAI researchers and engineers. Meanwhile, PayPal Ventures co-led a $30M Series C funding for Rasa, a generative conversational AI platform. The funds will be directed towards hires in North America and Europe across marketing, sales, engineering, and customer success.
Continuing the cash cascade – Florida-based Kore.AI focused on business-centric conversational AI, securing $150M in funding led by FTV Capital and Nvidia. Funds will boost working capital and development. Simultaneously, DataSnipper, an AI accounting startup, hit a $1B valuation post $100M in Series B, eyeing geographic expansion.
In pursuit of product enhancement, Deutsche Telekom, in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Brain.ai, unveiled a smartphone concept at the Mobile World Congress 2024. The idea, showcased on the "T-phone" device, challenges the conventional use of apps by relying on AI to cater to users' needs. Simultaneously, Slack rolled out its long-awaited AI update, offering features such as search answers, channel recaps, and thread summaries to boost productivity.
Globally committed to regulatory measures - California State Senator Scott Wiener proposed a bill mandating an extra layer of oversight for artificial intelligence. The legislation calls for developers of the most substantial AI systems to conduct safety tests before releasing them to the public. The European Union’s member states approved a first-of-a-kind Artificial Intelligence law, paving the way for a paradigm-shifting set of rules that will influence how AI is governed in the region and around the world.
Now, let's decode the ‘code’-undrum –
OpenAI’s February scene was all about making waves, ‘marking’ waves, and well, even facing legal waves.
OpenAI dominated headlines throughout the month as it introduced watermarks into images produced by its DALL-E 3 model to distinguish between AI-generated and human-generated images. Not just that, it also updated the GPT Store by incorporating user ratings and extending builder profiles, enabling users to evaluate third-party GPTs and offer confidential feedback.
Regulatory Realm:
The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) denied OpenAI’s application to register the word GPT, which stands for generative pre-trained transformer - saying GPT is too general a term to register and can prevent competitors from correctly describing their products as a GPT.
Continuing the regulatory train, a California court partially dismissed a copyright case against OpenAI brought by several authors, including comedian Sarah Silverman, who allege OpenAI’s ChatGPT is pirating their work.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties called for an investigation by European Union regulators into Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI. This plea, supported by various partner organisations such as Foxglove, Mozilla, and the European Digital SME Alliance, emphasised the need for scrutiny and examination of the aforementioned partnership.
Witness the Startup Showcase buzz from last month— AI startups levelling up with fresh AI features and fully assimilating the AI-ness!
Otter, the AI-powered meeting assistant, introduced Meeting GenAI, a new set of AI tools for meetings. The new features include an AI chatbot that can provide information about past meetings, an AI chat feature for teams, and an AI conversation summary that provides an overview of the meeting.
Stability AI announced Stable Diffusion 3, the latest and most powerful version of the company’s image-generating AI model. This new model promises significant improvements in text-to-image generation, boasting enhanced performance and quality.
Travel startup Layla acquired Roam Around, an AI itinerary-building bot, to enhance its trip-planning capabilities and expand its user base. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
BigTech bigwigs have been going all-in on generative AI for a while, and we've got the binary details:
Google flaunted its AI prowess as it:
Unveiled MusicFX, an upgrade to MusicLM for creating new songs and lyrics.
Released ImageFX, a new AI-powered tool for image creation.
Rebranded Bard to Gemini, now available on Android and iOS, and introduced Gemini Ultra as a subscription-based model.
Announced Gemini 1.5 Pro, an update to the existing Gemini Pro, performing at the level of the current flagship model, Gemini 1.0 Ultra.
Temporarily halted Gemini's ability to generate images of people due to historical inaccuracies. (Bet you've seen those memes already!)
Introduced Gemma, a family of lightweight open-weight models, including Gemma 2B and Gemma 7B, now accessible for commercial and research use.
Want to explore more? Get all the deets in our Google X Gen AI carousel, capturing every intricate detail, just for you!
Microsoft AI tech tango included:
Introducing design enhancements for Copilot, Microsoft's AI-powered chatbots and assistants, including an upgraded AI model, improved Designer tool editing, and upcoming immersive visualisation features.
Launching Generative Erase, an AI-powered editing feature for the Windows PC Photos App.
Releasing PyRIT, an open-access tool helping security pros and ML engineers identify risks in generative AI.
Other tech titans also tiptoed into the Gen AI playground ー
Amazon beta-launched Rufus, a generative AI shopping assistant, designed to assist shoppers with queries on the e-commerce platform.
In Apple's quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook translated speculation on the company's plans for generative AI into expectations, affirming the intention to unveil new features by the conclusion of 2024.
Cisco and NVIDIA unveiled their intentions to provide AI infrastructure solutions for the data centre. These solutions are designed to be effortlessly deployed and managed, facilitating the substantial computing power essential for enterprises to thrive in the AI era.
Nvidia also released Chat with RTX, allowing owners of GeForce RTX 30 Series and 40 Series cards to run an AI-powered chatbot offline on a Windows PC.
Stay ahead in the GenAI X BigTechs race with our carousel-powered insights!
Take a quantum leap into Fintech AI, where Fin'AI'nce is scripting some of the slickest trends in the AI-verse.
Entrust, a provider of trusted identities, payments, and data security, entered exclusive discussions to acquire Onfido, an AI/ML-powered identity verification firm, reportedly for over $400M. This move integrates a compliant AI/ML-based biometric and document IDV tech stack into Entrust's portfolio of identity solutions.
Revolut launched an AI-based, advanced scam-detection feature to help protect its customers from malicious card scams. The feature detects and halts scams by identifying potential victims and preventing money transfers to criminals.
Fintech major Razorpay made a series of product announcements, which include an upgraded payment gateway, a point-of-sale (PoS) device, a marketing stack, and an AI assistant for payments and payrolls.
And that’s only the beginning - Explore Fintech X AI standout developments with our carousels!
It's unboxing time for the AI gear goodies, where we’re spilling the beans on all the happenings in the AI Hardware world.
During MWC 2024, Lenovo introduced its newest array of AI devices, software, and infrastructure solutions. Additionally, the company presented two proof-of-concept devices that push the boundaries of traditional PC and smartphone form factors. Lenovo also disclosed its vision for hybrid AI, driving multi-device, software, and service offerings to enhance personalisation, collaboration, and efficiency.
Samsung expanded the availability of its Galaxy AI features to a wider range of devices with the upcoming One UI 6.1 update scheduled for late March. The enhanced features will be introduced to the Galaxy S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5, Z Flip5, Tab S9 Ultra, Tab S9+, and Tab S9.
MediaTek partnered with Google to optimise Gemini Nano, Google's Large Language Model (LLM), for the Dimensity 9300 and Dimensity 8300 chipsets. This collaboration combines MediaTek's NeuroPilot AI platform with Google's AI expertise for seamless on-device Generative AI experiences on smartphones.
Navigate the AI Legal Landscape, orchestrating the judicious deployment of AI, and ensuring tech grows on the righteous side of the algorithm.
The Federal Communications Commission declared the use of voice-cloning technology in robocalls to be illegal, providing states with an additional tool to combat fraudsters. This immediate ruling addresses the rise of deceptive calls using technology to mimic the voices of celebrities, political candidates, and even family members.
The European Parliament's LIBE and IMCO committees overwhelmingly approved draft legislation that outlines a risk-based framework for regulating artificial intelligence applications. The committees voted 71-8 (with seven abstentions) in favour of the compromise negotiated with EU Member States in extensive three-way 'trilogue' talks at the end of last year.
The House of Representatives established a bipartisan task force to explore potential legislation to address concerns around artificial intelligence. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the task force will be responsible for generating a thorough report and examining "appropriate guardrails to protect the nation from existing and emerging threats."
The world of tech talk and gadgets galore might look like a binary maze, but fear not! We're here to guarantee the techno-lingo won't scramble your neural network.
Come aboard each edition as we decode some AI terms:
And that's a wrap 👋
We hope this AI expedition has sparked your circuits, filled you with wonder, and ignited a hunger for more! Keep your data lines active with our Generative AI News Nexus, because we're committed to serving up a monthly feast of AI marvels!
As thanks for cruising with us through the AI journey together, grab these awesome resources to supercharge your AI engine and keep the momentum going:
AI and Cloud: The Proving Ground for Regulatory Resilience in 2024 - Finextra and Microsoft
Generative AI Should Be Developed and Deployed Responsibly at Every Level for Everyone - Cap20
Large Language Models and Generative AI - House of Lords
A Pro-innovation Approach to AI Regulation - Dept for Science, innovation and Tech
AI x Crypto - Outlier Ventures
Generative AI in Organizations Insights and Strategies from Communication Leaders - Institute for Public Relations
The Future of Strategic Measurement: Enhancing KPIs With AI - MIT and BCG
Adopting AI at Speed and Scale: The 4IR Push to Stay Competitive - Mckinsey
If you're hungry for more fintech insights, check out some of our other work at WhiteSight.
If you're someone who likes to read think pieces, you will likely love our monthly blog, Fintersections, where our team members analyse the convergence of fintech with the world.
Fintech research is in the WhiteSight DNA, so if you'd like to get in touch for features, sponsorships, and content marketing services, reach out to us at hello@whitesight.net.
And lastly, to stay updated on everything fintech and web3, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and don't be shy to show some ❤️