23rd Edition: 1/19/24

MSFT Copilot Pro, Meta's $10.5B open-source GPU bet, Rabbit R1, and more...

PNW AI News:

• Microsoft has integrated GPT-4 Turbo into its Copilot app, a move that cleverly sidesteps the $20 monthly fee that OpenAI’s ChatGPT typically commands. The updated Copilot, accessible on both iOS and Android, now boasts enhanced functionalities such as improved accuracy in responses and advanced image analysis, powered by OpenAI’s DALL-E 3

• Microsoft has launched Reading Coach, a free AI-powered tool designed to enhance reading practice. Accessible on the web and soon Windows app, it integrates with learning management systems like Canva

• Fred Hutch is releasing a free app that employs an AI-powered chatbot to help people stop smoking, QuitBot

• WA State Gov (OSPI) issued a roadmap to guide educators, students, and families on using AI in public school systems, led by superintendent Chris Reykdal

PNW AI Deal Flow:

• DataSQRL (Seattle, WA) raised $100K in Angel funding from undisclosed investors

  • A data software designed to simplify and democratize data utilization for developers and organizations - TFTD $100K

  • CEO: Matthias Broecheler

Key AI Product Updates:

• Meta is advancing towards AGI for the open source, amassing 600,000 GPUs for computational power, and developing Llama 3 for enhanced code generation to challenge GPT-4

• Rabbit partners with Perplexity, integrating its AI ‘answer engine’ into the Rabbit R1, a $199 AI gadget that has 60K pre-orders. The R1 offers live, up-to-date information, breaking the knowledge cutoff barrier of traditional LLMs

• Salesforce has introduced a new range of generative AI tools, aimed at enhancing productivity and conversion rates for retailers, including Page Designer for building web pages with natural language and Return Insights for analyzing returns data

• DeepMind’s Alphafold has identified potential new psychedelic molecules, opening doors for antidepressant development

• RunwayML introduces Multi Motion Brush, enhancing AI video generation by allowing users to animate up to five separate objects within one image, each with independent movements

• Adobe just introduced new AI-powered features to Premiere Pro, including updates like enhanced speech removal, custom audio transitions, and automatic audio category tagging

• Mistral AI’s open-source LLM, Phi-2, can be run on your laptop offline — keeping data private and avoiding the censorship that comes with other models

Key AI Business/Investment Updates:

• Meta, under Zuckerberg’s direction, is massively investing in NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs - aiming to have 350K by mid 2024 (worth $10.5B)

• Tokyo-based Sakana AI raised $30M in Seed funding from Lux Capital & Khosla for its work on nature-inspired foundation models, in a rare instance of Silicon Valley VCs backing a Japanese startup at Seed

• Anthropic counters a copyright lawsuit from music publishers, arguing its use of lyrics to train their LLM Claude is transformative and constitutes a small fraction of its data

• BMW is set to deploy Figure's first humanoid AI robot at its South Carolina manufacturing plant, marking a significant step in integrating advanced robotics into automotive production

• Forta, an AI-enhanced autism therapy platform, raised a $55M Series A to expand its services and refine clinical algorithms

• A PwC survey indicates that 25% of CEOs globally expect to reduce their workforce by at least 5% this year due to generative A-driven efficienciees

  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that AI may impact nearly 40% of jobs, with a higher effect (60%) in advanced economies