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| Welcome to Inside AI! Here are today's top stories: - John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, and other authors sue OpenAI, alleging copyright infringement.
- Amazon brings generative AI to Alexa.
- OpenAI says DALL-E 3 will be integrated into ChatGPT.
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p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Seventeen prominent authors, including Jonathan Franzen, John Grisham, and George R.R. Martin, are suing OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement. Like previous lawsuits filed against the company, the authors claim that OpenAI used their copyrighted works without permission to train its large language models. More: - The Authors Guild organized the legal action, which also includes writers like David Baldacci, Sylvia Day, Elin Hilderbrand, and Jodi Picoult.
- The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, claims that OpenAI relies on "mass-scale" systematic theft of copyrighted content.
- It argues that OpenAI could have used public domain works for training instead of copyrighted material without proper licensing.
- The lawsuit includes specific instances of alleged infringement, such as the use of an unauthorized prequel outline for Martin's "A Game of Thrones."
- OpenAI has not yet responded to the allegations.
Q: In your opinion, should AI companies like OpenAI be held liable for copyright infringement? Share your thoughts and join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | Amazon is enhancing Alexa with generative AI to make the voice assistant more conversational, responsive, and capable of handling complex requests. The improved Alexa, using Amazon's in-house large language model, will launch this fall for all current Echo users in the U.S., where Amazon already leads the smart speaker market. 
Details: Generative AI will reportedly give Alexa a more engaging and informative personality rather than the more "clinical" responses it's known for. Amazon says the AI upgrade turns Alexa into a more conversational companion that can keep context, fetch real-time information, and handle multiple requests from a single command. Demos showed the assistant suggesting movies and performing smart-home tasks in response to natural language requests, avoiding scripted commands, and providing more natural, spontaneous responses. What else: Also on Wednesday, Amazon unveiled the new Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen) and the Echo Hub smart home device, both of which will have added AI functionality. The Echo Show uses computer vision to adapt its on-screen content based on user proximity. As well, Fire TV is getting a generative AI upgrade for conversational content searches through Alexa. Finally, Amazon unveiled its next-gen Echo Frames smart glasses, which have improved speech processing and noise isolation for Alexa. | | | |
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| 3 | | OpenAI announced DALL-E 3, the latest version of its AI image generator, which is being integrated with ChatGPT. OpenAI released Dall-E 2 publicly last year. DALL-E 3 reportedly renders better-quality images, especially with longer prompts, and can better handle complex content like text and human hands. More: - The new tool is now in early testing with a limited group of users.
- Starting in October, paid premium and enterprise ChatGPT users will be able to prompt the chatbot and receive DALL-E-3-generated images within the app.
- DALL-E 3 will also become available to research labs and API customers this fall.
- Unlike DALL-E 2 and the original DALL-E, there's no confirmation about a free web tool release.
Upgrades: - The third version adds safeguards against harmful content, rejecting requests for images in the style of living artists or public figures.
- Artists can choose not to have their artwork used for training future OpenAI text-to-image models to address copyright issues.
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| 4 | | Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of Texas is the first Republican presidential candidate to release a detailed plan for regulating AI. Hurd, who served on OpenAI's board after leaving Congress in 2021, chaired the first House AI hearing in 2018 and co-released a white paper on AI. More: - Under Hurd's plan, announced this week, companies seeking to develop AI models would require permits.
- It advocates for using AI tools in military, intelligence, and border security, including using AI in the issuance of passports and visas.
- Hurd also calls for people to be compensated when their intellectual property is used in AI-generated content.
- He also supports name and image protections against deepfakes, as well as "strict regulations" on AI technology exports.
Zoom out: - Hurd, who left OpenAI's board in July, said he aims for a GOP AI strategy to "take advantage of technology before it takes advantage of us."
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| 5 | Kai Koerber, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting, has released an AI-powered app that suggests mindfulness activities based on users' emotions. Koerber's "Joy: AI Wellness Platform" relies on a specially-built algorithm to predict how a person is feeling from the sound of their voice. More: - Joy users can speak to the app, which aims to recognize a feeling and suggest activities, such as "mindful consumption" or writing a letter.
- If the mood is incorrect, users can manually choose a feeling.
- With increased usage, the app becomes more accurate.
- The app, available for iPhones, costs $8 a month for a subscription.
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| 6 | | 🍋 FRESH FUNDING 🍋 - Data analytics and AI software developer Databricks secured over $500M in Series I funding at a valuation of $43B. T. Rowe Price, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton participated in the round.
- ICONIQ Growth led a $100M Series B funding round into Writer, a full-stack generative AI platform for enterprises. WndrCo, Balderton Capital, Insight Partners, and Aspect Ventures participated in the funding round.
- Enterprise-focused AI startup Pryon Inc. bagged $100M in Series B funding. Nearly 80% of the funding came through the U.S. Innovation Technology Fund, a fund backed by billionaire Thomas Tull. Aperture Venture Capital, BootstrapLabs, and Breyer Capital provided the remaining sum.
- Codeless AI infrastructure startup Pixis secured $85M in Series C1 funding led by Touring Capital. Grupo Carso, General Atlantic, Celesta Capital, and Chiratae Ventures participated in the funding round.
- Prosus Ventures and Atomico co-led a $60M Series B round into Corti, a healthtech startup developing an AI "co-pilot" for healthcare clinicians.
- AI application security startup HiddenLayer secured $50M in Series A funding led by M12 and Moore Strategic Ventures, with additional participation from Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, Capital One Ventures, and Ten Eleven Ventures.
- AI-powered personal assistant Duckbill bagged $33M in seed and Series A funding. Forerunner Ventures led the funding round with participation from Greycroft Ventures, Inspired Capital, General Catalyst, g9 Ventures, Bain & Company, Offline Ventures, and others.
For the latest on AI startup funding and more in the VC community, subscribe to our Inside Venture Capital newsletter. | | | |
| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Big ideas demand a proven approach to product development. Revelry's process helps dev teams form and deliver 30-40% faster than industry standards.*
- Microsoft's GitHub is expanding the availability of its AI-powered coding chatbot, Copilot Chat, to more users.
- Sizzle, a free AI learning app founded by former Meta VP of AI Jerome Pesenti, has added new features like grading, step regeneration, and photo uploads for assignments.
- IBM has committed to training 2 million learners in AI by 2026, with an emphasis on underrepresented communities. The company said it's expanding AI education collaborations with universities, partnering on AI training for adult learners, and adding new generative AI coursework through IBM SkillsBuild.
- Optimize your cloud costs today. This practical guide explains the steps to implement FinOps practices and how to get buy-in from your team.*
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INSIDE AI LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is the writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters, with a career spanning journalism and editing since 2007. She has written for publications including The Arizona Republic, USA Today, and others, and authored a book on the solar industry in 2016. Reach out to her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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