| Here's your daily AI briefing: - OpenAI discussing funding round at $100B+ valuation.
- AI model reveals large bomb craters in southern Gaza.
- Humane will ship its AI Pin in March.
- Apple is in talks to license news content for AI training.
- World's first fully autonomous restaurant to open in Pasadena, California.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | OpenAI is in early talks to raise a new funding round that would value the ChatGPT maker at $100B or more, according to Bloomberg. If successful, the round would cement OpenAI one of the world's most valuable startups. More: - According to sources, OpenAI is planning the new funding round for the upcoming year at a valuation exceeding $100B.
- The round's terms, timing, and valuation could still change, the sources said.
- It would immediately follow OpenAI's tender offer in January, led by Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital. OpenAI is targeting a valuation of $86B, more than triple its previous valuation of $28B.
- The AI startup will not issue any new shares, allowing existing employees to cash in on their holdings.
Zoom out: - Meanwhile, OpenAI is also in talks with Abu Dhabi-based G42 to invest in a new AI chip venture, Project Tigris.
- OpenAI has discussed raising $8B to $10B from G42. It's unclear if the chip venture and broader company funding are linked, according to Boomberg.
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| 2 | | The New York Times found that Israel used its largest bombs over 200 times in supposedly safe civilian areas in south Gaza during the Hamas conflict. The Times used an AI model to analyze satellite images and drone footage of southern Gaza to identify large craters formed by bombs. More: - While Israel initially warned Gazans to head south for safety during the Hamas conflict, the country has bombed civilian areas in southern Gaza, the investigation found.
- The New York Times trained an AI system to recognize craters "measuring 40 feet across or larger," which are typically formed from Israel's 2,000-pound bombs.
- The AI initially identified 1,600 possible craters, which was reduced to 208 craters after manual verification.
- Due to limited satellite imagery and variations in bomb effects, The Times acknowledged that many cases may have gone undocumented.
Zoom out: - Health officials in Gaza estimate that at least 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign in Gaza, which began after Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages during an attack on Israeli territory.
- The U.S. said it supports the latest draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for more humanitarian support in Gaza.
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| 3 | | Humane says it will start shipping its AI pin, an AI-powered wearable device, in March 2024. Designed to replace smartphones, the device lets users make calls, send texts, play music, and engage with its AI assistant via voice and gestures. More: - The square device weighs 55 grams and attaches magnetically to clothes.
- Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the Pin has a built-in speaker and camera and flashes a "Trust Light" when either is turned on.
- It uses the camera, depth, and motion sensors to monitor and capture its environment. Its green laser projector can project information onto the user's hand and other surfaces.
- The Pin responds to voice queries using large language models and offers real-time translation between Spanish and English in spoken conversations.
- The Pin starts at $699 and requires a $24 monthly data subscription to a Humane-branded version of T-Mobile's network, which includes access to OpenAI and Microsoft models.
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| 4 | | Apple is in talks with major news publishers about licensing their story archives to train its generative AI systems. The New York Times reports that the multiyear deals are potentially worth $50M or more. More: - Apple has approached news publishers including Condé Nast, NBC News, and IAC.
- IAC owns publications like People, Serious Eats, and The Spruce. Condé Nast publications include Wired, Ars Technica, Vogue, and Vanity Fair.
- According to the Times, some publishers have been "lukewarm" toward the proposal, which would allow Apple to license their archives of news articles.
- The publishers would potentially be legally liable for issues that arise from Apple using their news content.
- Apple has also been unclear about its plans for using generative AI in news.
Zoom out: - Apple has quietly been working on an AI chatbot referred to internally as "Apple GPT."
- A recent Apple research paper focuses on making large language models more efficient on iPhones.
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| 5 | | A fully autonomous restaurant powered by AI is set to open early next year in Pasadena, California. The "CaliExpress by Flippy" restaurant will feature a short-order cooking robot called Flippy, along with a "BurgerBot" for grilling patties. More: - Holding company Cali Group owns Miso Robotics, the firm behind Flippy, which is a robotic arm that cooks fries and other foods.
- Miso describes the Pasadena location as the world's first "fully autonomous restaurant." It says its robots can cut labor costs and improve safety by avoiding potential workplace hazards.
- According to Cali, the restaurant will also be a "pseudo-museum experience presented by Miso."
- Cali Group has also partnered with PopID, which will provide the stations and a biometric payment system to take customer orders.
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| 6 | | Weekly roundup — The top AI stories you might have missed this week: - Anthropic, an AI startup competing with OpenAI, is in talks to secure $750M at a pre-funding valuation of $18.4B, Reuters reports. Google and Amazon have also each pledged multi-billion-dollar investments in the company in recent months, making it one of the best-funded AI startups.
- Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan's political party employed AI to create an audio clip of the imprisoned politician for a campaign rally. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party used AI-audio cloning technology to replicate Khan's voice for a speech, which aired during the virtual rally on Sunday.
- Generative AI at work could increase the racial wealth gap in the U.S. between Black and white households by $43B by 2045, according to new McKinsey research. The study found that workers in office support, production, and food services, where Black workers are overrepresented, are most at risk of AI automation.
- Rite Aid will have to stop using facial recognition surveillance in its stores for five years under a proposed settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The FTC accused the drugstore chain of using inaccurate facial recognition tech that wrongly identified some customers as shoplifters.
- Researchers harnessed advanced AI to uncover a new group of antibiotics effective against the hospital superbug MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). MRSA causes over 80,000 infections and more than 11,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for notable publications like USA Today and the Arizona Business Gazette. During her time as a public policy reporter at The Arizona Republic, she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for her collaborative reporting on pension cost increases. Beth also authored a book on the solar photovoltaic industry in 2016. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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