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Microsoft Mesh Now Available in Microsoft Teams: Supports 3D and VR Meetings

Noah Davidson — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 13:08:30 +0000

On January 24, Microsoft launched its immersive 3D meetings inside Microsoft Teams. It will let people meet in virtual spaces with or without a VR headset. The company’s mixed reality platform, Microsoft Mesh came out of preview and integrated into Teams. The 3D Mesh meetings in Teams perform at optimum with a VR headset, with the tech giant only supporting Meta’s Quest devices currently.

With Mesh VR, you can engage in virtual 3D meetings, and the spatial audio feature imitates the ability to have private conversations you have in an office by moving away from other co-workers in a virtual space. The amazing part about it is the 3D spaces are customizable and there are games like tossing bean bags or icebreaker questions for you to play with remote colleagues who you haven’t met before.

Is Microsoft Mesh Available for Users?

The standard features include 3D immersive experiences using next-generation technology that help virtual connections feel more like face-to-face interactions and are available on PC and Meta Quest VR devices. If you want to deploy it in your teams it is available in Microsoft Teams business plans and requires a Teams Premium license. The plans start for small businesses from $4 per user/ month and for enterprises, they have plans like Microsoft 365 E3 which is $36 per user/ month.

Enterprises Using Microsoft Mesh Today

Many organizations opted for the immersive 3D experience in Microsoft Teams. Beginning from Bp to Takeda, some of the biggest enterprises have done it.

Accenture

One of the largest consulting firms globally created a strategic partnership with Microsoft to design a solution that maintains authentic connections promotes cultural understanding, and encourages unity across the organization.

Ellyn Shook, Accenture’s Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer in talks with Microsoft explained that the new onboarding experience helped the new employees understand the company’s culture, core values, and how Accenture drives value for the clients, people, and communities. All in a collaborative, immersive way that transcends space and place.

Takeda

Takeda had a unique challenge of finding a cost-effective way to help their geo-diverse workforce connect and further their common cultural understanding. They created a custom solution designed to inculcate engagement, strengthen the commitment to their corporate philosophy, and speed product innovation: the Hirameki Garden. The garden, created in Microsoft Mesh, enables a virtual location for large, company-wide events like town halls and all-hands meetings.

bp

They created a specialized physical meeting space called Highly Immersive Visualization Environments (HIVEs). This permitted experts to understand and team up on complex problems in a way that wouldn’t be possible with traditional tools.

Roger Rohatgi, Vice President and Global Head of Design for bp, shares that “highly immersive visualization environments open the path to a more digital and collaborative future for bp. By partnering with Microsoft Mesh, we can explore how to use advanced technology for faster, more informed, and safer decision-making as we pursue our ambition to become an integrated energy company.”

Final Thoughts

Microsoft has always been in the news, whether it was stopping updates of Windows 10 or launch an in-house AI chip. This feature though being innovative and engaging needs to witness the adaptability and utility of most organizations. As Microsoft confirmed many international organizations have been using it, but overall how many companies use Teams as their mode of corporate communication? We have to see since the upgrade how many enterprises actively engage in it.

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AI Advancements in 2024: What to Expect?

Emily Lawson — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 13:55:38 +0000

AI in 2024 has been predicted to be finer than what it was in 2023. ChatGPT, Bard, and Copilot got tremendous updates to ensure they were optimum and user-friendly. Many enterprises recognized the importance of AI and how it impacted their decision-making.

Moreover, tech giants invested heavily in AI startups to get ahead in the trend and keep up with the smooth functioning (Amazon to Compete in the AI Race With up to a $4 Billion Investment in Anthropic). However, governments across the globe paid serious attention to AI regulations to avoid exploitation(AI Regulation Meet: Top AI Firms to Visit the White House). So have we reached the top in the advancements in AI?

Before answering that question let’s see the AI trends and news that went viral in 2023.

2023 in Review

Starting from Pope’s image to Sam Altman getting fired from OpenAI, we have covered some of the biggest events that happened last year.

A Chicago man in March 2023 created an AI-generated image of Pope wearing a white puffer jacket using the AI image generator Midjourney, showcasing how powerful AI is in deceiving humans.
In March, Tech chiefs including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak wrote an open letter requesting AI organizations to halt training for six months due to potential risks such as loss of civilization control, job destruction, and human annihilation.
Meta’s large language model, LLaMA, got leaked in the same month along with its weights, on 4Chan’s technology board and was available for download through torrents globally. This became a source of tools for the open-source community in the AI industry.
Since the launch of Bing Chat in February 2023, Microsoft kept bringing innovation. They introduced Copilot, a widespread application of AI. Microsoft integrated Copilot into Word, Teams, and Windows 11, automating tasks like image creation and meeting summarization, to highlight the capability of AI.
Reports suggested AI can take 300 million jobs if left in the dark. In addition to that, Hollywood authors went on strike over the use of AI in filmmaking. Moreover, writers in September filed a class action suit against AI organizations for using their works to teach their LLMs.
In November 2023, the OpenAI board fired CEO Sam Altman leading to resignations and chaos. However, Microsoft offered jobs to him and other employees who resigned. Altman was reinstated later and OpenAI got fresh board members.

5 Advancements To Look Forward in AI in 2024

AI advancements are continuous and we think more innovations are coming in AI in 2024. Let us take a look.

1. Businesses Will Incorporate AI Into More Products

In 2024, the growth of incorporating AI into products and services will accelerate. This is because of AI’s capability to enhance experience, decision-making, and automate tasks. It can drastically impact the data and analytics lifecycles. So most Big Data problems and data science projects will have efficiency.

AI in 2024 will be accessible for organizations as it will solve a complex problem of data quality checks with the help of augmented tools. With AI integration and automation, Business Intelligence tools will provide a more seamless and interactive experience, ensuring that users engage with data in a natural language interface.

2. Convergence of AI and IoT

When AI and IoT are infused into an organization, it brings scalability, security and privacy, synergism, and reliability. IoT is the network of physical devices, gadgets, sensors, appliances, and vehicles that are connected to the internet and can communicate with each other. Though it can collect a significant amount of data and analyze it, it also poses security threats.

This is why infusing IoT and AI in 2024 is ideal. AI can help IoT in processing and interpreting data with the help of techniques like Machine Learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and speech recognition. Moreover, AI can assist in creating new applications and services based on the data collected by IoT.

3. Combining AI and Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network. It is not issued by a central authority like a government or bank but is based on a network of decentralized peer-to-peer transactions. In 2024, we will see AI and cryptocurrency combined which is known as AI Crypto.

It is paving new roads for users in the AI and crypto space. AI crypto will create a pattern of intelligence and systematic processes that can change various sectors and industries. With AI the transactions can be automated and users can have utmost security, without any third-party involvement.

4. A More Realistic and Higher Quality Generation

In 2023, we saw inclusivity and diversity in all sectors and industries but many AI organizations didn’t include them in their services. AI in 2024 will witness much more inclusivity and diversity. Most enterprises are trying to make it as realistic as possible for a higher user experience.

Transparency is another thing we can see in AI happening as many content creation and publishing websites use AI-generated content and don’t put a disclaimer for the same. This can be misleading and won’t provide accurate information to the people. So it is ideal that enterprises will practice diversity and transparency in 2024.

5. Enterprises Will Perform Responsible AI

In 2023, people around the world raised questions about AI harming students and employees. So many governments framed policies governing AI usage in 2023. It will be a noteworthy watch to see what changes will be made in AI in 2024 in these policies.

For enterprises, only the EU made AI Act and policies but by June 2024 two US states California and Colorado will adopt regulations addressing automated decision-making regarding consumer privacy. Enterprises will need to figure out the applicable laws and work according to them. While these regulations are for AI systems that are trained or collect personal information, both offer consumers the right to opt out of the use of these systems. So it will be significant to see enterprises navigate responsible AI.

On a Final Note

AI in 2024 will see some critical advancements and technological evolutions. In 2023, we didn’t reach the highest advancements but will reach new heights in 2024. It will increase productivity, efficiency, and scalability for people from all walks of life. Businesses have to adapt to many changes and keep bringing innovation to stay in the competition keeping the new AI regulations in mind. So the journey ahead may look rocky in the AI trends but it will make work, education, and other aspects simpler for users.

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Black Friday Tech Deals: Deals You Don’t Want to Miss

Noah Davidson — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 12:28:46 +0000

Black Friday is traditionally the season when most products go on sale. The early deals open on October 30th but the official Black Friday sale will begin on November 24th this year. However, different brands and e-commerce companies give different dates for sales and discounts.

Best Buy’s full Black Friday sale started on November 17th and will end on November 25th. Target’s early Black Friday savings began on October 29th and are set to run through Thanksgiving weekend. Newegg has started on the 16th of November and will end on the 25th. Costco announced a fusion of in-warehouse and online deals going live from November 24th through November 27th.

There are more brands with their sale dates but the important part is the products and discounts on them. So let us see what products can be purchased this festive season.

Deals on Black Friday

This Black Friday deal can help you save on many electronic as well as technological items. The list is as follows:

The Best Mobile Phone Deals

1. Apple

Apple’s latest iPhone 15 has deals on it. Verizon is offering a free 10th-gen iPad 10.9 and a free 2nd-gen Apple Watch SE. For the iPhone 15 Pro up to $1,000 off with a trade-in, plus free iPad and Apple Watch, and Boost Infinite is giving the iPhone 15 Pro Max device and unlimited data for $65.55/mo.

iPhone 14 which was originally priced at $729.99 is now $679.99 at Best Buy. iPhone 14 Plus also has a $50 discount at Best Buy. The iPhone 14 Pro which is originally priced at $999 is now available at $899 after a discount at Walmart.

Also, iPhone 13 which was for $699 is now available at a price of $599 at Apple. iPhone 12 which was last priced at $499 is now available at $399 at Walmart.

2. Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 (256 GB) has a 20% discount on Amazon and Best Buy. The latest 6.7-inch flip phone that folds in half was priced at $999 which in sale is available at $800.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (256 GB, Unlocked) has a 28% discount on it which is a steal deal. The phone was priced at $1799 and is available at %1300.

Lastly, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra after a discount of 25% is priced at $900 which was originally for $1200.

3. Google Pixel

Google Pixel Fold (256 GB), Google’s first foldable device is available in the sale at $1399 whose original price is $1799.

The Google Pixel 7A is available at $374 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Google. The Google Pixel 8 Pro which is considered Google’s best camera yet is available at $799 at 20% off.

Stellar Deals for Headphones

1. Apple

AirPods (Second Gen) with lightning charging case, the cheapest model in the lineup has a whopping discount of 38% and you can buy it at $80 at Amazon and Target and $90 at Walmart.

Apple AirPods Pro (Second Gen) with USB-C charging case which was priced at $249 has a 24% off and is priced at $190 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.

2. Bose

Bose QC 45 Headphones have a 40% discount and are priced at just $199. These discounts are available at Best Buy, Amazon and Target.

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds and Headphones have 17% and 12% discounts respectively and are priced at $249 and $379.

3. Google Pixel

The Google Pixel Buds Pro was priced at $200 and in the Black Friday sale, it is available at a 43% discount. At WellBots $115, at Amazon $120, and at Best Buy $120.

Stunning Gaming Device Deals

1. PlayStation 5

New PlayStation 5 with Marvel Spider-Man 2 and Call of Duy: Modern Warfare III has an 11% discount and is now available at $499 at Amazon and $500 at Gamestop and Best Buy.

2. Wireless Controller

DualSense Wireless Controller designed for PS5 has a built-in microphone and haptic feedback technology. It has a 35% discount which was originally priced at $75 and is now available at $49.

Xbox Wireless Controller has a discount of 43% and is priced at $40 after the discount.

3. Handheld Gaming Console

Nintendo Switch Mario Cart 8 Deluxe Bundle is a holiday Switch bundle that includes the standard version of Nintendo’s terrific handheld, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and a three-month subscription to Nintendo Switch Online and is priced at $300.

Asus Rog Ally (512 GB) has a great discount of 32% and is priced at $450. It’s a PC gaming handheld with a 7-inch, 1080p, 120Hz touchscreen and integrated gamepad controls.

Hori Split Pad Pro has a 20% discount on the original price of $50 and now is available at $40.

Great Laptop Deals

1. Asus

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED (Intel Evo i7-1355U, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) can be a great buy in the OLED laptops category. Along with a stunning screen, the lightweight laptop features a good port selection that has HDMI 2.1, USB-A, and multiple Thunderbolt ports. The laptop right now has a discount of $100 and is priced at $1300 on Amazon and Asus.

2. Microsoft

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 has a huge 20% off and is selling at $799 instead of $999 at Amazon and Best Buy.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is selling at $799.99 with an off of $100 at Amazon and Best Buy with a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.

3.Apple

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro is selling at 10% off at $1799 at Amazon and Best Buy.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro stays Apple’s largest laptop for creators and power users. It is now selling at $2299 at an 8% discount.

The sale is ongoing and most of the deals are great for purchase for tech enthusiasts and gamers. The sale is also live for tablets, watches, and games for PlayStation. There are deals on SteamCam, smart displays, speakers, and more for great prices and discounts. What products are you buying this Black Friday sale? Let us know in the comments.

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Next-Gen Finance with 7 Exciting FinTech Innovations in 2024

Olivia Carter — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:34:48 +0000

FinTech is at the forefront of modern technological developments. With the FinTech space being worth over $179 billion, startups and innovators are all finding the next big thing in finance and banking. This article goes over 7 of those FinTech innovations in 2024.

Some of these innovations build upon existing trends that we’re seeing in the finance industry while some are completely revolutionary. That being said, here’s the list:

#1. Open Banking

A modern consumer in 2023 likes full control over their finances and banking. This includes payments, checking their credit scores, applying for loans, etc. FinTech startups are working on unique solutions to enable innovative experiences for these consumers. This is only possible thanks to open banking.

Open banking is a FinTech practice where banks and finance institutes grant third-party providers access to consumer data. This data may or may not include the user’s account details, transaction history, spending habits, credit scores, etc. Using this data, third-party providers enable unique finance applications that offer unique solutions for users. Since open banking involves sharing user data, the users have to consent to it.

This growing FinTech innovation is helping the industry by supporting new companies while providing better services to consumers. As a result of this, the value of open banking transactions worldwide reached $57 billion in 2023. Furthermore, experts believe it will grow even more in the coming years.

#2. Blockchain Applications

Cryptocurrency and blockchain have become highly controversial things to talk about these days. Some people are pro-crypto and will give you examples of people who’ve become rich overnight thanks to crypto-trading. While others who don’t like it will explain the absurdity of these currencies.

Regardless of your opinion on cryptocurrency, blockchain has huge potential to improve FinTech as it’s doing already. The blockchain enables distributed ledger technology (DLT) that allows you to record and share data across multiple data stores. Furthermore, blockchain enables other recent FinTech innovations like digital wallets, digital assets, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Things like smart contracts, digital wallets, and the blockchain make cross-border payments have faster settlement times, access to newer markets, lower costs, increased security, and greater transparency compared to traditional payment methods.

#3. Voice-Enabled Payments

Voice assistants are becoming a part of daily lives. Regardless of the brand of your smartphone, there will be a smart assistant to help you navigate the phone and the web. Voice-enabled payments is a FinTech innovation that allows users to make payments using voice commands. This can be done through a variety of devices, such as smartphones, smart speakers, and even point-of-sale (POS) systems.

To make a voice-enabled payment, you need to have a linked payment method, such as a credit or debit card, or a mobile wallet. When you initiate a payment, the voice assistant will verify and authenticate it using your linked payment method.

Voice-enabled payments offer a number of benefits to both users and merchants. For users, voice-enabled payments are convenient and hands-free. They can be made without having to type or enter any information, which can be especially useful when users are multitasking or in situations where they cannot use their hands, such as when driving or cooking. Voice-enabled payments can also be more secure than traditional payment methods, such as credit cards, as they use biometric authentication to verify the user’s identity.

For merchants, voice-enabled payments can help to improve the customer experience and increase sales. They can also help to reduce fraud and improve operational efficiency.

#4. Virtual/Online Cards

Cashless payments have been the primary mode of transaction for consumers. It is by and large better, faster, and easier than handing over cash. Some primary modes of cashless payments include online payments, debit cards, and credit cards.

The use of virtual cards is an emerging FinTech innovation that is making it easier for consumers to apply for new cards and use them conveniently. Since online shopping has become common, users relying on it completely don’t need to use their physical cards at all. Which begs the question, what if new users don’t ever need a physical card?

Virtual cards bring more to the table than just the convenience of applying and using them. They’re great for protection against fraud by limiting the amount of information shared during a transaction. They also offer spending control features like setting amount limits and choosing specific vendors only. As online shopping becomes even more mainstream than it already is, virtual cards will become better.

#5. Robotic Process Automation

Automation is a major trend this decade in every industry. Businesses want to maximize efficiency and reduce labor costs using automation in every possible part of the process. Robotic Process Automation (RTA) uses AI, computers, or any machine to perform specific tasks. These tasks can range from copy and paste to filling or moving forms.

Now, this isn’t exactly a ground-breaking FinTech innovation. However, it solves mundane problems and improves general tasks. In FinTech, RPA promises to improve customer experience, increase productivity, and make the accounting process better.

Some other important applications of RPA are KYC and AML procedures where RPA automates manual tasks and helps with abnormal activity detection. It also supports banks with tedious processes like mortgage lending and loan underwriting.

Some people fear that RPA is a major threat to many jobs. That concern has its merits but the fact remains; If banks and finance institutions want to offer better customer services, they need RPA in some capacity.

#6. Machine-Learning and AI

Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are two of the most transformative technologies of our time, and they are having a major impact on the FinTech industry.

ML and AI are being used to develop new and innovative financial products and services, as well as to improve the efficiency and security of existing financial systems. Here are a few specific examples:

Fraud detection: It helps you analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate fraud. This can help banks and other financial institutions to detect and prevent fraud more effectively.
Credit scoring: It helps you develop more accurate and predictive credit scoring models. This can help lenders to make more informed lending decisions and reduce the risk of defaults.
Investment management: Access robo-advisors and other investment management tools that can help investors to make better investment decisions.
Risk management: Develop more sophisticated risk management models. This can help financial institutions to better manage their risk and protect their customers.

In addition to these specific examples, AI in banking is also being used to improve the customer experience in a variety of ways. For example, they can be used to develop chatbots that can answer customer questions and provide support 24/7. AI can also be used to personalize the customer experience by recommending products and services that are relevant to each individual customer.

#7. Mobile-Only Banks

Mobile-only banks are a type of fintech innovation that has revolutionized the way people bank. These banks operate exclusively through mobile apps, offering a convenient and affordable way to manage finances without having to visit a physical branch. They offer a wide range of banking services, including checking and savings accounts, debit cards, loans, and investment products. They also typically offer features that are not available at traditional banks, such as mobile check deposits, peer-to-peer payments, and budgeting tools.

One of the biggest advantages of mobile-only banks is their convenience. Customers can bank from anywhere, at any time, with just a few taps on their smartphone. This is especially appealing to younger generations who are increasingly using their smartphones for all aspects of their lives.

Another advantage of mobile-only banks is their affordability. Because they do not have the same overhead costs as traditional banks, mobile-only banks are able to offer lower fees and more competitive interest rates. This can save customers a significant amount of money over time.

Some of the most popular mobile-only banks in the USA that are nailing neo-banking are Moneylion and Upgrade.

Final Words

When it comes to FinTech innovations, these trends don’t just reflect the commercial space that affects businesses. They also dictate how consumers interact with finance and advancements in their banking experiences.

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China’s Baidu Reveals New Version of Ernie, Claims To Be in Same League With GPT-4

Noah Davidson — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 11:33:26 +0000

On Tuesday, October 17, Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence firm Baidu revealed a new version of its AI model, Ernie 4.0. Baidu’s CEO Robin Li showcased Ernie 4.0 at the company’s annual Baidu World conference in Beijing. He posed questions on topics like buying property, posed math problems, and asked it to write a novel based on the world of ancient martial arts. He added that the model has achieved comprehension, reasoning, memory, and generation which uses algorithms to generate new content.

Li also mentioned that Ernie 4.0 has the ability to understand complex instructions and questions and it applies logic and reasoning to provide answers. When stating the latest model, he said, “It is not inferior in any aspect to GPT-4. Significantly improved compared to its original Ernie Bot model.”

Baidu’s Future Plan for the AI Model

Baidu is amongst the competitors in the AI race, racing to come up with artificial intelligence models. This is after OpenAI’s ChatGPT was introduced last year and people were hooked to it. China sees AI as a potential industry to rival the US and aims to become a global leader by 2030.

Baidu began its journey as a search engine firm and over the last few years has invested significantly in AI technology such as autonomous driving and now, generative AI to meet the competition.

It introduced Ernie Bot in March and made it available to the public in August 2023. Ernie 4.0 is not available to the public yet but some people are invited to try it. Also, following the announcement of Baidu’s share price fell 1.7% which is a bit unexpected.

Li also mentioned that the company plans to incorporate AI into its search engine, maps, and cloud drive services, and its business intelligence services for enterprise customers. However, he did not mention the timeline or any other information for the same.

Final Thoughts

Baidu is trying to compete with US tech giants like Google’s AI Chatbot Bard and Microsoft’s Dall-E 3. However, US sanctions on China’s access to advanced chips to train the AI models along with Beijing’s stringent censorship can create issues for them. They also have domestic rivals like ByteDance Ltd and Tencent to make things difficult for them.

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Israel-Palestine War’s Impact on Israel’s Tech Sector

Olivia Carter — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 11:31:09 +0000

On October 9, the investors and analysts said, the tech companies running in Israel are expected to reinforce security as they could face disruptions. The tech sector is on alert after Hamas gunmen from Gaza killed hundreds of Israelis and abducted an unknown number of people.

Stock and bond prices of Israeli companies plunged and many organizations were closed on Sunday as the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through the towns of Israel on Saturday. In addition, militants also fired thousands of rockets in a surprise attack in Israel some of which reached Tel Aviv and led to airlines suspending their flights.

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer and founding partner at Cresset Wealth Advisors said, “It is a huge disruption to business as usual.” He also added that in a short while, resources can be redirected if the conflict expands, such as employees at tech companies being called up as military reservists.

Thoughts of World Leaders on Rising Conflict

Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina, said there will likely be a “tremendous effort” to safeguard physical installations for companies based in Israel from attacks because some technology spending is tied to the military.

Nvidia, the world’s largest manufacturer of chips used in AI and computer graphics said, it had canceled an AI summit scheduled for Tel Aviv next week, where its CEO Jensen Huang was due to speak.

A spokesperson from Intel Corp. said on Sunday that the company was “closely monitoring the situation in Israel and taking steps to safeguard and support our workers.” However, he refused to say if the chip production was affected by the conflict.

Other tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple gave no response when requested for their thoughts.

Increasing Artificial Intelligence Use in the Military

There are 500 MNCs operating in Israel most of them are research and development centres after acquiring Israeli start-ups. These MNCs include Intel, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. Especially with the coming AI regulations, the RnD needed to bolster up.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June said Intel was planning to invest $25 billion in a new factory in the southern city of Kiryat Gat. In his words, it is the largest-ever international investment in the country that can employ thousands of people and would add to its chip plants and design centers there.

Quincy Krosby said, “In the longer term, the tech and AI sector, where Israel has been a leader, could see increased investment because of the industries’ close tie-in with military spending.” “They will probably increase the investment in AI. When a country is caught literally off guard the first thing they look at – besides the obvious problems with intelligence – is what was missed within the security systems.”

He further added, “It could bolster support for more financial resources for tech for the military, which then ultimately transitions to the private sector tech companies.”

The tech sector in the past has shown perseverance in overcoming a number of conflicts with Hamas in Gaza. Apjit Walia the Managing Director at DVN Capital said, “The Israeli tech sector has historically bounced back from geopolitical tragedies.” If the conflict prolongs, that may not be the case this time.

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You Can Now Use the DALL-E 3 AI Image Generator in Microsoft Bing

Emily Lawson — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 12:39:22 +0000

On Tuesday, October 3rd, Microsoft announced that OpenAI’s latest model DALL-E 3 is now available to all Bing users. The feature was out over the last week, first for the Bing Enterprise users and then for Bing Image Creator. Now it is open for all Bing users to enjoy.

The tech giant in its blog post said, “We’re excited to share that DALL-E 3, the latest and most capable text-to-image model from OpenAI, is now generally available to everyone within Bing Chat and Bing.com/create—for free!”

Moreover, Bing is getting DALL-E 3 access way before OpenAI’s ChatGPT, bringing an advantage to Microsoft. The tech giant is likely to be the most popular image-generating tool for a long while.

The Significance of DALL-E 3

It is the third version of OpenAI’s image-generating model powered by a neural network. It can generate realistic and distinct images from a natural language prompt. DALL-E 3 understands the user’s prompt with much more precision and reliability than the previous models. Furthermore, this version produces images that are photorealistic meaning they are not just visually attractive but are backed by logic.

Microsoft has also attempted to design it in a way that is easier to use. It has integrated DALL-E 3 into Bing and ChatGPT instead of making a standalone product. This will make it convenient for users to create and improvise their images by conversing with the chatbot rather than trying to improve their initial attempt.

Microsoft Ensuring the Safety and Ethics

In the blog post, they mentioned the risks and challenges associated with synthetic media and have taken appropriate steps to ensure it. Microsoft has created a content moderation system of its own which enables it to avoid creating images that contain nudity, violence, hate speech, or illegal activities.

In Bing Image Creator, all AI-generated images will possess a watermark complying with the C2PA specification. This watermark will include the time and date of its creation and confirm the source of the image as AI-generated.

Since the launch of Bing Image Creator, users have generated one billion images. No wonder why the servers will be overloaded for a while.

Microsoft’s Mikhail Parakhin posted— we know the DALL-E 3.0 generation right now is taking longer than normal. We expected some strong interest, but we didn’t expect THAT much, especially given it’s a weekend. Bringing more GPUs in will be better soon.

What images will you be generating through Bing Chat and Image Creator? Let us know in the comments.

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OpenAI and Jony Ive Are Reportedly Working On Building the ‘iPhone of AI’

Noah Davidson — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:44:49 +0000

Apple’s Former VP of Industrial Design Jony Ive is working with OpenAI to create something roughly described as the ‘iPhone of artificial intelligence’. The Financial Times reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has connected with Jony Ive’s company LoveFrom to develop OpenAI’s first consumer device.

The project is said to be in the early stages of planning but they have received funding of $1 billion from Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son. Despite being in the early stages of the project, the pair have discussed many potential designs and are looking forward to building something that gives a ‘more natural and intuitive user experience for interacting with AI’. The FT reports said that they are taking inspiration from how the iPhone used the touchscreen to transform how we interact with the mobile internet.

The Concept Behind the Rumoured Venture

The duo is said to be working on giving users a more natural and intuitive way of conversing with AI. Employing ChatGPT on a PC or an iPhone is ideal but that’s not what the devices were explicitly designed for. This project may hypothetically involve hardware embedded with AI. The climax will be creating a way of interacting with computers that is less dependent on the screen.

AI for the last decade has been hyped but recent advancements in Generative AI tools that can create content like text or art, have boosted the interest and funding drastically. This change was led by Open AI with its success with ChatGPT. This also created a need for tech giants like Microsoft and Google to release their AI systems. Amazon also collaborated with Anthropic to bring advancements in their AI systems.

30 Years in Apple

Jony Ive worked with Apple for nearly 30 years and left it in 2019 to start his own company LoveFrom. He made contributions to some of the finest physical designs of devices like the iPhone, iMac, iPad, and other iDevices. Since leaving Apple, working with OpenAI to design hardware embedded with AI will be a noteworthy effort and its success can mark his name in the world of innovation.

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Now You Can Have Voice Chats With ChatGPT

Olivia Carter — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 13:36:53 +0000

Open AI, on Monday, 25th September, announced a new feature that’ll let you have a voice chat with ChatGPT. This feature will allow users to speak aloud to ChatGPT and hear the chatbot talk back.

Open AI shared a demo of the new update showing the feature in action. In it, the user asks ChatGPT to create a story about “the super-duper sunflower hedgehog named Larry.” The chatbot then presented a story out loud with a human-sounding voice that could also respond to questions, such as, “What was his house like?” and “Who is his best friend?”

This new voice feature is similar to those currently offered by Amazon Alexa or Apple’s voice assistant Siri.

How You Can Enable the Voice And Image Features?

OpenAI unveils ChatGPT’s latest feature to Plus and Enterprise users which is coming in the next two weeks. Voice will be available on iOS and Android and images will be available on all platforms.

To enable the voice feature, you can go to Settings, then tap on New Features on the mobile app and opt-in for voice conversations. Then, tap the headphone button located in the top-right corner of the home screen and choose your preferred voice out of five different voices.

The new voice capability works using a new text-to-speech model, capable of generating human-like audio from just text and a few seconds of sample speech. The company added that it is uniting with professional voice artists to create the five different voices. They are also using Whisper, an open-source speech recognition system, to transcribe spoken words into text.

Chat About the Images

You can now show one or more images to ChatGPT and inquire about your problems. Users can also use the drawing tool in the app to focus on specific parts of the image.

To get started, tap the photo button to click or select an image. If you’re on iOS or Android, tap the plus button first. You can also discuss multiple images or use the drawing tool to guide the assistant.

The understanding of the images is generated by multimodal GPT-3.5 and GPT-4. These models apply their language reasoning skills to a wide range of images, such as photographs, screenshots, and documents containing both text and images.

Who Will Win the AI Race?

In the previous week, Microsoft presented its unified AI assistant and Google updated Bard to its Applications. Furthermore, Amazon also made a deal with Anthropic. It is noteworthy to see how these updates are coming out in the same timeline. The race continues and new features keep adding up for users to enjoy and employ in their daily lives.

Tell us your thoughts on the latest features from OpenAI and whether you will be using the features in your daily tasks.

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Amazon to Compete in the AI Race With up to a $4 Billion Investment in Anthropic

Olivia Carter — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 11:55:12 +0000

To compete with its cloud rivals, Amazon on Monday, 25th September announced a new investment deal. The eCommerce giant is investing up to $4 billion in a renowned startup Anthropic. As a part of the deal, Amazon employees and cloud customers will gain early access to the technology from Anthropic that they can use.

Anthropic, the San Francisco-based startup also committed to leaning on Amazon’s cloud services. This includes training the future AI models on large quantities of proprietary chips it would buy from the tech and computing giant.

The CEOs of Amazon’s cloud division and Anthropic announced in a joint interview that the immediate investment will be $1.25 billion. Also, either party will have the authority to trigger another $2.75 billion in funding by Amazon.

Both the companies declined to state how much ownership Amazon has in Anthropic or the startup’s latest valuation which was last estimated at $4 billion. Amazon however confirmed that it will not earn a seat on the board and that its stake amounted to a minority position.

The Motive of the Amazon-Anthropic Deal

With this agreement, Anthropic will use AWS Trainium and Inferentia chips to build, train, and deploy its future AI models. With it, they can benefit from the price, performance, scale, and security of AWS. The two companies are also partnering for the development of future Trainium and Inferentia technology.

AWS will also become the primary cloud provider for complex workloads including safety research and future foundation model development. Anthropic also plans to run a substantial workload using AWS cloud computing solutions.

Anthropic is also committing to AWS customers to provide access to the future generations of its foundation models. They will do that via Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s fully managed service for secure access to the industry’s top foundation models.

“We have tremendous respect for Anthropic’s team and foundation models, and believe we can help improve many customer experiences, short and long-term, through our deeper collaboration,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. “Customers are quite excited about Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s new managed service that enables companies to use various foundation models to build generative AI applications on top of, as well as AWS Trainium, AWS’s AI training chip, and our collaboration with Anthropic should help customers get even more value from these two capabilities.”

Tech Giants Hopping on the AI Hype Train

Amazon’s rivals Microsoft and Google brought significant development in AI this year. Microsoft is working with OpenAI to support its Bing AI Chatbot. Google just announced the AI tool Genesis alongside its primary Chatbot Bard.

With its rivals already in the AI game, Amazon had to step in with something. This deal also shows the current approach of cloud companies to secure ties with AI startups transforming their industry. How exactly this deal benefits Amazon is yet to be seen.

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