Happy Wednesday, fellow AI adventurers!
Welcome to another exciting edition of our weekly AI adventure.
Goodbye ATM Fees, Hello AI-Powered Search
Ever found yourself abroad, trying to dodge those pesky ATM fees? Yep, we’ve all been there, typing away furiously, attempting to crack the code with the perfect keyword combination. Just like Pete here, who spent last October hunting down the best debit cards to avoid foreign transaction fees.
It’s practically a rite of passage for us travelers, like some kind of financial spellcasting, followed by the inevitable deluge of tabs to figure out if our magic worked. But, lo and behold, there finally may be a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel!
Bing just dropped some exciting news: Deep Search is on the horizon. It’s an AI-driven genius that anticipates what you’re really digging for online. Say you’re looking to understand Japan’s point systems—who knows if you mean credit cards, hotel points, immigration details? Bing’s Deep Search does, and it’s ready to ask for specifics to narrow things down.
And once it knows you’re all about those credit card points, it won’t just stop there. It goes the extra mile, presenting everything from the “best” cards to “how to register,” making sure you have all the info you need at your fingertips. Keep in mind, though, this futuristic feature is still in the “coming soon” phase.
By the way, if you can’t wait, there’s something similar on the block: Perplexity’s Copilot. At $20 a month, this paid service also pokes around with clarifying questions, ensuring you get pinpoint results.
The big takeaway? Search engines are evolving into AI allies that understand us, maybe even before we fully understand what we’re asking. And sure, we’re on the edge of our seats wondering, “When will Google jump on this bandwagon?”
Meta’s AI Smart Glasses: A Step Towards Innovation or Privacy’s Nightmare?
We just witnessed a jaw-dropper from Meta – the launch of their AI-infused Ray-Ban smart glasses. This has echoes of the same “oh sh*t” vibes we got about a decade ago.
Rewind to 2013: Google Glass struts onto the scene, boasting its techy smart glasses, but fast forward to just two years later, and production grinds to a halt. Now, Meta’s rolling the dice, hoping their generative AI will be the ace up their sleeve turning smart glasses from niche to necessity.
These shades aren’t your average Joe’s – we’re talking:
- Cameras with over 150 frame and lens combinations.
- A chatty AI assistant at your beck and call.
- And there it is again – “Oh, sh*t.”
Are we hurdling towards a reality where covert recording is the new norm?
We can’t deny the perks, like being in the moment sans phone. Yet, there’s a chill down our spine considering the potential privacy headaches – imagine the chaos if anyone could just whisper, “Hey Meta, record this” with zero consent from those in earshot?
History might be repeating itself, folks. If Meta’s new toy breaks into the mainstream, we might be bracing for a privacy backlash reminiscent of the Google Glass saga.
This Week’s Roundup: AI in the Spotlight
🚀 Tola Capital’s Treasure Chest: They’ve locked in a whopping $230M fund aimed squarely at the next generation of AI enterprise software startups. Visionaries, take your mark!
☁️ Together AI’s Sky-High Ascent: Earning an impressive $102.5M, this cloud platform is set to supercharge the way developers craft open and custom AI models.
🤖 Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Bot: Word on the street is Elon may have bagged around $1B for X.ai, the brain behind his conversational ace, Grok the chatbot.
🔄 Replicate’s Repeat Success: With $40M secured in their Series B, Replicate is boosting their open-source AI platform to new heights.
🏗️ CoreWeave’s Capital Boom: Shareholders just cashed out $642M of stock valuing the AI cloud infrastructure company at a cool $7B.
🧠 EnCharge AI’s Amplified Ambitions: Raising $22.6M, they’re on a mission to engineer AI chips that could redefine efficiency and speed.
🔊 Assembly AI’s Series C Symphony: They’ve crescendoed to a $50M Series C for developing speech-related AI models that might just have us all talking.
🎥 Pika Labs’ Creative Cut: This studio’s $55M raise is a game-changer for their AI-centric approach to video creation and editing.