AI News Roundup: Headlines & Hot Takes 12/06/23

Here is our rundown of the top AI news stories and technology headlines this week as of 12/06/2023. There were big releases by Google, Meta, and others. There were new controversies, new funding rounds, and more to keep up with in the world of artificial intelligence this week. 

🚀Notable Launches in AI this week: 

Google says its Gemini AI outperforms both GPT-4 and expert humans

Alongside Gemini, Google introduced the Cloud TPU v5p, touted as their most powerful AI accelerator yet​

The Pixel 8 Pro is the first smartphone to be powered by Google's new AI model, Gemini​

Google unveiled AlphaCode 2, an improved code-generating model, alongside its Gemini AI model

Google updated its generative AI chatbot Bard, enhancing its capabilities significantly

AMD Launches New AI Chips As Battle With Nvidia Heats Up 

Amazon announced several AI-centric developments at the AWS re:Invent event, including the launch of Amazon Q, a generative AI corporate chatbot, and a partnership with NVIDIA

Microsoft Bing introduced a new 'Deep Search' feature, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, to provide more comprehensive answers to complex queries

Meta AI introduced new capabilities, including support for Reels and a feature to generate AI images in group chats

Meta’s AI characters, based on real-life celebrities, are now live across its US apps with enhanced features​

MIT spinoff Liquid AI aims to develop general-purpose AI systems using liquid neural networks

💭Perspectives on AI & Other Headlines of Interest: 

ChatGPT's First Birthday🎂: Open AI's ChatGPT celebrated its first birthday (Nov. 30), marking a significant year in the AI landscape. 

OpenAI's Q* Is Alarming for a Different Reason

A European Central Bank report noted that AI's rapid adoption has created jobs rather than eliminated them, emphasizing the need for skills in prompt engineering and AI model development​

AI's increasing role in healthcare decision-making is notable, with ongoing development of more applications​

A Pitchbook report suggested that 'mega-deals' might be inflating AI startup funding figures, potentially misrepresenting the sector's health​

AI-generated writers, like the fictitious Drew Ortiz, published articles in Sports Illustrated​

💸Funding & Movement in AI Startups: 

Vast Data Funding: Vast Data, a New York-based startup, secured a significant funding round for its data storage platform tailored for AI workloads​

Respeecher Funding: Ukrainian synthetic voice startup Respeecher, known for its ethics-first approach to AI voice cloning, received new funding​

Leonardo.Ai Funding: Sydney-based generative AI art platform Leonardo.Ai raised significant funding for its AI art production platform​

Titan AI in Gaming: Titan AI, focused on mobile game development using generative AI, secured pre-seed funding​

Elon Musk's AI Venture: Elon Musk is seeking substantial funding for his AI company, xAI
​
OpenAI and Microsoft Dynamics: OpenAI has given Microsoft a seat on its board (without voting rights) and is proceeding with its share sale, amidst a restructuring of its corporate framework​