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Lyft's billion-dollar typo
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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.
Lyft just took its investors on the ride of their lives.
The rideshare giant saw its stock soar on initial reporting — before a costly typo erased a casual $2B in market value. Fasten your seatbelts!
In today’s tech rundown:
Lyft shares surge, then plunge after earnings typo
Giant tidal ‘kite’ delivers first power to grid
7 New products
Mozilla resizes, cuts 5% of workforce
Intuitive Machines set for moon launch
Stellantis finally adopts EV fast charger standard
Read time: 3 minutes
TODAY’S HEADLINES
LYFT
🚕 Lyft shares surge, then plunge after earnings typo
Image source: TrendSpider
The Rundown: Lyft shares initially spiked over 60% on stronger-than-expected earnings but plummeted after a typo in a key growth figure in what turned into a rollercoaster day for the rideshare company.
The details:
The earnings release said 2024 margin expansion would be 500 basis points (5%), but the CFO corrected it to only 50 (.5%) on the call.
After soaring 64% on the initial news, the typo erased over $2B in Lyft’s market value.
Q4 numbers were positive, with a 4% revenue rise to $1.22B, and the company expects positive free cash flow for the first time in 2024.
Lyft shares have struggled since its IPO in 2019 and were down 19% this year prior to reporting.
Why it matters: Lyft’s wild stock chart looks like something out of the crypto world. While everyone makes a mistake from time to time — doing it on a public earnings report has to be one of the more expensive typos in history.
TOGETHER WITH TWEETHUNTER
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ENERGY TECH
⛵️ Giant tidal ‘kite’ delivers first power to grid
Image source: Minesto
The Rundown: A 28-ton tidal energy device called the Dragon 12 has started generating renewable electricity in the Faroe Islands from marine currents, marking a milestone for ocean energy.
The details:
The kite moves in a repeated figure-eight motion to generate water flow around the device.
It uses currents to produce 1.2MW — enough to power around 1,000 homes.
It’s designed by Swedish company Minesto to be smaller and more efficient than massive tidal turbines.
With €40m in EU funding, the Dragon 12 demonstrates a new competitive renewable energy approach suitable for islands and coastal communities.
Why it matters: Harnessing reliable tidal currents could augment less consistent wind and solar options, especially for more remote areas — and modular tech like Minesto's kite helps pave the way for competitive and scalable marine energy.
NEW PRODUCTS
📝 Superlist- Create to-do lists, capture thoughts or detailed notes, assign tasks to teammates, and more (link)
📊 Ffoward AI- Unlock insights and patterns in user interviews and build a better product roadmap (link)
📫 Mailforge- Auto-generate domains and mailboxes for cold email with minutes (link)
⚙️ Hurree- Effortlessly track data from your most used tools with no-code visual dashboards (link)
🛠️ Taipy- Build powerful data and AI apps in pure Python — no background in web development required (link)
💨 Dualite- The fastest way to turn Figma designs into code (link)
Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.
SNIPPETS
Walmart is reportedly in talks to acquire TV maker Vizio for around $2B, aiming to compete with Amazon and other retailers in the affordable smart TV market.
Intuitive Machines is set to launch its first lunar lander, aiming to become the first private company to successfully land on the moon.
The EU decided that Apple’s iMessage, as well as Microsofts Bing and Edge, won’t face harsher rules under the Digital Markets Act after they were not ruled as ‘core platform services’.
Mozilla announced that the company is laying off about 5% of its workforce, focusing resources on Firefox Mobile and AI initiatives.
Waymo issued its first software recall following issues that caused two robotaxis to crash into the same pickup truck in Phoenix last December.
Stellantis announced it will adopt the J3400 EV charging standard starting in 2025, becoming the last major automaker to switch over — but curiously didn’t mention Tesla’s Supercharger network in the press release.
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❤️ Rundown review of the day
Sam Altman Vs. Jensen Huang
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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
Two AI titans are accelerating at breakneck speeds — but see very different paths forward for the industry.
With $7T at stake, the 2024 AI frenzy has become a battle between Jensen Huang and Sam Altman… but will the two forces eventually collide? Let’s get into it.
In today’s AI rundown:
Nvidia CEO downplays Altman’s AI chip fundraising
Gen Z embraces AI with open arms
How to convert a diagram to text to learn faster
Apple research unlocks new AI animation workflow
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
NVIDIA
💰 Nvidia CEO downplays Altman’s AI chip fundraising
Image source: World Government Summit
The Rundown: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he expects computing advances to cap AI costs well below the reported $7T Sam Altman is targeting for semiconductor production, grabbing headlines during a conversation at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
The details:
Huang anticipates faster chips will increase efficiency, reducing overall AI spending needs significantly lower than Altman’s $7T chip initiative.
The CEO urged nations to use cultural data to build "sovereign AI" infrastructure and intelligence, emphasizing the need for countries to own their own data.
He also estimated the global cost of AI data centers to double to $2T in the next 5 years.
Nvidia also made headlines in the stock market, with its market value rising to $1.8T and surpassing Amazon on Monday.
Why it matters: In Nvidia’s eyes, data is the new gold — and while AI compute demands seem endless now, Huang clearly anticipates a shift to efficiency over compute. With two titans both accelerating in different paths, is there room for both to succeed? Or is a collision inevitable?
TOGETHER WITH DRYRUN SECURITY
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AI & THE WORKPLACE
🫂 Gen Z embraces AI with open arms
Image source: Handshake
The Rundown: Unlike older generations more fearful of AI's impact in the workforce, Gen Z views AI tools as a career advantage and are actively integrating it into their studies and job applications.
The details:
A third of 2024 grads and over half of tech majors are planning to use AI professionally, according to a trends report from Handshake.
48% of Gen Z thinks AI will advance their careers by providing faster knowledge access.
LinkedIn saw a 75% monthly increase in AI skills added to Gen Z profiles in 2023.
57% of Gen Z respondents and 62% of millennials reported being more excited about benefits of AI than worried about the risks.
Why it matters: Most of the talk surrounding AI and work is centered on taking jobs — but Gen Z doesn’t seem to share the fears of older counterparts. Just like millennials with computers or smartphones, Gen Z will likely see using AI as second nature as it integrates into every aspect of our lives.
AI TRAINING
📊 How to convert a diagram to text to learn faster
Image source: Cameron R. Wolfe
The Rundown: With leading LLMs rapidly improving image-to-text vision capabilities, you can now quickly summarise and describe confusing diagrams and charts using ChatGPT or Gemini. Try it with the image above!
Step-by-step:
Go to ChatGPT or Gemini. You need to upgrade to premium versions of the tools for vision to work.
Based on our tests, ChatGPT+ Vision is slightly better than Gemini Advanced Vision. However, Gemini offers two months free.
Upload a confusing graph, chart, diagram, or even your homework.
Provide a prompt asking to explain the diagram and summarize the key takeaways, such as: “This is a picture of my [X]. Please summarize key takeaways in bullet point format“.
Continue asking questions until you have a good understanding of the content.
AI RESEARCH
✏️ Apple research unlocks new AI animation workflow
Image source: Apple
The Rundown: Apple researchers just introduced Keyframer, a tool to transform static images into animations via natural language prompts with LLMs.
The details:
Keyframer allows users to animate Scalable Vector Graphics by describing the desired animation via a GPT prompt.
Keyframer leverages GPT-4 to convert the user’s natural language prompt into CSS animation code, which it applies to the image.
Users can iteratively build animations through sequential prompting, with natural language commands catering to both novices and experts.
Why it matters: By combining prompting and editing, Keyframer shows how LLMs can enable wider audiences to engage in animation creation — lowering the barrier to entry into what was once a labor-intensive and niche expertise.
NEW TOOLS & JOBS
AI tools powered by Supertools
👋 Heyday- Transforming your content into shareable, searchable insights (link)
📚 Study Summary GPT- Summarize lectures into concise study notes for better understanding (link)
🚀 MagicAds- Human-like UGC ads effortlessly created with AI (link)
👗 The Stylist GPT- Unlock your style potential with expert outfit selection and shopping assistance (link)
🔎 Kondor- An AI assistant with the power of sight (link)
🍽️ Diet Helper GPT- Your path to healthier eating, personalized just for you (link)
AI jobs powered by The Rundown Jobs
QUICK HITS
ElevenLabs introduced a new feature for voice actors to upload clones to the platform’s Voice Library, earning cash rewards each time the voice is used.
Microsoft Azure announced updates to its Azure OpenAI Service, including a new Assistants API for building copilot experiences, new model support, text-to-speech capabilities, and more.
Surveillance AI startup Aware revealed major employers like Walmart, Delta Air Lines, and Starbucks use its tech to analyze worker communications for risk.
Brain artist studio introduced Goody-2, a hyper-cautious AI chatbot designed to humorously exaggerate AI safety measures by refusing all requests.
Romantic AI chatbots are reportedly surging in popularity amongst women in China, utilizing platforms like Glow and Wantalk for emotional support and romantic interaction.
The White House is developing a cryptographic verification system for President Joe Biden's videos to combat the rise of AI-generated deepfakes.
Microsoft introduced "Automatic Super Resolution" in Windows 11, an AI-assisted feature designed to upscale video and image quality in games.
THAT’S A WRAP
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Self-driving Waymo robo-car set on fire...
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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.
Autonomous vehicles are on fire in San Francisco — and not in a good way.
A Waymo self-driving car was vandalized and set on fire this weekend, with tensions continuing to ignite over the tech’s rise across the city. Let’s investigate…
In today’s tech rundown:
Waymo driverless car set on fire as tensions grow
Tiny space robot simulates remote surgery
8 new products
Amazon faces class-action lawsuit over price manipulation
Xbox rumored to be moving multi-platform
Temu doubles down on Super Bowl ad spending
Read time: 3 minutes
TODAY’S HEADLINES
WAYMO
🔥 Waymo driverless car set on fire as tensions grow
Image source: Reuters
The Rundown: A crowd surrounded and lit fire to a Waymo self-driving taxi during a weekend celebration in San Francisco, destroying the vehicle and highlighting tensions around the tech’s use in the city.
The details:
A crowd surrounded the autonomous vehicle, breaking the glass and throwing fireworks inside to engulf it in flames.
No passengers were in the vehicle, and the motives for the vandalism were unclear.
Distrust of driverless tech is reportedly high in San Francisco after recent Waymo accidents and traffic issues.
Past disruptions include last year’s ‘Week of Cone’, which saw groups disrupt autonomous vehicles with traffic cones, and individual attacks on Cruise robotaxis.
Why it matters: The battle between U.S. cities and self-driving tech continues — and the event highlights the human factor that companies must consider when developing autonomous tech. This is why we can’t have nice things!
TOGETHER WITH SUPERHUMAN
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ROBOTIC TECH
🤖 Tiny space robot simulates remote surgery
Image source: University of Nebraska
The Rundown: MIRA, a 2-pound robotic assistant, just arrived at the International Space Station — becoming the first surgical robot in space and practice zero gravity operations.
The details:
Invented at the University of Nebraska, MIRA will perform a simulated surgery with remote guidance from a surgeon in Nebraska.
MIRA aims to assess the feasibility of telesurgery for future space travel, as well as address surgeon shortages around the globe.
Weighing 1,000x less than existing technologies, MIRA was designed for portability.
After 20 years in development, data from the current mission will help dictate the next steps for surgical robots in extreme environments.
Why it matters: By sending robotic surgery capabilities to space, researchers are pushing boundaries on two fronts — potentially expanding access to remote medicine across the globe, as well as providing new medical capabilities to astronauts in space.
NEW PRODUCTS
🤖 Ava- Boost your sales process with an AI-powered Business Development Rep (link)
✏️ Plus AI for Google Docs- Effortless AI-powered writing within Google Docs (link)
📝 ClipGPT- Summarize your notes and bookmarks effortlessly with AI (link)
🚀 SEOByAI- Optimize your website's search engine ranking with cutting-edge, complimentary AI-powered SEO tools (link)
🗃️ ChatUrData- Interact with your database using conversational AI for easy data handling (link)
🧠 Humata- Ask questions and chat with any file instantly using AI (link)
🦄 Screen Story- Create video demos, tutorials, education videos, gifs, and promo videos (link)
🧑⚖️ AI Lawyer- Personal AI lawyer at your fingertips (link)
Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.
SNIPPETS
Threads is testing a new feature in the US that displays currently popular discussion topics, akin to a trending topics function, on the platform.
A class action lawsuit alleges that Amazon manipulates its platform, causing most of its US customers to overpay for items by promoting higher-priced options through its biased "Buy Box" algorithm.
Phil Spencer will discuss the future of Xbox and potential multi-platform developments on the Official Xbox Podcast on February 15.
A federal judge has ordered Elon Musk to comply with an SEC subpoena to testify regarding his acquisition of Twitter.
Russian forces claim to be using Starlink terminals on the front line of battles in Ukaraine, though Elon Musk called the reports ‘categorically false’.
Chinese e-commerce platform Temu doubled down on its Super Bowl push with a series of TV ads and $15M+ in giveaways, garnering attention for its heavy spending during the big game.
X announced that advertisers can now target ads next to a curated list of creators to avoid appearing with controversial content, aiming to lure creators amid a 50% ad revenue drop in 2023.
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AI grabs Super Bowl spotlight!
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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
AI had a massive presence at one of the world’s most-watched media events over the weekend.
From Microsoft’s Copilot to Minions generating AI videos (yes, really) — the first Super Bowl game in the AI era did not disappoint. Let’s dive in…
In today’s AI rundown:
AI takes spotlight in Super Bowl commercials
Altman seeks TRILLIONS for global AI chip initiative
How to generate and edit DALL-E 3 images in Copilot
Enabling AI to understand long videos
7 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
THE SUPER BOWL
🏈 AI takes spotlight in Super Bowl commercials
Image source: BodyArmor
The Rundown: AI made a splash in this year's Super Bowl commercials, with companies showcasing both its benefits and its potential for absurdity during the first big game in the artificial intelligence era.
The details:
Microsoft’s Copilot spot (which we wrote about last week) showcased its AI assistant to the masses.
A Google Pixel spot highlighted a new AI ‘Guided Frame’ feature helping blind or low vision users to more easily take photos.
Illumination took a shot at AI video while promoting the upcoming ‘Despicable Me 4’ film, featuring Minions prompting comically bad generations.
A HeGetsUs ad of people washing feet (🤔) faced heavy criticism, including speculation that the images were AI-generated — though Ad Age reported they were real photographs.
BodyArmor’s ‘Field of Fake’ took a jab at AI generations, showing low-quality AI videos while pushing its ‘real sweeteners’ over ‘artificial’ alternatives.
Etsy’s commercial showed off its Gift Mode feature, an AI recommendation tool to help users curate gift ideas.
Why it matters: While AI-related ads have been rampant over the last year, its Super Bowl presence is a big mainstream moment. The wide range of commercials is also representative of the mixed sentiment across the country — with many brands and people still conflicted on how to feel about the tech.
TOGETHER WITH OCTOAI
💰 Cut LLM costs by 50% for text summarization using Mixtral
The Rundown: If you are building products in AI and scaling text summarization features around GPT, you’re leaving money on the table by not exploring cheaper open-source options such as Mixtral.
Enter OctoAI:
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Find the most cost-effective pricing and swap in Mixtral in 3 lines of code
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Check out all the data here, then sign up for OctoAI to get $10 in free tokens to put Mixtral to the test.
OPENAI
💰 Altman seeks TRILLIONS for global AI chip initiative
Image source: Bloomberg
The Rundown: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly angling to raise TRILLIONS of dollars to reshape the semiconductor industry and massively boost global chip-building capacity to support AI development.
The details:
Altman is said to be looking for between $5-7 trillion to ramp up global AI chip production, hoping to address both current and future projected shortages.
Discussions are reportedly underway with investors like the UAE government, with plans also involving partnerships with chipmakers like TMSC.
Altman wants OpenAI to be the primary customer of the new initiative, though US concerns over foreign tech influence could complicate plans.
Why it matters: Altman once tweeted that ‘nobody can out-accelerate him’, and aiming to raise nearly 10% of the world’s GDP would seem to back that up! Altman’s ambitions also show he sees AGI creation as a supply problem, not a tech/innovation one.
AI TRAINING
🌅 How to generate and edit Dall-E 3 images in Copilot
Image source: DALLE—3
The Rundown: Microsoft Copilot AI now supports inline image editing and styling and has improved prompt suggestions for DALL-E 3 images. This means you can now edit images directly within Copolit!
Step-by-step:
Head to Microsoft Copilot.
Enter a prompt to create your desired image.
Select your preferred image to change the style or elements using a menu of options.
Edit the background of the image, such as adding “Blur“ or “Color pop“ by moving your mouse over the image and selecting the main subject.
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AI RESEARCH
🎥 Enabling AI to understand long videos
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: Researchers from Google DeepMind and the University of Cornell just developed a method for AI systems to comprehend events across longer videos better.
The details:
Currently, most video AI models are limited to short clip lengths due to both the complexity and computing needed.
The new method, called MC-ViT, stores a compressed "memory” of past video segments, allowing the model to efficiently reference past events.
The methodology is inspired by human memory consolidation theories from psychology and neuroscience.
The system achieves state-of-the-art accuracy in tasks like action recognition and question answering, despite using far less resources than comparable and much-larger models.
Why it matters: Enabling AI to understand longer videos is a necessary step forward for expanding its reasoning and real-world application use cases. Even more impressive is accomplishing it with lower computing and off-the-shelf transformers — continuing to push boundaries in AI with fewer resources.
NEW TOOLS & JOBS
AI tools powered by Supertools
📚 Augie Storyteller- Discover personalized bedtime stories brought to life with AI (link)
👨💻 CodeSignal Cosmo- Hone in-demand tech skills with your AI instructor, Cosmo (link)
🖼️ Midjourney GPT- Crafts detailed Midjourney image prompts (link)
🏝️ Jan- Experience the power of AI offline (link)
✍️ Citation Copilot GPT- Academic citation assistant (link)
🎙️ Rizzle AI- Convert text and podcasts into captivating videos (link)
📚 Book Summarizer GPT- Summarizes books and provides key takeaways (link)
AI jobs powered by The Rundown Jobs
QUICK HITS
Researchers introduced AiSee, a a wearable device which utilizes a camera, AI algorithms, and bone conduction headphones to help visually impaired individuals "see" and understand their surroundings.
Pika Labs released a Valentine’s Day experience, allowing users to create a ‘Pika Boo’ AI video by answering a selection of questions.
Artists achieved a partial victory in a copyright battle against AI art generators, with a judge refusing requests form Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and DeviantArt to dismiss a lawsuit.
Nvidia's Grace Hopper GH200 superchip performed on par with or surpassed high-end AMD and Intel CPUs in initial benchmarks, validating initial performance claims.
A reddit user discovered that both Gemini and Copilot believed the Super Bowl had already happened prior to the game, hallucinating stats and results.
Imran Khan, Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister, utilized an AI video to declare victory from prison after his P.T.I. party scored a surprising win in the chaotic and contested election.
An AI deepfake video featuring deceased Indonesian dictator Suharto went viral ahead of the country’s elections, urging citizens to support his former party and raising concerns of AI voter manipulation.
THAT’S A WRAP
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Samsung tackles sleep apnea
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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.
The future of healthcare might be sitting on your wrist.
Samsung's watches just became the first to earn FDA approval for sleep apnea detection — a huge leap forward for consumer wearable health tech. Let's explore…
In today’s tech rundown:
New Samsung Watch feature tackles sleep apnea
Meta dialing back political content on platforms
8 new products
Altman seeking TRILLIONS for AI chip production
Google One subscriptions top 100M
Reddit defeats movie studios on piracy battle
Read time: 3 minutes
TODAY’S HEADLINES
SAMSUNG
⌚️ New Samsung Watch feature tackles sleep apnea
Image source: Samsung
The Rundown: Samsung's Galaxy Watch just became the first smartwatch to receive FDA authorization for sleep apnea detection, signaling a major expansion of the device’s health-tracking capabilities.
The details:
Users over 22 will be able to track their sleep over two nights using the watch to be screened for signs of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
This feature could increase detection rates for OSA, a condition that often goes undiagnosed but can contribute to other health problems.
Samsung received FDA approval following a similar authorization from South Korea last year.
The tool will be available on Galaxy Watches via the Samsung Health Monitor app in Q3 of this year, joining features like heart monitoring, and body composition analysis.
Why it matters: Smartwatches are transitioning from basic fitness trackers to serious medical devices — and the ability to self-monitor often overlooked conditions with a consumer device could be a game-changer for getting better diagnosis and care.
TOGETHER WITH OCTOAI
💰 Cut LLM costs by 50% using Mixtral
The Rundown: If you are building products in AI and scaling text summarization features around GPT, you’re leaving money on the table by not exploring cheaper open-source options such as Mixtral.
Enter OctoAI:
The fastest place to run open-source models
Find the most cost-effective pricing and swap in Mixtral in 3 lines of code
Benchmarks show 50%+ cost savings over GPT 3.5 with comparable quality
Check out all the data here, then sign up for OctoAI to get $10 in free tokens to put Mixtral to the test.
CHARACTER AI
🇺🇸 Meta dialing back political content on platforms
Image source: Instagram
The Rundown: Meta just announced that both Instagram and Threads are actively reducing the amount of political content users will see in places like Explore and Reels, in an effort to distance itself from polarizing content surrounding the upcoming elections.
The details:
Posts about laws, elections, and social topics from accounts users don't follow will be less likely to show up in recommended feeds.
Users can opt back into the content appearing on their feed, and the changes won't impact posts from already-followed accounts.
Facebook will also receive the new political content control at a later date.
Why it matters: With social media increasingly shaping political discourse in today’s age, Meta is trying to lessen its impact. Though given the massive amounts of disinformation and bots already on the platforms — the company’s influence on elections is already likely too big to curb meaningfully.
NEW PRODUCTS
🤖 3DAiLY Beta- AI-driven platform and marketplace tailored for the 3D design community (link)
📴 Jan- Self-hosted ChatGPT alternative functioning entirely offline (link)
🎥 Augie Storyteller- Create animated videos from your narratives (link)
🧠 Capitol AI- Crafts engaging narratives through AI-driven content that fuses storytelling, aesthetics, and insightful research (link)
👨💻 CodeSignal Learn- Hone in-demand tech skills with your AI instructor, Cosmo (link)
⚡️ Notion AI- Your notes, on steroids. Access the limitless power of AI, right inside Notion (link)
📝 Writesonic- ChatGPT alternative that addresses the limitations of ChatGPT (link)
🎤 Castmagic- Turn long-form audio into ready-to-use content assets, instantly (link)
Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.
SNIPPETS
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly seeking as much as $7 trillion (!) in funding to expand the world’s production of AI chips.
Google announced that its Google One subscription service surpassed 100M subscribers, coming on the heels of its announced AI Premium plan offering access to its top-tier Gemini Ultra model.
TikTok removed its hashtag view count feature, eliminating a key tool for analyzing the spread of content and potentially hindering transparency.
Reddit was victorious for a third time over movie studios, with courts ruling the platform does not have to reveal IP addresses of users discussing piracy due to First Amendment protections of user anonymity.
Notion announced the acquisition of Skiff, expanding its privacy-focused offerings with end-to-end encrypted file storage, documents, calendar events, and email.
Tesla's iPhone app was updated to support ultra-wideband (UWB), offering improved security and reliability when using iPhones as digital car keys.
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Gemini Ultra is here!
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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
The rumors from Monday’s newsletter were true… Just a day late!
Google’s highly-anticipated Ultra model has finally arrived — alongside a full Gemini rebrand, new mobile apps, and more exciting updates. Your move, OpenAI…
In today’s AI rundown:
Bard officially becomes Gemini as Ultra arrives
OpenAI developing AI agents to automate work
How to customize your Chrome theme with AI
Huawei: AI needs physical body for AGI
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
✨ Bard officially becomes Gemini as Ultra arrives
Image source: Google
The Rundown: Google just officially rebranded its AI chatbot Bard as Gemini and launched major upgrades, including a new mobile app and access to its highly anticipated Ultra model.
The details:
Gemini Advanced gives access to Ultra 1.0, Google's "largest and most capable" AI model that competes with GPT-4 on performance benchmarks.
The Advanced model is accessible as part of a $19.99/month Google One AI Premium subscription plan (the same as ChatGPT plus 👀).
A Gemini mobile app rolls out on Android and iOS in the U.S., allowing enhanced on-device assistance via typing, voice, and images.
The Android app supports some existing Google Assistant features, including making calls, controlling smart devices, and accessing info from other Google apps.
Images generated with Gemini will now feature an invisible digital watermark using a tool called ‘SynthID’.
Gemini (finally) made its debut in Canada, where it is now available in both English and French.
Why it matters: The transition from Bard to Gemini is finally complete — and Google just took the LLM race to the next level. With Ultra now pushing ChatGPT for top model status, all eyes turn to OpenAI for a counter-punch with a GPT-4.5 or 5 release.
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Contact TÜV SÜD for safe, secure and reliable adoption of AI and its governance.
OPENAI
⚙️ OpenAI developing AI agents to automate work
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: OpenAI is reportedly building two types of AI agents — one for devices and another for web tasks that can autogenerate expense reports, transfer data between docs, book travel, and more.
The details:
The device agent can take over the user's device to perform productivity tasks requiring text and clicks.
The web agent will collect data online and book services autonomously without the need for third-party APIs.
The agents vision is a step towards evolving AI into a more personal assistant with deep knowledge of individual users and workplaces.
Why it matters: AI agents were a trendy buzzword last year, but none of the iterations on the market truly seemed capable of carrying out ambitious tasks autonomously. High-functioning agents would blast us into a new era of AI possibilities — and OpenAI is once again leading the charge.
AI TRAINING
💻 How to customize your Chrome theme with AI
The Rundown: Google continues to incorporate AI into its core tools — and now you can even customize your Chrome theme using generative AI.
Step-by-step:
Enable Experimental AI in Chrome settings and relaunch Chrome.
Open a new tab in Chrome, select the side panel icon next to the G in the top right of your browser, and select Customize Chrome from the drop-down.
Select Change Theme and Create with AI option.
Choose your subject, style, mood, and color, and select Create.
Choose your favorite generated design and apply it to your theme.
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AI RESEARCH
🦿 AI’s next step — physical bodies
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: Huawei researchers just published a new paper arguing that embodied AI agents that can continuously interact with and learn from the real world represent the next step towards artificial general intelligence.
The details:
The researchers detail that static LLMs like ChatGPT lack bodies, so they can't actively sense or interact with the real world.
Embodied AI will be able to see and hear environmental input, take physical actions, and learn from experiences.
This interactivity mirrors how humans and animals gain understanding through trial-and-error, with researchers arguing a physical body is a necessary step in the quest for AGI development.
A proposed framework details how to potentially embody AI, but hardware limitations still currently pose challenges.
Why it matters: Though the hardware is an obvious challenge, advances in robotics (even some in today’s newsletter!) indicate that giving AI a functional body to enable dynamic learning is not far off — and may be the missing ingredient for progress towards truly intelligent agents.
NEW TOOLS & JOBS
AI tools powered by Supertools
🤖 AutoGPT Agent- Your personal AI helper, ready to assist your tasks efficiently (link)
🔄 Syncly- Using AI feedback analysis to enhance your customer experience (link)
📚 Book Scout GPT- Discover the best non-fiction book recommendations instantly (link)
🧭 Kompas AI- Boost productivity with advanced conversational AI designed for professionals and teams (link)
🏋️♂️ GymStreak Workout Creator GPT- Generate customized workouts (link)
🐐 Code Like a GOAT GPT- Unleash your inner coding genius and excel in all languages and platforms (link)
AI jobs powered by The Rundown Jobs
🖌️ Anthropic- Design Operations (link)
🤝 Sanctuary AI- Business Development Associate (link)
✨ Synthesia- Senior Product Marketing Manager (link)
🎨 Anthropic- Front End Developer, Brand Design (link)
PS — we're hiring at The Rundown
QUICK HITS
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the launch of the AI Safety Institute Consortium, with over 200 stakeholders (including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta) uniting to support the safe development of the tech.
Nvidia has reportedly tapped Intel Foundry Services to ramp up its GPU packaging, which could scale production to 300,000 H100 GPUs per month.
Brilliant Labs announced Frame, the first glasses with a built-in multimodal AI assistant capable of enhancing daily activities and interacting with digital and physical worlds.
Perplexity announces a partnership with Brilliant Labs’ Frame to integrate real-time answers into the AI-enhanced glasses.
1X Tech posted a new demo showing off the startup’s autonomous Android robots carrying out complex tasks without manual intervention.
Stable Audio released a new model called AudioSparx 1.0, capable of creating long-form music with more varied structure than competing models.
HyperWrite teased two new features called Agent Trainer and Agent Studio, allowing users to teach AI better to learn and repeat tasks.
Midjourney opened Alpha testing of their web platform for users with >1000 images, alongside a quiet announcement of a planned mobile app for the AI Image generator.
THAT’S A WRAP
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AI's Super Bowl moment!
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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
Move over Taylor Swift — AI is coming for that Super Bowl spotlight.
Microsoft just dropped several upgrades to Copilot, along with a new commercial airing during the big game. Let’s explore…
In today’s AI rundown:
Copilot heads to the Super Bowl
YouTube bets big on AI for 2024
How to learn a language with a personal GPT tutor
Apple unveils AI model for image editing
8 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
MICROSOFT
🏈 Copilot heads to the Super Bowl
Image source: Microsoft
The Rundown: Microsoft celebrated Copilot’s one-year anniversary with several major updates, including a new-look interface, in-line image editing, ‘Designer GPT’ integration, and more — alongside the release of the company’s upcoming Super Bowl ad.
The details:
Copilot’s main interface gets a makeover with a sleeker, streamlined design and a refreshed carousel of suggested prompts.
Users can now edit images inline during chats, like changing colors or blurring backgrounds.
Copilot Pro subscribers gain the ability to resize and regenerate images, with a new direct 'Designer GPT integration also coming soon.
Microsoft returns to the Super Bowl with its first ad in four years, with a commercial showing off Copilot (and not mentioning Bing once).
Why it matters: It might be time to pour one out for Bing Chat as Microsoft fully pivots to the Copilot brand. The company’s Super Bowl ad also signals a marketing shift — positioning Copilot as more AI assistant and less search tool to the masses.
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YOUTUBE
📺 YouTube bets big on AI for 2024
Image source: YouTube
The Rundown: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan listed generative AI as the platform’s top ‘big bet’ for 2024 in a new blog post outlining his vision for empowering creators and democratizing access to the tech.
The details:
Mohan said the mission is using AI to help "everyone create", not replace creators.
YouTube Shorts and its explosive 70B+ daily views will be a key target for testing new video AI capabilities.
The blog also highlighted new experiments like Dream Screen, which allows users to make AI-generated backgrounds for shorts, and Dream Track for AI-generated music.
Why it matters: While AI still faces existential backlash from many creatives — platforms like YouTube working to empower creators can help change broader sentiment. And the more integrated AI becomes, the more the conversation shifts to a creative ‘tool’ instead of a creative ‘replacement’.
AI TRAINING
🗣️ How to learn a language with a personal GPT tutor
The Rundown: You can use ChatGPT’s voice capabilities and custom GPTs to learn any language with your own personal tutor GPT.
Step-by-step:
Open ChatGPT on your phone and search for a language tutor GPT. There are many GPTs, but we recommend starting with the TereraAI Learn Language GPT.
Prompt the GPT with the language you would like to learn and your experience level.
The GPT will provide you with a list of options (e.g., vocabulary, phrases) for your lesson.
Plug in your headphones and speak to learn your selected language.
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AI RESEARCH
🍎 Apple unveils AI model for image editing
Image source: Apple and UC Santa Barbara
The Rundown: Apple and UC Santa Barbara researchers just released MGIE, an open-source AI system for editing images via natural language commands.
The details:
MGIE leverages multimodal large language models (MLLMs) to interpret instructions and guide edits.
The model can perform tasks like modifying colors or objects, optimizing brightness/contrast, and applying filters from simple text prompts.
The model is trained end-to-end, so edits align with instructions while preserving unrelated areas.
Why it matters: Apple has been bringing the AI research heat lately — and this open-source model is particularly spicy. While text-to-image leaders have added inpainting and edit-region type features, MGIE’s instruction editing could eventually unlock Photoshop-type control with simple prompting.
NEW TOOLS & JOBS
AI tools powered by Supertools
🤖 Taplio- Leverage AI to grow on LinkedIn in just 10min a day (link)*
📝 MindOS Memory Twin- Remember, sort, and arrange your ideas effortlessly (link)
🏫 MBA Admission Consultant GPT- Assists you in getting admitted to your dream business school (link)
📚 Samwell AI- Streamline your essay writing and research workflow (link)
📧 Email Humanizer GPT- Rephrase emails to convey empathy and understanding (link)
🌐 Dorik- Instantly generate SEO-optimized websites for businesses and creators (link)
🖼️ Realistic People GPT- Generates realistic human portraits from simple prompts (link)
👁️ Vision Arena- Compare and test multiple vision LMs side-by-side and vote (link)
AI jobs powered by The Rundown Jobs
🎯 Anthropic- Go-To-Market Systems Lead (link)
✨ Shield AI- Staff Product UX Designer (link)
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QUICK HITS
Stability AI launched the first update to its open-source Stable Video Diffusion model, enhancing motion and consistency in generations.
ChatGPT’s system prompt is now reportedly up to 1700 tokens, leading users to speculate if the lengthy directions are to blame for previous laziness concerns.
The Biden administration appointed Elizabeth Kelly, a White House economic policy adviser, to head the newly formed AI Safety Institute, focusing on developing safety standards for AI development.
Outtakes AI posted a demo of its app running locally on Apple Silicon, showcasing the ability to generate immersive worlds on the Vision Pro.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced plans to provide AI skills training to 2 million workers in India, emphasizing the country’s significant role in the AI landscape.
OpenAI introduced new endpoint-specific API keys for enhanced permissions control and security.
Elon Musk tweeted his support of the ancient scroll-deciphering Vesuvius Challenge, saying that The Musk Foundation will help fund the next stage of the contest.
THAT’S A WRAP
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X hits #1 in the US App Store!
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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.
The X app just hit the top spot in the US App Store rankings.
With Tucker Carlson announcing his interview with Putin will go live on the app first — the anticipation is real. Let’s get into it…
In today’s tech rundown:
X hits #1 app on US App Store
Hong Kong firm scammed for HK$200M by deepfakes
8 new products
Disney partners with Epic Games
Apple is working on foldable iPhones
YouTube Premium hits 8 million paying subscribers
Read time: 3 minutes
TODAY’S HEADLINES
X (FORMERLY TWITTER)
🚀 X hits #1 app on US App Store
Image source: Screenshot from Apple App Store
The Rundown: X (formerly Twitter) surged to the top spot on the U.S. App Store following Tucker Carlson's announcement of his interview with Vladimir Putin overnight.
The details:
Carlson's announcement led to a spike in X app downloads, which began climbing the charts at around 7 PM EST.
The interview is Putin's first with Western media since the Ukraine invasion.
The interview has been confirmed to have already happened and will air on Elon Musk’s X app on Thursday.
Why it matters: With the interview being Putin’s first with a Western media figure since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it will likely be one of the most watched interviews of all time — and X is profiting from it, big time.
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DEEPFAKE SCAMS
🚨 Hong Kong firm scammed for HK$200M by deepfakes
Image source: DALL-E 3
The Rundown: A Hong Kong firm lost HK$200 million to scammers using deepfake AI tech in a fake video meeting, where the company's CFO and others were impersonated.
The details:
Deepfake tech was used to impersonate the CFO and others in a video call.
The employee was deceived into making 15 transfers to fraudulent accounts.
This scam, a first of its kind in Hong Kong, involved a significant sum of HK$200 million.
Why it matters: This highlights the growing threat of deepfakes in cybercrime, challenging the security of corporate transactions and emphasizing the need for advanced verification methods. As deepfake tech continues to improve, the risk will only increase.
NEW PRODUCTS
🤖 Taplio- Leverage AI to grow on LinkedIn in just 10min a day (link)*
🗣️ Agent Gold AI- Converse with any YouTuber on various topics using AI (link)
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🧠 SmartChat Assistant- Easily build and integrate AI-driven chatbots (link)
⚡️ Notion AI- Your notes, on steroids. Access the limitless power of AI, right inside Notion (link)
🔥 Jasper- An AI copywriter assistant that can generate any kind of marketing copy (link)
🧠 Taskade- Five AI-powered tools in one to supercharge your team productivity (link)
Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.
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SNIPPETS
Disney has partnered with Epic Games, investing $1.5 billion to create an expansive metaverse featuring Disney's vast array of characters and stories.
The Biden administration is mandating that large U.S. cryptocurrency miners report their energy consumption amid concerns over the industry's potential strain on electricity grids and its environmental impact.
Apple is reportedly working on developing foldable iPhone and iPad models with horizontal folding designs similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip.
Google's YouTube TV, priced at $73 per month, has reached 8 million subscribers, positioning it as a major player among cable TV providers.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a comprehensive ESPN standalone streaming service will launch by fall 2025, offering live games, studio programming, and additional features such as ESPN Bet.
Microsoft has partnered with various journalism groups to promote AI integration within the industry, aiming to enhance reporting efficiency.
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THAT’S A WRAP
If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundowntech
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