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AI

OpenAI is SO back!

Rowan Cheung • 5 minutes

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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

As the dust settles on one of the craziest weeks in tech, new details continue to emerge on OpenAI’s present and future.

But if Greg Brockman’s tweets are any indication, OpenAI is SO back. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty…


In today’s AI rundown:

  • OpenAI back as dust settles on dramatic power struggle

  • Inflection AI releases massive new LLM

  • 10 new AI tools to try

  • How to talk to YouTube videos with Google Bard

  • Neuralink's PRIME could help cure quadriplegic patient

  • Study: Americans wary of AI's societal impact

  • Machine learning boosts brain tumor analysis

Read time: 3 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

🤖 OpenAI back as dust settles on dramatic power struggle

Image source: Greg Brockman on X (Formerly Twitter)

The Rundown: After a late-night confirmation on Tuesday of the return of Sam Altman to OpenAI, new info is emerging about the future of the board, negotiation details, potential causes of the initial firing, and more.

If you’re new to the saga, get a rundown from our 3-minute brief on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (we’ll compile the entire story together soon).

The details:

  • New board chair Bret Taylor and (now former) interim CEO Emmett Shear played pivotal roles in the negotiations.

  • Emmett Shear didn't want to stay CEO since the board didn't provide evidence, so instead negotiated with both sides to get Sam back.

  • One of the key concessions included Altman agreeing not to join the board initially — though he is expected to join in the future.

  • Both sides also agreed to an investigation around the firing.

  • A sale of employee OpenAI shares to investors at $86B valuation is now said to be back on track.

The relevance: While the company’s future looked murky for a stretch — the return of Altman, Brockman, and a re-energized staff shows OpenAI is BACK and ready to push forward towards their mission of achieving AGI.

Stay tuned as we learn more about the new board, the investigations, and the real reason why the OpenAI board fired Sam Altman in the first place…

TOGETHER WITH GROWTHSCHOOL

🔥 Free AI & ChatGPT workshop (Black Friday offer)

The Rundown: Join this 3-hour power-packed workshop for FREE (normally $99), learn hacks to 10X work output, and grow your business.

Learn how to:

  • Make smarter investment choices effortlessly with AI insights

  • Automate daily tasks and increase productivity & creativity

  • Skyrocket your business growth by leveraging the power of AI

  • Save $1,000s by using ChatGPT to simplify complex business problems

Click here to register (Limited seats: FREE for first 100 people only) 🎁

INFLECTION AI

🚀 Inflection AI releases massive new LLM

Image source: Inflection

The Rundown: AI startup Inflection AI just announced Inflection-2, a HUGE new 175 billion parameter language model — and claims its capabilities exceed Google and Meta's top models and “is very close” to catching GPT-4.

The details:

  • Inflection-2 outscored LLaMA 2 and PaLM 2 on various NLP benchmarks and approached near GPT-4 levels on certain tasks.

  • The model was trained on 5,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs over a few weeks.

  • CEO Mustafa Suleyman stated the model will soon be integrated into their Pi chatbot, pending some final tweaks.

  • Suleyman also predicts the company’s next model will be 10x larger within six months, with another 10x six months after that.

Our thoughts: Despite OpenAI’s recent dominance, this Inflection release shows the quality battle still remains fierce. If Suleyman’s scaling projections come true, AI capabilities a year from now could be mind-blowing.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

TRENDING TOOLS

💻 Screenshot to Code- Automatically create HTML and Tailwind CSS websites using just a screenshot (link)

🕸️ MaxAI.me- Use personalized 1-click AI tools on any webpage (link)

🎥 Dubecos- Easy & fast AI dubbing app for your videos (link)

⌨️ TypeDream- Craft an AI-powered website in an instant (link)

🚀 Mojju- Unique and powerful GPTs built by Mojju (link)

💌 Dear AI- Generate intimate, thoughtful, and beautiful letters (link)

🐟 Tuna- Rapidly generate artificial fine-tuning datasets (link)

🎧 HearTheWeb- Convert your newsletter into an engaging podcast (link)

📧 Superhuman- The fastest email experience ever made, with AI-powered features (link)

✍️ Writecream- Best AI writer, image, audio & content generator with ChatGPT (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

AI TRAINING

💚 Talk to videos with Google Bard

Want to ask questions about a YouTube video you’re watching or analyze it deeper? Now you can, with a new feature from Google Bard. Here’s how:

  1. Provide your link: Paste your YouTube video into a Google Bard, and prompt Bard. Eg, "Summarize the key points from this video."

  2. Ask questions: Depending on the type of video, continue the conversation with any follow-up questions.

  3. Example question: For a cooking tutorial video, we prompted: “Convert the video into a detailed recipe.”

Bonus for creators: If you’re a content creator, try having Bard analyze your own videos. Ask for suggestions to make a YouTube video more viral or a bulleted list of constructive criticism. AI can now be another expert set of eyes on your content, helping find ways to improve.

QUICK HITS

🧠 Neuralink's PRIME could help cure quadriplegic patients

Neuralink is recruiting quadriplegic patients for its PRIME Study to test its brain-computer interface using the N1 implant and R1 surgical robot, aiming to enable control of devices like phones with thoughts.

📚 Study: Americans wary of AI's societal impact

A new study from Pew Research found that over half of Americans feel more concerned than excited about AI's growing role in life. Many still fear impacts on jobs, privacy, and relationships — and with regulations lagging, unease over government inaction on AI risk continues to grow.

🔬 Machine learning boosts brain tumor analysis

University of Florida researchers just combined mass spectrometry scans with machine learning models to classify brain tumors with 87% accuracy, aiming to guide treatment decisions for complex malignancies and save time.

SPONSOR US

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THAT’S A WRAP

That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!

If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundownai

❤️ Rundown review of the day

Tech

Protect your brain with... coffee?

Rowan Cheung • 3 minutes

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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.

Most people throw away their grounds after making coffee.

However, one lead researcher at the University of Texas El Paso is using them to potentially cure brain disease. Let’s dive in…


In today’s tech rundown:

  • Coffee grounds help stop brain disease

  • Fingerprint auth bypassed on major laptops

  • 7 new products

  • 7 quick stories

Read time: 3 minutes

TODAY’S HEADLINES

BRAIN HEALTH

☕️ Coffee grounds help stop brain disease

Image source: DALL-E

The Rundown: Researchers at the University of Texas El Paso have discovered a novel use for the six million tons of coffee grounds in a potential shield for brain cells against neurodegenerative diseases.

The details:

  • Spent coffee grounds are being repurposed to create CACQDs, which may prevent neuron loss that leads to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

  • Lead researcher Jyotish Kumar aims for a cure, not just symptom management.

  • CACQDs are shown to fight free radicals and inhibit harmful protein aggregates in cell samples, without damaging the cells.

  • The process of creating CACQDs is eco-friendly and cost-friendly.

The relevance: This breakthrough not only promises to address the underpinnings of neurodegenerative diseases but also offers a sustainable use for a massive waste product.

TOGETHER WITH IMAGINE AI CONFERENCE

⚡️ Transform your business with AI

The Rundown: The pace of AI is relentless, even for the most informed individuals. Opportunities for transformative solutions that can revolutionize business are emerging at an unprecedented speed.

Mark your calendar for a one-of-a-kind experience at the first cross-industry AI enterprise summit, March 27-28, at the new Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

Join like-minded AI leaders, thinkers, and disruptors in a collaborative quest to redefine business and the future of work with AI.

Secure your spot now.

MICROSOFT

🔓 Fingerprint authentication bypassed on major laptops

Image source: Microsoft

The Rundown: Security vulnerabilities in fingerprint sensors have been exposed, allowing researchers to bypass Windows’ Hello protections. The flaw affects devices from industry giants like Dell, Lenovo, and Microsoft.

The details:

  • Blackwing Intelligence uncovered weaknesses in fingerprint sensors used for Windows Hello on several laptops.

  • Researchers managed to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, raising concerns about device security.

  • Vulnerabilities were found in the cryptographic setup of sensors from Goodix, Synaptics, and ELAN.

Why it matters: With a significant portion of Windows users relying on biometric authentication, these findings spotlight the need for robust security measures. Microsoft's efforts to create a passwordless future could be at risk if such vulnerabilities aren't addressed.

NEW PRODUCTS

🧑 Recrooit 2.0- Hire through real-life referrals (link)

✍️ SyncSignature- Professional headshots and branded email signatures (link)

🐶 Petcube Cam- Smart pet camera with 360-degree rotation view (link)

🐦 TweetHunter- All-in-one Twitter growth tool to create content using AI, build an audience, and schedule posts (link)

💬 Chatbase- Create a ChatGPT-like chatbot widget for your website (link)

📚 Morise AI- Reads your videos and generates everything in seconds (link)

📸 Photo AI- Create beautiful AI photos without using a camera (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

SNIPPETS

The Nachteiland high-rise in Amsterdam aims to be an energy-positive building by using sustainable materials and integrating solar paneling.

Sony is facing a class action lawsuit in the UK, claiming it unfairly overcharged PlayStation Store customers due to its dominant market position.

China's Belt and Road Initiative has increased its renewable energy project share to 47% in 2022, up from 19% a decade ago.

Google Meet is introducing a hand-raising detection feature that uses the webcam to recognize when a user wants to speak during a call.

OpenAI and Microsoft are sued by authors claiming unauthorized use of their work in AI training.

A judge stated there is evidence suggesting Elon Musk was aware of Tesla Autopilot's defects but continued its use; a related lawsuit will proceed to trial.

Apple is exploring hardware solutions to enhance user privacy and thwart "shoulder surfers" who steal iPhone passcodes to access devices and sensitive data.

SPONSOR US

⚡️ Get your product in front of over 75k+ tech enthusiasts

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, investors, engineers, managers, and business owners around the world. Get in touch today.

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

❤️ Rundown review of the day

AI

The RETURN of Sam Altman!

Rowan Cheung • 5 minutes

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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

After 5 dramatic days and 3 different CEOs in that same time frame, Sam Altman has officially returned as CEO of OpenAI.

However, one final unknown remains. Let’s get into it…


In today’s AI rundown:

  • Sam Altman RETURNS as CEO of OpenAI

  • Claude gets big upgrades in 2.1 release

  • 9 new AI tools to try

  • How to create a website in 30 seconds from a doodle

  • xAI’s Grok to be added directly into X (formerly Twitter)

  • Stability AI unveils generative video model

  • SDSU researchers tap AI to forecast stocks

Read time: 3 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

🚨 Sam Altman RETURNS as CEO of OpenAI

Image source: The Verge

The Rundown: The OpenAI saga has seemingly come to an end with a crazy timeline yesterday and the eventual return of Sam Altman as CEO late last night.

If you’re new, get a rundown from our brief on Monday & Tuesday.

Yesterday’s timeline:

  • First, Emmett Shear reportedly said he would quit if the board couldn’t communicate why Altman was fired.

  • Throughout the drama, the team at OpenAI still launched a new feature, enabling ChatGPT with voice to all free users.

  • However, after the announcement, a widespread ChatGPT outage occurred, with some users reporting a mysterious “ChatGPT Alpha.”

  • Another report surfaced that Helen Toner (one of six board members) might have been the reason for the firing.

  • Late last night, OpenAI announced the return of Sam Altman and a new initial board of directors that will eventually expand to 9 people.

The relevance: The events that transpired this week will be written in AI history forever (and probably aired on Netflix next year!). If there’s one takeaway, it’s that the OpenAI team is one helluva group, and we can expect them to come back stronger than ever (case in point).

However, one question remains: Will the initial decision of the firing ever be made public? What did Ilya see?

TOGETHER WITH MINDOS

🥷 Build your AI (more sophisticated & personal than GPTs)

The Rundown: We know how tedious it is trying to keep tabs on countless AI bots. With MindOS, train your own AI assistant and let it handle everything you throw at it.

  • Integrates with your apps to keep track of emails, meetings, and birthdays

  • Trained on your personal data to mimic your style of writing and understand your interests

  • Memorize your preferences, to-do lists and conversations

The days of cycling through 50 different AI tools are over. MindOS is the best GPT Store alternative. Get started with 100 free credits here.

ANTHROPIC

🤖 Claude gets big upgrades in 2.1 release

Image source: Claude

The Rundown: AI startup Anthropic just released Claude 2.1, featuring new upgrades, including a doubled context size, 2x fewer hallucinations, and new tool integrations.

The details:

  • The 200K token context window enables users to provide docs up to ~150K words for analysis.

  • New improvements reduced incorrect answers by 30%, with a 3-4x lower rate of mistakenly concluding a document supports a claim.

  • The new ‘tool use’ beta feature allows Claude to directly leverage developer APIs, knowledge bases, and datasets.

The relevance: Just a day after the OpenAI board reportedly contacted Anthropic for a merger, CEO Dario Amodei woke up and chose violence with new upgrades that continue to position Claude 2 as the most capable ChatGPT alternative.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

TRENDING TOOLS

🎵 Musicfy- Sing and turn your voice into any instrument (link)

🤝 GPT4All- A free-to-use, locally running, privacy-aware chatbot (link)

🦄 UI Sketcher- Draw rough UIs and turn into code in VSCode (link)

🚀 ShipGPT AI- Create and implement AI swiftly (link)

💡 LLM Spark- A development platform for generating production-ready LLM applications (link)

🎯 KWHero- Develop SEO content with a scientific approach for maximum Google ranks (link)

🖋️ Easy Peasy AI- Create amazing blog posts 10X faster with AI tools (link)

🧠 AI-suggests- Generate tons of ready-to-use content and new ideas for your business instantly (link)

🎙Toasty AI- AI content creation for podcasts (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

AI TRAINING

🎨 Create a website in 30 seconds from a doodle

Honestly, the kids growing up today with AI will probably be 10x more productive than we are now.

This new tool allows you to build a functional website from just a doodle in a matter of seconds. Here’s how to use it:

  1. Go to tldraw here and start drawing what you want to turn into a website.

  2. Add your OpenAI API Key by going here, clicking “Create a new secret key“ and copying and pasting it into tldraw at the bottom of the page.

  3. Make your website come to life by simply clicking “Make Real“ on the top right.

  4. That’s it! If you want the specific code so you can add it to an existing website, simply click the button on the top right.

QUICK HITS

🐦 xAI’s Grok to be added directly in X (formerly Twitter)

Users with early access to xAI’s new ChatGPT competitor, Grok, have reportedly discovered that X (formerly Twitter) will have a tab for users to access Grok directly in X. Elon Musk also confirmed that Grok will be available to all X Premium+ subscribers next week.

 🎥 Stability AI unveils generative video model

Open-source AI leader Stability AI just released Stable Video Diffusion — the company’s first foundation model for AI video creation. SD also noted its two image-to-video models come in ahead of leading closed models from Runway and Pika Labs in user preference studies.

📊 SDSU researchers tap AI to forecast stocks

Researchers at SDSU just created an AI model called ALERTA-net, combining data from macroeconomics, social media, and search engine data to predict stock trends. Surpassing key benchmarks in accuracy, the tool shows AI's potential to decode complex relationships between datasets.

SPONSOR US

🦾 Get your product in front of over 400k+ AI enthusiasts

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, investors, engineers, managers, and business owners around the world. Get in touch today.

THAT’S A WRAP

That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!

If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundownai

❤️ Rundown review of the day

Tech

Crypto hammered with MASSIVE $4B penalty

Rowan Cheung • 3 minutes

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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.

The biggest exchange in crypto just got slapped with a massive $4.3B settlement, with Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao facing charges.

Is this another black eye for the cryptocurrency industry, or a welcome step on the path to legitimization? Let’s get into it…


In today’s tech rundown:

  • Crypto giant Binance charged, agrees to $4.3B settlement

  • New device enables at-home workouts for wheelchair users

  • 9 new products

  • 7 quick stories

Read time: 3 minutes

TODAY’S HEADLINES

CRYPTOCURRENCY

🚔 Crypto giant Binance charged, agrees to $4.3B settlement

Image source: CoinDesk

The Rundown: The U.S. Department of Justice just charged Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) with criminal offenses related to money laundering.

The details:

  • The DOJ alleged Binance policies allowed criminals to launder funds and that CZ "pretended to comply" with laws.

  • Binance will pay over $4.3B in penalties to U.S. agencies.

  • Zhao also pled guilty to one felony charge of failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program.

  • CZ stepped down as CEO of the crypto giant, with global head of regional markets Richard Tend appointed to succeed him.

The relevance: This outcome seemed inevitable given the long investigations into Binance — and the eye-watering penalties show regulators aren’t messing around when it comes to crypto compliance. However, the resolution is also a positive step towards more legitimization of the industry.

TOGETHER WITH CONVERTER AI

⚡️ Enhance your images & videos with AI

The Rundown: VideoProc Converter AI is at its lowest price this Black Friday, making it the best cost-effective AI video/image enhancer on the market.

Why VideoProc Converter AI?

  • Enhance your low-quality photos, AI art, videos, recordings, DVDs, etc., to 4K 60 FPS and beyond.

  • Ideal for editing, playing on larger screens, or reliving memories.

  • All-in-one video toolkit to download, convert, compress, edit, and record.

Click here to secure your discount before it expires. Buy once, and keep it forever!

ACCESSIBILITY & FITNESS

♿️ New device enables at-home workouts for wheelchair users

Image source: Kangster

The Rundown: Korean tech startup Kangster developed the Wheely-X, an at-home workout device that allows wheelchair users to exercise by spinning their wheels on a set of rollers.

The details:

  • The device uses ramps and rollers to attach to a wheelchair — users spin the rear wheels, while sensors track speed and resistance.

  • An accompanying app gamifies workouts, competitions, training guidance, and measures progress.

  • The product caters to a niche audience that lacks accessible at-home fitness options, and comes in at a $2,595 price point.

Why it matters: Wheely-X is a great example of inclusive design in tech— empowering an overlooked fitness community to tap into their health goals from home.

NEW PRODUCTS

🤖 MindOS- Your AI for everyday tasks, personalized and automated (link)

🫵 Manganum Sidebar- All the best productivity apps in one location (link)

📸 Ekran- Turn screenshots or recordings into posts (link)

 LLM Spark- Build production-ready LLM apps with ease (link)

🧠 Humata- Ask questions and chat with any file instantly using AI (link)

🎤 Castmagic- Turn long-form audio into ready-to-use content assets, instantly (link)

🎨 Uizard- Design wireframes, prototypes, and mockups quickly and easily (link)

🤖 ZipChat AI- Train a chatbot with your data to boost customer satisfaction (link)

👩🏻‍💼 Aomni- AI Sidekick for your sales team (link)

🤓 Julius AI- Your AI data analyst (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

SNIPPETS

Tesla's Texas Gigafactory workers have reported gruesome injuries from explosions, robots, and falling hazards as the company rushes Cybertruck production.

The FDA is reviewing exa-cel, a CRISPR treatment that could cure sickle cell disease.

Spotify will not pay for songs with fewer than 1,000 streams, aiming to curb fraud and redistribute funds to more popular content.

The UK is set to build a satellite for the Atlantic Constellation project to monitor climate change and improve environmental data collection from space.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has disclosed that the company has thorough succession plans, though he has no immediate plans to step down.

Language learning app Babbel launched new speech tools leveraging AI to help users practice pronunciation and build speaking confidence.

Google Chrome said its ad blocker limiting Manifest V3 extension update will roll out in June 2024 after a year pause, despite persistent criticism it weakens privacy.

SPONSOR US

⚡️ Get your product in front of over 75k+ tech enthusiasts

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, investors, engineers, managers, and business owners around the world. Get in touch today.

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

❤️ Rundown review of the day

AI

🤖 OpenAI board goes INSANE

Rowan Cheung • 5 minutes

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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

The OpenAI drama is far from over — with new details emerging, including a wild flip, a Microsoft takeover, staff threats, and more.

Can OpenAI survive a company-wide revolt? Let’s dive in…


In today’s AI rundown:

  • The OpenAI saga continues

  • Amazon provides free skills training with ‘AI Ready’

  • 10 new AI tools to try

  • How to craft a stylish new signature with AI

  • Microsoft muzzles AI Disney poster trend

  • C3 AI fires staffers, cites performance & costs

  • Runway amps up creative control with new features

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

🍿 The OpenAI saga continues

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: The OpenAI saga continued on Monday, with chief scientist Ilya Sutskever flipping his support, a potential return for Sam Altman, employees signing a letter calling on the board to resign, and CEO drama.

If you’re just getting started with this real-life soap opera, check out yesterday’s newsletter to get up to speed.

Today’s updates:

  • Sutskever, who initially appeared to be one of the main drivers in Altman’s firing, flipped his support — signing the employee letter and tweeting that he ‘deeply regretted his participation.’

  • Despite the initial tweet from Nadella, Sam Altman joining Microsoft is not a done deal — and that he is still trying to return to OpenAI.

  • Over 745 of 770 OpenAI employees have signed a letter to the board, threatening to join Microsoft unless board members resign.

  • Interim CEO Emmett Shear posted a 30-day plan for the company.

  • In a report from The Information, it appears Emmett Shear was not the first pick as CEO.

  • Alexandr Wang (CEO of Scale AI) and Nat Friedman (Former CEO of GitHub) both declined the offer before Emmett.

  • Lastly, the OpenAI board approached Anthropic (OpenAI’s top competitor) for a potential MERGER but was declined.

Our thoughts: This saga looks far from over — with plenty of maneuvering still happening behind the scenes. Will Altman return to OpenAI or recreate the company under a new Microsoft branch? Did power drive the move by the board, or did some new advancement scare them?

More to come as the story unfolds…

TOGETHER WITH TAPLIO

💼 10x your visibility on LinkedIn with AI-powered Taplio

The Rundown: Taplio helps 6,200+ LinkedIn pros build a strong personal brand that attracts clients and opportunities.

What you get with Taplio:

  • High-Performing Content: Leverage AI to create top posts and carousels in seconds.

  • Advanced Scheduling: One-click scheduling and automation to boost performance.

  • In-Depth Analytics: Understand what’s working and what can be improved.

  • Engagement Builder: Engage with the best and most relevant creators on LinkedIn.

The best part? You get a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Click here to try Taplio for free!

AMAZON

📚 Amazon provides free skills training with ‘AI Ready’

Image source: Amazon

The Rundown: Amazon just announced a new commitment to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025 through their "AI Ready" initiative — which includes free courses, scholarships, and more.

The details:

  • ‘AI Ready’ includes 8 new free online AI courses aligned with in-demand jobs for both business and technical audiences.

  • A $12 million scholarship program with Udacity will provide 50K students with access to a generative AI course.

  • A new study from AWS found strong employer demand for AI skills, with AI-related salaries also coming in up to 47% higher.

The relevance: If AI is going to be as integral to society as we all think, getting both the younger generation and the workforce more comfortable with the tech is imperative. Initiatives like this can help open up AI resources to all.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

TRENDING TOOLS

🤖 Consensus- ResearchGPT is a new custom GPT that connects ChatGPT to over 200M research papers (link)*

🚀 Community Hub- Boost community activity and crush marketing KPIs (link)

 Ai Magicx- Generate high-quality images with AI (link)

💼 Value Proposition Generator- Turn your idea into a profitable business (link)

📝 Summarify- Summarize PDFs, webpages, Youtube videos, blogs & more (link)

🖥️ Super- Create a website from your Notion database in minutes (link)

🌖 MoonBeam- A long-form writing AI assistant to never write from scratch again (link)

🧠 Taskade- Five AI-powered tools in one to supercharge your team productivity (link)

🔥 PromptPal- Share & discover the best AI prompts (link)

📆 Reclaim AI- Smart scheduling app for teams (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

* = This is sponsored content

AI TRAINING

✍️ Craft a stylish new signature with AI

Want to give your signature an AI makeover? Create a memorable sign-off that will stand out amongst the crowd — perfect for the bottom of your emails!

Check out the prompt below to spruce up your signature (H/T Umesh AI for the creative and awesome idea):

Prompt: "Highly minimalist, single-line drawing where the outline of a tiny [OBJECT] on the left smoothly and fluidly transitions continuing into a signature on the right. The signature, prominently spelling out '[NAME]', should be clear, legible, and stylish on a [white/black] canvas. This drawing should embody simplicity and elegance, capturing the essence of a sophisticated and personal brand with an artistic and graceful feel." Just replace the object and name tags and choose the background color.

QUICK HITS

🪄 Microsoft muzzles AI Disney poster trend

Following a trend of Disney-style movie posters via AI generators, Microsoft moved to block the term "Disney" on Bing’s image generator to squash the viral craze. The action raises questions around copyright and training, as well as Disney’s grapple with AI amid previous backlash around its use.

🔥 C3 AI fires staffers, cites performance & costs

AI software maker C3.ai reportedly cut an unknown number of workers for "performance" reasons and to reduce costs. With layoffs mounting across tech, the company blamed individual workers amid its own struggles to gain profitability.

🎥 Runway amps up creative control with new features

AI video startup Runway just rolled out new tools to boost creative direction in generative video. The official rollout of the Motion Brush lets users paint in controllable motion, Style Presets dial up specific new aesthetics, and an updated ‘Director Mode’ gives camera controls additional finesse.

SPONSOR US

🦾 Get your product in front of over 400k+ AI enthusiasts

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, investors, engineers, managers, and business owners around the world. Get in touch today.

THAT’S A WRAP

That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!

If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundownai

❤️ Rundown review of the day

Tech

⚡️ New restaurant run by robots...

Rowan Cheung • 3 minutes

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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.

Chipotle's founder Steve Ellis’ new restaurant venture is serving up plant-based fast food — cooked and managed almost entirely by robots.

Is this new concept the future of dining, or is it too polarizing for the masses? Let’s get into it…


In today’s tech rundown:

  • Chipotle founder’s new robotic, plant-based restaurant

  • Right-wing figures pledge ads amid brand exodus from X

  • 9 new products

  • 7 quick stories

Read time: 3 minutes

TODAY’S HEADLINES

FOOD & TECH

🌱 Chipotle founder’s new robotic, plant-based restaurant

Image source: Kernel

The Rundown: Chipotle founder Steve Ells' new restaurant venture ‘Kernel’ plans to open in 2024 and will reportedly rely heavily on robots and automation and serve up a menu of ‘vegetarian fast food’.

The details:

  • Robots will handle most kitchen tasks like warming buns and pans.

  • The menu will feature meatless burgers, sandwiches, salads, bowls, and sides at Chipotle-like prices.

  • Ells believes automation allows for higher pay and benefits with a minimal human staff of just 3 per location.

  • Kernel's first location aims to open in Manhattan, with plans for 15 more in NYC over a two-year span.

The relevance: Kernel is a bold, futuristic concept — and certainly a polarizing one for eaters. The venture will be an interesting experiment in both robotic workers — and maybe spark a new ‘vegetarian fast food’ sector?

TOGETHER WITH THE GIST

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What it covers:

  • Experience inclusive and progressive sports news that explores the social and cultural impact of sports.

  • The newsletter is women-led, offering bite-sized, entertaining, and humorous insights.

  • Covers the biggest headlines, including the social and cultural impact of sports

Click here and join The GIST Community Now!

X / TWITTER

💰 Right-wing figures pledge ads amid brand exodus from X

Image source: Mashable

The Rundown: As major advertisers continue to suspend campaigns on X, right-wing influencers have pledged ad spending to help support the platform.

The details:

  • Major advertisers including Apple and Disney recently halted ads on the platform, over concerns about content and Elon Musk's actions.

  • In response to the defections, several conservative media figures pledged ad buys from $50,000 up to $1 million monthly.

  • But their support totals under $2 million so far, compared to over $100 million annually from Apple alone.

The relevance: Elon’s polarizing moves have big advertisers running for the hills — and that revenue isn’t easily replaced, even with support of right-wing media. Further politicization also risks pushing other major spenders away.

NEW PRODUCTS

🤖 Consensus- ResearchGPT is a new custom GPT that connects ChatGPT to over 200M research papers (link)

🚢 Shipixen- Customized boilerplates deployed to Vercel in one click (link)

🔥 Niche Finder- SEO-friendly, profitable keyword finder (link)

🕒 Notion Leader’s Toolkit- 60+ Notion tools for busy managers (link)

⚡️ Play HT- The highest quality AI-powered voice generation platform (link)

📝 PDF AI- Chat with any document (link)

🙊 ChatNode- Train ChatGPT on your own data (link)

🗣 ChatFast- Custom GPT chatbot from your data (link)

📞 Simple Phones- Never miss a call from a customer (link)

🖥 Userdesk- Build your AI chatbot trained on your Notion, website & more (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

SNIPPETS

A secretive U.S. surveillance program enables law enforcement to extensively access domestic phone records without crime suspicions.

Google agreed to a unique deal with Spotify, exempting them from Android app store fees, charging 0% for Spotify's payment system.

Cruise co-founder Daniel Kan resigned following CEO Kyle Vogt's exit amidst a PR crisis after a Cruise robotaxi accident.

The Webb telescope reveals chaotic and detailed views of our galaxy's center, offering new insights for star formation theories.

Apple is internally testing iOS 17.1.2, likely addressing bug fixes including Wi-Fi connectivity, with a release expected after U.S. Thanksgiving.

A study suggests the flavonol quercetin in red wine may cause headaches by inhibiting an enzyme that processes acetaldehyde.

The White House has created Threads accounts for President Biden and Vice President Harris, diversifying its social media presence.

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❤️ Rundown review of the day

AI

🤖 Sam Altman FIRED, new CEO in town

Rowan Cheung • 6 minutes

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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

It’s been a wild weekend — with OpenAI’s shocking firing of CEO Sam Altman and new CEO sending shockwaves through the AI and broader tech world.

With tons of drama straight out of a Hollywood script, this weekend was one to remember. Let’s get into it…


In today’s AI rundown:

  • OpenAI board fires CEO Sam Altman, hired Emmett Shear

  • Meta dissolves Responsible AI team

  • 10 new AI tools to try

  • How to create custom lightning bolts with DALL-E

  • Amazon axes hundreds of Alexa jobs

  • Altman sought billions for AI chip venture pre-firing

  • France, Germany & Italy push unified EU AI rules

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

😱 OpenAI board fires CEO Sam Altman, chaos ensues

Image source: CNN

The Rundown: OpenAI's board of directors abruptly fired CEO Sam Altman on Friday, leading co-founder Greg Brockman and dozens of other OpenAI staff to quit in protest. By Sunday evening, Emmett Shear was appointed the new interim CEO of OpenAI.

The timeline:

  • Altman was unexpectedly ousted on Friday, with the board originally citing “communication issues”.

  • Altman confirmed the news in a tweet, with co-founder Greg Brockman resigning and posting a timeline of events detailing the blindside move from the OpenAI board.

  • More details emerged, indicating the firing was likely orchestrated by OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever — with reported increasing tensions over the speed of development.

  • On Saturday, news broke that OpenAI staff set an ultimatum for the board to resign and for Altman/Brockman to RETURN, or else they would quit and join Sam.

  • The deadline passed without official news, though Altman tweeted, “I love the OpenAI team so much” which was then quote-tweeted by hundreds of staff members with a “❤️” emoji on X.

  • Speculation was rampant, with many believing the moves were made in response to AGI being achieved — Altman did say a day before his firing that there had been a massive discovery in the last two weeks.

  • Altman posted a photo of himself at OpenAI HQ Sunday afternoon, with reports indicating that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was leading discussions.

  • In a shocking turn, the board rejected negotiations and hired Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, as the new interim CEO of OpenAI.

  • Following the late Sunday night news, chaos ensued, and dozens of OpenAI staffers quit, with more likely to follow shortly.

  • In a final twist to the story, Satya announced that Sam and Greg will join Microsoft to create a new advanced AI research team.

Why it matters: This was a weekend straight out of Hollywood — with the entire drama unfolding in real time on X. The firing of Sam Altman and hiring to Microsoft will only push the competition further.

But what did the OpenAI board see that caused Sam’s seemingly instantaneous fire? How many OpenAI employees will follow Sam or join competitors like Google and xAI? Will OpenAI be able to weather the storm ahead through the leadership of Emmett Shear?

More details to follow shortly. Stay tuned…

TOGETHER WITH OCTOML

🐙 Learn to build GenAI-powered eCommerce apps

The Rundown: eCommerce devs can now put powerful GenAI models to work to create content that sells. What used to take a production team and months of work is now at your fingertips.

With OctoAI:

  • Fine-tune Stable Diffusion on your product photos in minutes

  • Mix a “model cocktail” of Llama2 and SDXL to use words to generate images

  • Produce galleries of themed product images and descriptions with a single click

See the demo and learn how it’s done, get inspired, and start building. You’ll get 1k free images on signup.

META

♾️ Meta dissolves Responsible AI team

Image source: Reuters

The Rundown: Meta has reportedly disbanded its Responsible AI team, moving members to other AI product and infrastructure groups within the company.

The details:

  • Meta says it remains committed to developing AI responsibly and safely, but the dedicated team was dissolved.

  • Most Responsible AI members will join Meta's generative AI product team, with others moving to work on AI infrastructure.

  • The Responsible AI team had already seen shake ups during the the company’s restructuring and layoffs earlier this year.

The relevance: If there was ever a weekend to bury some negative AI news, it was this one. With all eyes on the Altman, Meta’s move flew under the radar — and comes during a time of heightened discourse over safety vs. acceleration.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

TRENDING TOOLS

🖼️ lmage Generator by Akool- Turn any ideas into visuals at studio quality (link)

🎨 KreaAI- Quickly generate AI videos and images with this creative suite (link)

🏗️ Hostomo- Free, fast and fancy AI-powered website builder (link)

🌈 HUE- Foodie SNS based on your hue (link)

🐦 TLDraw- Build a website in a Mircosoft Paint environment (link)

📱 Synthesia- Create professional videos without mics, cameras, or actors using an AI-generated character (link)

🕵️‍♂️ GPT Zero- Detect whether an essay is ChatGPT or human-written (link)

🎥 Munch- Extract the most engaging and impactful clips from your long-form videos (link)

📕 storly.ai- Write your life’s story with AI interview algorithm (link)

⌨️ Quicky AI- Use AI on any website instantly just by selecting text (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

AI TRAINING

⚡️ Create custom lightning bolts with DALL-E

It’s been a while since we’ve shared an image prompt — but sometimes, a new one comes across the timeline that is too cool to ignore.

Create these awesome custom lightning images by following the prompt below:

Prompt: "Create a minimalistic image where the sky is light blue, filled with a myriad of fainter stars, and perhaps a hint of a distant galaxy or nebula to add depth and color contrast. In the center of this tranquil backdrop, the only light comes from a series of thick, jagged lightning bolts. These bolts are the focal point of the image, converging to form a stark outline of a [SUBJECT] directly in the center. There should be no other details or objects, just the clear, unmistakable shape of a [SUBJECT] composed of these few powerful strokes of lightning. The image should evoke the simplicity and elegance of a line drawing, with the [SUBJECT] outline vividly glowing against the serene night sky.”

Replace [SUBJECT] with what you’d like to generate in the sky! For the example below, we used the term ‘AI Robot’:

QUICK HITS

💼 Amazon axes hundreds of Alexa jobs

Amazon just slashed ‘several hundred’ roles on the company’s Alexa team, citing shifting priorities and a focus on generative AI. The decade-old Alexa feels left behind as generative AI ushers in smarter tech, making older devices look primitive.

💰 Altman sought billions for AI chip venture pre-firing

Sam Altman reportedly raised billions from Middle Eastern investors for a new AI chip startup called ‘Tigris’ before his firing. The project aimed to challenge Nvidia's dominance, with Altman's side ventures likely complicating his relationship with OpenAI's board.

🤝 France, Germany & Italy push unified EU AI rules

The EU power trio of France, Germany, and Italy just jointly agreed on a proposal for voluntary but binding AI rules for the bloc — pushing back on sanctioning of foundation models, instead lobbying for more self-regulation.

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THAT’S A WRAP

That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!

If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundownai

❤️ Rundown review of the day

Tech

⚡️ SpaceX makes history

Rowan Cheung • 3 minutes

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Welcome, Tech enthusiasts.

Though exploding before completion, SpaceX’s Starship rocket accomplished several pivotal milestones in its second test launch this weekend.

But is the polarizing public sentiment toward Elon Musk fueling an explosive discourse around the company’s ambitions? Let’s dig in…


In today’s tech rundown:

  • SpaceX achieves new milestones in weekend launch

  • 3D-printed robotic hand has human-like bones and tendons

  • 10 new products

  • 7 quick stories

Read time: 3 minutes

TODAY’S HEADLINES

SPACEX

🚀 SpaceX achieves new milestones in weekend launch

Image source: SpaceX

The Rundown: SpaceX's giant Starship rocket launched on its first ‘successful’ spaceflight, reaching speeds of over 15,000 mph before an explosion ended the test early.

The details:

  • While it didn’t achieve orbit, Starship successfully tackled several milestones.

  • The nearly 400-foot-tall Starship lit all 33 of its Raptor engines, marking a huge step in engine reliability.

  • The rocket achieved staging, separating the Super Heavy booster, which disintegrated shortly after.

  • The FAA will now oversee an investigation, formulating another list of actions needed before a third test.

The relevance: While the test seemed to hit new milestones, the public discourse felt overwhelmingly negative — focusing solely on the explosion. Despite not completing its full run, the milestones accomplished seem to be a significant step forward for SpaceX’s ambitions.

TOGETHER WITH BOARDROOM

⚡️ A one-stop-shop for the business of sports

The Rundown: HeadlineToGo is your one-stop shop for the day’s biggest stories in the business of sports, music, and entertainment — delivered every morning Monday-Saturday.

Get the latest updates from:

Athletes, executives, musicians, and creators who are moving the business world forward to industry trends, tech advances, and emerging opportunities.

Subscribe to Boardroom to read more!

3D PRINTING

🤖 3D-printed robotic hand has human-like bones and tendons

Image source: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

The Rundown: Researchers just 3D printed a robotic hand with internal bones, ligaments, and tendons using a new vision-controlled jetting technique — which could inspire future robot bodies and movement.

The details:

  • The hand was printed in one piece using soft, elastic polymers instead of the traditional rigid plastics.

  • An integrated laser scanner inspects each printed layer for flaws.

  • The closed-loop approach enables printing complete robots in one go.

  • The bio-inspired hand design is based on MRI scans of human hands and can sense touch, grasp objects, and even stop fingers on contact.

The relevance: Is this new 3D printing technique a crucial step towards more dexterous, bio-inspired robotics? Printing fully integrated robots also eliminates tedious assembly — an important detail for scaling up production.

NEW PRODUCTS

🎙️ RTILA Studio- Automate repetitive tasks quick & easy (link)

▶️ Slick- Create viral YouTube shorts in minutes (link)

📅 ReferLink- It’s like Calendly but for job referrals (link)

📕 DeepFiction- An AI platform for creating and sharing stories (link)

🎥 Descript- A powerful all-in-one video and podcast editing tool using AI (link)

📝 Copy AI- Generate content, such as blog headlines, emails, and social media posts using AI (link)

⚡️ Play HT- The highest quality AI-Powered voice generation platform (link)

🧠 Decktopus- An AI-powered presentation generator (link)

🥥 Coconaut AI- Create a chatbot Like ChatGPT powered by your data (link)

💬 Chatling- Build custom AI chatbots without code (link)

Browse the most popular tools ever featured with our tool database.

SNIPPETS

OpenAI’s board of directors shockingly fired CEO Sam Altman, causing revolt from staff members and the tech community — with the two sides now working to come to a resolution and potential return.

Disney ceased advertising on Twitter, leading to ESPN's social media silence amidst a wider corporate exodus from the platform.

Advertising executives urge Twitter's Linda Yaccarino to resign over the platform's inadequate response to hate speech.

Elon Musk calls for transparency from OpenAI regarding the firing of CEO Sam Altman, emphasizing the high stakes of advanced AI's risks to society.

Disney's Hotstar broke viewership records with 59 million concurrent viewers for a cricket World Cup final, despite subscriber losses in India.

Postmeds, the parent of online pharmacy Truepill, reportedly suffered a breach exposing millions of patients' sensitive health data.

Meta announced the company is shutting down its Responsible AI team that monitored AI risks, moving members to work on generative AI and infrastructure instead.

SPONSOR US

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THAT’S A WRAP

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❤️ Rundown review of the day

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