Stay Ahead on AI.

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

Google DeepMind's latest AI breakthrough moves it from merely playing chess to competing in complex physical games in the real world through robotics.

With machines now able to learn physical tasks requiring split-second decisions and adaptability, is this the start of a new robotics era? Let’s get into it…

In today’s AI rundown:

Google’s ping-pong-playing robot
GPT-4 tackles top-secret tasks
Create custom selfies with Meta AI
AI speeds up schizophrenia cure
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

GOOGLE

🏓 Google’s ping-pong-playing robot

Image source Google DeepMind

The Rundown: Google DeepMind just developed a robotic table tennis AI agent that achieved “human-level speed and performance“ winning 45% of matches against opponents of varying skill levels.

The details:

The robot won 100% of matches against beginners and 55% against intermediate players across 29 matches.
It uses a combination of simulated training and real-world data to refine its skills.
The system can adapt to opponents' playing styles in real time, adjusting its strategy on the fly.
While successful against amateur players, the robot still struggles against advanced opponents due to physical and skill limitations.

Why it matters: People have been playing competitive games like chess against AI for a while, but physical games are new. This breakthrough moves us closer to the robotics community's 'north star' of human-level performance in real-world tasks — opening up new possibilities for robots that can better adapt in real-time to the physical world.

TOGETHER WITH ARTISAN AI

🤖 Hire Ava, the AI-powered BDR

The Rundown: Artisan's AI BDR Ava automates your entire outbound demand generation, delivering quality leads to your inbox on autopilot.

Ava increases your sales with:

Access to 300M+ high-quality B2B prospects
Automated lead enrichment with 10+ data sources
Advanced personalization using LinkedIn, Twitter, and web scraping, with full email deliverability management

Click here to book a demo to see Ava in action.

MICROSOFT

🕵️ GPT-4 tackles top-secret tasks

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Microsoft and Palantir just partnered to deliver advanced AI, including GPT-4, and analytics capabilities to U.S. Defense and Intelligence agencies through classified cloud environments.

The details:

The partnership integrates Palantir's AI Platforms with Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in classified clouds.
The aim is to safely and securely enable AI-driven operational workloads across defense and intelligence sectors.
OpenAI’s models, including GPT-4, will be leveraged by the U.S. government to develop innovations for national security missions.

Why it matters: AI being trusted with classified documents is a big leap in its acceptance as a useful tool for humanity. However, it does feel a bit unsettling knowing that OpenAI’s models are being used at the government level, with the safety team completely dissolving last month and the still uncovered mysteries sorrounding Q*.

AI TRAINING

🤳 Create custom selfies with Meta AI

The Rundown: Instagram's integration with Meta AI now allows users to prompt and generate personalized images of their faces in any scenario for free.

Step-by-step:

Open Instagram and tap the messages icon (top-right corner).
Click the blue "Ask Meta AI or Search" circle at the top.
Type "Imagine me as [your choice]" (e.g., "Imagine me as a chef"), tap "Get started", and upload 3 clear photos of your face when prompted.
Write the same prompt again and review your new AI-generated image with your face on it 🎉

PRESENTED BY ZAPIER

🍊 Conquer tasks with Tangy Task Assistants

The Rundown: ZAP’s newest flavor, Tangy Task Assistants, equips your computer with AI bots to tackle your to-do list — allowing users to focus on what truly matters.

Tangy Task Assistants allows you to:

Build custom AI bots for any task with ease
Connect with live data sources for accurate information
Automate your do-to-list into a done list
Create AI bots that work even while you sleep

Ready to delegate tasks to AI? Get started with ZAP, AI in a can today!

AI RESEARCH

🧠 AI speeds up schizophrenia cure

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Researchers at Uppsala University recently used AI to accurately predict 3D structures of receptors linked to schizophrenia and depression treatments and speed up possible treatment strategies.

The details:

The AI model predicted the structure of TAAR1, a receptor linked to schizophrenia and depression treatments.
Then, supercomputers screened millions of molecules to find those fitting the AI-generated model.
Experimental testing confirmed many AI-predicted molecules activated TAAR1, and one potent molecule showed promising positive effects in animal experiments.

Why it matters: Yesterday, researchers reported on a new model that can predict major diseases early enough to treat them, and now AI is working on curing schizophrenia and depression. As the tech continues to improve, we’re going to see a complete transformation in healthcare that will likely save millions, if not billions, of lives.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🚀 Wordware - Powerful IDE for building complex AI agents and applications
🤖 Bardeen - AI agent that turns complex workflows into one click
🎨 FLUX on Freepik - Access FLUX, the new AI image generation model on Freepik premium
📅 Hero - All-in-one daily assistant taking care of calendar, to-dos, and notes
💡 Napkin - AI for visualizing business storytelling
🔎 AlphaSense - Market intelligence and research platform

New AI Job Opportunities

👨‍💻 Waymo - Director of Engineering - Machine Learning
🎨 Anthropic - Product Designer
🌟 Weights & Biases - Revenue Operations Manager
🌳 Sanctuary AI - Director - Government Relations

QUICK HITS

Apple is rumored to charge between $10-20 for its upcoming advanced Intelligence features that will likely come out early next year.

Alibaba just released Qwen2-Math, a specialized AI model series that outperforms GPT-4 in mathematical problem-solving capabilities.

Google revealed its newest Nest Learning Thermostat — using AI to make adjustments based on user patterns and the weather conditions outside.

UK regulators launched a merger probe into Amazon's $4 billion investment in AI firm Anthropic for potential antitrust concerns.

Nvidia partners indirectly confirmed AI chip delay with the company offering H200 GPUs as an interim solution for customers.

Parler released new open-source Text-to-Speech models with improved speed and customization for AI voice generation applications.

SoundHound acquired Amelia AI for $80 million to expand into financial services, insurance, healthcare, and retail arenas.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

Mystery AI model sparks Q* rumors

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

A mysterious AI model just surfaced in the LMSYS Arena, reportedly outperforming GPT-4o in advanced reasoning in early tests.

With Sam Altman also coincidentally dropping cryptic tweets, are we finally witnessing the launch of OpenAI’s top-secret Q* model? Let’s get into it…

In today’s AI rundown:

Sam Altman teases ‘Project Strawberry‘
AI breakthrough accurately predicts diseases
Create lifelike AI narration videos in minutes
OpenAI bets $60M on webcams
5 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

🍓 Sam Altman teases ‘Project Strawberry‘

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: A new unknown AI model has appeared in the LMSYS Chatbot Arena, igniting rumors that it could be OpenAI's highly anticipated Q* AI breakthrough or its evolution — codenamed 'Strawberry'.

The details:

A new ‘anonymous-chatbot’ appeared in the LMSYS Chatbot Arena — an open-source platform where AI startups often test upcoming releases.
Previously, OpenAI tested GPT-4o with gpt2-chatbot two weeks before releasing it to the public, which put the arena on high alert for new AI models.
Testers of “anonymous-chatbot” report that it shows more advanced reasoning than GPT-4o and any other frontier model.
To add fuel to the speculation, Sam Altman tweeted a picture of a Strawberry on X, which is the codename of OpenAI’s reported secret AI model.

Why it matters: As competitors like Anthropic and Meta start to catch up to GPT-4o, the Internet has been eagerly awaiting OpenAI's next move. If this mystery model is indeed Q*/Strawberry, then we could be on the cusp of another seismic shift in AI capabilities.

TOGETHER WITH TENSORWAVE

🚀 Unlock 1M context chat with a single GPU

The Rundown: TensorWave Cloud’s latest development allows the Llama 3-70B model to process 1M tokens of context with a single GPU — setting new standards for real-time AI interactions.

This breakthrough enables:

Enhanced real-time chat enabling more dynamic, interactive applications
Optimized performance through AMD's state-of-the-art MI300X GPUs
Scalable, cost-effective solutions for deploying large language models

Click here to learn more and see demos of the 1M context capabilities in action.

AI RESEARCH

🧪 AI breakthrough accurately predicts diseases

Image source: ARXIV

The Rundown: Researchers have just developed an AI model that can predict major diseases like heart conditions, diabetes, and cancer — significantly outperforming existing methods.

The details:

The new model analyzes patient data using statistics and deep learning to spot disease indicators more accurately.
It employs a smart algorithm (SEV-EB) to identify crucial health markers, helping doctors prioritize the most relevant patient information.
This achieves 95% accuracy in predicting specific diseases like coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast cancer.
It also leverages patients' digital health records for personalized risk assessment and earlier healthcare interventions.

Why it matters: Remember when AlphaFold cracked the protein folding problem? This could be healthcare's next big AI moment. By significantly improving disease prediction accuracy, this model could transform early diagnosis and treatment planning to help save millions of lives across the globe.

AI TRAINING

🎬 Create lifelike AI narration videos in minutes

The Rundown: RenderNet's new Narrator feature allows you to produce realistic videos of AI characters narrating any script with perfect lip sync.

Step-by-step:

Visit RenderNet's website and create a free account to get started.
Click "Try Narrator" on your dashboard to open the creation interface.
Upload your source video (MP4, 2560p or lower, 60fps or lower).
Optional: Upload a face image for a custom narrator appearance.
Choose an AI voice, write your script in any supported language, and hit 'Generate'.

Pro tip: For best results, use a source video with clear facial features and minimal background movement.

PRESENTED BY LAMBDA

🦙 Deploy Llama 3.1 405B with a 1-Click Cluster

The Rundown: Lambda's 1-Click Clusters bring Meta's state-of-the-art Llama 3.1 405B model to your fingertips, revolutionizing AI accessibility for businesses and researchers.

Lambda's 1-Click Cluster lets you:

Deploy Llama 3.1 405B easily with a step-by-step tutorial
Run at full precision (FP16) with multi-node setup
Maximize performance with NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs

Deploy Llama 3.1 405B on Lambda Cloud with this free step-by-step guide.

OPAL

📷 OpenAI bets $60M on webcams

Image source: Opal

The Rundown: OpenAI is reportedly leading a $60 million Series B funding round for Opal, a company known for high-end webcams, with plans to develop AI-powered consumer devices.

The details:

Opal plans to expand beyond high-end webcams and develop creative tools powered by OpenAI’s AI models.
The startup will work closely with OpenAI researchers to prototype various device ideas.
OpenAI executives are reportedly most interested in integrating their new voice AI models into Opal’s devices.

Why it matters: OpenAI's $60 million bet on Opal and Sam Altman's personal investments in AI hardware startups signals a major push from the AI giant to bring advanced AI from the cloud directly into users' hands.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🧠 Flowith - AI-powered idea flow for deep work
🎙️ Adobe Podcast - AI audio enhancement and collaboration
🎥 CogVideoX-2B - Open-sourced Sora-like AI video generator
🐻 Brainybear - Train AI chatbots in 3 clicks
🎓 Semantic Scholar - Research search tool for scientific literature

New AI Job Opportunities

🔐 Pinecone - Staff Product Security Engineer
🌟 Luma AI - Head of Talent
🧠 Meta - AI Research Scientist - Vision Large Language Models - Generative AI
🌍 Tempus - Territory Sales Executive - LA North

QUICK HITS

Mistral AI launched model customization, an early version of Agents, and a stable SDK to simplify generative AI application development.

Google announced a new Gemini AI-powered TV streamer, replacing Chromecast with advanced smart home and entertainment features.

Audible began testing the AI-powered search feature "Maven" to provide personalized audiobook recommendations based on user queries.

Wendy's introduced Spanish AI ordering in Florida drive-thrus, enhancing accessibility for Spanish-speaking customers.

Intel reportedly declined an opportunity to invest in OpenAI in 2017, missing early entry into the AI market due to doubts about AI's near-term potential.

Verizon deployed AI and machine learning to predict and prevent fiber cuts, enhancing network protection efforts.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

AI robot assembles BMW

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

Figure’s newest AI robot went from cleaning up the kitchen a few months ago to autonomously assembling a BMW today.

As Figure CEO Brett Adcock takes swings at Elon Musk and Tesla for the most advanced humanoid, are we on the verge of the robot wave? Let’s get into it…

In today’s AI rundown:

AI robot helps assemble a BMW
TikTok creator challenges OpenAI Sora
Visualize your chat history with Claude
New AI can listen while speaking
5 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

P.S. We’re hosting a free Llama 3.1 workshop today at 2 PM EST with Meta’s Head of Open Source. Join here and RSVP in the events tab.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

FIGURE AI

🤖 AI robot helps assemble a BMW

Image source: Figure AI

The Rundown: OpenAI-backed startup Figure AI just showed off Figure 02, its next-generation AI-powered humanoid robot — capable of completely autonomous work in complex environments like a BMW factory.

The details:

Figure 02 uses OpenAI’s AI models for speech-to-speech reasoning, allowing the humanoid robot to have full conversations with humans.
A Vision Language Model (VLM) enables the robot to make quick, common-sense decisions based on visual input and self-correct errors.
Six RGB cameras provide the robot with 360-degree vision to help it navigate the real world.
The robot stands 5'6"and weighs 132 lbs, with a 44 lb lifting capacity and a 20-hour runtime thanks to a custom 2.25 KWh battery pack.

Why it matters: The humanoid robot race is intensifying, with Figure CEO Brett Adcock claiming that Figure 02 is now the “most advanced humanoid on the planet" — a direct challenge toward Elon Musk and Tesla Optimus. While the world now waits for Elon’s response, Figure has one ace up its sleeve: its OpenAI partnership.

TOGETHER WITH WEBAI

🧠 AI in one platform, tailored to you

The Rundown: Using webAI, you can unlock the real value of AI with local, ownable, and customizable models – allowing you to create personalized AI on a single platform.

webAI allows you to:

Test and iterate solutions directly, with no need for a dedicated AI team
Utilize local compute, meaning faster, secure testing at lower costs
Deploy effortlessly across local, cloud, edge, or hybrid environments.

Start building your custom AI today.

BYTEDANCE

🦄 TikTok creator challenges OpenAI Sora

Image source: Jimeng AI screenshot via @aigclink on X

The Rundown: ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, just launched Jimeng AI for Chinese users, a text-to-video AI app that directly competes with OpenAI’s (unreleased) Sora AI video model.

The details:

Jimeng AI is available on the Apple App Store and Android for Chinese users.
ByteDance's entry into the AI video generation market follows similar launches by other Chinese tech firms, including Kuaishou's Kling AI.
The subscription, priced at 79 yuan ($11) monthly or 659 yuan ($92) annually allows for the creation of ~2,050 images or 168 AI videos per month.
Unlike OpenAI's Sora, which isn't yet publicly available, these models by Jimeng AI are already accessible to users (in China).

Why it matters: China's AI video generation race is accelerating, with Kling AI's public release just weeks ago and now ByteDance's Jimeng AI launching while the world anxiously waits for Sora's public release. With Jimeng AI being backed by TikTok, it will have plenty of training data and deep pockets to compete against other AI giants.

CLAUDE

📊 Visualize your chat history with Claude

The Rundown: Claude's new Artifacts feature allows you to create visual timelines of conversations, allowing you to summarize and track complex projects when conversations get too lengthy.

Step-by-step:

Visit Claude AI and create an account if you haven't already.
Have a detailed conversation with Claude about your project or topic.
When ready, prompt Claude with: "Create a mermaid timeline rundown of this chat. Provide at least three sentences explaining each key discussion point. Skip errors and start from the first chat, focusing on the most important parts. Include the chat content, actions taken, and the purpose of each section. Make sure it displays visually in the code preview."
Review your generated timeline and use it to recap, share, or analyze your project's chat progress!

PRESENTED BY SECTION

🧠 Free eBook: The AI Proficiency Report

The Rundown: Section’s new report measured AI proficiency in the workforce and discovered some shocking statistics, including that only 7% of workers are actually good at using AI.

The report revealed:

What AI-proficient workers do differently, based on 1000+ survey responses
Simple daily practices to transform "newcomers" into AI experts
Three company policies that create AI superheroes, not skeptics

Download the full report for free

AI RESEARCH

🧪 New AI can listen while speaking

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: AI researchers just developed a new Listening-While-Speaking Language Model (LSLM) that can listen and speak simultaneously — advancing real-time, interactive speech-based AI conversations.

The details:

The new model, called the Listening-while-Speaking Language Model (LSLM), enables full-duplex modeling in interactive speech-language models.
LSLM uses a token-based decoder-only TTS for speech generation and a streaming self-supervised learning encoder for real-time audio input.
The system can detect turn-taking in real-time and respond to interruptions, a key feature of natural conversation.
The model demonstrated robustness to noise and sensitivity to diverse instructions in experiments.

Why it matters: While OpenAI's recent Her-like advanced voice mode for ChatGPT inches us toward realistic AI conversations, LSLM leaps even further by enabling AI to process incoming speech WHILE talking. This could revolutionize human-AI interactions — making conversations with machines feel truly natural and responsive.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🎙️ Wondercraft AI Audio - Easily create hyper-realistic audio ads
💡 Me.bot - Transform ideas into your AI life coach
🎒 Heeyo- Smart AI friends that help kids learn
🎬 Morph Studio - All-in-one AI video workflow
👩‍💼 Tezi Max - Autonomous AI recruiting partner for end-to-end recruiting

New AI Job Opportunities

📈 Descript - Senior Analytics Engineer
👨‍💻 xAI - Software Engineer - AI Tooling
📆 C3 AI - Senior Director - Events Marketing
👩‍💼 Palantir Technologies - Program Manager - Commercial Deployments

QUICK HITS

OpenAI introduced a Structured Outputs feature for its API, allowing developers to ensure AI-generated outputs match specific JSON schemas.

Colorado released an AI roadmap for schools, providing guidelines on integrating AI into education policy and curricula.

ProRata AI raised $25M and partners with major media companies to develop an AI chatbot with a revenue-sharing model based on content attribution.

Cleveland Clinic launched a Quantum-AI Biomedical Frontiers Fellowship Program integrating quantum computing and AI into healthcare research.

Japanese scientists developed a simplified EUV lithography tool for cheaper chip production, potentially revolutionizing AI hardware manufacturing.

Sonova introduced Sphere Infinio, the first hearing aid utilizing real-time AI to improve speech clarity from background noise.

Reddit announced plans to test AI-generated summaries at the top of search result pages, using a combination of first-party and third-party technology to enhance content discovery.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

OpenAI co-founder shakeup continues...

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

OpenAI is facing another major leadership shakeup as three key figures, including two co-founders, head for the exit or take extended leave.

With the AI giant continuing to lose top talent — is there a possibility of something bigger brewing behind the scenes? Let’s investigate…

In today’s AI rundown:

OpenAI co-founder leaves for Anthropic
Elon sues Sam Altman… again
Turn images into videos with Gen-3
Nvidia trains video model ‘Cosmos’
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

🚨 OpenAI co-founder leaves for Anthropic

Image source: Jim Block / UC Berkeley

The Rundown: Three key leaders at OpenAI are departing or taking leave, including co-founder John Schulman, co-founder Greg Brockman, and Peter Deng — another major shakeup for the AI powerhouse.

The details:

John Schulman, co-founder and a key leader at OpenAI, has left to join rival AI startup Anthropic — one of OpenAI’s biggest competitors.
Greg Brockman, OpenAI's president and co-founder, is taking an extended leave of absence until the end of the year.
Peter Deng, a product leader who joined last year from Meta, has reportedly also departed.
These moves follow other recent high-profile exits, including co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Andrej Karpathy.

Why it matters: OpenAI has struggled to regain its footing after Sam Altman's departure and eventual return as CEO in November 2023. Brockman, one of Altman's biggest supporters during the ousting, mysteriously takes a leave of absence at a crucial time as OpenAI sees increased competition from Anthropic and Meta AI.

TOGETHER WITH WORKOS

🔑 Start selling to enterprises with a few lines of code

The Rundown: WorkOS is the most comprehensive user management platform for leading AI companies like Perplexity, Jasper, and Cursor.

WorkOS delivers:

WorkOS is designed for B2B SaaS, providing easy-to-use APIs to integrate SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and audit trails in minutes.
WorkOS AuthKit provides a complete user management solution that is free up to 1 million MAUs.
From high-quality documentation to self-serve onboarding for your customers, WorkOS removes all the unnecessary complexity for your engineers.

Get started with WorkOS today

ELON MUSK

⚖️ Elon sues Sam Altman… again

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Elon Musk just filed a new lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging manipulation and deceit in the company's shift from non-profit to for-profit status.

The details:

Musk's lawsuit claims OpenAI breached its "founding agreement" to develop AI for humanity's benefit.
The new complaint alleges violations of federal racketeering laws and "numerous acts of wire fraud."
OpenAI denies the allegations, referring to previous statements that Musk supported the for-profit transition.
This lawsuit comes only months after Musk dropped a similar case.

Why it matters: It's been a brutal day for OpenAI, marked by leadership shakeups and now Elon Musk once again challenging the company's for-profit business model. While the lawsuit’s outcome is uncertain, it could uncover several mysteries at OpenAI, including the departure of key leaders, the Q* breakthrough, and more.

AI TRAINING

🎬 Turn images into videos with Gen-3

Image source: Runway

The Rundown: Runway's Gen-3 Alpha model now offers image-to-video capabilities, allowing users to upload an image and turn it into a short video for more consistent generations.

Step-by-step:

Visit Runway and sign up for an account (paid plans only).
On your dashboard, click "Text/Image to Video" under "Runway's AI Tools".
Select "Gen-3 Alpha", upload a 16:9 image as your starting point and describe your desired video.
Choose a duration (5 or 10 seconds), click "Generate", and watch your image come to life!

PRESENTED BY FLIBBO

🎯 Get the most accurate AI answers

The Rundown: Flibbo AI Lab's new AI-based social platform just gained 10k+ users in its first release with its innovative approach of combining all AI chatbots for the most accurate answers.

Flibbo delivers:

Instant AI Vision and Voice — launching mid-August, ahead of OpenAI to market
An ‘AI Mastermind’ that combines ChatGPT, Llama, Gemini, and Claude for the most accurate answers
Exclusive early access to shape the future of AI

Click here to join the limited alpha testing phase.

NVIDIA

📹 Nvidia trains video model ‘Cosmos’

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Leaked documents obtained by 404 media report Nvidia has been scraping millions of videos daily from YouTube, Netflix, and other sources to train its unreleased foundational AI model.

The details:

Nvidia's project, codenamed Cosmos, aims to process "a human lifetime visual experience worth of training data per day."
The company used open-source tools and virtual machines to download videos, including full-length movies and TV shows.
Employees raised concerns about copyright and ethics, but were told there was "umbrella approval" from executives.
Nvidia claims its practices are "in full compliance with the letter and spirit of copyright law."

Why it matters: Project Cosmos appears to be Nvidia’s big move into video-based AI, which could revolutionize everything from 3D world generation to self-driving cars, digital humans, and more. However, this harsh introduction is not a good look for the company, especially as the industry's practices are coming under intense scrutiny.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

⚡ Deepgram - All-in-one Voice AI API to transcribe, analyze audio, and convert text to human-like voices instantly*
👩‍🎤 Synthesia Personal Avatar - Create lifelike avatars with just a 5-minute video
🎬 Meta SAM 2 - Segment anything, track an object across any videos
🧠 Minduck - Simplify AI communication through visual thinking
🧑‍💻 Ollama - Effortlessly run LLMs and customize your own
📍Placer - Make smarter real estate decisions with location and foot traffic insights

New AI Job Opportunities

📱Captions - Software Engineer - iOS
💹 DeepL - Sales Enablement Director
💽 Contextual AI - Data Validator - Copy Editing
👩‍🔬 Hippocratic AI - Physician Researcher - Bilingual Mandarin/English)

*Sponsored listing

QUICK HITS

Groq raised $640 million in Series D funding at a $2.8 billion valuation, aiming to scale its AI inference capacity and accelerate development of its next-generation LPU technology.

Meta announced the Llama 3.1 Impact Grants program, offering up to $2 million in funding for projects using Llama 3.1 to address social challenges.

New AI technology developed by Caristo Diagnostics can detect hidden heart attack risk by analyzing CT scans for coronary inflammation.

OpenAI reportedly built a text watermarking tool to detect ChatGPT-written content with 99.9% effectiveness, but has not released it publicly.

Tencent joined a $300+ million funding round for Chinese AI startup Moonshot, valuing the company at $3.3 billion, as competition intensifies in China's AI sector.

Secretaries of state from five U.S. states urged Elon Musk to address misinformation spread by X's AI chatbot Grok regarding the upcoming November election.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

Meta AI goes Hollywood

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

Meta is making moves in Hollywood, offering celebrities millions to use their voices for its new AI assistant project.

Are we entering a new world with billions of celebrity-powered AI voice agents, or heading for another ScarJo/OpenAI-style controversy? Let’s get into it…

In today’s AI rundown:

Meta AI’s new Hollywood hires
Google absorbs Character AI talent
Large 2: A free-to-use GPT-4 competitor
Tesla unveils new AI vision for robots
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

⭐ Meta AI’s new Hollywood hires

Image source: Getty Images

The Rundown: Meta is reportedly offering millions to celebrities like Awkwafina, Judi Dench, and Keegan-Michael Key to use their voices in upcoming AI projects.

The details:

The AI voices would be used across Meta's platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Meta is reportedly rushing to secure deals before its Meta Connect conference in September.
Contracts are reportedly temporary, with actors having the option to renew.
Meta has previously experimented with celebrity-inspired chatbots, though that program has ended.

Why it matters: In our exclusive interview with Mark Zuckerberg, he predicted that “we're going to live in a world where there are going to be hundreds of millions or billions of different AI agents”. If it holds true, celebrity voice-powered AI could be part of Meta's next big play to drive user engagement and growth on the platform.

TOGETHER WITH ZAPIER

⚡️ Learn AI and automation at ZapConnect 2024

The Rundown: Zapier is hosting its annual virtual user conference on September 26, 2024. Four content tracks, including a special keynote, will offer insights on using AI and automation you don’t want to miss.

Get exclusive access to:

How AI and automation can help you revolutionize your workflows
Future of work insights from Zapier CEO Wade Foster and HubSpot CTO Dharmesh Shah
The latest Zapier features with insider tips from automation experts

Click here to secure your spot to ZapConnect 2024 today.

GOOGLE

💰 Google absorbs Character AI talent

Image source: Ascannio / Shutterstock

The Rundown: Google has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with AI startup Character AI for its large language model technology, while also reabsorbing the startup's co-founders and key talent back into its AI team.

The details:

Character AI co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas return to Google, their former employer.
Google gains a non-exclusive license to Character AI's language model technology.
About 30 of Character AI's 130 employees, mainly those working on model training and voice AI, will join Google's Gemini AI efforts.
Character AI will switch to open-source models like Meta's Llama 3.1 for its products, moving away from in-house models.

Why it matters: This deal highlights the intensifying race to secure top AI talent, mirroring Microsoft’s recent deal with Inflection and Amazon’s deal with Adept. As AI becomes increasingly critical to tech companies' futures, these talent grabs could reshape the landscape, while raising antitrust concerns.

AI TRAINING

🧠 Large 2: A free-to-use GPT-4 competitor

The Rundown: Mistral AI recently released Mistral Large 2, an open-source AI model that rivals GPT-4 in performance across a few key benchmarks, available for free and unlimited use.

Step-by-step:

Visit Mistral AI Chat and create an account for free.
Find the "Model" dropdown menu in the chat interface.
Select "Large 2" from the list of available models.
Start interacting with Mistral Large 2 by typing your prompts or questions.

Start building today with 100 free hours

PRESENTED BY ASSEMBLY AI

🎙️ Build AI products with breakthrough speech AI

The Rundown: AssemblyAI's developer-approved API offers the most AI speech capabilities on the market, including speech-to-text, speech understanding, and full access to Claude 3 models.

AssemblyAI leads the market with:

Industry-leading accuracy at 95% and WER at 4.8%
30% less hallucinations than competitors
Robust capabilities including access to Claude 3 models for in-depth call analysis, summarization, and more

TESLA

🤖 Tesla unveils new AI vision for robots

Image source: Tesla

The Rundown: Tesla just filed a patent for an AI-powered vision system that could transform how autonomous robots perceive and navigate their environment using only camera inputs.

The details:

The system uses a single neural network to process camera data and output detailed 3D environment information without LiDAR or radar.
It divides space into 3D voxels, predicting occupancy, shape, semantic data, and motion for each in real time.
The tech is designed to run on a robot's onboard computer, enabling immediate decision-making.
This system could be implemented in both Tesla's vehicles and humanoid robots like Optimus.

Why it matters: By relying solely on camera inputs and onboard processing, Tesla's new vision system could enable robots to navigate diverse environments more efficiently and adapt to changes in real time. This would eliminate the need for extensive pre-mapping and accelerate the arrival of affordable, autonomous robots.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🎨 Black Forest Labs FLUX.1 - Generate high-quality from prompts
🎵 Neutone Morpho - Transform sounds into auditory experiences in real-time
👨‍💻 Llama coder - Generate full React apps with Claude Artifacts and Llama 3.1
🔍 Felo Search - Multilingual AI search engine
🤗 mgamate - Supportive 1-on-1 AI copilot for managers
📈 Clarity - Customer-focused sales with AI meeting recording and tracking

New AI Job Opportunities

💳 Luma AI - Senior Backend Engineer - Payments
👨‍💻 Limitless AI - Principle Design Engineer
💼 Cohere - Head of Product Marketing - AI & Language Models
📅 OpenAI - Workplace Events Coordinator

QUICK HITS

Adobe Illustrator introduced new AI-powered generative vector features, allowing users to create complex vector art and patterns from text prompts.

UC Berkeley unveiled the 'Berkeley Humanoid', a 2 ft. 9 in. humanoid research platform designed for learning-based control and robust locomotion over various terrains.

Britain canceled $1.7 billion worth of computing infrastructure projects, including plans for an exascale computer, dealing a setback to the country's AI ambitions.

China's Cixin Technology unveiled the Cixin P1, a new 6nm Arm-based 12-core AI chip for PCs, capable of 45 TOPS (trillion operations per second) and compatible with multiple operating systems.

Microsoft modified its AI partnership with UAE-based G42, opting to lease AI products instead of transferring sensitive technology amid concerns over G42's ties to China.

An autonomous robot dentist performed the world's first human dental procedure, preparing a tooth for a crown in about 15 minutes — significantly faster than human dentists.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

Google claims the #1 chatbot spot

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

Google's experimental Gemini 1.5 Pro suddenly claimed the AI chatbot crown today — outperforming GPT-4 and Claude 3.5 by a whopping 14 points.

Did the search giant just quietly become the new leader in AI, or are we on the cusp of a major counter-response from OpenAI and Anthropic? Let's investigate…

In today’s AI rundown:

Gemini 1.5 Pro tops chatbot leaderboard
Black Forest Labs announces FLUX.1
AI-assisted content creation with Llama 3.1
Stability AI's instant 3D asset generator
5 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

GOOGLE DEEPMIND

✨ Gemini 1.5 Pro tops chatbot leaderboard

Image source: Google DeepMind

The Rundown: For the first time ever, Google DeepMind's experimental Gemini 1.5 Pro has claimed the top spot on the AI Chatbot Arena leaderboard, surpassing OpenAI's GPT-4o and Anthropic's Claude-3.5 with an impressive score of 1300.

The details:

Gemini 1.5 Pro (experimental 0801) gathered over 12K community votes during a week of testing on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena.
The new experimental model achieved the #1 position on both the overall and vision leaderboards.
The experimental version is available for early testing in Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, and the LMSYS Chatbot Arena.
Google DeepMind hasn't disclosed specific improvements, but promises more updates soon.

Why it matters: Without any announcement, Gemini 1.5 Pro unexpectedly rose to the top of the overall AI chatbot leaderboard — by a whopping 14 points. The leap means that either Google just quietly established itself as the new leader in the LLM space, or we’re on the cusp of major competitive responses from industry rivals.

TOGETHER WITH INNOVATING WITH AI

🚀 Launch your AI consulting career in 6 months

The Rundown: The AI Consultancy Project is a new program from Innovating with AI that equips participants with the skills to capitalize on the growing demand for AI expertise in the business world.

The program offers:

Practical tools and frameworks for client acquisition and service delivery
A structured 6-month roadmap to building a 6-figure consulting business
Exclusive early access for newsletter readers to the next enrollment cycle

Ready to ride the AI wave as a consultant? Click here for early access to the upcoming program.

BLACK FOREST

🌲 Black Forest Labs announces FLUX.1

Image source: Black Forest Labs

The Rundown: Black Forest Labs just launched FLUX.1, a suite of state-of-the-art AI image generation models that rival current leaders like Midjourney and DALL-E 3 — coming in three variants: [pro], [dev], and [schnell].

The details:

The [pro] version is the highest-quality model, offering state-of-the-art performance, available via API and for free on Replicate.
The [dev] variant is an open-weight, non-commercial version matching [pro]'s quality while outperforming competitors in efficiency at the same size.
FLUX.1 [schnell] is an ultra-efficient, 4-step model tailored for local development or personal use.
Black Forest Labs also teased its upcoming text-to-video generation model, which appears to rival Sora in quality.

Why it matters: FLUX.1's incredible quality and open-source options are going to pave the way to a new era of democratized, high-quality AI image generation. And with the teased AI video model on the way, could we see an open-sourced Sora-level video generator hit the market… before Sora itself?

AI TRAINING

🦙 AI-assisted content creation with Llama 3.1

The Rundown: Meta’s Llama 3.1 allows users to search the internet and train the AI to write in their personal style, saving you time on content creation and research processes.

Step-by-step:

Access Llama 3.1 through Meta AI and log in with your Facebook or Instagram account.
Use the internet search feature by asking questions like "Summarize the Olympics highlights this week."
Train Llama 3.1 in your voice by providing a sample of your best content and instructing it to mimic your style.
Generate content by asking Llama 3.1 to create posts on your desired topics.

Pro tip: The more examples and feedback you provide, the better Llama 3.1 will become at emulating your unique writing style!

PRESENTED BY ZAPIER

🥝 Boost automation with Wild Kiwi Workflow

The Rundown: ZAP’s flagship flavor, Wild Kiwi Workflow, is perfect for those who want to automate but don't know where to start — giving users an AI-powered jolt to help build workflows with ease.

ZAP’s Wild Kiwi Workflow allows you to:

Activate Zapier’s AI copilot to build workflows and simplify complex tasks
Add advanced AI actions across 7,000+ apps
Automate processes as fast as you can type

Start transforming your workflows with ZAP today!

STABILITY AI

🎨 Stability AI's instant 3D asset generator

Image source: Stability AI

The Rundown: Stability AI just introduced Stable Fast 3D, an AI model that generates high-quality 3D assets from a single image in just 0.5 seconds — potentially reshaping industries from gaming to e-commerce.

The details:

The model creates complete 3D assets, including UV unwrapped mesh, material parameters, and albedo colors with reduced illumination bake-in.
It outperforms previous models, reducing generation time from 10 minutes to 0.5 seconds while maintaining high-quality output.
Stable Fast 3D is available on Hugging Face and through Stability AI's API, under Stability AI's Community License.

Why it matters: The leap from 10 minutes to 0.5 seconds for high-quality 3D asset generation is nothing short of insane. We're entering a world where video games will soon feature infinite, dynamically generated assets, e-commerce will have instant 3D product previews, architects will see designs in real-time, and so much more.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🗣️ toby - Live speech translation on any video call
✍️ EduWiz - Write paperwork in seconds
🔧 LangGraph Studio - AI-powered agent IDE for LLM development
🤖 Not Diamond - An AI model router that selects the best model for any prompt
🎨 Visual Electric Art Director - Iterate and remix AI-generated images

New AI Job Opportunities

🤖 Meta - AI Research Scientist - Generative AI, Multimodal
💼 OpenAI - Head of Product Finance
🖥️ Anyscale - Software Engineer, Infrastructure Data Plane
📧 People AI - Marketing Automation Specialist

QUICK HITS

Google introduced three new AI features for Chrome, including Google Lens for desktop, Tab compare for product comparisons, and an improved browsing history search.

GitHub launched GitHub Models, a new platform allowing developers to access and experiment with various AI models directly on GitHub, including a playground, Codespaces integration, and deployment.

Healx, an AI-enabled drug discovery startup, raised $47 million in Series C funding and received regulatory clearance to start Phase 2 clinical trials for a new rare disease treatment in the U.S.

Google is facing backlash over its Gemini AI Olympics-themed ad, with critics arguing it promotes overreliance on AI tools at the expense of children's learning and creativity.

Microsoft officially listed OpenAI as a competitor in AI offerings and search advertising in its annual report, despite their long-term partnership and Microsoft's significant investment in the company.

Character AI open-sourced Prompt Poet, their innovative approach to prompt design, aiming to revolutionize how AI interactions are built and managed in production environments.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

Google's tiny AI beats GPT-3.5

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

Google just released its new AI model that BEATS other leading AI models like GPT-3.5 — at just 1/10th the size.

As the race for more efficient AI continues to intensify, are we at the tipping point for running advanced AI directly on our phones? Let's get into it...

In today’s AI rundown:

Google’s tiny AI model bests GPT-3.5
Taco Bell’s AI drive-thru
Use AI to change image scenery in seconds
AI reprograms brain cancer cells
7 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

GOOGLE

✨ Google’s tiny AI model bests GPT-3.5

Image source: Google

The Rundown: Google just unveiled Gemma 2 2B, a lightweight AI model with just 2B parameters that outperforms much larger models like GPT-3.5 and Mixtral 8x7B on key benchmarks.

The details:

Gemma 2 2B boasts just 2.6B parameters, but was trained on a massive 2 trillion token dataset.
It scores 1130 on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena, matching GPT-3.5-Turbo-0613 (1117) and Mixtral-8x7b (1114) — models 10x its size.
Other notable key benchmark scores include 56.1 on MMLU and 36.6 on MBPP, beating its predecessor by over 10%.
The model is open-source, and developers can download the model’s weights from Google’s announcement page.

Why it matters: As we enter a new era of on-device, local AI, lightweight and efficient models are crucial for running AI directly on our phones and laptops. With Gemma 2 beating GPT-3.5 Turbo at just 1/10th the size, Google isn't just showing what's possible — they're cementing their position as the leader in the small model space.

TOGETHER WITH DEEP ATLAS

🧠 Grok machine learning from first-principles

The Rundown: Deep Atlas offers live, immersive machine learning courses for experienced engineers.

Build a first-principles understanding of ML:

End-to-end model development, from data and model selection to training, evaluation, and deployment
Training models using architectures like: transformers, GANs, RNNs, CNNs, autoencoders, and more
Implementing pretrained models with RAG systems, fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and agentic flows

Apply now to join the September cohort (limited seats remaining)!

TACO BELL

🌮 Taco Bell’s AI drive-thru

Image source: The Rundown / Ideogram

The Rundown: Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands, just announced plans to roll out AI-powered drive-thru ordering at hundreds of restaurants in the U.S. by the end of 2024, with ambitions for global implementation.

The details:

The AI understands orders, auto-inputs them into the system, and even suggests additional items — potentially increasing sales through upselling.
Over 100 Taco Bell restaurants in the U.S. already use voice AI in drive-thrus.
The company has been testing the AI for over two years and claims it has outperformed humans in accuracy, reduced wait times, and decreased employee workload.
Rivals like Wendy's and White Castle are also experimenting with AI ordering, while McDonald's recently ended its IBM partnership for similar tech.

Why it matters: If Taco Bell’s positive results on their two-year test are any indication, this large-scale AI implementation could change the way fast-food chain businesses operate and how we order food at drive-thrus. However, the success (or failure) of this rollout could set the tone for the entire industry's adoption.

AI TRAINING

🎨 Use AI to change image scenery in seconds

The Rundown: Krea AI’s new Scene Transfer feature allows users to recreate images with consistent lighting and color schemes, all with just a few clicks, completely free.

Step-by-step:

Visit Krea AI and sign up for a free account.
On the main dashboard, click "Enhance" in the top navigation bar.
Upload your image to the enhancement interface and activate the "Scene Transfer" option on the right side.
Upload a reference image or describe your desired lighting in the prompt. Adjust strength as needed, then click "Enhance".

PRESENTED BY SECTION

🤖 Free workshop: 1 Hour to AI Proficiency

The Rundown: Section is hosting a free-to-join workshop, 1 Hour to AI Proficiency, going over real-world practical tips to help you implement AI in your day-to-day work.

You’ll learn:

Prompting tips that go beyond what you’ve seen on LinkedIn
How to use AI for personal and professional tasks with in-person demos
A proven talk track of “why AI matters” to share with your team

Click here to enroll for the free workshop and start implementing AI today.

AI RESEARCH

🧠 AI reprograms brain cancer cells

Image source: RD World

The Rundown: Researchers at USC made a breakthrough using AI to reprogram glioblastoma cells into immune-activating dendritic cells in mouse models, potentially revolutionizing treatment for the deadly brain cancer.

The details:

Glioblastoma is the deadliest adult brain cancer, with less than 10% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis.
AI identified genes that can convert glioblastoma cells into dendritic cells (DCs), which sample cancer antigens and activate other immune cells to attack the tumor.
In mouse models, this approach increased survival chances by up to 75% when combined with immune checkpoint therapy.
Researchers have also identified human genes that could potentially reprogram human glioblastoma cells, paving the way for future clinical trials.

Why it matters: By turning cancer cells against themselves, this new research offers a novel way to fight tumors from within. If the 75% increased survival chances in mice translate to humans, this could not only revolutionize glioblastoma treatment but potentially open doors for similar approaches in other hard-to-treat cancers.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🗣️ OpenAI Advanced Voice - Natural and real-time conversations with AI, available for limited ChatGPT Plus subscribers
🌟 Midjourney 6.1 - Enhanced image quality, coherence, and new upscaling features
👩‍🎤 Rendernet Narrator - Seamlessly lip-sync an AI character with natural expressions from a video
💸 Coachvox - Generate leads with an AI coach version of you
🎬 Respeecher - Hollywood-grade AI voice generation
🚀 OFFLIGHT - To-dos, schedules, and emails in one place
🎨 Simply Draw - Learn drawing with instant AI feedback

New AI Job Opportunities

👩‍💼 xAI - People Generalist
⚖️ Rad AI - Legal Counsel
💰 Databricks - Finance Manager
🎨 Meta - Product Marketing Manager, Generative AI Creative

QUICK HITS

Google expanded access to its "About this image" tool, making it available through Circle to Search and Google Lens, allowing users to quickly get context on images they encounter online or via messaging.

Vimeo launched an AI-powered video translation tool that can translate video, audio, and captions into multiple languages while replicating the original speakers' voices.

NEURA, a German robotics company, released a new video showcasing their humanoid robot 4NE-1 performing tasks like chopping vegetables, ironing cloths, solving puzzles, and more.

Synthesia introduced "Personal Avatars," AI-generated lifelike avatars created from brief webcam or phone footage, allowing users to create short-form videos for social media in multiple languages.

San Francisco supervisors banned the use of certain AI rental software like RealPage and Yardi — which were allegedly used by some landlords in the city to set higher rent prices based on competitor data.

A study from the University of Leeds found that AI could help predict the risk of bowel cancer returning in patients, potentially assisting doctors in identifying high-risk cases and avoiding unnecessary chemotherapy.

THAT’S A WRAP

SPONSOR US

Get your product in front of over 600k+ AI enthusiasts

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

FEEDBACK

If you have specific feedback or anything interesting you’d like to share, please let us know by replying to this email.

ChatGPT's new Voice Mode

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools | AI University

Welcome, AI enthusiasts.

OpenAI's new ChatGPT voice can now talk back in real-time with emotion-sensing capabilities, but only for a select few users.

Is this the future of human-AI interaction? Let's get into it...

In today’s AI rundown:

OpenAI begins ChatGPT Voice rollout
Friend’s AI companion necklace
Find viral clips with Canva’s ‘Highlights’
Perplexity’s publisher revenue-sharing
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

🎙️ OpenAI begins ChatGPT Voice rollout

Image source: OpenAI

The Rundown: OpenAI has begun a limited rollout of its hotly anticipated ‘Advanced Voice Mode’ for paying ChatGPT Plus users, offering natural, real-time conversations and the ability for the AI to detect and respond to emotions.

The details:

The feature will initially be available to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users, with plans to give all Plus users access by fall 2024.
Advanced Voice Mode uses GPT-4o and can sense emotions in users' voices, including sadness, excitement, or singing.
Video and screen-sharing capabilities, previously showcased in OpenAI’s early demo, will launch at a ‘later’ date.
OpenAI has sent email instructions to the initial ‘Alpha‘ group selected for early access.

Why it matters: AI is slowly shifting from a tool we text/prompt with, to an intelligence that we collaborate, learn, and grow with. Advanced Voice Mode’s ability to understand and respond to emotions in real-time convos could also have huge use cases in everything from customer service to mental health support.

TOGETHER WITH HUBSPOT

🚀 AI Powered Productivity: Transform Your Day

The Rundown: Maximize your workplace potential with HubSpot’s ChatGPT guide – your roadmap to AI-driven success for curious minds.

With this guide, you’ll learn to:

Streamline daily tasks with AI, from inbox management to product planning
Apply ChatGPT effectively and ethically in our work environment
Stay ahead of the curve by integrating AI tools into your skill set

Download your free guide now and start transforming your workday with ChatGPT.

FRIEND

👋 Friend’s AI companion necklace

Image source: Friend

The Rundown: Avi Schiffmann, a Harvard dropout and Webby Award winner, just unveiled Friend, a $99 AI-powered wearable device designed to combat loneliness by providing constant companionship.

The details:

Friend is a pendant-like device that hangs around the neck and uses AI to engage in conversations and offer emotional support.
The device is always listening and can proactively send messages based on the wearer's context.
Friend has raised $2.5 million in funding at a $50 million valuation from notable investors.
Preorders are now open for the basic white version, with shipping expected in January 2025.

Why it matters: Friend takes a different approach compared to other AI wearables by focusing on companionship rather than productivity. But with a market flooded with overpromises, privacy implications, and concerns about real human connection — the pendant is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to trust.

AI TRAINING

🎥 Find viral clips with Canva’s ‘Highlights’

The Rundown: Canva's ‘Highlights’ feature uses AI to automatically select the best moments from your long-form videos, saving you tedious time spent on editing and increasing the quality of your content.

Step-by-step:

Open your video in Canva's editor (requires a paid subscription).
Click "Edit video" in the top menu, then select "Highlights" from the Tools section.
Let the AI analyze your long video and generate highlight clips.
Review the suggested highlights and select the viral short clips you want to use for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts!

AI UNIVERSITY

🎓 Join us live: free Llama 3.1 workshop series

The Rundown: To celebrate the launch of Llama 3.1 last week, we’re hosting a free 3-day online workshop series at The Rundown AI University — with the second session starting today at 1PM PST.

Join us live to learn:

Why Llama 3.1 is important and real-world use cases
Beginner to advanced integration tips
How to build your own private and local model from your data

All sessions will be taught by The Rundown’s AI professor, Dr. Alvaro Cintas, and previous workshops are recorded and accessible in the AI University.

Click here to sign up for free and RSVP to the next workshop in the events tab.

PERPLEXITY

💰 Perplexity’s publisher revenue-sharing

Image source: Perplexity

The Rundown: Perplexity just introduced a "Publishers' Program" to share ad revenue with media partners, following recent plagiarism accusations and aiming to support quality journalism in the age of AI-powered search.

The details:

The program includes cash advances on future revenue as Perplexity builds its advertising model, set to launch in September.
Initial partners include Time, Der Spiegel, Fortune, WordPress.com, and more, who will receive a "double-digit percentage" of ad revenue.
Partners also get free access to Perplexity's Enterprise Pro tier, developer tools, and insights through Scalepost AI.

Why it matters: Despite constant pushback on AI firms and their training data, media companies are finding few available paths forward other than accepting partnership deals. Perplexity's initiative is a good step toward fairness, but it likely won’t be the end of the growing pains with publishers.

NEW TOOLS & JOBS

Trending AI Tools

🤖 Meta AI Studio - Create and discover personalized AIs
🎬 Vidu - Generate high-quality video from text and images
🧠 Beloga - Intelligent knowledge hub for enhanced user understanding
🗒️ jamie - A privacy-first AI meeting notetaker
🤝 table - A personal CRM, but AI first
🚀 Arcane - Turn user insights into impactful LinkedIn posts

New AI Job Opportunities

📞 Observe AI - Director, Channel Sales - Southeast
👥 DeepMind - People & Culture Partner, Operations
🧠 Meta - Research Scientist, Neural Interfaces
🔬 DeepMind - Research Scientist, Discovery Team