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☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Nvidia, First Republic, FedEx and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

FedEx — Shares were up 11.6% after the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings topped analysts expectations. FedEx reported adjusted earnings of $3.41 per share, topping a Refinitiv consensus forecast of $2.73 per share. Credit Suisse — The Swiss bank's U.S.-traded shares were down 4.1% during premarket trading. Credit Suisse shares have had a volatile week after its largest investor announced it would not provide additional funding to the bank. First Republic Bank — Shares of the bank declined 13.3% during premarket trading.

☆ 5 jaw-dropping things GPT-4 can do that ChatGPT couldn’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

On Tuesday, OpenAI announced the next-generation version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins its viral chatbot tool, ChatGPT. The company said GPT-4 recently passed a simulated law school bar exam with a score around the top 10% of test takers. Providing more precise responsesCompared to the prior version, GPT-4 is able to produce longer, more detailed and more reliable written responses, according to the company. One early user said it provided in-depth suggestions for pickup lines based on a question listed on a dating profile. “They can produce inaccurate information from time to time and can be black-box in nature.”For now, OpenAI said GPT-4 users should exercise caution and use “great care” particularly “in high-stakes contexts.”

☆ Microsoft is bringing ChatGPT technology to Word, Excel and Outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Microsoft on Thursday outlined its plans to bring artificial intelligence to its most recognizable productivity tools, including Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Word, with the promise of changing how millions do their work every day. The new features, which are built on the same technology that underpins ChatGPT, are far more powerful (and less anthropomorphized) than its wide-eyed, paperclip-shaped predecessor. Microsoft is also introducing a concept called Business Chat, an agent that essentially rides along with the user as they work and tries to understand and make sense of their Microsoft 365 data. During a presentation to its customers on Thursday, Microsoft outlined its road map for how it plans to bring artificial intelligence to its Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, Excel and Word. A Microsoft spokesperson said 365 users accessing the new AI tools should be reminded the technology is a work in progress and information will need to be double checked.

☆ Microsoft tries to justify AI's tendency to give wrong answers by saying they're 'usefully wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Tuesday, Google announced it was bringing AI-powered chat technology to Gmail and Google Docs, letting it help composing emails or documents. On Thursday, Microsoft said that its popular business apps like Word and Excel would soon come bundled with ChatGPT-like technology dubbed Copilot. But this time, Microsoft is pitching the technology as being "usefully wrong." Microsoft chief scientist and technical fellow Jaime Teevan said that when Copilot "gets things wrong or has biases or is misused," Microsoft has "mitigations in place." "I studied AI for decades and I feel this huge sense of responsibility with this powerful new tool," Teevan said.

☆ Explainer: What is Microsoft-backed OpenAI's GPT-4 model?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp-backed (MSFT.O) startup OpenAI began the rollout of GPT-4, a powerful artificial intelligence model that succeeds the technology behind the wildly popular ChatGPT. GPT-3.5 is limited to about 3,000-word responses, while GPT-4 can generate responses of more than 25,000 words. Soon ChatGPT users will have the option to change the chatbot's tone and style of responses, OpenAI said. According to OpenAI, GPT-4 has similar limitations as its prior versions and is "less capable than humans in many real-world scenarios". OpenAI said GPT-4 can rival human propagandists in many domains, especially when teamed up with a human editor.

☆ Google unveils 'magic wand' to draft documents as AI race tightens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"This next phase is where we're bringing human beings to be supported with an AI collaborator, who is working in real time," Thomas Kurian, Chief Executive of Google Cloud, said in a press briefing. Google said customers can fine-tune its AI model with their own data while keeping the information and benefits proprietary. Google aims for its AI to "transform" the work of marketers, lawyers, scientists and educators, according to the video. The Mountain View, California-based company announced a partnership with high-profile AI research lab Midjourney, with Google to provide cloud infrastructure including its custom "TPU" chips. Kurian said Google remains "deeply committed to responsible AI," giving controls to customers and reviewing proper use of its products.

☆ Google's working on an updated version of its medical A.I. that can answer health questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Google Health team shared updates about features coming to search, tools for building health apps and the latest in artificial intelligence-powered health research. It's designed to provide high-quality responses to medical questions. The company said the second iteration of the technology, Med-PaLM 2, consistently performed at an "expert" level on medical exam questions. Dr. Alan Karthikesalingam, a research lead at Google Health, said the company is also testing Med-PaLM's answers against responses from real doctors and clinicians. In some cases, Med-PaLM 2's answers were on a par, and even more detailed, than the answers that clinicians had provided.

☆ Twitter rival Koo integrates ChatGPT to help users create content
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A ChatGPT integration is shown in the Koo social media app, in this undated handout photo provided by Koo, and obtained by Reuters on March 12, 2023. Koo/Handout via REUTERSMarch 13 (Reuters) - Koo, an India-based social media app that aims to rival Twitter, has integrated OpenAI's ChatGPT to help users more easily create posts, the company's co-founder told Reuters. Koo users will be able to use ChatGPT directly within the app to help them draft posts about current events, politics or pop culture, said Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of Koo, in an interview. Users can either type their prompts into the ChatGPT tool or use Koo's voice command feature. About 20% of Koo users actively create content on the app and the ChatGPT integration could help increase that figure, he added.

☆ Y Combinator pulls back from late-stage startup investing to focus on its core accelerator program, and parts ways with 17 employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Y Combinator president Garry Tan announced the accelerator is moving away from late-stage investing. The startup accelerator will also eliminate 17 roles on the late-stage investing team. Known for its early-stage investing focus through its core accelerator program, YC also does late-stage investing. "But late stage investing turned out to be so different from early stage that we found it to be a distraction from our core mission. As part of the restructuring, 17 employees on the late-stage investing teams had their roles eliminated, Tan wrote in the post.

☆ From deepfakes to Bing's chatbot, AI-generated content is everywhere. Here's how to spot it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Researchers have already developed some tools to spot AI-generated content and are claiming they have accuracy rates of up to 96%. Here's what you can do to detect AI-generated content. If you were to feed this tool Spanish-language text or a technical text like something from a medical journal, the tool would then struggle to detect AI-generated content. The second class of tools relies on the large language model's own prediction of a text being AI-generated or human. Other ways to spot AI-generated contentThe effectiveness of detection tools still relies on an individual's better judgment.

☆ Two Google engineers built a ChatGPT-like AI chatbot years ago, but execs reportedly shut it down due to safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ex-Google engineers developed a conversational AI chatbot years ago, per The Wall Street Journal. Google is now racing to catch up with Microsoft's AI and plans to release its AI chatbot this year. "It caused a bit of a stir inside of Google," Shazeer said in an interview with investors Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan last month. But Google's AI plans may now finally see the light of day, even as discussions around whether its chatbot can be responsibly launched continue. Alphabet chairman John Hennessy agreed that Google's chatbot wasn't "really ready for a product yet."

☆ ChatGPT is being used to automatically write emails: Microsoft, Salesforce, and TikTok creators are hopping on the trend
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The analysts estimated Microsoft's recently announced generated AI sales features could help it take market share and potentially add over $768 million in annual revenue. Microsoft announced on Monday that it would integrate generative AI based on ChatGPT into a set of tools for business called CoPilot. One of its primary features is using AI to generate emails. Microsoft says that its AI email writer can take important context from the email thread, like the price that was previously discussed, and stick it in the response drafted by AI. Microsoft's feature is currently in beta testing, but will be released to customers of Microsoft's Viva Sales feature on March 15, the company said on Monday.

☆ Facebook's top exec Tom Alison breaks down his top priorities for 2023 and his pitch to creators
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tom Alison, head of Facebook, wants the platform to be a more welcoming home to creators. Insider spoke with Alison about Facebook's priorities as uncertainty around Meta layoffs mounts. "We want Meta to be a great home for creators," Alison said. "You layer in some monetization tools on top of that and they can use Facebook to extend their income," Alison said. "We're going to be integrating and embracing more messaging functionality within Facebook," Alison said.

☆ Google execs tell employees in testy all-hands meeting that Bard A.I. isn't just about search
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

In the lead up to the Bard announcement, Google executives repeatedly said the technology it was developing internally would integrate with search. “We’re working to bring these latest AI advancements into our products, starting with Search,” the company said in a blog post. That same week, at an event in Paris, Google search boss Prabhakar Raghavan unveiled some fresh examples of using Bard within search. "You see the stories of ChatGPT coincides with an event that we’re having that was actually focused on search," Krawczyk said. Specifically, the question asked why Google lost so many key people who were listed on a paper about much of the AI technology behind Bard.

☆ Elon Musk's bid to implant brain chip into humans was reportedly rejected by feds over safety risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA rejected Neuralink's request for approval to begin testing its brain chips in humans, Reuters reported. The agency cited dozens of issues with the device, including concerns it could overheat or move in the brain. Elon Musk has been promising the company will soon begin testing on humans since 2019. Reuters said the FDA identified "dozens of issues" Neuralink must remedy before it could begin human testing in the US. The firm plans to implant chips into human brains, which would allow people to perform tasks using only their mind.

☆ Even at its weirdest, most unhinged moments, Bing's chatbot is making Microsoft relevant again
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Alex Kantrowitz | Big Technology | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Screenshots of a maniacal, unhinged Bing chatbot have flooded the internet this week, showing the bot condescending, gaslighting, and trying to steal husbands. Even in its weirdest moments, Bing's chatbot has brought new relevance to Microsoft and its search division. "The fact that people are even writing about Microsoft Bing at all is a win," one Microsoft employee told me this week. Now, interest in Bing is soaringThe Bing app set its daily download record over the weekend, according to Apptopia. (Upon joining the waitlist for Bing's chatbot, Microsoft encourages downloading the app to get earlier access.)

Meta's LLaMA, short for Large Language Model Meta AI, will be available under non-commercial license to researchers and entities affiliated with government, civil society, and academia, it said in a blog. Large language models mine vast amounts of text in order to summarize information and generate content. "Generative AI is a new application of AI that Meta has less experience with, but is clearly important for the future of their business." It described its 65-billion-parameter LLaMA model as "competitive" with Google's Chinchilla70B and PaLM-540B, which are even larger than the model that Google used to show off its Bard chat-powered search. Meta in May last year released large language model OPT-175B, also aimed at researchers, which formed the basis of a new iteration of its chatbot BlenderBot.

☆ TikTok's parent ByteDance is developing a new 'AI-based' learning platform called GeniusJoy that it will test overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

TikTok's parent ByteDance is developing a new 'AI-based' learning tool called GeniusJoy. TikTok's parent company ByteDance is developing a new learning platform for children that the company is referring to as GeniusJoy, per two job postings on its website and a June trademark filing by a company subsidiary. GeniusJoy will adopt "Singapore math pedagogy" for its program, per ByteDance's job listing. ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing, has released a variety of educational products in the past centered on Chinese consumers. The company also once operated a learning app called Guagua Long, a course-livestreaming platform dubbed Qingbei, and an English-language tutoring app named GoGoKid.

☆ Microsoft knows Bing's AI chatbot gives out some eyebrow-raising answers. An exec said decreasing them is a priority.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Since then, Microsoft has restricted Bing users to five questions per session. A Microsoft spokesperson didn't respond to Insider's request for additional comment ahead of publication. The emerging AI arms race has sparked debate among industry experts and users over whether Bing's AI launch was a responsible choice. When asked about Bing's responses, a Microsoft spokesperson told Insider last week that user feedback is necessary to pinpoint flaws in the chatbot so they can be improved. "It's important to note that last week we announced a preview of this new experience," the Microsoft spokesperson said at the time.

☆ Take a closer look at the new helicopter-like electric aircraft that can transport 4 people across hundreds of miles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The vehicle, which resembles a helicopter with "lift rotators" on the wings, is known as ALIA-250 and was flown from BETA's testing facility in Plattsburgh, New York, for the demo flight. ALIA stopped for a recharge in Schenectady, New York, along the way, which is about 200 miles from Westchester as the crow flies. BETA TechnologiesSource: Blade Air Mobility

☆ Inside the self-proclaimed first generative AI conference, executives explain why the hot new technology behind ChatGPT is 'not just hype, but something real'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AI startup Jasper hosted what it claims was the first conference dedicated to generative AI. The mood was reminiscent of the hype around crypto, but attendees say generative AI is here to stay. Thomas Maxwell/InsiderInsiders say generative AI is not just a fadGenerative AI has already run into some road bumps. Anthropic's Amodei said that consumers, businesses, and developers alike are moving at "record speeds" to adopt generative AI. Thomas Maxwell/InsiderWhat's different with generative AI is that large language models have been quietly in development for some time, , executives said.

☆ Exclusive: Microsoft's Bing plans AI ads in early pitch to advertisers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Last week, Microsoft and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google announced new generative AI chatbots a day apart from the other. Microsoft expects the more human responses from the Bing AI chatbot will generate more users for its search function and therefore more advertisers. Advertisements within the Bing chatbot may also enjoy more prominence on the page compared to traditional search ads. loadingMicrosoft's Edge web browser, which uses the Bing search engine, has a market share under 5% worldwide, according to one estimate from web analytics firm StatCounter. Parts Geek did not immediately respond to questions about whether it was aware of its ads appearing in the new Bing chatbot.

☆ Bing's first week with AI superpowers was a Wild West of excitement, misinformation, and dystopia — and showed Google has nothing to worry about just yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft Bing had an up-and-down first week after relaunching with new AI superpowers. Bing, Microsoft's search engine, has been revamped with artificial intelligence superpowers. Google's eponymous search engine is getting the same treatment. For one, its launch hasn't gone completely to plan — and even Microsoft admitted Bing has gone rogue in certain circumstances. And in Google, Bing faces a mighty foe.

☆ Google CEO Sundar Pichai asks employees to put two to four hours into helping to improve and 'dogfood' its Bard chatbot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google this week began companywide internal testing of Bard, its AI chatbot for search. In a memo, CEO Sundar Pichai has asked all employees to spend 2-4 hours helping test the product. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai sent an internal memo to Googlers on Wednesday asking them to contribute 2-4 hours of their time to helping improve Bard, the company's AI chatbot that it intends to integrate into search. Google kicked off "dogfooding," or internally testing, Bard on Tuesday, according to another memo seen by Insider. Read the full memo below:Hi Googlers,Excited to see us opening up Bard for an internal dogfood to help us get it ready for launch.

☆ Sting to get highest Ivors honour at songwriting awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Music star Sting will be honoured at this year's Ivors, the annual awards honouring songwriters and screen composers, receiving an Ivors Academy fellowship, organisers said on Wednesday. The award is the highest honour bestowed by the UK-based Ivors Academy to those "who have truly reshaped and redefined the art and craft of music creation". "Of all the awards in the world of music, The Ivors are for me, the most prestigious. Songwriting is a skilled craft and The Ivors Academy are its guild," Sting, 71, said in a statement. Named after the early 20th century Welsh composer, actor and entertainer Ivor Novello, the Ivor Awards were first handed out in 1956.

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