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☆ How Amazon revamped its AI-sales machine to compete with OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-29 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

AdvertisementAWS faces competition from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google in AI, risking its cloud dominance. It offers new financial incentives for AI sales. "This is a great time to partner with our sales teams for this #OneTeam effort," AWS said in an internal memo obtained by Business Insider. Many AWS sales teams have new performance targets tied to AI products. The Find One, Launch One, Ramp One initiative includes AWS sales architects.

Persons: Matt Garman, Einat Weiss, they're, salespeople, Garman, AWS's, Microsoft Satya Nadella, Justin Sullivan, Q, hasn't Organizations: Microsoft, Google, North, Business, AWS, Messaging, Amazon, BI, there's, Amazon Connect Locations: OpenAI, North America

☆ Major Canadian News Outlets Sue OpenAI in New Copyright Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-29 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A coalition of Canada’s biggest news organizations is suing OpenAI, the maker of the artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, accusing the company of illegally using their content in the first case of its kind in the country. Five of the country’s major news companies, including the publishers of its top newspapers, newswires and the national broadcaster, filed the joint suit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday morning. While this is the first such lawsuit in Canada, it is similar to a suit brought against OpenAI and Microsoft in the United States in 2023 by The New York Times, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. The two companies have denied the suit’s claims. In response to the Canadian lawsuit, a spokesman for OpenAI said “We have not yet had the opportunity to review the allegations,” but added that “our models are trained on publicly available data, grounded in fair use and related international copyright principles that are fair for creators and support innovation.”

Persons: OpenAI, “ Organizations: Canada’s, Ontario Superior Court, Justice, OpenAI, Microsoft, The New York Times Locations: Ontario, Canada, United States

☆ ByteDance has sued a former intern for $1.1 million over claims he sabotaged an AI training project, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-29 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementByteDance has sued a former intern for $1.1 million, per Chinese media reports. The TikTok owner claims he sabotaged an AI model training project by modifying code. TikTok owner ByteDance has filed a lawsuit seeking damages of $1.1 million against a former intern it has accused of sabotaging an AI training project, according to local media reports. Multiple Chinese media outlets reported this week that ByteDance is seeking 8 million yuan, about $1.1 million, and a public apology. Tian's LinkedIn profile states that he has been a research intern at ByteDance's VC team and AI lab since 2021.

Persons: ByteDance, Tian Keyu, Tian, Tian didn't Organizations: China Morning Post, BBC, ByteDance's, Business, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Beijing

☆ Elon Musk just gave a shoutout to this new Apple feature
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-29 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementElon Musk praised Apple's new hearing aid feature for AirPods. The FDA approved the feature as the first over-the-counter hearing aid software. Elon Musk, who has previously criticized Apple, appears to have been won over by one new feature. It shows a hard-of-hearing father using the feature on the Apple AirPods Pro 2 to hear his daughter opening Christmas presents. "Don't want it," Musk wrote in a June response to a Tim Cook post promoting Apple Intelligence on X.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Apple, Tim Cook, Tesla's, Apple's Organizations: FDA, Apple, ChatGPT, Apple AirPods, OpenAI, Apple Intelligence, AirPods

☆ Amazon is hedging its big bet on Anthropic with its own AI video model, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-28 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementAmazon is developing a new AI model called Olympus for video analysis, The Information reported. Amazon-backed Anthropic has already launched its own multimodal model for images and videos. Amazon may have doubled down on its investment in Anthropic, but it also appears to be hedging its AI bets by developing its own model that can process images and video in addition to text. The tech giant's new model, code-named Olympus, could help customers search video archives for specific scenes, The Information reported. The development and launch of Olympus could reduce Amazon's dependency on Anthropic for multimodal AI, especially if the new video model becomes as a cheaper alternative.

Persons: Anthropic, chatbot Claude Organizations: Anthropic, Olympus, AWS, Web Service, Big Tech Locations: Anthropic

☆ Read a VC firm's advice for founders about how to use AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-28 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

AdvertisementIt's still a good time to embrace the AI revolution, according to VC firm Insight Partners. A recent Insight survey showed that 72% of its portfolio companies are using AI in their workflows. AdvertisementA recent survey by Insight showed that 72% of its portfolio companies are using AI, with 36% of them allocating new budgets specifically for these initiatives. Related storiesFocus on leveraging emerging AI technologiesThe idea of incorporating generative AI (GenAI) into companies can be daunting but it also has the potential to impact every function of a business. In a recent portfolio company survey, we found that 72% of portfolio companies are using Artificial Intelligence, with 36% of those companies creating a net new budget for those initiatives.

Persons: It's, you've, – Organizations: Insight Partners, Business, Insight, Wiz

☆ FTC opens broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including of its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters Wednesday. The investigation was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in January. The FTC fielded such complaints last year as it examined the cloud computing market. The FTC has demanded a broad range of detailed information from Microsoft, Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday. In 2019, the Pentagon awarded it a $10 billion cloud computing contract that Amazon had widely been expected to win.

Persons: Lina Khan, Donald Trump, Satya Nadella, Trump, JD Vance Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft, Reuters, NBC News, Republican, FTC, Amazon, Google, European Commission, Bloomberg, Big Tech, Facebook, Meta, Apple, Amazon.com Inc, U.S, Trump, Pentagon, Web Services

☆ OpenAI gets $1.5 billion investment from SoftBank in tender offern a tender offer
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Kate Rooney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOpenAI gets $1.5 billion investment from SoftBank in tender offern a tender offerCNBC's Kate Rooney joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest news from OpenAI.

Persons: Kate Rooney Locations: OpenAI

☆ Buzzy French voice startup PyannoteAI is in talks to raise around $10 million in funding, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementPyannoteAI is in talks to raise $10 million in initial funding, sources told Business Insider. The startup's AI platform detects and identifies speakers in audio transcriptions. Voice AI is gaining traction, with startups like ElevenLabs in talks to raise significant funding. A French startup developing voice intelligence models is in talks to raise around $10 million in initial funding, Business Insider has learned from two people with knowledge of the deal. Voice-cloning startup ElevenLabs is looking to raise funding at a $3 billion valuation, Business Insider first reported.

Persons: Lizzie Widhelm, Vincent Molina, Hervé Bredin, Bredin, buzzy, Dealroom, OpenAI, ChatGPT Organizations: Business, BI Locations: France

AdvertisementThe rate of AI model improvement appears to be slowing, but some tech leaders say there is no wall. A fierce debate over whether improvements in AI models have hit their limit has taken hold in recent weeks, forcing several CEOs to respond. Others, including Marc Andreessen, say AI models aren't getting noticeably better and are all converging to perform at roughly similar levels. AdvertisementOne solution that companies are exploring is synthetic data, an artificial form of data generated by AI. Aymeric Zhuo, cofounder and CEO of AI startup Agemo, said that AI reasoning "has been an active area of research," particularly as "the industry faces a data wall."

Persons: Sam Altman, Fabrice Beaulieu Dario Amodei, Anthropic, Jensen Huang, Marc Andreessen, Henri Tilloy, Jensen, Justin Sullivan, Matthew Zeiler, Eric Landau, Landau, Sharon Zhou, Zhou, Daniele Panfilo, Bard, it's, Thomas Wolf, Jonathan Frankle, Ilya Sutskever, Satya Nadella, Aymeric Zhuo, Sivesh Sukumar, OpenAI, Noam Brown, It's, Adam Selipsky, Dario Amodei, Noah Berger, Anthropic's, they've, Microsoft's Copilot Organizations: Nvidia, Business, Google, French VC, Companies, Vox Media, OpenAI, Reuters, TED, Gemini, Web, Getty Companies, Investors Locations: Santa Clara

☆ Generative AI's hype has yet to lead to a must-have gadget for the holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Generative artificial intelligence has taken Silicon Valley by storm since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022. There was a lot of optimism over the potential of GenAI gadgets at the CES trade show in January, said Paul Gagnon, vice president for analyst firm Circana. Additionally, consumers may find current GenAI devices too expensive, and they may be confused about what the devices can actually do, he said. The reality is that while GenAI has captivated Silicon Valley, it's still "inning zero" in regard to widespread adoption, Bajarin said. Despite Silicon Valley not having a breakout year for GenAI hardware, here are a few GenAI devices early adopters can buy.

Persons: chatbot, Paul Gagnon, Gagnon, we've, — there's, hasn't, Ben Bajarin, Ray, Bajarin, Ryan Reith, Reith, GenAI, Steve Koenig Organizations: Nvidia, CES, Creative, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Dell, Lenovo, IDC, Consumer Technology Association Locations: Silicon

☆ Say hello to your new coworker: Autonomous AI agents are coming to banks
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Demand for AI agents is giving birth to a new class of startups and VCs hungry to invest in them. It was a topic of conversation at the Evident AI Symposium in New York on Thursday. To take AI agents a step further, technologists and startup investors are fueling a shift to so-called multi-agent systems that coordinate several AI agents to complete more complex tasks more autonomously. Well, that's still being worked out, according to a number of tech executives at the Evident AI Symposium Thursday. Heitsenrether, speaking at the Evident AI conference, told the audience that, over time, she expects AI to be seamlessly embedded in an employee's workflow.

Persons: Danny Goldman's, Michael Lacorazza, Mako, It's, Jamie Dimon, Teresa Heitsenrether, Wall, they're, Gabriel Stengel, Kristin Milchanowski, Ganesh Organizations: Finance, Mako, Khosla Ventures, Bank, Goldman, JPMorgan, BMO Financial Group, of Cambridge Locations: New York, OpenAI

☆ FTC opens wide-ranging antitrust probe into Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The FTC, in a letter sent to Microsoft, demanded that it hand over information to assist in the agency’s investigation, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The FTC and Microsoft declined to comment. Microsoft also battled FTC resistance to its $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard, which closed in October 2023. The agency had argued the merger would give Microsoft a monopoly in video game publishing, which the company denied. Trump’s reelection has raised questions about how his administration will handle ongoing antitrust cases against tech giants, including Apple and Amazon.

Persons: Microsoft’s, Donald Trump, Trump, Lina Khan, Khan, hasn’t Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, CNN, Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard, Apple, Google, Justice Department Locations: New York, OpenAI

☆ Elon Musk just deepened his rivalry with Sam Altman
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-27 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementElon Musk's xAI is reportedly close to unveiling a chatbot app similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Elon Musk's xAI is reportedly planning an app that could expand its chatbot's reach to a much wider audience and take on ChatGPT. xAI could release the chatbot app as soon as December, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The app, if it materializes, would be another sign that xAI and Musk are trying to take on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. A chatbot app would be its first product offered directly to consumers.

Persons: xAI, OpenAI, Elon Musk's xAI, Sam Altman, Musk Organizations: Elon, Street Journal, Street, Business, Twitter, Financial Times

☆ Zoom abandons its video-based identity, rebranding as an AI-first company
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-26 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementZoom Video Communications Inc. is dropping video from its name in an AI-first rebranding effort. The company, best known for its videoconferencing, will now be known as "Zoom Communications Inc."Zoom isn't the only company revisiting its trajectory in the AI boom. Zoom — the company best known for bringing the world the videoconferencing software that got corporate workers through the coronavirus pandemic — wants to be known for its status as an AI-first company, CEO Eric Yuan wrote in a company blog post published Monday announcing a major rebrand. From this day forward, the company formerly called "Zoom Video Communications Inc." will be known simply as "Zoom Communications Inc." the post reads, as the company focuses on an AI-first approach to corporate communications. "Woven throughout Zoom Workplace, AI Companion frees us up to focus on more important work and minimizes time wasted on less meaningful tasks," the company announced.

Persons: Eric Yuan, Morgan Stanley, OpenAI, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Marc Benioff, Gartner, Copilot Organizations: Communications, Communications Inc, Major Big Tech, Google, Microsoft, Securities, Exchange, OpenAI, SEC, Business Locations: Amazon, OpenAI

☆ Databricks closes in on multibillion funding round at $55 billion valuation to help employees cash out
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-26 | by ( Kate Rooney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

San Francisco-based Databricks is raising at least another $5 billion in its latest funding round — though it could raise up to $8 billion given the round is ongoing — according to several sources who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. The latest raise would value the company at $55 billion and could top the largest round of the year by OpenAI. The latest funding is designed to help Databricks employees sell shares, a source said. One source said the funding round makes Databricks' highly anticipated public debut less urgent. This summer, it acquired MosaicML, a $1.3 billion software startup that focuses on large language models that can churn out natural-sounding text.

Persons: Ali Ghodsi, Databricks, OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Snowflake, Ghodsi Organizations: Databricks Inc, Bloomberg Technology, CNBC, OpenAI, Walgreens, Nvidia, Capital, Fidelity, Insight Partners, Tiger Global Locations: San Francisco

☆ 5 follow-up questions Nvidia's CEO asks his AI to 'torture' it into teaching him new things
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-26 | by ( Jaures Yip | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementNvidia CEO Jensen Huang uses AI chatbots for learning by questioning their reasoning. Companies like Google and Khan Academy are developing AI tools for educational purposes. Advertisement"I use my AI," he said, "and I torture my AI to teach me." Huang's form of "torture" involves asking the AI a question and then five follow-up queries. AdvertisementWhile Huang's preferred learning process is drilling chatbots with questions, companies are developing more specialized tools for teaching users.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Jensen, Huang's, OpenAI's GPT, Sal Khan Organizations: Google, Khan Academy, Hong Kong University, Nvidia, TED

OpenAI is allowing employees to sell roughly $1.5 billion worth of shares in a new tender offer to SoftBank, CNBC has learned. Employees will have until Dec. 24 to decide if they want to participate in the new tender offer, which has not previously been reported, one of the people said. The tender offer is not related to OpenAI's potential plans to restructure the firm to a for-profit business, one of the people said. The OpenAI investment matches SoftBank's eagerness to deploy cash, with a capital-intensive business model, a person close to Son told CNBC. The company also received a $4 billion revolving line of credit, bringing its total liquidity to more than $10 billion.

Persons: Masayoshi Son, OpenAI, SoftBank, Son Organizations: CNBC, Employees, Apple, Qualcomm, SoftBank's, Microsoft, Nvidia

☆ OpenAI is the definitive consumer brand for AI at this point, says Bedrock Capital's Geoff Lewis
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOpenAI is the definitive consumer brand for AI at this point, says Bedrock Capital's Geoff LewisGeoff Lewis, Bedrock Capital founder and managing partner, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the state of the AI technology race, why he believes OpenAI continues to be the leader in AI, M&A outlook in the sector, and more.

Persons: Geoff Lewis Geoff Lewis, OpenAI Organizations: Bedrock Capital

☆ Orange partners with OpenAI, Meta to develop custom African-language AI models
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-26 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Joan Cros | Nurphoto via Getty ImagesFrench telecoms giant Orange on Tuesday said it's partnering with Microsoft -backed OpenAI and Facebook-owner Meta to build custom artificial intelligence models designed to better understand regional African languages. Orange said it's working with OpenAI and Meta to develop custom AI models built on their respective Whisper and Llama open-source AI models — openly available systems that can be adapted to meet specific needs — that can understand West African languages not understood by most conversational systems. The open-source AI models will be provided externally by Orange with a free license for non-commercial uses including public health and education, the company said. Orange plans to expand its custom AI model initiative to eventually cover all 18 West African countries. In addition to using AI systems to improve customer service, Orange is also using the tech to improve a core part of its business: mobile networks.

Persons: MSFT ORA, Joan Cros, it's, Meta, Orange, Steve Jarrett, Orange's, Jarrett, Claude aren't Organizations: Mobile, Nurphoto, Getty Images, Microsoft, Facebook, Meta, CNBC, West Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Orange, United States, Europe, East, Africa, Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, West

The developers would only need to reveal the training material that is “sufficient to identify with certainty” whether the copyright holder’s works were used. Failing to comply would create a legal assumption — until proven otherwise — that the AI developer did indeed use the copyrighted work. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who introduced the bill Thursday, said the country must “set a higher standard for transparency” as AI continues to integrate itself into Americans’ lives. “We need to give America’s musicians, artists, and creators a tool to find out when A.I. Companies that rely on human creative labor have tried to take on AI developers as well.

Persons: Sen, Peter Welch, ’, ” Welch, don’t, Oscar, Julianne Moore, James Patterson, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke —, Welch, Recording Academy — Organizations: Artificial Intelligence Networks, New York Times, Street Journal, Screen, American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, American Federation of Musicians, Recording Academy, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Locations: deepfakes, California

☆ San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie taps OpenAI's Sam Altman and other business leaders for help with transition
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-25 | by ( Kate Rogers | In Katerog | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

San Francisco's Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie has begun tapping tech heavyweights and business leaders to help with his goal of overhauling the city's image. "He wants to put down roots here in San Francisco. The city can't have all its eggs in one basket and needs to expand into other business sectors as well, Lurie said. "We will go recruit companies from all sectors to come back to San Francisco," Lurie said. A fully-staffed police department and 911 dispatch office will be necessary to help bring businesses and workers back to the city, Lurie said.

Persons: Daniel Lurie, Sam Altman, Ned Segal, Lurie, Levi Strauss, I've Organizations: Francisco's Mayor, London, CNBC Locations: San Francisco, Francisco

☆ Marc Benioff thinks we've reached the 'upper limits' of LLMs — the future, he says, is AI agents
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-25 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AdvertisementTech titan Marc Benioff says we're near the "upper limits" of LLM use in AI advancement. In a podcast, the Salesforce CEO said the future of AI lies in agents that work autonomously. Maybe we'll be there one day," Benioff said, referencing the 1984 film about a cyborg assassin. "I actually think we're hitting the upper limits of the LLMs right now," Benioff said. Salesforce offers prebuilt and customizable AI agents for clients seeking to automate customer service tasks.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Benioff, —, Jensen Huang, we'll, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matthew Broderick, Salesforce Organizations: Bloomberg, Nvidia, Business Locations: LLMs

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Small- and mid-caps stole the limelight last week
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-25 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

NYSEThis report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. What you need to know todayWinning week for marketsMajor U.S. indexes rose on Friday to end the week in the green, despite mega-cap stocks Nvidia and Alphabet shares dropping. [PRO] Interest rates back in focusThis week, the October personal consumption expenditures price index, out Wednesday, will dominate attention. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 2% higher for the week and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both climbed around 1.7%.

Persons: GOOG, Donald Trump, Scott Bessent, Bessent, Kevin Warsh, Marc Rowan, Sir Richard Branson, Russell, Sam Stovall, Sundeep Gantori, — CNBC's Pia Singh, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, CNBC, U.S, Trump, Treasury, Fed, Anthropic Amazon, COP29, Virgin, U.S . Federal Reserve, Federal, Market, Nvidia, U.S . Department of Justice, Big Tech, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Super Micro Company, CFRA Research, NVIDIA, UBS Locations: New York City, Anthropic, Azerbaijan

☆ Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says we're still several years away from getting an AI we can 'largely trust'
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-25 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementNvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a recent interview that today's AI doesn't provide the best answers. "We have to get to a point where the answer that you get, you largely trust," he said. The CEO said we're still "several years away" and that companies will need more computational power. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said today's artificial intelligence doesn't provide the best answers and that the world is still "several years away" from an AI we can "largely trust." During the Saturday interview, Huang said that pre-training or training a model on a large, diverse dataset before it's developed to perform a certain task will not be enough.

Persons: Jensen Huang, we're, Huang, ChatGPT, OpenAI Organizations: Nvidia, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

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