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☆ Mark Zuckerberg's 'Year of Efficiency' is paying off for Meta
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg's mission to turnaround Meta's fortunes is working. Meta posted revenues of $32 billion for its second quarter – 11% higher than last year. It's a sign that Zuck's "Year of Efficiency" is paying off. Mark Zuckerberg's been a man on a mission. What is certain right now: Zuck's "Year of Efficiency" is working.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's, Meta, Zuckerberg, We've, OpenAI's, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Morning, Reality Labs

☆ Meta's Llama 2 AI model is about to get a whole lot of use from Chinese companies, thanks to Alibaba
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese businesses are about to get their hands on Meta's Llama 2 AI model. The free AI model will enter China at a time when US-China tensions over AI are rising. Meta's Llama 2 has a major new backer that is about to make its new and improved AI model available to a whole lot of Chinese companies: Alibaba. It's a move that is set to give Chinese businesses first-hand access to Meta's free AI model, Reuters reported. "Today, Alibaba Cloud has launched the first training and deployment solution for the entire Llama 2 series in China, welcoming all developers to create customized large models on Alibaba Cloud," Alibaba Cloud said in a statement on super app WeChat.

Persons: Meta, Marc Andreessen, Alibaba Organizations: Meta's, Reuters, China, Morning, Meta, Microsoft, Web Services, Silicon Locations: China, Silicon Valley, Washington, Beijing

☆ Elon Musk wants everyone to conduct their entire 'financial world' on X as he doubles down on his vision for an 'everything app'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's grand ambition for X: Make it the place you manage finances and make payments. The billionaire said X users would be able to conduct their "entire financial world" on the app. The shake-up comes as Musk aims to see off a threat from Mark Zuckerberg's Threads. Elon Musk is preparing to transform X, formerly known as Twitter, into a social-media service where users can manage their "entire financial world" as part of his vision for an "everything app." Musk added that in the months to come, new features would be added to X that would give users "the ability to conduct your entire financial world."

Persons: Elon Musk's, Mark Zuckerberg's, Elon Musk, It's, Musk, Twitter, Esther Crawford, Mark Zuckerberg

☆ Sam Altman's vision for the future of currency is here — and it involves scanning your eyeballs through an 'orb'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI boss Sam Altman has a new toy for the world: an eyeball-scanning "orb." On Monday, Altman launched his new project, Worldcoin, to counter the challenges posed by AI. ChatGPT creator Sam Altman is ready to bring his new creation to the world: a future version of currency that involves scanning your eyeballs through an "orb." The Worldcoin orb has been a particular point of focus online. "Visit the Orb or the Orb will visit you…" he posted.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Worldcoin, Alex Blania, Jack Dorsey, Block Organizations: Twitter

☆ Washington's AI discussions are focused on beating China as part of a new Cold War, says Marc Andreessen
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AI is shaping up to be a new Cold War with China, according to Marc Andreessen. The Silicon Valley veteran discussed US policymakers' plans on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Washington's leaders are determined that the US will beat China in a global race to dominate AI as a new Cold War takes shape, according to Marc Andreessen. Andreessen added that Washington's policymakers said not only do they need "American AI to succeed," but that they need to "beat the Chinese." Andreessen said Beijing's leaders "view AI as a way to achieve population control" because "they're authoritarians."

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Joe Rogan, a16z, Andreessen, Elon Musk Organizations: Silicon, China, Google, Microsoft, Meta, White, Representatives Locations: China, it's, Washington

☆ Google cofounder Sergey Brin frequently works at the company's HQ to help develop ChatGPT rival Gemini, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brin is frequently showing up at Google HQ to help its AI efforts, The Wall Street Journal reported. He is reportedly deeply involved in the development of Gemini, an AI model that aims to rival GPT-4. Google cofounder Sergey Brin is reportedly showing up often at the search giant's headquarters to help develop ChatGPT rival Gemini and boost its AI ambitions. Google is pouring efforts into Gemini, an AI model designed to rival the GPT-4 model underlying OpenAI's technology. This week, Google's AI ambitions faced another threat as Meta unveiled Llama 2.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Brin, GPT, Larry Page, Sundar Pichai, Demis Hassabis Organizations: Google, Street Journal, Gemini, Morning, The New York Times, Wall Street, Meta, Microsoft Locations: The

☆ So, that's the end of OpenAI's ChatGPT moat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the fast-changing world of AI, OpenAI appeared to have created a powerful moat through ChatGPT. But Meta rolling out its own powerful language model, Llama 2, with few restrictions puts ChatGPT at risk. And unlike OpenAI's ChatGPT, Llama 2 doesn't come with an easy-to-use consumer interface. As the first popular entrant into the generative AI space, OpenAI's chatbot had the advantage of capturing the imaginations of millions before Google, Meta and the rest. But open models were always the threat.

Persons: OpenAI, chatbot, Mark Zuckerberg, Erin Scott, Warren Buffett, ChatGPT, Kali Hays, Rosalie Chan, Nathan Lambert, Lambert, It's Organizations: Meta, Google, Microsoft, ChatGPT, Stanford University, UC Berkeley

☆ The AI behind ChatGPT really does seem to be getting dumber — but no one can quite figure out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's not just you: new research suggests ChatGPT's AI model really is getting dumber. There's been a growing feeling for a while now that the AI model behind ChatGPT is, frankly, getting dumber. No one can quite figure out why GPT-4 is changingWhat the research doesn't seem to identify is why this performance drop has happened. As the AI model underlying a more advanced version of ChatGPT, one that paying subscribers get access to, that's a bit of a problem for OpenAI. That said, it's hard to ignore the questions of quality surrounding GPT-4 when a whole community of AI devotees is asking them.

Persons: It's, There's, OpenAI, Ethan Mollick, Wharton, OpenAI hasn't, Peter Yang, Alistair Barr, Peter Welinder, tweeting, Matei Zaharia, —, Arvind Narayanan Organizations: Stanford, UC Berkeley, Morning, Stanford University, UC Berkeley — Locations: Princeton, GPT

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says tens of millions of people are returning to use Threads every day
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg said he was very optimistic about the growth of the community on Threads. Mark Zuckerberg says "tens of millions" of people are returning to use Threads daily almost two weeks after the launch of the Twitter rival. In a Threads post on Monday, the Meta boss said he was "very optimistic about how the Threads community is coming together." "It'll take time to stabilize, but once we nail that then we'll focus on growing the community," Zuckerberg wrote. The comments from Zuckerberg come as his rivalry with Elon Musk and Twitter intensifies since the launch of Threads.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Musk, Instagram, Adam Mosseri, Meta Organizations: Elon, Twitter

☆ Humblebraggers beware: Elon Musk's new Twitter rules will punish you for tweeting too much about how many followers you have
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk is preparing to reduce the reach of tweets that "diminish the experience" of Twitter. Twitter users who like to humblebrag might want to think twice from now on. Elon Musk is preparing to punish users who clog up other users' Twitter feeds and "diminish the experience" of the platform by tweeting constantly about their follower count and views. In response, Musk tweeted that "posts of that nature, which diminish the experience, should soon get much less reach." The app accumulated 100 million users within its first week, thanks to its integration with Instagram, which has over a billion users.

Persons: Elon Musk, tweeting, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg's, Twitter Organizations: Twitter

☆ Saudi Arabia is exploring plans to raise $2.7 billion for its futuristic mega-city in an effort to complete most of the construction by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Saudi Arabia is seeking a $2.7 billion loan from local lenders for its Neom project, per Bloomberg. Saudi Arabia's mega-city project is reportedly seeking to raise a 10 billion riyal, or $2.7 billion, loan to help fuel the development of the kingdom's futuristic city in the desert. The Neom development is expected to include two huge buildings as part of a project known as The Line. Plans for the Neom development were unveiled in 2017 but progress has been slow. The Crown Prince told Bloomberg in 2018 that the city would be completed in 2025.

Persons: Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prince Mohammed bin Salman's, Prince, Neom Organizations: Bloomberg, Street Journal Locations: Saudi Arabia, Saudi, West

☆ Elon Musk says he's ditching a 'silly' Twitter policy that stopped an account dedicated to a beagle from being monetized
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk vowed to scrap a Twitter policy that barred an account dedicated to a dog from going pro. The change comes just days after Twitter introduced a new program to share revenue with users. Musk tweeted "consider this silly policy deleted as of now," Deadline first reported. Elon Musk says he will delete a Twitter policy preventing accounts featuring "animals or fictional characters" from being turned professional and monetized. The account tweeted, "Bag status: canceled" after noting it was unable to monetize its tweets.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, influencers, Andrew Tate, Sawyer Merritt, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Twitter, Morning

☆ A top AI expert says the technology is still in its very early phase: 'We're only at the iPhone 2G, 3G point.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Emad Mostaque, the CEO of Stability AI, thinks the tech will truly take off next year. Think again: the AI hype cycle is just getting started — at least in the view of one top expert. But that's going to be far, far greater if Mostaque is right: he estimates 50% of all CEOs will make mention of AI by next year. But once that realization of AI at an enterprise level happens, it won't just help companies put the technology to good use. "You just need to have the right models in the right way to enable these outcomes that increase productivity," he said.

Persons: Mostaque, ChatGPT, Emad Mostaque, We're, he's, Michael Briest, Bard Organizations: UBS Locations: America, Silicon Valley

☆ The brain drain at tech companies is already bad and as Elon Musk's poaching of AI experts shows, it's only going to get worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A brain drain among tech companies brain is underway right now, driven by the popularity of AI. Tech firms are pretty obsessed with AI right now. Even before ChatGPT's launch, Google workers seemed fed up and decided to jump ship to OpenAI to help launch ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Musk's somewhat modest ambition for his new AI company to "understand the true nature of the universe" could prove alluring to tech bros who think that's what AI should be used to accomplish. Tech firms will want to ensure their AI projects make them the top pick.

Persons: Elon, xAI, Elon Musk, Google –, Igor Babuschkin, Manuel Kroiss, Guodong Zhang, Yuhuai Wu, Zihang Dai, Christian, Kyle Kosic, chatbot Bard, OpenAI's, haven't, Shona Ghosh, isn't, there's Organizations: Workers, Elon Musk's, Morning, Tech, Google, ChatGPT, Microsoft Locations: Silicon, America

☆ Elon Musk says he told China's leaders that if a 'digital superintelligence' is created, it could take charge of the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's warning for China: superintelligent AI could take control of the country. The billionaire said he told senior leaders about the potential threat during a recent China trip. Elon Musk says he told senior leaders in China that the creation of an AI-led "digital superintelligence" could usurp the Chinese Communist Party and take control of the country. Musk has raised several alarms about the potential dangers of AI becoming a kind of "superintelligence" with some capabilities that humans have. During his trip to China, Musk was treated like royalty, meeting senior government officials and business leaders to discuss popular topics such as AI.

Persons: Elon, Musk, Elon Musk, xAI, OpenAI, Ro Khanna, Mike Gallagher, Gallagher Organizations: Morning, Communist Party Locations: China

☆ Musk and Zuckerberg might channel their cage-fight anger on a new, shared enemy: ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Artificial intelligence could become the next battleground for Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Artificial intelligence could become the next battleground in the ongoing feud between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta Platforms boss Mark Zuckerberg. The two billionaires – who've been trading barbs online since Musk summoned Zuckerberg to a cage fight last month – are working to challenge the dominance of ChatGPT owner OpenAI. Zuckerberg responded by telling Musk to "send [him his] location", setting the stage for a physical confrontation. Insider tech reporter (and resident combat sports expert) Hasan Chowdhury believes that Zuckerberg would have the edge in that one.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, – who've, Musk, Zuckerberg, OpenAI, it's, It's, Sam Altman's, Hasan Chowdhury Organizations: Meta, Financial Times, Microsoft, Nvidia Locations: DeepMind

☆ Google's ChatGPT rival is trained by workers who are under pressure to audit AI answers in as little as 3 minutes, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google's Bard is trained by contractors who are expected to rapidly review answers, per Bloomberg. Instruction documents showed the contractors were given deadlines as short as three minutes. They work under pressure and are given minimal training, Bloomberg added. Google's Bard is reportedly trained by thousands of contractors under pressure to review answers generated by the AI chatbot in as little as three minutes. However, the workload of humans reviewing responses for Bard has become increasingly larger and more complex, Bloomberg reported, citing internal documents and six contractors.

Persons: Bard, ChatGPT Organizations: Bloomberg, Accenture, Google, Microsoft

☆ India's slow progress in becoming a chipmaking powerhouse to rival China is bad news for Apple
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple has long depended on China for manufacturing, but the relationship is getting complex. Two recent developments suggest India's push to become a viable alternative to China — and benefit Apple — are mixed. "Foxconn has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta," Foxconn said in a statement to Reuters. That's a critical blow to Modi, who set out chip manufacturing as a strategic part of his ambitions to level up India. Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal tweeted that the joint venture meant "India's own Silicon Valley is a step closer now."

Persons: Foxconn, —, China's, Luxshare, JP Morgan, Tim Cook, Modi, Madhuri Dixit, Mukesh Ambani, Narendra Modi, That's, Europe's, Anil Agarwal, Agarwal Organizations: Apple, Apple ., Tata Group, Bloomberg, Vedanta, Reuters Locations: China, India, Asia, China's hawkishness, Taiwan, Vietnam, Beijing, Mumbai, iPhones, Karnataka, Modi's, Gujarat, Cupertino

☆ ChatGPT was an 'oh crap' moment for hundreds of CEOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Shona Ghosh | Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ChatGPT was an 'oh crap' moment for every CEO. Bosses of everything from travel firms to online florists showed off hastily built ChatGPT plug-ins. For much of corporate America right now, there's the world before ChatGPT, and the world after. Beckley was trying to enjoy the remainder of his Thanksgiving holiday when AI startup OpenAI dropped ChatGPT to the public on November 30. In 2022, the startup was reportedly heavily loss-making due to the costs of creating and running ChatGPT.

Persons: ChatGPT, florists, Michael Beckley, Appian, Beckley, Jefferies, Chris McCann, Jim Conroy, Appian's Beckley, everyone's, everything's Organizations: Morning, America, Mother's Locations: OpenAI

☆ Threads beat ChatGPT to 100 million users but the AI app is way more consequential
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Zuck can be happy: Threads reached 100 million users faster than ChatGPT. Mark Zuckerberg had cause to celebrate over the weekend as Meta's newest app, Threads, passed the 100 million user milestone less than a week after its launch. The would-be Twitter competitor is now the fastest-growing app ever, beating ChatGPT, the generative AI chatbot that corporate America hasn't stopped talking about all year. But its leap to 100 million users had a massive jumpstart thanks to its integration with Instagram, whose billion-plus users are actively encouraged to download the new app if they fancy adding a new social-media timesuck onto their devices. ChatGPT, released to the public November 30, surpassed the 100 million user milestone in January.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, ChatGPT, America hasn't, Elon, Zuckerberg, Musk's, Insider's Kali Hays, Musk, That's Organizations: America, Twitter Locations: GPT

☆ Musk and Zuck promised us a cage fight, but what we've got are 2 reply guys trading petty jabs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg remain at each others' throats following the launch of Threads. The squabble has ramped up a notch after Twitter threatened to take Meta to court over Threads. It's getting a bit pitiful for Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg as their feud continues to escalate, following the launch of Threads. In Musk's case, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino should bring a level-headedness that her colleague is clearly lacking. These include hashtags, a "following" feed, and a messaging function, which means Threads is still a skeletal project.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, haven't, Musk, Alex Spiro, Zuckerberg –, Meta, Andy Stone, Sheel Mohnot, Zuckerberg, Zuck, who's, He's, Alex Heath, Linda Yaccarino, Adam Mosseri, Mosseri Organizations: Meta, Twitter, UFC Locations: San Francisco

☆ Threads is like joining Twitter all over again, just less lonely
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Spriha Srivastava | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Threads feels a lot like joining Twitter in its early days. A lot of its energy comes from people enjoying watching the downfall of Twitter. Threads feels like the early days of Twitter. MetaBut it differs from Threads in one important way: Early Twitter was also...kind of lonely. Like a lot of others on Threads right now, the new app harks bark to brighter days of early Twitter — hopefully the calm doesn't turn into chaos.

Persons: Hasan Chowdhury Organizations: Twitter Locations: Meta

☆ Welcome to Threads, Zuckerberg's friendly internet utopia where everyone gets along while watching Twitter crash and burn
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg bills Threads as a space for kindness — but he's not above using it to ding Elon Musk. Threads arrives as Twitter has another disastrous week. As the Meta chief put it on the new Threads app, the vision is "to create an open and friendly public space for conversation" for 1 billion-plus people. It's a highly calculated move to release a Twitter clone in a week of Twitter chaos. Threads can only be so friendly then if its growth, for now, comes from the conflagration at Twitter.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon, Mark Zuckerberg's, Kevin Tan, Zuckerberg, hasn't, sassing, Elon Musk, Shona Ghosh, let's, It's Organizations: Twitter, SpaceX

☆ Meta previously launched an app called Threads but it was more focused on beating Snapchat than being a Twitter killer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

This is not Meta's first attempt at launching an app called Threads, though. Meta, back when it was known as Facebook, launched an app called Threads in late 2019. The new Threads app has been in development since January and already appears to be notably different from the prior app by the same name. According to Zuckerberg, Threads amassed more than 10 million users in the first seven hours. Instagram's stories, which drew heavy inspiration from a similar Snapchat feature, have since outperformed their original rival.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, it's, influencers, Zuckerberg, Musk, Elon, Insider's Hasan Chowdhury Organizations: Twitter, Elon, Meta, Facebook Locations: Snapchat, Instagram

☆ Twitter is taking 'extreme measures' to tackle its bot problem. It should verify everyone instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's a problem that might go away if Twitter verified all of its users. Remember when Elon Musk handed out free blue checks to some Twitter users after taking them away? "To ensure the authenticity of our user base we must take extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform," Twitter said in a blogpost. Bloomberg reported in April that around 4% of people who went to the Twitter Blue sales site ended up subscribing to the service. When announcing that ambition to Twitter employees last month, Yaccarino said "that's not an empty promise."

Persons: Elon Musk, LeBron James, Stephen King, Ian McKellen, Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, Yaccarino, that's Organizations: Elon, Twitter, Bloomberg

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