Artificial Intelligence

The platform unverified profiles for two seemingly-fake iLounge writers that appear to be publishing AI-written content after we reached out for comment.

Muck Rack is also “developing a model that will identify and detect signs that are commonly found in fake authorship so we can flag potential AI writers to users,” spokesperson Linda Zebian tells The Verge.

Last spring, Business Insider noted that Intuit was unusual among its peers because it hadn’t done mass layoffs.

Following shutdowns of the Mint app and MailChimp-owned TinyLetter, CEO Sasan Goodarzi today announced layoffs, saying they include “approximately 1,050 employees leaving the company who are not meeting expectations.” as it accelerates investing in data and AI like its Assist bot.

OpenAI announced that it is teaming up with Los Alamos National Laboratory to explore how advanced AI models, such as GPT-4o, can safely aid in bioscientific research. I’m a bit disappointed because this was the plot of the science fiction horror book I always wanted to write.

The goal is to test how GPT-4o can help scientists perform tasks in a lab using vision and voice modalities.

Fair warning: this MIT Tech Review history / explainer on all things AI is humungous and complicated. But in the vein of Bloomberg’s great “What Is Code?” and “The Crypto Story,” this is as good an all-things-AI opus as I’ve seen yet. Bookmark it, read it, take notes.

The Finland-based Silo AI is described as the “largest private AI lab in Europe” and has provided AI solutions for companies like Phillps, Rolls-Royce, and Unilever. In addition to Silo AI, AMD also acquired the AI startup Nod.ai last year as it aims to keep up with the likes of Nvidia.

Samsung is expanding its feature that translates phone calls in real time to cover 16 languages in July and 20 languages by the end of the year.

Google and Samsung confirmed that their deal for Gemini AI features on Galaxy devices will bring updates (announced at I/O earlier this year) that let it read and respond to what’s on your phone screen or in a video you’re watching, as well as new Circle to Search features.

Watching the intro to today’s Galaxy Unpacked event, I’m reminded of this great David Imel video answering the most important question of our time: why did everyone decide that the official logo of AI is ***sparkles***?

According to The Information, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz has secured thousands of AI chips, including Nvidia H100 GPUs, to dole out to its AI portfolio companies in exchange for equity. The initiative is aptly named Oxygen, because these chips are that integral to AI companies. The chips are almost impossible to secure for small startups too, because Big Tech companies hoover up all the supply.

In his latest book, Microsoft software developer turned literature professor Dennis Yi Tenen takes us all the way back to 17th-century apps for a deep dive into computer science and literature’s intertwined history — and, as Tenen says, why it’s important our understanding of AI “become more grounded in the history of the humanities.”

A recent study found that if a coding problem put before ChatGPT (using GPT-3.5) existed on coding practice site LeetCode before its 2021 training data cutoff, it did a very good job generating functional solutions, writes IEEE Spectrum.

But when the problem was added after 2021, it sometimes didn’t even understand the questions and its success rate seemed to fall off a cliff, underscoring AI’s limitations without enough data.

A new WhatsApp beta version for Android lets you send a photo to Meta AI, then ask it questions about it or edit the image using prompts, according to WABetaInfo.

Meta has worked more image-generation features into the app lately, including a beta feature letting Meta AI create an avatar for users based on photos of them.

Two former execs of a German AI data center company, Northern Data, say they were fired for raising concerns the company was “misrepresenting the strength of its financial condition,” in a wrongful termination lawsuit. Northern Data, which is backed by Tether, has been looking into an IPO in the US.

Just saying “AI” is good for business but it’s even better if you make chips, especially for Samsung after suffering a major slump in 2023. Here’s Reuters with the year-on-year comparison:

The world’s largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker estimated its operating profit rose to 10.4 trillion won ($7.54 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, from 670 billion won a year earlier.

Hey, remember the guy who’s responsible for funding WeWork’s delusional business plan? Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son is really into AI and he’s aiming to flood the area with money. His clearest targets are Nvidia chips and energy startups.