Google launches its long-awaited LLM, Gemini.

RunwayML partners with Getty Images on new AI models for Hollywood and advertising.

The Long Read

Google launches its long-awaited Gemini, the large language model that will closely compete with Open AI’s ChatGPT. Google plans to run versions of Gemini on its Android devices, Bard, Google Cloud, and more. And there’s an even more capable model called Gemini Ultra that is the most powerful LLM Google has yet created and seems to be mostly designed for data centers and enterprise applications. 

Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the model will eventually be integrated into Google’s search engine, its ad products, the Chrome browser, and more, all over the world. It is the future of Google, and it’s here not a moment too soon.

Google launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4

Google let OpenAI take the lead in the AI race — now, it’s mounting a comeback.

🔥 Latest news

• MetaAI unveils ‘Seamless’ translator for real-time communication across languages. Meta AI researchers announced that they have developed a new suite of AI models called Seamless Communication that aim to enable more natural and authentic communication across languages, essentially making the concept of a Universal Speech Translator a reality. https://tinyurl.com/2nusfsre 

• RunwayML is partnering with Getty Images on new AI models for Hollywood and advertising. Runway ML announced it is partnering with Getty Images, one of the largest repositories of paid stock imagery and editorial imagery in the world, to develop a new generative AI video model: Runway <> Getty Images Model (RGM). The new model will provide a baseline model upon which companies can build their own custom models for the generation of video content. Runway enterprise customers will be able to fine-tune RGM using their own proprietary datasets. This enables companies in all fields — Hollywood studios, advertising, media, broadcasting, and more — to enhance their creative capabilities and provide new channels for video creation by powering entirely new content workflows and making it easy to craft delightful experiences tailored to enterprises’ styles and brand identities and to their unique audiences. https://tinyurl.com/mspca8vk 

• IBM, Meta and others team up with academia and advocacy groups on open AI development initiative. Technology giants that include IBM Corp. and its Red Hat subsidiary, Meta Platforms Inc., Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and ServiceNow Inc. joined forces with more than 40 other organizations across business, academia, government and advocacy to create a new global initiative on the development of artificial intelligence. The new group is called the AI Alliance and it intends to focus on encouraging open innovation and open science in AI development.. https://tinyurl.com/bdhtwnd2 

• GoogleAI unveils Translatotron 3 – A breakthrough in real-time speech translation: Researchers from Google AI have unveiled Translatotron 3, an innovative AI model that revolutionizes speech-to-speech translation, promising to turn users into real-time polyglots. This breakthrough technology eliminates the need for vast amounts of parallel speech data, making it accessible for languages with limited resources. https://tinyurl.com/22ejtjen 

• OpenAI agreed to buy $51M of AI chips from a startup backed by CEO Sam Altman. During Altman’s tenure as CEO, OpenAI had signed a letter of intent to spend $51 million on AI chips from a startup called Rain AI, a company in which he has also invested personally. Rain is working on a chip it calls a neuromorphic processing unit, or NPU, designed to replicate features of the human brain. OpenAI in 2019 signed a nonbinding agreement to spend $51 million on the chips when they became available, according to a copy of the deal and Rain disclosures to investors this year, seen by WIRED. Rain told investors that Altman had personally invested more than $1 million in the company. The letter of intent has not been previously reported.  https://tinyurl.com/w3jstfxu 

• Stability AI positioning itself for acquisition? Stability AI is reportedly considering selling the company amidst mounting pressure from investors over its financial position. The London-based firm has engaged in preliminary discussions with multiple companies, positioning itself as an attractive acquisition target, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources. However, a deal is not imminent, and Stability AI may ultimately decide against selling. https://tinyurl.com/nhapj33m 

• OpenAI’s GPT store delayed to next year. OpenAI’s GPT store will be delayed until next year, the company said in an email to people who signed up for its GPT Builder. In the email, OpenAI said that “unexpected things have been keeping us busy,” which pushed back the GPT store’s rollout. https://tinyurl.com/2r7m9wj8 

• Artificial Intelligence mirrors human social learning, DeepMind reveals. In a groundbreaking study, a team of machine learning researchers at Google’s DeepMind has unveiled the remarkable potential of AI to acquire skills through a process akin to social learning, mirroring the way humans and animals learn from one another. The research, published in the peer-reviewed open access journal Nature Communications, details how the team employed reinforcement learning to train AI agents capable of identifying new experts, replicating their actions, and retaining the acquired knowledge within a matter of minutes. https://tinyurl.com/4pr33y7t 

🔧 Cool Tools and Experiments

• Meta introduces Audiobox, its new foundation research model for audio generation https://tinyurl.com/2s392khm 

• COLE, a tool that combines combines multiple AIs to generate editable designs on demand https://tinyurl.com/4jj6pawd 

• Leonardo AI launches Live Canvas, a real-time drawing-to-image editor https://tinyurl.com/2s392khm

• Music licensing platform Audiio.com launches LinkMatch: An AI-based music search tool that references tracks to find relevant music for creators https://tinyurl.com/4v6acbub 

• Alibaba Group announces AnimateAnyone: A model framework that can transform still images into dynamic character videos https://tinyurl.com/2awxx2zy 

• Sequoia-backed Visual Electric launches a generative AI-based image-generation tool focused on designer workflows https://tcrn.ch/3Gw4sRY 

• Mastercard launches Shopping Muse, a generative AI-powered shopping assistant that help users get personalized recommendations https://tcrn.ch/3RuR2Ml 

• AI voice changing program Voicemod launches a new feature that allows users to create and share their own AI voices https://tinyurl.com/ycxn2878 

• Pinterest tests a ‘body type ranges’ tool to make searches more inclusive, includes skin tone ranges and hair pattern search filters https://tcrn.ch/3RvoKRX 

💰 Latest Startup Fundings

• Mistral AI set to raise $487M at a $2B valuation in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz https://tinyurl.com/2bh8vfwx 

• AssemblyAI raises $50M for its cloud-based AI speech models https://tinyurl.com/pjbs4zjr 

• AI-powered text generations startup Rohirrim secures $15M in a Series A funding round led by Insight Partners https://tinyurl.com/4yz33n35 

• Tola Capital, investing in AI-enabled enterprise software, closes largest fund at $230M https://tcrn.ch/3R2hMC9 

• Squint, a platform for AR-based workflows for business users, raises $13M in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital https://tinyurl.com/6wn6ks98 

• Clayful, a startup that helps students connect to mental health experts, raises $7M https://tcrn.ch/47YXznB 

• GameTree raises $1.7M to build a gaming app for safe and inclusive gaming communities https://tinyurl.com/yc82uh58