Strange Daily: Issue #6

Researchers from Bytedance and CMU introduce AvatarVerse, a 3D Avatar generation approach.

Latest news

• Netflix kicks off public tests of its cloud-streamed games in Canada and UK [Link]

• Stability AI announces their Japanese LM, Japanese StableLM Alpha, claims its to be the most proficient publicly accessible model tailored to Japanese speakers [Link]

• Unity Tools rebrands as Unity Wētā Tools, announces new tools and upgrades for artists, including Wig for advanced hair generation and grooming, Ziva VFX 2.2 for creating lifelike characters and creatures, Ziva Real-Time to integrate film-quality characters into games and real-time experiences amongst others [Link]

• IBM unveils chips that mimics human brain [Link]

• Meta aims to make VR smoother, filing a patent for methods that reduces visual glitches when using VR headsets [Link]

• Google appears to be testing an AI-powered writing tool for ChromeOS [Link]

• Instagram reportedly working to add some AI bots to chats, agents will answer questions and give advice, with users being able to choose from 30 different personalities [Link]

🤝 Partnerships

• Twilio expands partnership with AWS: Powering customer engagement with AWS’s predictive AI technologies [Link]

• Shopify partners with AI platform True Fit to provide AI-based size and fit recommendations to digital shoppers [Link]

• Rockstar Games teams up with modding tools developer Cfx.re, which allowed players to make and play customized experiences in games like Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2. [Link] 

🎓 Recent Academic Papers

• Researchers from ByteDance and CMU introduce AvatarVerse: A novel AI pipeline for generating high-quality 3D avatars controlled by both text description and pose guidance [Link to abstract/full-text]

• AI researchers from Apple and the University of British Columbia introduce FaceLit: A novel AI framework for neural 3D relightable faces [Link to abstract/full-text]

• This AI research from DeepMind aims at reducing sycophancy in LLMs using synthetic data [Link to abstract/full-text]

• ChatGPT with eyes and ears: BuboGPT is an AI approach that enables visual grounding in multi-modal LLMs [Link to abstract/full-text]

• Microsoft introduces DeepSpeed-Chat: an end-to-end RLHF pipeline for training ChatGPT-like models [Link to abstract/full-text]

🔧 Cool Tools and Experiments

• MetaGPT is an product-manager-agent, turning prompts into development specs and roadmap [Link]

• Google introduces AI-powered poetry postcards within its Arts & Culture app redesign [Link]

• Learning tools provider Quizlet launches AI-powered features, including AI enhanced expert solutions, quick summary, and Magic Notes that converts classroom notes into study materials like flashcards and practice tests [Link]

• Snapchat developer introduces DreamGenerator, an AI-powered camera that transforms photos into themed images using generative AI [Link]

• Augie: An AI-powered video creation platform that lets users make videos with an AI clone of their own voice [Link]

• Choice Texts: An AI-powered reading tool that creates custom reading passages and comprehension questions for students based on their interests [Link]

💰 Latest Startup Fundings

• Chat AI entertainment platform Chai achieves a $205M valuation with its latest round of funding [Link]

• Braid, a social media startup focused on the creator economy, raises $6.8M indeed funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Initialized Capital [Link] 

• Uber-backed Serve Robotics raises $30M for AI robotic delivery [Link]

• 3D data exploration platform Virtualitics raises $37M led by Smith Point Capital [Link]

• Illuminati Capital secures $50M for Web3 investments including games [Link]

Till next time!

Stay Strange,

Tara 

Share the newsletter: If you've found this email insightful, feel free to forward it to a friend.