Your weekly briefing on all things AI

This week, we see more competition in multi-modal AI and in the data infrastructure space. As more companies race to enter the market, use-cases improve and expand.

📈 Google Unveils Their Latest Model: Gemini

✴️ VAST Data Doubles Valuation before IPO

🩺 Apple Watch Can Answer Health Questions

🤝AI is Enabling More Affordable Housing Opportunities

📰 AI in the News

Google Unveils Gemini: A Multimodal AI Competing with ChatGPT

Google has launched Gemini, an advanced AI model integrated within its Bard chatbot, marking a significant step in AI development. Trained on diverse data types, Gemini aims to redefine Google's role in AI innovation.

Google's new AI model, Gemini, represents a significant leap in AI capabilities, integrating text, image, and video processing in a single platform. Its launch within the Bard chatbot marks a pivotal move to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. Gemini's diverse training allows it to handle complex multimodal tasks, potentially transforming how AI integrates into various Google services, including search and advertising.

Gemini will be available in different versions, each tailored for specific applications, from consumer tech to cloud-based services. This versatility underlines Google's strategic intent to deeply embed AI across its product ecosystem, reflecting its commitment to maintaining a leadership position in AI innovation.

Gemini's launch reflects Google's commitment to advancing AI technology and its potential impact on various digital platforms and consumer applications. (Full Story)

VAST Data's IPO Plans After Doubling Valuation to $9.1 Billion

VAST Data is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) following a significant boost in valuation, highlighting its rapid growth in the data infrastructure sector.

The company's latest funding round, led by Fidelity Management & Research, raised $118 million, valuing VAST Data at $9.1 billion—more than double its value from two years ago. The New York-based firm, specializing in data-intensive computing needs for enterprises, has seen a surge in revenue, crossing $200 million in annual recurring revenue, driven by growing demand in generative AI workloads.

Amidst a challenging tech IPO market, VAST Data's impressive growth and profitability, coupled with its strategic partnerships and global expansion, position it as a significant player in the AI and data infrastructure industry. (Full Story)

More Stories

• Siri Now Answers Health Questions and Logs Health Data on the Apple Watch Series 9. (link)

• AI Accurately Predicts Cancer Outcomes from Tissue Samples. (link)

• Meta and IBM Forge Industrywide AI Alliance for Technology Sharing. (link)

• NVIDIA's Ambitious Plan to Build an AI Ecosystem in Japan. (link)

• Google Introduces Cloud TPU v5P and AI Hypercomputer, Game-Changing AI Innovations. (link)

• Meta's Chatbot Transforms Images for Enhanced User Experience. (link)

• Meta Launches AI Characters in U.S. Apps, Boosts Bing Search and Memory. (link)

• Microsoft Celebrates First Year of Copilot with Significant New Innovations. (link)

• Elon Musk Plans to Raise $1 Billion for XAI, His New AI Venture. (link)

• Runway Partners with Getty Images to Enhance AI-Driven Creativity. (link)

💡 Industry Insights

🏥 Healthcare

Google's AI in Healthcare: Google is expanding its AI initiatives in healthcare, facing scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators. The company's AI technology, aiding in disease diagnosis and treatment options, is currently being piloted with Mayo Clinic and HCA Healthcare. However, concerns about patient privacy and Google's market power are prompting calls for regulatory action, as the industry anticipates further growth in AI-enabled medical devices and applications. (link)

J&J's AI Focus in Drug Discovery: Johnson & Johnson is intensifying its investment in AI for drug discovery, hiring thousands and investing millions. The pharmaceutical giant plans to open a new research facility in San Francisco, focusing on integrating data science and AI into pharmaceutical development. This strategic shift aims to enhance innovation in drug discovery, underscoring the growing importance of AI in the pharmaceutical industry. (link)

🏠 Real Estate

AI for Affordable Housing: Simply Homes, a startup focusing on affordable housing, has secured $22 million in funding to further its mission. Using AI, they buy and renovate homes in lower-income neighborhoods, then rent them to families in need. This approach, enhanced by AI-driven data analysis, aims to address the housing affordability crisis by rejuvenating aging housing stock. Their AI tools rapidly interpret data for effective property acquisitions, aiming to make homes more accessible to those most affected by the housing crisis. (link)

AI's Role in Real Estate Amid Market Challenges: Compass, a leading real estate brokerage, is leveraging artificial intelligence to navigate the current real estate downturn. AI tools like Likely to Sell (LTS) analyze data to identify potential home sellers, contributing to incremental revenue. Compass's adoption of AI, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, aims to improve efficiency for agents amidst high interest rates and low inventory. This move reflects the increasing reliance on AI to enhance business operations and client engagement in the real estate sector. (link)

🔐 Cyber Security

AI's Dual-Edged Sword in Cybersecurity: OpenAI's GPT Builder, enabling customized AI assistants, poses new cybersecurity risks, as revealed by a BBC investigation. While public ChatGPT versions block scam content creation, bespoke models like Crafty Emails can bypass such safeguards, crafting convincing scam texts and emails. This development highlights the potential misuse of AI in cyber-crime, underscoring the need for stringent moderation in custom AI tools to prevent their exploitation by malicious actors. (link)

Meta's AI Cybersecurity Initiative: Meta's "Purple Llama" project introduces CyberSec Eval and Llama Guard tools to enhance the cybersecurity of large language models (LLMs). This initiative, aimed at thwarting bad actors from manipulating LLMs, is part of a broader effort to establish standardized cybersecurity practices in AI development. Meta collaborates with major tech companies to address pervasive cybersecurity risks associated with LLMs, aligning with the White House's push for increased AI safety. (link)

💰 Finance

AI's Impact on Finance - Banks vs Fintechs: Generative AI presents varied challenges for banks and fintechs. Fintechs lack historic data for AI training, while banks struggle with legacy tech despite having abundant data. Solutions like mandatory data sharing or synthetic data use are proposed to level the playing field. Agile fintechs may adapt more quickly to AI advancements compared to banks, which are hampered by outdated systems. The firms actively embracing genAI are likely to lead in the rapidly evolving financial sector. (link)

⚖️ Legal

AI Copyright in China: The Beijing Internet Court's recent ruling grants copyright protection to AI-generated content, diverging from the US stance where AI creations are not considered eligible for copyright. This decision acknowledges the human intellectual effort involved in AI output, marking a significant shift in China's approach to AI's legal status. The ruling could notably impact copyright disputes and benefit Chinese tech companies, highlighting the global variations in legal perspectives on AI-generated content. (link)

Streamlining Patent Law with AI: AI is revolutionizing patent litigation by expediting document analysis and enhancing legal research and predictive analytics. AI-powered tools assist in efficiently sifting through extensive legal documents and case precedents, while also offering predictive insights on case outcomes. Generative AI further augments this by simulating legal scenarios and providing strategic advantages in case preparation. As AI becomes integral to patent law, it's important to use it ethically and as an aid to human expertise, ensuring a balance between technological efficiency and legal integrity. (link)

📈 Venture Deals

• Mistral AI raises $487 million in round led by Andreessen Horowitz. (link)

• Absci and AstraZeneca sign $247 million partnership for AI-Powered drug discovery to fight cancer. (link)

• UK's Pragmatic secures £182 million for expansion of silicon-free chip production. (link)

• AssemblyAI announces $50 million for superhuman speech AI models. (link)

• Sarvam, an Indian AI startup, secures $41 million just 5 months in. (link)

• Replicate has raised $40 million in Series B Funding. (link)

• AutogenAI secures $39.5 million from Salesforce Ventures and others.(link)

• Liquid AI raises $37.6 million for making AI models from first principles. (link)

🛠️ Latest AI Tools

• Moshi creates high-quality articles for your business.

• TextCortex helps you write faster in your own style.

• Concepto allows you to design and code a website with AI.

• PromptForge gives you access to prompts across multiple platforms.

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• Focusee turns screen recordings into eye-catching videos.

• Briefy turns lengthy texts into easily digestible summaries.

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