AI boom could significantly increase global e-waste, study finds

The rise of AI could lead to a 3-12% increase in global electronic waste by 2030, amounting to an extra 2.5 million metric tons annually, according to a study by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Reichman University in Israel published in the journal Nature Computational Science. The analysis, based on industry investment …

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Chain-of-Thought reasoning no panacea for AI shortfalls

The research paper “Mind Your Step (by Step): Chain-of-Thought can Reduce Performance on Tasks where Thinking Makes Humans Worse” investigates the effectiveness of chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting in large language and multimodal models. While CoT has generally improved model performance on various tasks, the authors explore scenarios where it may actually hinder performance, drawing parallels from …

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Foundation Model

Foundation Model refers to a large AI model trained on vast amounts of data that serves as a foundation for various specialized applications. It can be thought of as a base upon which other AI applications are built. These models are initially trained on a broad spectrum of data – from texts and images to …

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ChatGPT gains real-time search capabilities

OpenAI has announced a web search functionality for its ChatGPT conversational AI. The new feature, initially rolling out to paid subscribers, allows ChatGPT to search the web and provide real-time information on topics such as news, sports, stocks, and weather. By delivering curated answers with clear source attribution, ChatGPT aims to provide a more natural …

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OpenAI expands Realtime API with new voices and reduces costs for developers

OpenAI has updated its Realtime API, currently in beta, with five new expressive voices for speech-to-speech applications and reduced costs for developers by introducing prompt caching. According to OpenAI’s API documentation cited in an article by VentureBeat, the native speech-to-speech feature enables low latency and nuanced output. The company showcased three of the new voices …

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Microsoft reports OpenAI investment and AI-driven growth

Microsoft has revealed that its AI business is on track to surpass a $10 billion annual revenue run rate next quarter, making it the fastest business in the company’s history to reach this milestone. The company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, attributes this growth to Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Microsoft disclosed in its …

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Meta reports strong AI progress and financial results amid rising costs

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced significant advancements in its artificial intelligence projects and strong financial results for the third quarter of 2024. CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta AI, the company’s generative AI tool, has surpassed 500 million monthly users and is on track to become the most-used AI assistant …

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Omnivore acquired by ElevenLabs to power new ElevenReader app

Omnivore, a reading app startup, has been acquired by ElevenLabs, an AI audio technology company, to help develop their new ElevenReader app. According to a note from Omnivore’s founders Jackson and Hongbo, the acquisition will enable them to create more accessible reading and listening experiences on a larger platform. Omnivore users are invited to create …

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Moondream raises $4.5M for compact yet powerful AI vision-language model

Moondream, a startup backed by Felicis Ventures, Microsoft’s M12 GitHub Fund, and Ascend, has emerged from stealth with $4.5 million in pre-seed funding. According to VentureBeat’s Michael Nuñez, the company has developed an open-source vision-language model that boasts 1.6 billion parameters but matches the performance of models four times its size. The model, which can …

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Read AI raises $50M Series B to expand AI meeting assistant

Read AI, an AI-powered meeting assistant startup, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Smash Capital, just six months after a $21 million Series A. According to co-founder David Shim, the company has seen strong growth, with over 100,000 new accounts created since the Series A. Read AI plans to …

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