Researchers work on better local AI

Researchers are making great strides in developing 1-bit LLMs that can achieve similar performance to their larger counterparts while using significantly less memory and power. This development could open the door to more complex AI applications on everyday devices such as smartphones, as they require less processing power and energy.

California plans strict safety rules for AI

California wants to implement strict safety rules for artificial intelligence, including a “kill switch” and reporting requirements for developers. Critics warn of barriers to innovation, excessive bureaucracy, and negative impacts on open source models that could weaken the state’s technology sector.

Two thirds of companies use generative AI regularly

A new survey from McKinsey shows that 65% of companies are already using Generative AI on a regular basis, and the majority expect the technology to lead to significant changes in their industries. However, 44% of respondents have also experienced negative consequences from using Gen AI, such as inaccurate results or cybersecurity issues, which is …

Read more

Tribeca Festival features films created with OpenAI’s Sora

This year’s Tribeca Festival will be the first to feature short films created entirely with OpenAI’s upcoming video AI, Sora. Five filmmakers will present their Sora-generated works and discuss the new technology at the festival.

Mistral raises $640 million

French startup Mistral AI raises $640 million in a funding round, valuing the company at nearly $6 billion. Mistral intends to use the fresh capital to expand its resources for developing open source AI models and to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic in the global competition.

Meta eyes user content for AI training

Meta apparently wants to use content from Instagram and Facebook to train its AI models. European users will be able to opt out of having their data used for AI training, but they will have to actively request it. Meta’s wording in the email is also vague, suggesting that users must provide a reason for …

Read more

Adobe responds to criticsm

Adobe has responded to criticism of its terms of service by assuring customers that their files will not be used to train AI, nor will their property rights be violated.

Google responds to criticism of AI Overviews

Google admits to errors in its new AI Overviews, which the company says are based on misinterpretations of search queries and web sources. Google is working on improvements, but insists that the accuracy of AI Overviews is comparable to that of traditional search results. In my opinion, this casts a rather bad light on the …

Read more

Microsoft backtracks on controversial “Recall” feature

Microsoft has scaled back its plans for a new Windows feature called Recall. Originally, Recall was supposed to be automatically activated and record user activity in the background to make it usable for AI applications. After heavy criticism from privacy advocates and security researchers, Recall is now optional. New security measures have also been introduced …

Read more

Microsoft’s GPT Builder discontinued

Microsoft is discontinuing GPT Builder for consumers just three months after its launch. The company does not believe it is economically viable to continue developing the service. Users have until July 14 to back up their data, after which all GPTs and associated information will be deleted.