SCRSesame, a startup led by Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe, has unveiled a new AI voice assistant called Maya that aims to cross “the uncanny valley of conversational voice.” According to a recent article by technology journalist Sean Hollister, Maya offers more natural and engaging conversations compared to existing voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s …
Hume AI has introduced Octave, a new text-to-speech system that can generate emotionally nuanced AI voices for content creation. As reported by Carl Franzen for VentureBeat, this large language model can adjust tone, rhythm, and cadence based on textual context. Users can fine-tune emotions at the sentence level through simple text prompts like “happier” or …
Microsoft is now providing unlimited access to Voice and Think Deeper features for all Copilot users at no cost. The Copilot Team announced these advanced capabilities as part of their effort to build “the ultimate AI companion.” Voice allows for extended voice conversations with the AI, while Think Deeper, powered by OpenAI’s o1 model, handles …
The American Psychological Association (APA) has raised serious concerns about AI chatbots that falsely present themselves as therapists. In a presentation to the Federal Trade Commission, APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr. warned that these AI systems could encourage vulnerable users to harm themselves or others, as reported by The New York Times. Evans cited …
More than 1,000 British musicians, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, and Annie Lennox, have released a silent album to protest the UK government’s proposed changes to copyright laws. The album, titled “Is This What We Want?”, features 12 tracks of empty studios and performance spaces, symbolizing the potential impact on artists’ livelihoods if AI companies …
OpenAI has launched its video generation tool Sora in the UK and mainland Europe, expanding availability beyond the US market. The tool, which allows users to create videos by typing simple prompts, is available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers. Dan Milmo of The Guardian reports that OpenAI showcased examples from artists across the region, …
Microsoft has unveiled two new AI models in its Phi series: Phi-4-multimodal with 5.6 billion parameters and Phi-4-mini with 3.8 billion parameters. These small language models (SLMs) deliver exceptional performance while requiring significantly less computing power than larger systems, challenging the notion that bigger AI models are always better. The Phi-4-multimodal model stands out for …
Amazon has unveiled Alexa+, a significant upgrade to its voice assistant that incorporates advanced artificial intelligence technology. This revamped version, announced at a press event in New York City, represents the most substantial overhaul of the platform since its introduction over a decade ago. Alexa+ employs what Amazon describes as a “model agnostic” approach, utilizing …
OpenAI has officially launched GPT-4.5, its newest and largest AI language model to date. The model, previously known internally as “Orion,” is being released as a research preview with claims of enhanced conversational abilities, reduced hallucination rates, and improved emotional intelligence compared to previous models. While OpenAI positions GPT-4.5 as its “largest and best model …
A new iOS app called “touch grass” helps users break screen addiction by blocking their most distracting applications until they physically touch grass and verify it through the app’s computer vision technology. The app aims to help people reclaim their time from mindless scrolling in a tongue-in-cheek way while encouraging connections with nature. Basic features …