🤖 AI Bonanza; GPT-4, AI into Google Workspace, Anthropic, and Duolingo launch.

Update 2023-03-15

• UAE Firm G42 Buys Stake in ByteDance at Discounted Price Amid Potential TikTok Ban

• TikTok Possible US Divestiture Amid National Security Concerns Valued at $40-$50 Billion

• Meta Platforms Inc. Announces 10,000 Job Cuts and $3-5 Billion Charge

• Apple is expanding its hiring freeze to encompass additional roles and plans to delay bonuses for some of its employees.

• Microsoft Signs 10-Year Deal with Boosteroid to Make Call of Duty Cross-Platform

• GPT-4 is Here

• Google Unveils AI-Powered Features to Take on Microsoft Office Suite

• AI Chatbot Claude Launched by Anthropic, Backed by Google

• Duolingo Launches AI-Powered Subscription Tier with OpenAI's GPT-4 Technology

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Big Tech

UAE Firm G42 Buys Stake in ByteDance at Discounted Price Amid Potential TikTok Ban

Abu Dhabi AI firm G42, controlled by United Arab Emirates royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, acquired a stake in ByteDance Ltd. at a private-market investment valued it at around $220 billion, a significant discount to the $300 billion that TikTok's owner set recently.

• G42's 42XFund and another fund bought shares of ByteDance shortly after this transaction.

• Washington has signaled it may ban viral video phenom TikTok over national security concerns and the company is discussing the possibility of separating from its Chinese parent to address the issue.

• G42 likely bets on ByteDance's potential in a rebounding Chinese economy and with growing enthusiasm for Artificial Intelligence since ChatGPT's rollout.

• A potential ByteDance IPO remains a ways off due to market volatility and White House endorsed a bill that could grant the President authority to ban or force the sale of TikTok.

TikTok Possible US Divestiture Amid National Security Concerns Valued at $40-$50 Billion

TikTok's leadership is discussing the possibility of splitting from ByteDance Ltd. to address national security concerns.

• A divestiture could be pursued as a last resort if a proposal with US officials fails to get approved and would need approval from the Chinese government.

• Based on social media multiples, TikTok's US business could be valued at $40-$50 billion.

• The company has implemented a series of changes (Project Texas) designed to address security risks. However, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US review process has stalled.

• Multiple proposed bills call for banning or selling TikTok due to data privacy and security concerns. CEO Shou Chew has been asked to testify before Congress about the app's practices and relationship with China.

• The Canadian civil service, European Commission, and UK government have banned staff from using TikTok over privacy issues.

Meta Platforms Inc. Announces 10,000 Job Cuts and $3-5 Billion Charge

Meta Platforms Inc. has announced plans to let go 10,000 more employees and scrap 5,000 job postings in a new round of job cuts.

• The layoffs will begin this week and will be carried out in phases.

• Meta expects to take charge of $3-5 billion as a result of the layoffs and office consolidation initiatives.

• The restructuring is part of an effort to make operations more efficient amid slowing ad sales.

• After the restructuring, Meta plans to lift the freeze on hiring and employee transfers between business units, make enhancements to its developer tooling, and prioritize machine learning and metaverse building.

Apple is expanding its hiring freeze to encompass additional roles and plans to delay bonuses for some of its employees.

• The company is leaving positions open as employees depart in order to cut down the size of its workforce.

• Bonuses will be paid once per year instead of twice, with CEO Tim Cook being paid 50% less for 2023 compared to 2022.

• Apple has not announced layoffs, unlike many tech companies which have made significant reductions in their personnel headcounts.

• The company saw a five-percent drop in revenue in the first fiscal quarter of 2023, with similar numbers expected for the second quarter.

Microsoft Signs 10-Year Deal with Boosteroid to Make Call of Duty Cross-Platform

Microsoft has signed a 10-year deal with Ukraine-based streaming service Boosteroid in an effort to "make clear to regulators" the company's cross-platform intentions for Call of Duty.

• Boosteroid claims 4 million customers who can stream games from any smartphone, PC, or Android TV device to servers based in Europe and US.

• The move is part of Microsoft's full-court press to assuage fears by international regulators about the potential anti-competitive effects of its proposed $69 billion Activision/Blizzard acquisition.

• Microsoft recently signed a similar 10-year agreement with Nvidia and has also agreed to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo consoles.

• Sony called out the company's exclusive Bethesda Softworks titles as counteracting their cross-platform promises regarding Call of Duty.

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AI

GPT-4 is Here

OpenAI unveiled GPT-4, the new model that exhibits "human-level performance" on various academic and professional benchmarks.

GPT-4 is multimodal, meaning it can accept input in both text and image form. The company has embedded its new software into multiple apps and third-party programs.

Open AI put GPT-4 through stress tests to test out the harms of the technology, revealing the potential for harm, such as hate speech and advice on planning attacks. It concluded that GPT-4 was not yet capable of autonomous actions without human input.

📝 Cloudly PRO: It is clear that GPT-4 surpasses ChatGPT in its advanced reasoning capabilities... Read our full comment with an analysis of performance improvements and more here.

Google Unveils AI-Powered Features to Take on Microsoft Office Suite

Google announces upcoming AI features in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat to rival Microsoft. Features include:

• New ways to generate, summarize, and brainstorm text with AI in Google Docs.

• The option to generate full emails in Gmail based on users' brief bullet points.

• The ability to produce AI imagery, audio, and video for presentations in Slides.

• The first feature will be made available for US-based "trusted testers" this month. Other features will follow later in the year.

• Potential functions include AI writing and brainstorming tools in Docs and Gmail; rewriting text or expanding it using AI tools; generating summaries of discussions/emails; creating personalized marketing messages; etc.

• Microsoft is reportedly building similar features into its Office suite of apps.

• Potential dangers are associated with using AI text generation programs (hallucinating false information/regurgitating racial/gendered biases).

📝 Cloudly PRO: A very expected move from Google, similar to the plans from Microsoft for their office suite. The two big tech companies sit directly on the platforms used for almost all work, and the addition of AI capabilities on top of their office products is given. I believe that users will take AI assistance will be taken for granted in a couple of years (or even faster), just like word processing tools and grammar checks are. The obvious risk is for all tjhe companies that have built nice products for content creation or niche assistants; most will switch to using the basic models that Microsoft and Google will supply.

AI Chatbot Claude Launched by Anthropic, Backed by Google

Anthropic, founded by ex-OpenAI employees and backed by Google, has launched Claude, an AI chatbot.

• Claude can provide summaries, answer questions, help with writing, generate code, and has an adjustable tone and personality.

• Its goal is to be "helpful, honest, and harmless" as it is self-contained and does not access the internet.

• A cheaper version of Claude (Claude Instant) is also being released.

• Companies such as Notion, Quora, and DuckDuckGo have already had access to Claude in the months leading up to its launch.

Duolingo Launches AI-Powered Subscription Tier with OpenAI's GPT-4 Technology

Duolingo has launched a new subscription tier, "Max", featuring AI-powered features powered by OpenAI's new GPT-4 technology.

• The new features of Duolingo Max - Roleplay and Explain My Answer - are designed to help users practice real-world conversation skills, as well as receive feedback on the accuracy and complexity of their responses.

• Roleplay is an AI chatbot that allows users to talk with characters in the app, while Explain My Answer helps users understand why their response was right or wrong with further tips and clarification.

• These two new features are currently only available for Spanish and French for English speakers on iOS.

• OpenAI has collaborated with other companies to integrate GPT-4 into various products, including Stripe and Khan Academy, which is available to the general public through ChatGPT Plus for a monthly fee.