- Front Research
- Posts
- 📬 OpenAI's 'Insane' DALL-E Upgrade
📬 OpenAI's 'Insane' DALL-E Upgrade
Today: Meta's Persona Chatbots | AMD, Pinterest & Uber Earnings | Insane DALL-E Upgrade
Kristoffer Lindström
August 02, 2023
In Partnership with ⬆️
Hey there, welcome to today's update!
It's Wednesday, August 2, and some exciting stuff is lined up for you. We'll be covering the latest earnings reports from AMD, Uber, and Pinterest, along with some fascinating developments in AI. So, get ready to jump in and explore the day's top headlines!
Meta's Persona Chatbots Coming Soon
Uber's Strategic Shift Towards Profitability
Google Assistant's Generative AI Pivot
Apple Unveils iOS 17, iPadOS 17 Betas
OpenAI's 'Insane' DALL-E Upgrade
Pinterest Profits Surge on E-commerce
and more...
READ TIME: 4.7 MINUTES
From our partner: Blinkist
Powerful ideas in 15 minutes
Join now and start up-leveling your small talk game. Get access to over 5,000 book titles alongside 20 million other readers.
🌐 Tech Companies
In an effort to resolve disputes with the European Union over the use of personal data for ads, Meta is proposing to make its personalized, targeted ads an opt-in option for EU users, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company anticipates needing a three-month period to allow users to make this choice. Recent fines and penalties against Meta and pending regulations could impact the tech giant's revenue and data-handling practices.
Amazon's virtual healthcare marketplace, Amazon Clinic, is now accessible to customers across the US. The service connects users to telemedicine partners for treatment of over 30 common health concerns, with options to fill prescriptions via Amazon Pharmacy.
In response to Canada's Online News Act, Meta has started blocking news content on Facebook and Instagram for its Canadian users, affecting both local and international publishers' visibility.
Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, is implementing strategies to transform Uber into a profitable business. Departing from its previous aggressive growth model, the company is focusing on Uber-as-a-platform, offering various ride and food delivery services. Even as ride subsidies disappear and prices increase, the company is cautiously optimistic, boosted by the success of Uber Eats during the pandemic. The firm also introduced a potentially controversial feature, "Uber for Teens," promising comprehensive safety features.
🚀 Startup Scene
Networking startup Nile, co-founded by former Cisco executives, secured $175 million funding to challenge major players like Cisco with its network-as-a-service solution. The company aims to offer ease of use, cost efficiency, and advanced security features.
Neon, a serverless PostgreSQL database firm, has raised $46 million in series B funding, totaling $104 million to date. The firm aims to become the go-to database for developer clouds, overcoming scalability and cold-start challenges in serverless environments.
🤖 AI Corner
Google is reportedly upgrading its Assistant with the latest Large Language Model (LLM) technology, shifting from fixed responses to a more generative system. This move towards a 'supercharged' Assistant aims to utilize the full conversational capabilities of LLMs.
OpenAI is reportedly enhancing its DALL-E image generator model, impressing testers with its advanced capabilities, even eclipsing competing software like Midjourney, as shown in video demos.
Meta is reportedly developing AI-powered chatbots with distinct personas aiming to enhance engagement on its platforms. These human-like chatbots could provide new search functions, offer recommendations, and collect data on users' interests for more precise ad targeting. However, these developments also raise privacy and manipulation concerns.
According to a recent support page update, Google is testing AI-generated summaries for YouTube videos to provide users with quick overviews of video content. This experiment forms part of Google's broader generative AI initiative.
💰´Markets & Money
US stocks showed mixed performance amidst more earnings reports and fresh economic data hinting at weakening. Job openings in June decreased more than expected, with manufacturing activity just slightly improving.
In a landmark second quarter, Uber Technologies posted its first-ever operating profit, aided by robust growth in its core ride-hailing and food delivery businesses. The numbers of rides in the U.S. and Canada exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with delivery demand remaining strong despite restaurant reopenings. The firm's operational efficiency improved through more disciplined spending and operational tweaks, while the freight division suffered a 30% decrease in bookings and revenue.
AMD reported an 18% year-over-year revenue decline for Q2 and a below-expectations forecast. The PC processor sales suffered, leading to a 54% annual drop, amidst a weaker PC market.
Pinterest's Q2 revenue outperformed analyst predictions, up 6% to $708 million, indicating the success of its e-commerce expansion. Monthly users increased by 8% to 465 million from last year.
Rapyd, a fintech-as-a-service startup, is purchasing a large chunk of PayU from Prosus for $610 million to enhance its global payments operation. This acquisition enhances Rapyd's card acquiring capabilities across Latin America and parts of Europe.
📱 Apps & Gadgets
Apple has released the second public betas of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, featuring interactive widgets, smarter autocorrect, and a new StandBy option. Notable enhancements include the NameDrop feature for AirDrop, Live Voicemail, FaceTime video messages, and mood tracking in the Health app.
Apple's upcoming September event is anticipated to introduce Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. According to Twitter leaker ShrimpApplePro, Series 9 will maintain Series 8's design, adding a new pink color. Ultra 2 may come in black titanium.
Anker has unveiled a 240W USB-C desktop charger capable of fast-charging a 16-inch MacBook Pro. It's part of Anker's "Prime" gallium nitride (GaN) chargers lineup and costs $199.99.
Reply