ForceField is unveiling its new technology at the 2024 TechCrunch Disrupt, introducing tools aimed at fighting deepfakes and manipulated content. Unlike platforms that flag AI-generated media, ForceField authenticates content directly from devices, ensuring the integrity of digital evidence. Using its HashMarq API, the startup verifies the authenticity of data streams by generating a secure digital signature in real time.
The company uses blockchain technology for smart contracts, safeguarding content without relying on cryptocurrencies or web3 solutions. This system authenticates data collected across various platforms, from mobile apps to surveillance cameras. By tracking metadata like time, location, and surrounding signals, ForceField provides insights that aid journalists, law enforcement, and organisations in verifying the accuracy of submitted media.
ForceField was inspired by CEO MC Spano’s personal experience in 2018, when she struggled to submit video evidence following an assault. Her frustration with the justice system sparked the creation of technology that could simplify evidence submission and ensure its acceptance. Now the startup is working with clients such as Erie Insurance and plans to launch commercially by early 2025, focusing initially on the insurance sector but with applications in media and law enforcement.
The company, which is entirely woman-led, has gained financial backing from several angel investors and strategic partnerships. Spano aims to raise a seed round by year’s end, highlighting the importance of diversity in tech leadership. As AI-generated content continues to flood the internet, ForceField’s tools offer a new way to validate authenticity and restore trust in digital information.
San Francisco-based Advex AI has launched publicly at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, aiming to address data shortages for training AI systems using synthetic imagery. Co-founded by CEO Pedro Pachuca and CTO Qasim Wani, Advex has already secured funding totalling $3.6 million and boasts seven major enterprise clients. Advex’s synthetic data platform uses a proprietary diffusion model to generate thousands of ‘fake’ images from a small sample, helping clients train machine vision systems with limited original data.
Advex’s solution is particularly valuable in sectors like manufacturing, where recognising subtle defects can be crucial but challenging with limited real data. For example, a car manufacturer needing to train a system to detect seat material flaws could upload just a few images of tears, with Advex generating thousands of variations to expand training data. Such applications span industries, from automotive to oil and gas, reducing costs and time associated with real data collection.
While synthetic data isn’t a new concept, Advex distinguishes itself through its custom diffusion model, which Pachuca says is faster and more realistic than traditional simulation methods. Unlike game-engine techniques, Advex’s model can rapidly create images tailored to the data gaps in a client’s specific AI system, helping it operate more effectively in real-world scenarios.
Microsoft is anticipated to report its slowest revenue growth in a year as investors focus on AI-related earnings and the impact of heavy investments in the technology. While Microsoft has led the way in generative AI, helped by its significant stake in ChatGPT creator OpenAI, adoption of its enterprise AI assistant, Copilot, has lagged. Recent reports suggest a hesitant market for Copilot’s $30-per-month subscription, with many companies still in pilot phases.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley and Visible Alpha expect Microsoft’s capital expenditures in the September quarter to have surged nearly 72% year-on-year, driven by high AI and cloud computing costs. Azure, Microsoft’s cloud unit, likely grew by 33% for the quarter, although that marks a slight dip from prior growth. Despite this, Microsoft hopes for stronger AI-driven revenue in Azure and is targeting faster growth in the second half of the fiscal year.
In the wake of a financial reorganisation in August, Microsoft’s earnings have become harder to predict. With high AI-related costs weighing on margins, Microsoft’s shares have seen minimal growth since July, underperforming the S&P 500. Meanwhile, analysts anticipate a revenue rise of around 14% to $64.5 billion, a modest improvement amid investor concerns over Microsoft’s AI strategies.
Scepticism around Microsoft’s 365 Copilot assistant remains, though some analysts believe recent AI upgrades could drive demand. Microsoft’s productivity unit, including LinkedIn and Office, is expected to maintain steady growth, and the company remains optimistic about AI’s potential to strengthen its productivity suite.
Amazon has announced the international expansion of Rufus, its AI-powered shopping assistant, which will now be available in multiple new markets across Europe and the Americas. Originally launched in the US earlier this year, Rufus assists users with product searches, personalised recommendations, and side-by-side comparisons. This expansion aims to make Amazon’s shopping experience more seamless by answering shoppers’ questions in natural language, whether they’re looking for gift ideas or specific product advice.
Rufus has been trained on Amazon’s extensive data library, including product listings, customer reviews, and other public information. By integrating Rufus into Amazon’s Shopping app, the company is competing more directly in the AI space, a move that underscores its efforts to stay competitive with other tech giants. Users in newly added regions can now access Rufus by updating their Amazon app and selecting the chatbot icon, which activates an intuitive, chat-based interface.
While this initial version of Rufus is still in development, Amazon acknowledges that it may not yet be perfect but promises regular updates. The company is also investing in generative AI to enhance services for sellers, like automated listing descriptions. This broader AI strategy includes Amazon’s recent $230M investment in startups to drive further innovations in the field.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Sound Ventures, shared his belief that every company will eventually incorporate AI, though he doubts there will be a single “winner” in the space. Kutcher emphasised the transformative potential of foundational AI models, which he views as essential to future innovation across industries. “There will not be a company in the world that is not, in some way, using AI,” he noted, adding that foundational companies in AI could become some of the most valuable in history.
Kutcher, alongside Sound co-founders Guy Oseary and Effie Epstein, explained that Sound Ventures is betting heavily on AI, with a $265 million fund backing major AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic. Kutcher also shared that OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, supported Sound’s multi-company AI investments, with the firm carefully maintaining confidentiality across its portfolio.
While some are apprehensive about AI’s rapid growth, Kutcher compared the technology’s potential impact to transformative past innovations like personal computers and cars. Advising founders, he highlighted the importance of strong teams over polished pitch decks, noting that real value lies in people, market insight, and breakthrough ideas.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has reaffirmed his belief that artificial super intelligence (ASI) will become a reality by 2035. Speaking at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Son explained that ASI would be 10,000 times smarter than the human brain. He highlighted the need for hundreds of billions of dollars in investment to achieve this groundbreaking development.
Son mentioned plans to save funds for his next major venture but did not provide specifics. He estimates that generative AI will require $900 trillion in future capital expenditure, especially for data centres and chip production. He also suggested that Nvidia is undervalued, given the vital role its chips will play in this industry.
Although Son has been a strong proponent of new technology, his investment track record has been mixed. The Vision Fund, launched in 2017, reshaped venture capital, but many of its high-growth startups have since lost value, contributing to a $2.4 billion loss as of June 2024.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) had invested $45 billion in the first Vision Fund. Despite recent losses, Son remains optimistic about the future of AI and its potential to transform industries worldwide.
Meta is working on a new AI search engine to lessen its reliance on Google and Microsoft’s Bing. The move places Meta among other tech giants, such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, in the race to dominate the evolving AI-powered search landscape.
The new search tool aims to enhance Meta’s chatbot on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook by offering conversational responses to real-time queries about news and events. Meta currently depends on Google and Bing to provide users with information on topics like news, stock markets, and sports.
As competition intensifies, Google is pushing its Gemini AI model into core services, including Search, to offer more interactive and intuitive experiences. OpenAI, meanwhile, continues to use Bing, leveraging its close partnership with Microsoft for topical queries.
The use of web data to train AI systems and build search engines has sparked debates about copyright and fair compensation. Meta recently announced that its chatbot would incorporate Reuters content to provide up-to-date answers to questions related to news and current events.
Sierra, a young AI software startup co-founded by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, has secured $175 million in new funding led by Greenoaks Capital. This latest round gives the company a valuation of $4.5 billion, a significant jump from its earlier valuation of nearly $1 billion. Investors such as Thrive Capital, Iconiq, Sequoia, and Benchmark have also backed the firm.
Founded just a year ago, Sierra has already crossed $20 million in annualised revenue, focusing on selling AI-powered customer service chatbots to enterprises. It works with major clients, including WeightWatchers and Sirius XM. The company claims its technology reduces ‘hallucinations’ in large language models, ensuring reliable AI interactions for businesses.
The rising valuation reflects investor enthusiasm for applications in AI that generate steady revenue, shifting from expensive foundational models to enterprise solutions. Sierra operates in a competitive space, facing rivals such as Salesforce and Forethought, but aims to stand out through more dependable AI performance.
Bret Taylor, who also chairs OpenAI’s board, co-founded Sierra alongside former Google executive Clay Bavor. Taylor previously held leadership roles at Salesforce and oversaw Twitter’s board during its takeover by Elon Musk. Bavor, who joined Google in 2005, played key roles managing Gmail and Google Drive.
On 21 and 24 October, DiploFoundation provided just-in time reporting from the UN Security Council sessions on scientific development and on women, peace, and security. Supported by Switzerland, this initiative aims to enhance the work of the UN Security Council and the broader UN system.
At the core of this effort is DiploAI, an advanced platform shaped by years of training on UN materials, which played a crucial role in unlocking the knowledge generated by the Security Council’s deliberations. This knowledge, often trapped in video recordings and transcripts, is now more accessible, providing valuable insights for diplomacy and global peace.
Unlocking the power of AI for peace and security
AI-supported reporting from the UN Security Council (UNSC) demonstrates the potential of combining cutting-edge technology with deep expertise in peace and security. This effort is part of ongoing work by DiploAI, which has been providing detailed reports on Security Council sessions in 2023-2024 and has covered the UN General Assembly (UNGA) for eight consecutive years. DiploAI is actively contributing to expanding the UN’s knowledge ecosystem.
Seamless interplay between experts and AI
The success of this initiative lies in the seamless interplay between DiploAI and security experts well-versed in UNSC procedures. The collaboration began with tailoring the AI system to the unique needs of the Council, using input from experts and diplomats to build a relevant knowledge base. Experts supplied key documents and session materials, which enhanced the AI’s contextual understanding. Feedback loops on keywords, topics, and focus areas ensured the AI’s output remained both accurate and diplomatically relevant.
A pivotal moment in this collaboration was the analysis of New Agenda for Peace , where Security Council experts helped DiploAI identify over 400 critical topics, laying the foundation for a comprehensive taxonomy on peace and security at the UN. This expertise, combined with DiploAI’s technical capabilities, has resulted in an AI system attuned to the subtleties of diplomatic language and priorities. Furthermore, the project introduced a Knowledge Graph—a visual tool for displaying sentiment and relational analysis between statements and topics—which adds new depth to the analysis of Council sessions.
Building on this foundation, DiploAI developed a custom chatbot capable of moving beyond standard Q&A interactions. By integrating data from all 2024 sessions and associated documents, the chatbot allows users to interact conversationally with the content, providing in-depth answers and real-time insights. This evolution marks a significant leap forward in accessing and understanding diplomatic data—shifting from static reports to interactive exploration of session materials.
AI and diplomatic sensitivities
The development of DiploAI’s Q&A module, refined through approximately ten iterations with feedback from UNSC experts, underscores the value of human-AI(-nism) collaboration. This module addresses essential diplomatic questions, with iterative refinements ensuring that responses meet the Council’s standards for accuracy and relevance. The result is an AI system capable of addressing critical inquiries while respecting the sensitivity required in diplomatic settings.
What’s new?
DiploAI’s suite of tools—including real-time meeting transcription and analysis—has transformed reporting and transparency at the UNSC. By integrating customized AI systems like retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and knowledge graphs, DiploAI adds context, depth, and relevance to the extracted information. Trained on a vast corpus of diplomatic knowledge generated at Diplo over the last two decades, the AI system generates context-specific responses, providing comprehensive answers to questions about transcribed sessions.
Here are some numbers from 10 UNSC meetings that took place between January 2023 and October 2024:
Number of speakers and speech length
Unique speakers: 185
Total time: 201,221.25 min – 2.0 days, 7.0 hours, 53.0 minutes, 41.0 seconds
Total speeches: 583
Total length: 396,172 words, or 0.67 ‘War and Peace’ books
Frequency of selected topics
Name of the topic
Number of times it was mentioned
Name of the session
development
1,665 mentions
The session that most mentioned development: UNSC meeting: Peace and common development (919 mentions)
climate change
451 mentions
The session that most mentioned climate change: UNSC meeting: Climate change and food insecurity (329 mentions)
human rights
360 mentions
The session that most mentioned human rights: UNSC meeting: Peace and common development (93 mentions)
civilians
136 mentions
The session that most mentioned civilians: UNSC meeting: Peacekeeping (72 mentions)
international humanitarian law
27 mentions
The session that most mentioned international humanitarian law: UNSC meeting: Multilateral cooperation (6 mentions)
In conclusion…
DiploAI’s reporting from the Security Council, supported by Switzerland, shows how AI can enhance diplomacy while staying grounded in human expertise and practical needs. This blend of technical capability and domain-specific knowledge demonstrates how AI, when developed collaboratively, can contribute to more inclusive, informed, and impactful diplomacy.
An AI transcription tool called Whisper, developed by OpenAI and used by thousands of clinicians and health systems, has come under scrutiny after researchers found it sometimes produces inaccurate transcriptions. Whisper, which powers the medical transcription tool from the company Nabla, has reportedly transcribed around 7 million medical conversations. While it accurately summarises many doctor-patient exchanges, researchers from Cornell University and the University of Washington discovered instances where the AI-generated entirely fabricated sentences, sometimes even adding irrelevant or nonsensical phrases.
The study, which was presented at the Association for Computing Machinery FAccT conference in Brazil in June, highlighted that Whisper made errors in about 1 percent of transcriptions, often producing ‘hallucinations’ — fabricated statements in response to silences during conversations. These inaccuracies were especially common in audio samples featuring patients with aphasia, a language disorder that results in frequent pauses. In one case, Whisper inserted phrases that were more typical of a YouTube video, such as “Thank you for watching!”
Nabla, aware of the issue, has stated it is working on solutions to mitigate these hallucinations. In response, OpenAI emphasised its commitment to reducing such errors, particularly in high-stakes situations like healthcare. An OpenAI spokesperson noted that Whisper’s usage policies discourage its application in critical decision-making contexts and that guidance for open-source use advises against deployment in high-risk domains.
The study’s findings underscore the complexities of applying AI tools in sensitive settings like healthcare, where precise communication is vital. With Whisper being used across 40 healthcare systems, the issue raises broader questions around the suitability of AI transcription tools in medical environments and the ongoing need for oversight in their deployment.
