Google is expanding its AI-generated search summaries, known as AI Overviews, to six new countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, and Britain. This follows a previous rollout in the US, which faced criticism for inaccuracies such as incorrect information and misleading content. The company has since refined the feature, adding restrictions to improve accuracy and reducing reliance on user-generated content from sites like Reddit.
The updated AI Overviews now include more hyperlinks to relevant websites, displayed alongside the AI-generated answers, with plans to integrate clickable links directly within the text. Google aims to balance user experience with publisher traffic, responding to concerns from the media industry about potential impacts on referral traffic.
Hema Budaraju, a senior director at Google, reported improved user satisfaction based on internal data, noting that users of the feature tend to engage more deeply with search queries. These updates come at a time when Google faces legal challenges and competition from AI advancements by rivals like Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
Ridley Scott, the acclaimed director behind the original Gladiator, is raising the stakes with Gladiator II, promising some of the biggest action sequences of his career. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Scott revealed that the film begins with an enormous action scene, surpassing even his work on Napoleon. Paul Mescal stars in the sequel, alongside Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, taking audiences on a thrilling new adventure two decades after the Oscar-winning original.
Scott embraces advanced technology, including AI, to bring his vision to life. One of the standout sequences features Paul Mescal’s character, Lucius, facing off against a massive rhino. Scott shared that he used a combination of computerisation and AI to create a lifelike model of the rhino, which was mounted on a robotic platform capable of impressive movements, adding a new layer of realism to the film’s action.
The director’s shift in attitude towards AI is notable, given his earlier concerns about the technology. Last year, Scott expressed fears about AI’s potential to disrupt society, but now he acknowledges its role in filmmaking. Despite his previous reservations, Scott seems to have found a balance between caution and innovation, using AI to push the boundaries of what’s possible on screen.
A decentralised blockchain and AI startup, Sahara AI, has successfully raised $43 million in a Series A funding round. The round saw significant backing from prominent investors including Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, and Polychain Capital. Samsung NEXT also joined the funding alongside Matrix Partners, dao5, and Geekcartel.
The funds will be utilised to expand Sahara AI’s global team, improve the platform’s performance, and grow its developer ecosystem. By leveraging its decentralised platform, Sahara AI aims to reward users, data sources, and AI trainers, rather than just the companies that create AI models. The company’s approach is seen as a shift from the traditional model, promoting transparency and fair compensation.
Founded in April 2023, Sahara AI has already partnered with leading tech firms such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Snap. These collaborations highlight the startup’s rapid growth and the increasing interest in its unique decentralised approach to AI.
As the use of AI continues to rise, concerns around data privacy, copyright, and ethical issues have become more pronounced. Sahara AI’s approach seeks to address these challenges by ensuring transparency and fairness in how AI models are developed and utilised.
Singapore’s National University Health System (NUHS) is leveraging advanced AI technologies to enhance efficiency and reduce administrative workloads in healthcare. Through the RUSSELL-GPT platform, which integrates large language models (LLMs) via Amazon Web Services (AWS) Bedrock, over a thousand clinicians now benefit from automated tasks such as drafting referrals and summarising patient data, reducing administrative time by 40%.
The NUHS team is working on event-driven Generative AI models that can perform tasks automatically when triggered by specific events, such as drafting discharge letters without needing any prompts. This approach aims to streamline processes further and reduce the administrative burden on healthcare staff.
Ensuring patient data security is a top priority for NUHS, with robust measures in place to keep data within Singapore and comply with local privacy laws. RUSSELL-GPT also includes features to mitigate the risks of AI hallucinations, with mandatory training for users on recognising and managing such occurrences.
Despite the promise of LLMs, NUHS acknowledges that these models are not a cure-all. Classical AI still plays a critical role in tasks like clustering information and providing predictive insights, underlining the need for a balanced use of it in healthcare.
SoftBank has abandoned its plan to develop an AI chip in partnership with Intel, according to a report by the Financial Times. The Japanese tech investor had intended to collaborate with Intel to challenge Nvidia, but the deal fell through after Intel failed to meet SoftBank’s requirements, as reported by sources familiar with the situation. SoftBank attributed the breakdown of negotiations to Intel’s inability to deliver on speed and production volume demands.
As a result, SoftBank has shifted its focus to discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker. The report noted that the collapse of talks occurred before Intel’s significant cost-cutting measures, including massive layoffs in early August.
Why does this matter?
These events highlight the intensifying competition in the AI chip market, where companies like Nvidia currently dominate. SoftBank’s decision to abandon its partnership with Intel and shift focus to TSMC underscores the challenges Intel faces in keeping pace with AI-driven innovations. The move also signals potential shifts in global chip production dynamics, with TSMC further solidifying its role as a key player. Additionally, it reflects the broader implications of Intel’s internal struggles, such as meeting demand and cost-cutting, on its competitiveness in critical emerging technologies like AI.
The English Premier League is set to enhance offside decision-making with new technology from Genius Sports. Multiple iPhones, paired with advanced machine-learning models, will assist referees in making more accurate offside calls. Traditional Video Assistant Referee (VAR) systems have faced criticism for slow reviews and inconsistent decisions, leading to this shift.
Genius Sports developed ‘Semi-Assisted Offside Technology’ (SAOT) as part of its GeniusIQ system. Up to 28 iPhones will be placed around the pitch to generate 3D models of players, offering precise offside line determinations. Expensive 4K cameras will be replaced by iPhones, which capture between 7,000 and 10,000 data points per player.
Strategically positioned on custom rigs, iPhones will cover optimal areas of the pitch. Data collected will be processed by the GeniusIQ system, using predictive algorithms to assess player positions even when obscured. High framerate recording and local processing capabilities further enhance the system’s accuracy.
Genius Sports plans to fully implement the system in the Premier League by the end of the year. While the exact date remains unconfirmed, this marks a significant advancement in football technology, promising a more precise and consistent approach to offside rulings.
Google is intensifying its AI initiatives in India, with a focus on addressing language barriers and improving agricultural efficiency. Abhishek Bapna, Director of Product Management at Google DeepMind, emphasized the economic importance of breaking language barriers, particularly in areas like healthcare and banking. Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, supports over 40 languages globally, including nine Indian languages, and aims to enhance language quality further.
In collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, Google’s Project Vaani provides over 14,000 hours of speech data from 80 districts, empowering developers to create more efficient AI models for India’s multilingual environment. Additionally, the IndicGenBench benchmark helps fine-tune language models for Indian languages. These efforts are crucial to improving the accuracy and reach of AI in the country.
Google is also piloting its Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) Research API in Telangana, designed to boost farm yields and enhance market access. The initiative aligns with Google’s broader goals of improving livelihoods and addressing climate change, offering granular data-driven insights at the farm field level.
These initiatives are expected to not only assist farmers but also attract end users like banks and insurance companies. Once the pilot program is completed, Google plans to scale the project to work with state governments across India.
Government agencies in Australia must disclose their use of AI within six months under a new policy effective from 1st September. The policy mandates that agencies prepare a transparency statement detailing their AI adoption and usage, which must be publicly accessible. Agencies must also designate a technology executive responsible for ensuring the policy’s implementation.
The transparency statements, updated annually or after significant changes, will include information on compliance, monitoring effectiveness, and measures to protect the public from potential AI-related harm. Although staff training on AI is strongly encouraged, it is not a mandatory requirement under the new policy.
The policy was developed in response to concerns about public trust, recognising that a lack of transparency and accountability in AI use could hinder its adoption. The government in Australia aims to position itself as a model of safe and responsible AI usage by integrating the new policy with existing frameworks and legislation.
Minister for Finance and the APS, Katy Gallagher, emphasised the importance of the policy in guiding agencies to use AI responsibly, ensuring Australians’ confidence in the government’s application of these technologies.
Two teams from Singapore have secured gold medals in the first-ever International Olympiad in AI, held in Bulgaria. The competition, which ran from 9 to 15 August 2024, gathered high school students from around the globe, with Singapore emerging as a top contender in the scientific round.
Students were selected through a rigorous test held on 28 April 2024 at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The successful candidates were then flown to Bulgaria to compete in various AI-related challenges, including natural language processing, machine learning, and computer vision.
Both Singaporean teams, Team Singapore 1 and Team Singapore 2, claimed gold medals, showcasing the country’s strong capabilities in AI. The teams were comprised of students Shah Mahir Hitesh, Kabir Jain, Ng Shi Yu, Wang Zerui, Glenn Wu, Wang Jiayu, Lam Eu Ler, and Chong Jia Shuo.
Besides Singapore, Poland also earned gold in the scientific round, while China and Vietnam received silver medals. Malaysia was among the teams awarded bronze, highlighting the competitive nature of the event.
WhatsApp is expanding its sticker options, offering users more ways to express themselves through its platform. Despite the availability of hundreds of emojis and sticker packs, many users may struggle to find the perfect expression for their emotions. To address this, WhatsApp has integrated AI and GIPHY, enhancing the experience.
Users can now access an extensive collection by tapping the sticker icon and searching with text or emojis. Additionally, WhatsApp allows users to create custom ones from their existing images. By simply opening a photo, the app automatically removes the background, leaving only the subject for further customisation.
They can be cropped, drawn upon, and decorated before being saved automatically in the sticker section. WhatsApp now lets users preview and reorganize packs by dragging them within the sticker tray, offering greater control over their collection.
