Actor Morgan Freeman, renowned for his distinctive voice, recently addressed concerns over a video circulating on TikTok featuring a voice purportedly his own but created using AI. The video, depicting a day in his niece’s life, prompted Freeman to emphasise the importance of reporting unauthorised AI usage. He thanked his fans on social media for their vigilance in maintaining authenticity and integrity, underscoring the need to protect against such deceptive practices.
This isn’t the first time Freeman has encountered unauthorised use of his likeness. Previously, his production company’s EVP, Lori McCreary, encountered deepfake videos attempting to mimic Freeman, including one falsely depicting him firing her. Such incidents highlight the growing prevalence of AI-generated content, prompting discussions about its ethical implications and the need for heightened awareness.
Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an A.I. voice imitating me. Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount. Grateful. #AI#scam#imitation#IdentityProtection
Freeman’s case joins a broader trend of celebrities, from Taylor Swift to Tom Cruise, facing similar challenges with AI-generated deepfakes. These instances underscore ongoing concerns about digital identity theft and the blurred lines between real and fabricated content in the digital age.
The US intelligence community is fully embracing generative AI, marking a significant shift towards transparency in its adoption of cutting-edge technology. Leaders within agencies like the CIA are openly discussing how generative AI enhances intelligence operations, from aiding in content triage and search capabilities to supporting analysts in generating counter arguments and ideation.
Lakshmi Raman, the CIA’s director of Artificial Intelligence Innovation, highlighted the transformative impact of generative AI during a recent address at the Amazon Web Services Summit in Washington, D.C. She noted its critical role in processing vast amounts of data to extract actionable insights, crucial for keeping pace with global developments and informing policymakers amidst a constant influx of news.
Despite its potential benefits, the deployment of generative AI within the intelligence community is not without its challenges and risks. Concerns over accuracy and security persist, as erroneous outputs—termed ‘hallucinations’—could have severe consequences in national security contexts. Adele Merritt, Intelligence Community Chief Information Officer, stressed the need for cautious adoption, ensuring that AI technologies adhere to strict privacy and security standards.
In response to these challenges, major tech companies like Microsoft and AWS are adapting their cloud services to cater to classified government needs, offering secure environments for deploying generative AI tools. AWS, for instance, launched a significant initiative to support government agencies with training and technical support for generative AI, underscoring its commitment to enhancing national security capabilities through innovative technology solutions.
However, this concerted effort by both intelligence agencies and tech providers aims to harness the full potential of generative AI while mitigating associated risks, thus shaping the future of intelligence operations in an increasingly data-driven world.
Why does it matter?
The IATSE’s tentative agreement represents a significant step forward in securing fair wages and job protections for Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes workers, ensuring that the rapid advancements in technology do not come at the expense of human employment.
A new platform, Build-A-Brain, aims to democratise access to generative AI, offering users control over data and AI engines unlike public tools. Founder Howard Jones emphasises its tailored AI products for businesses, harnessing proprietary data to enhance decision-making processes.
The platform supports project management akin to SharePoint, featuring an Articles Wizard for content generation, including images.
Build-A-Brain stands out with its Custom AI Brain feature, enabling users to interact securely with their own data. It finds applications across diverse sectors like healthcare and finance, offering bespoke AI solutions that drive innovation. Businesses can integrate their brand identity and utilise additional tools like audio transcription and file conversion, enhancing workflow efficiency.
Jones highlights the platform’s future potential in facilitating comprehensive workflows, combining content creation with data interrogation and collaboration tools.
Build-A-Brain operates on a freemium model, allowing free access with upgrade options, supported by user-friendly tutorials on its website. Explore more at virinity.ai to unlock AI-driven insights tailored to your organisation’s needs.
Why does it matter?
The IATSE’s tentative agreement represents a significant step forward in securing fair wages and job protections for Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes workers, ensuring that the rapid advancements in technology do not come at the expense of human employment.
Realme has unveiled plans to integrate Sony’s cutting-edge LYT-701 camera sensor into its upcoming 5G smartphone, marking a significant leap into AI-enhanced imaging technology. The announcement, made at a pre-launch event in Bangkok, underscores Realme’s strategic partnership with Sony to elevate mobile photography capabilities.
Francis Wong, Head of Product Marketing at Realme, highlighted the shift from traditional hardware-centric advancements to AI-driven innovations in mobile photography. He emphasised that while past improvements focused on megapixels and sensor sizes, future progress hinges on AI to redefine the mobile imaging experience.
The Realme 13 Pro Series 5G will feature the HYPERIMAGE+ technology, integrating multiple lenses and a 50MP periscope telephoto camera powered by Sony’s LYT-600 sensor. This setup promises to deliver superior image quality and unprecedented flexibility for users capturing diverse scenes.
The collaboration aims not only to advance technological capabilities but also to democratise advanced imaging tools, enabling users worldwide to capture and share their experiences in unprecedented detail. Realme plans to announce the official launch dates for the device in India and other markets soon.
Why does it matter?
The IATSE’s tentative agreement represents a significant step forward in securing fair wages and job protections for Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes workers, ensuring that the rapid advancements in technology do not come at the expense of human employment.
Samsung Electronics reported a significant surge in its second-quarter operating profit, driven by rising semiconductor prices amid booming demand for AI. The company’s operating profit is estimated to have increased more than 15-fold to 10.4 trillion won ($7.54 billion) from 670 billion won a year earlier, surpassing analysts’ expectations. The surge marks Samsung’s most profitable quarter since Q3 2022, primarily due to higher chip prices and a reversal of previous inventory writedowns.
The company’s revenue likely increased by 23% to 74 trillion won in the second quarter compared to last year’s period. Samsung’s semiconductor division posted its second consecutive quarterly profit as prices for memory chips, particularly high-end DRAM and NAND Flash chips used in AI applications, saw significant increases. According to TrendForce, DRAM and NAND Flash chip prices jumped 13% to 20% from the previous quarter.
However, analysts expect the price increases for memory chips to slow down in the third quarter, with only a 5% to 10% rise forecasted for conventional DRAM and NAND Flash chips. Despite the solid AI-driven demand for high-end chips, Samsung needs to catch up with its rival, SK Hynix, in supplying these advanced chips to major clients like Nvidia. Investors are keenly awaiting Samsung’s outlook on legacy chips and Nvidia’s approval of its latest HBM chips after previous heat and power consumption issues.
A hacker infiltrated OpenAI’s internal messaging systems last year, stealing details about the design of its AI technologies, according to Reuters’ sources familiar with the matter. The breach involved discussions on an online forum where employees exchanged information about the latest AI developments. Crucially, the hacker needed access to the systems where OpenAI builds and houses its AI.
OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, did not publicly disclose the breach, as no customer or partner information was compromised. Executives briefed employees and the board but did not involve federal law enforcement, believing the hacker had no ties to foreign governments.
In a separate incident, OpenAI reported disrupting five covert operations that aimed to misuse its AI models for deceptive activities online. The issue raised safety concerns and prompted discussions about safeguarding advanced AI technology. The Biden administration plans to implement measures to protect US AI advancements from foreign adversaries. At the same time, 16 AI companies have pledged to develop the technology responsibly amid rapid innovation and emerging risks.
CompetitionAI, launched in November 2023 by Daniel Schwarz, a competition lawyer at Clifford Chance, alongside AI engineers Jonathan Halpern and Andrew Davidson, aims to revolutionise legal research for competition law practitioners. Dubbed ‘ChatGPT for competition lawyers’, the platform employs AI to swiftly navigate and extract relevant insights from vast volumes of competition authority guidance. Model like this one allows lawyers to obtain precise answers efficiently, verifying them against the original sources provided.
Since its inception, CompetitionAI has garnered over 600 registrations from users spanning more than 100 law firms and 60 corporates worldwide. Initially covering jurisdictions like the UK, EU, USA, and Australia, the platform has expanded its coverage to include Canada, Ireland, India, South Africa, Turkey, and Nigeria. The growth underscores its commitment to providing comprehensive competition law guidance on a global scale.
Daniel Schwarz, reflecting on the platform’s genesis, noted his transition from a decade-long career in law to a deep-seated fascination with AI’s potential to enhance legal practice. Partnering with AI experts, CompetitionAI utilises advanced models like GPT-4 to ensure precise and reliable information retrieval from regulatory texts and case law. The team continues to refine its AI capabilities, aiming to tailor the platform specifically to the evolving needs of competition lawyers.
Looking ahead, CompetitionAI plans to expand its team and capabilities through ongoing fundraising efforts, driven by escalating demand. Schwarz emphasises their dedication to leveraging AI to meet the nuanced demands of competition law, indicating a strategic focus on enhancing and scaling their platform to serve a growing international clientele effectively.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for global cooperation and a more open mindset in the field of AI amid growing competition between China and the United States. Speaking at the World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Li emphasised the importance of international collaboration, noting that each country has unique strengths in AI technology, data, and markets.
China has made significant strides in generative AI, with the UN reporting that Beijing has led the filing of generative AI patents globally. The progress has sparked concern in the US and other nations, who worry about potential espionage uses of Chinese technology. In April, the US revoked licenses for some chip exports after unveiling a Huawei computer powered by Intel AI technology.
Premier Li urged the promotion of cross-border data movement, free trade of equipment, and infrastructure connectivity to foster AI development. He also highlighted the need for international cooperation to address the risks associated with rapidly advancing AI technology, advocating for the establishment of global AI regulations and technical standards.
Google DeepMind and Harvard University researchers have developed a realistic virtual rat to study the neural circuits that control movement. The virtual rat’s brain, made up of artificial neural networks, was trained using hours of neural recordings from real rats.
This digital brain could predict and replicate the behaviour of actual rats, such as running or rearing up. The study identified key brain regions involved in movement and demonstrated that AI can simulate neural signals more accurately than older models.
Bridging the gap between AI and neuroscience, the project offers new ways to study brain functions and movements. However, this method allows researchers to tweak neural connections in the virtual rat to observe how changes affect behaviour, providing insights that are challenging to obtain through traditional lab experiments. By understanding how the brain commands muscle movements, the research could lead to advancements in both robotics and neuroscience.
Offering a platform to test hypotheses about brain function and behaviour quickly and efficiently, the virtual rat enables researchers to explore more complex tasks. The team plans to use these virtual rats to understand further how real brains generate intricate behaviours. Combining AI with biological data, the collaboration highlights the potential to uncover the mechanisms of brain function and movement.
A recent report indicates that China’s major venture capital investments increasingly focus on technology sectors that are aligned with government policies, such as AI and semiconductors. Despite an overall decline in funding, China accounted for 90% of global venture capital (VC) in the chip sector last year, investing $22.2 billion, more than double the $9.5 billion from 2022.
According to Preqin, a private investment data company, three significant deals, primarily involving partnerships between municipal authorities and Sino IC Capital, accounted for half of the semiconductor venture investments. Sino IC Capital manages the state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund.
Overall, the report highlights three key takeaways. Firstly, China’s clean technology VC deals have surpassed those in the US in both value and volume for 2022 and 2023, especially in electric vehicles. Secondly, overall venture capital in Greater China has dropped sharply, a 42% decrease from the previous quarter, due to geopolitical tensions and fewer exit opportunities. Thirdly, foreign VC investments in Chinese firms have plummeted from $67 billion in 2021 to $19 billion in 2023, while domestic investments have remained stable.
Why does it matter?
The trend is clear evidence of the ongoing US-China tech supremacy war and the effect of US sanctions. With the US trade tariffs and restrictions on American venture capital firms prompting foreign investors to withdraw from the region, this report reveals how the Chinese government, in response, has stepped up and is backing state-funded entities to fill the void, with significant investments also coming from domestic tech companies.
