OpenAI’s AI safety leader, Aleksander Madry, is now working on a new significant research project, according to CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI executives Joaquin Quinonero Candela and Lilian Weng will take over the preparedness team, which evaluates the readiness of the company’s models for general AI. The move is part of a broader strategy to unify OpenAI’s safety efforts.
OpenAI’s preparedness team ensures the safety and readiness of its AI models. Following Madry’s shift to a new research role, he will have an expanded position within the research organization. OpenAI is also addressing safety concerns surrounding its advanced chatbots, which can engage in human-like conversations and generate multimedia content from text prompts.
Joaquin Quinonero Candela and Lilian Weng will lead the preparedness team as part of this strategic change. Researcher Tejal Patwardhan will manage much of the team’s work, ensuring the continued focus on AI safety. The reorganization follows the recent formation of a Safety and Security Committee, led by board members including Sam Altman.
The reshuffle comes amid rising safety concerns as OpenAI’s technologies become more powerful and widely used. The Safety and Security Committee was established earlier this year in preparation for training the next generation of AI models. These developments reflect OpenAI’s ongoing commitment to AI safety and responsible innovation.
Elon Musk has revealed that Tesla will start using humanoid robots next year. These robots will initially serve Tesla internally, with plans to begin sales by 2026. However, announcement aligns with Musk’s broader strategy to cut costs amid decreasing demand for Tesla vehicles.
Tesla’s recent financial update reported a significant drop in profits for the second quarter, from $2.7bn to less than $1.5bn. Despite various price cuts, automotive revenue decreased by 7% year-on-year, though a rise in the energy storage business led to a modest 2% increase in overall revenue. Consequently, Tesla’s shares fell by almost 8% in after-hours trading.
Musk has been increasingly focusing on advanced technologies such as AI and autonomous driving. He announced that the Optimus robot would be ready for internal use at Tesla by the end of this year, with mass production expected by 2026. Optimus is designed to perform tasks that are unsafe, repetitive, or boring for humans.
Mr Musk’s ambitious timelines have often been missed, including previous predictions about self-driving taxis. Tesla remains committed to developing robo-taxis, but their launch depends on regulatory approval. Other companies like Honda and Boston Dynamics are also developing humanoid robots, highlighting the competitive nature of this emerging field.
Leaders of Fortune 500 companies developing AI applications face a potential nightmare: hackers tricking AI into revealing sensitive data. Zurich-based startup Lakera has raised $20 million to address this issue. The funding round, led by Atomico with participation from Citi Ventures and Dropbox Ventures, brings Lakera’s total funding to $30 million. Lakera’s platform, used by companies like Dropbox and Citi, allows businesses to set guardrails for generative AI, protecting against prompt injection attacks.
Lakera CEO David Haber highlighted the importance of safety and security as companies integrate generative AI into critical functions. Existing security teams encounter new challenges in securing these applications. Lakera’s platform, built on internal AI models, ensures that generative AI applications do not take unintended actions. Customers can specify the context and policies for AI responses, preventing the disclosure of sensitive information.
A unique advantage for Lakera is Gandalf, an online AI security game used by millions, including Microsoft. The game generates a real-time database of AI threats, keeping Lakera’s software updated with thousands of new attacks daily. That helps in maintaining robust security measures for their clients.
Lakera competes in the generative AI security landscape with startups like HackerOne and BugCrowd. Matt Carbonara of Citi Ventures praised Lakera’s focus on prompt injection attacks and its team’s capability to build the necessary countermeasures for new attack surfaces.
Coca-Cola is harnessing AI and digital innovations to boost sales and product volumes, even in the face of price hikes. In the second quarter, revenue rose 3% to $12.4 billion, exceeding analyst expectations. CEO James Quincey highlighted the company’s use of AI in enhancing marketing and pricing strategies, which has helped retain customers despite financial pressures.
Studio X, Coca-Cola’s digital ecosystem, played a crucial role in this success. It enabled the creation of targeted content and real-time measurement of its impact. A collaboration with Marvel, featuring limited-edition graphics and QR codes, provided unique augmented reality experiences, driving volume and value share for Classic Coca-Cola.
The company is also piloting an AI-based tool for optimising price packs across channels. This tool personalises messages to retailers, suggesting items based on previous orders and market data (SKU: Stock Keeping Unit). Early results show a 30% increase in purchases of recommended SKUs, boosting sales for both retailers and Coca-Cola.
Despite challenges in the consumer landscape, Coca-Cola remains optimistic. The company plans to counter a decline in away-from-home sales by offering more food and beverage combos. With an improved outlook for organic revenue growth, Coca-Cola is confident in its strategy and future prospects.
Elon Musk has launched a poll on social media platform X, asking if Tesla should invest $5 billion in his AI startup, xAI. Early votes show strong support, with 70% in favour. Musk emphasised that board approval and a shareholder vote are necessary before proceeding. This comes after Tesla reported its lowest profit margin in five years due to price cuts and increased AI project spending.
During Tesla’s earnings call, Musk highlighted xAI’s potential to enhance Tesla’s full self-driving capabilities and data centre infrastructure. He also mentioned opportunities for integrating xAI’s chatbot, Grok, with Tesla’s software. The poll, posted for nearly three hours, saw participation from approximately 386,000 users. Tesla and xAI have not yet commented on the poll results.
Should Tesla invest $5B into @xAI, assuming the valuation is set by several credible outside investors?
(Board approval & shareholder vote are needed, so this is just to test the waters)
Musk launched xAI last year as an alternative to ChatGPT, securing $6 billion in series B funding and reaching a post-money valuation of $24 billion. Major backers include Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Musk plans for a quarter of xAI to be owned by investors in X, which he purchased for $44 billion.
On the earnings call, Musk dismissed concerns about diverting resources from Tesla to his other ventures. He previously ordered Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips to xAI and X due to Tesla’s data centre being at full capacity. Musk has a history of using polls to gauge public opinion, including a 2021 poll on selling 10% of his Tesla stake.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a probe into eight companies using AI-powered ‘surveillance service pricing’ to evaluate its impact on privacy, competition, and consumer protection. The companies under scrutiny include Mastercard, JPMorgan Chase, Revionics, Bloomreach, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co. These firms use AI to adjust pricing based on consumer behaviour, location, and personal data, potentially leading to different prices for different customers.
The FTC’s investigation aims to uncover the types of surveillance pricing services developed by these companies and their current applications. The agency seeks to understand how these AI-driven pricing models affect consumer pricing and whether they exploit personal data to charge higher prices. FTC Chair Lina M. Khan emphasised the risks to privacy and the potential exploitation of personal data in her statement, highlighting the need for transparency in how businesses use consumer information.
This inquiry reflects growing concerns about using AI and other technologies to set personalised prices based on detailed consumer data. The FTC’s actions aim to shed light on these practices and ensure consumer protection in an increasingly data-driven market.
Meta Platforms has unveiled its largest version of the Llama 3 AI model, boasting impressive multilingual capabilities and performance metrics that challenge paid models from competitors like OpenAI. The new model can converse in eight languages, write better computer code, and solve complex math problems thanks to its 405 billion parameters. That makes it significantly more powerful than its predecessor, though it still needs to catch up to OpenAI’s GPT-4, which has one trillion parameters, and Amazon’s upcoming two trillion parameter model.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has high expectations for Llama 3, predicting it will surpass proprietary competitors by next year. Meta’s AI chatbot, powered by these models, is on track to become the most popular AI assistant by the end of this year, already used by hundreds of millions. The release comes amidst a competitive push among tech companies to demonstrate the value of their advanced AI models in solving complex reasoning tasks, justifying the significant investments made.
Meta is also releasing updated versions of its lighter-weight 8 billion and 70 billion parameter Llama 3 models. All versions are multilingual and can handle larger user requests, enhancing their ability to generate computer code. Meta’s head of generative AI, Ahmad Al-Dahle, highlighted improvements in solving math problems by using AI to generate training data. By offering Llama models largely free of charge, Meta aims to foster innovation, reduce dependence on competitors, and increase engagement on its social networks, despite some investor concerns over the costs involved.
The prime minister of Australian state Queensland, Steven Miles, has condemned an AI-generated video created by the LNP opposition, calling it a ‘turning point for our democracy.’ The TikTok video depicts the Queensland premier dancing under text about rising living costs and is clearly marked as AI-generated. Miles has stated that the state Labor party will not use AI-generated advertisements in the upcoming election campaign.
Miles expressed concerns about the potential dangers of AI in political communication, highlighting the need for caution as videos are more likely to be believed than doctored photos. Despite rejecting AI for their own content, Miles dismissed the need for truth in advertising laws, asserting that Labor has no intention of creating deepfake videos.
The LNP defended their use of AI, emphasising that the video was clearly labelled and aimed at highlighting issues like higher rents and increased power prices under Labor. The Electoral Commission of Queensland noted that while the state’s electoral act does not specifically address AI, any false statements about a candidate’s character can be prosecuted.
Experts, including communications lecturer Susan Grantham and QUT’s Patrik Wikstrom, have warned about the broader implications of AI in politics. Grantham pointed out that politicians already using AI for lighter content are at greater risk of being targeted. Wikstrom stressed that the real issue is political communication designed to deceive, echoing concerns raised by a UK elections watchdog about AI deepfakes undermining elections. Australia is also planning to implement tougher laws focusing on deepfakes.
Top competition authorities from the EU, UK, and US have issued a joint statement emphasising the importance of fair, open, and competitive markets in developing and deploying generative AI. Leaders from these regions, including Margrethe Vestager of the European Commission, Sarah Cardell of the UK Competition and Markets Authority, Jonathan Kanter of the US Department of Justice, and Lina M. Khan of the US Federal Trade Commission, highlighted their commitment to ensuring effective competition and protecting consumers and businesses from potential market abuses.
The officials recognise the transformational potential of AI technologies but stress the need to safeguard against risks that could undermine fair competition. These risks include the concentration of control over essential AI development inputs, such as specialised chips and vast amounts of data, and the possibility of large firms using their existing market power to entrench or extend their dominance in AI-related markets. The statement also warns against partnerships and investments that could stifle competition by allowing major firms to co-opt competitive threats.
The joint statement outlines several principles for protecting competition within the AI ecosystem, including fair dealing, interoperability, and maintaining choices for consumers and businesses. The authorities are particularly vigilant about the potential for AI to facilitate anti-competitive behaviours, such as price fixing or unfair exclusion. Additionally, they underscore the importance of consumer protection, ensuring that AI applications do not compromise privacy, security, or autonomy through deceptive or unfair practices.
Seomjae, a Seoul-based education solutions developer, is set to launch its AI-powered mathematics learning program at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January. The program uses an AI Retrieval-Augmented Generation model, developed over two years by a team of 40 mathematicians and AI developers. It features over 120,000 math problems and 30,000 lectures, offering personalised education tracks for each student.
Beta testing will begin on July 29, involving 50 students from Seoul, Ulsan, and Boston. The feedback will help enhance the technology and its feasibility. The innovative system, called Transforming Educational Content to AI, extracts and analyses information from lectures and problem solutions to provide core content.
Seomjae is also expanding its business portfolio to include an essay-writing educational program through partnerships in the US and Vietnam. The company will participate in Dubai’s Gulf Information Technology Exhibition this October, showcasing its new educational technologies.
A company official expressed excitement about starting beta testing and integrating diverse feedback to improve the program. The goal is to refine the AI system and ensure its effectiveness for students worldwide.
