WebProNews

Tag: OpenAI

  • Microsoft Brings DALL-E AI Image Creator to Bing

    Microsoft Brings DALL-E AI Image Creator to Bing

    Microsoft is continuing its transformation of Bing into an AI powerhouse, adding the DALL-E AI image creator to its Bing AI.

    OpenAI debuted DALL-E in early 2021, an AI model that can draw images based on text prompts. As OpenAI’s biggest single investor, Microsoft has access to its tech and is using it as the backbone of Bing AI.

    Microsoft is now including DALL-E as part of Bing, giving users the ability to have the AI create images for them.

    “We’re excited to announce we are bringing Bing Image Creator, new AI-powered visual Stories and updated Knowledge Cards to the new Bing and Edge preview,” writes Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer. “Powered by an advanced version of the DALL∙E model from our partners at OpenAI, Bing Image Creator allows you to create an image simply by using your own words to describe the picture you want to see. Now you can generate both written and visual content in one place, from within chat.”

    The new feature will begin rolling out to users with access to the preview starting today.

    “For those in the Bing preview, Bing Image Creator will be fully integrated into the Bing chat experience, rolling out initially in Creative mode,” adds Mehdi. “By typing in a description of an image, providing additional context like location or activity, and choosing an art style, Image Creator will generate an image from your own imagination. It’s like your creative copilot. Just type something like “draw an image” or “create an image” as a prompt in chat to get creating a visual for a newsletter to friends or as inspiration for redecorating your living room.”

    Users who haven’t signed up for the preview can do so here.

  • Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT, a ChatGPT-Powered Einstein AI

    Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT, a ChatGPT-Powered Einstein AI

    Salesforce has announced Einstein GPT a major upgrade to its Einstein AI that uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT to improve its abilities.

    On the heels of an announcement by Microsoft that it was releasing Dynamics 365, the world’s first ERP/CRM copilot, Salesforce has fired back with Einstein GPT. The company describes it as “the world’s first generative AI CRM technology, which delivers AI-created content across every sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT interaction, at hyperscale.”

    Salesforce says Einstein GPT will help transform the entire customer experience, thanks to generative AI.

    Einstein GPT will infuse Salesforce’s proprietary AI models with generative AI technology from an ecosystem of partners and real-time data from the Salesforce Data Cloud, which ingests, harmonizes, and unifies all of a company’s customer data. With Einstein GPT, customers can then connect that data to OpenAI’s advanced AI models out of the box, or choose their own external model and use natural-language prompts directly within their Salesforce CRM to generate content that continuously adapts to changing customer information and needs in real time.

    “The world is experiencing one of the most profound technological shifts with the rise of real-time technologies and generative AI. This comes at a pivotal moment as every company is focused on connecting with their customers in more intelligent, automated, and personalized ways,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. “Einstein GPT, in combination with our Data Cloud and integrated in all of our clouds as well as Tableau, MuleSoft, and Slack, is another way we are opening the door to the AI future for all our customers, and we’ll be integrating with OpenAI at launch.”

    Sales personnel will be able to use Einstein GPT to generate personalized emails to customers, while service personnel will be able to use the tech to generate articles based on case notes, as well as auto-generate personalized interaction with customers.

    Slack will also see Einstein GTP integration, giving users the ability to see in-depth insights.

    Marketing personnel will be able to use Einstein GPT to generate personalized content and engage with customers across mobile, email, web, and advertising.

    Even developers can get in on the action, using the technology to help generate code.

    “We’re excited to apply the power of OpenAI’s technology to CRM,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “This will allow more people to benefit from this technology, and it allows us to learn more about real-world usage, which is critical to the responsible development and deployment of AI — a belief that Salesforce shares with us.”

    https://youtu.be/YAsKRxXdyj0
  • It’s Official: Bing Is Cool, and Google Search Is In Trouble

    It’s Official: Bing Is Cool, and Google Search Is In Trouble

    Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing represents an existential threat to Google’s search, with early reports suggesting Google may be in serious trouble.

    Microsoft unveiled its AI-powered Bing last week, using a new and improved version of the OpenAI tech behind ChatGPT. The move is largely seen as one of the biggest challenges Google has faced to its core search business and could help Bing make major headway against its rival.

    Early reports indicate that Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing is performing far better than critics anticipated and is serving up better results than an old-school Google search. In fact, CNET’s Stephen Shankland put ten questions to both search engines and came away preferring Bing’s response to eight of the questions. Interestingly, Bing did especially well on complex questions, as well as at providing information about recent events, such as the US shooting down a ‘high-altitude object’ over Alaska.

    Read More: Google Won the Search Wars, but Can It Win the AI Search Wars?

    Similarly, Android Central posted a poll to see how many of its readers would be willing to switch to the new Bing once it’s available to the public. A whopping 52% said they would switch and give Bing a try, with 11% already using Bing and only 30% saying they would stick with Google.

    Indeed, Microsoft VP Yusuf Mehdi revealed the company quickly saw more than one million people sign up to test-drive the new Bing.

    Needless to say, Google is not going to take this challenge to its business lying down. In fact, the company has been rushing to roll out its own ChatGPT challenger, Bard. Unfortunately, in its rush, the company bungled Bard’s unveiling. This led to a $100 billion drop in the company’s value and vocal criticism of CEO Sundar Pichai from Google’s own employees.

    The picture is clear: Microsoft has taken an early lead in the AI search wars and is moving quickly to capitalize on it. This has resulted in Bing being seen as cool — quite possibly for the first time ever.

    And Google? Google is in real trouble — quite possibly for the first time ever.

  • Google CEO Wants Employees to Spend 2-4 Hours Improving Bard AI

    Google CEO Wants Employees to Spend 2-4 Hours Improving Bard AI

    Google CEO Sundar Pichai is pulling out all the stops to improve the company’s Bard AI, asking employees to spend 2-4 hours helping.

    Bard is Google’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The company is playing catch-up to OpenAI and Microsoft, with the latter planning to add ChatGPT’s successor to its Bing search engine. Despite Google’s long history with AI development, Bard’s launch did not go well, with the AI getting an answer wrong in the company’s ad, knocking $100 billion off of Alphabet’s value.

    Pichai is eager to see Bard improve and is recruiting Googlers throughout the company to achieve the goal, according to a memo seen by Business Insider.

    “I know this moment is uncomfortably exciting, and that’s to be expected: the underlying technology is evolving rapidly with so much potential,” Pichai wrote. “The most important thing we can do right now is to focus on building a great product and developing it responsibly.”

    In this memo, Pichai is clearly trying to generate and channel excitement, asking employees to “contribute” their time toward the effort.

    Full memo, courtesy of Insider:

    Hi Googlers,

    Excited to see us opening up Bard for an internal dogfood to help us get it ready for launch. This is an important step as we work to develop the technology responsibly – a big thank you to the Bard team and to everyone who is spending time testing it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can find instructions on how to participate at go/bard-dogfood.

    I know this moment is uncomfortably exciting, and that’s to be expected: the underlying technology is evolving rapidly with so much potential. This will be a long journey – for everyone, across the field. The most important thing we can do right now is to focus on building a great product and developing it responsibly. That’s why we have thousands of external and internal testers testing Bard’s responses for quality, safety, and groundedness in real-world information. Let’s embrace the challenge and keep iterating, including with users and developers.

    And remember, some of our most successful products were not first to market. They gained momentum because they solved important user needs and were built on deep technical insights. Over time, we earned user trust and more people began to rely on them.

    Here is where we can use your help: Channel the energy and excitement of the moment into our products. Pressure test Bard and make the product better. I would appreciate it if each of you contributed in a deeper way with 2-4 hours of your time. See below for more detail.

    AI has gone through many winters and springs. And now it is blooming again. As an AI-first company, we’ve been working towards this for many years and are ready for it. Let’s stay focused on delivering amazing experiences for our users and launch things we can all be proud of.

    -Sundar

  • Google Won the Search Wars, but Can It Win the AI Search Wars?

    Google Won the Search Wars, but Can It Win the AI Search Wars?

    Google is the undisputed leader in the search industry but is now facing new challenges that threaten its dominance.

    According to the latest statistics, Google currently holds roughly 93% of the global search market. Its closest rival, Bing, holds a mere 3%. Yahoo comes in a little over 1%, and other search engines don’t even break single-digit percentages.

    Despite its dominance, however, Google’s search business is facing an existential threat, the likes of which it has never faced before — artificial intelligence. Just as Google’s search algorithms upended the market and killed off Alta Vista-style category searching, AI is poised to eliminate traditional search that returns pages and pages of links. Instead, AI can provide answers in a conversational manner much more akin to how human beings communicate.

    Enter ChatGPT

    While conversational AI has been a dream of many for years, OpenAI’s ChatGPT took the world by storm, offering the most advanced interpretation of the technology to date. Almost overnight, ChatGPT was being used for everything from writing letters to authoring papers to helping students with their schoolwork.

    ChatGPT was so successful that it caused something of a panic within Google as industry experts predicted the tech’s ability to put an end to traditional search. The potential wasn’t lost on Google’s rivals either, with at least a couple of them announcing plans to roll out AI-powered search.

    The Frontrunner: Microsoft

    Microsoft has quickly emerged as the biggest threat to Google’s search. In addition to being its biggest rival — albeit a very distant one — Microsoft is one of the main investors in OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT. In fact, the Redmond-based company just signed a multi-year, multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, extending a partnership that gave it exclusive access to some of the AI firm’s tech.

    Read More: Microsoft Officially Extends Its Partnership With OpenAI

    Microsoft has been rolling out the technology behind ChatGPT to its various platforms and services at a record pace, from email creation in Viva Sales to incorporating it into Azure OpenAI service.

    The biggest way Microsoft is incorporating OpenAI’s tech is in its Bing search engine. The company previewed it earlier this week, and the reviews were largely positive. Microsoft is also including a new and improved version of OpenAI’s tech, meaning it will be faster and more accurate in the answers it provides.

    Microsoft appears to be addressing the ethics of AI use as well. Business Insider’s Huileng Tan asked the new search engine to write a cover letter for a job. The AI responded that it could not do that as it would be “unethical” and “unfair to other applicants.” Bing did, however, give her general writing tips to help her and ended by wishing her “Good luck!”

    China’s Answer: Baidu

    Not one to be left out, Baidu is working on a ChatGPT-like AI of its own, named Ernie, which the company expects to launch publicly in March. Baidu is largely seen as the best chance for China to remain competitive in the search market, especially as the industry transitions to AI-driven results.

    See Also: Baidu Set to Unveil AI-Powered Search

    Despite having a home-turf advantage, Baidu may be facing a major impediment from its own government. The company’s stock took a major hit after a state media warning about the hype surrounding AI chatbots.

    This wouldn’t be the first time China has sabotaged its own tech industry, with Beijing having a complicated history of alternately promoting and then punishing its tech industry. If that behavior continues, it could significantly undermine Baidu’s ability to compete.

    The Dark Horse: Yahoo

    Once the world’s dominant search engine, Yahoo has long since ceded the crown. These days the company outsources its search to Bing, focusing on news and other digital elements.

    In late January, however, Yahoo surprised the industry by teasing a return to the search market. The company posted a job opening for a Product Manager for Search and has been dropping cryptic tweets about its plans. The company has tweeted about how it “did search before it was cool” and that it would “BRB making it cool again.”

    After years of irrelevance in the search market, it’s hard to imagine what would suddenly make Yahoo decide to make a go of it again — unless the company planned to take advantage of a game-changing shift in technology to help it play catch-up.

    Yahoo’s biggest challenge, of course, will be execution. The company has a long history of making bad decisions when it comes to search, passing up multiple opportunities to buy Google when the company was worth a small fraction of its current value.

    The Current Leader: Google

    Of course, that begs the question: What about Google? Where is the company in its AI efforts, and can it respond to this new threat effectively?

    The truth is, no one really knows. The appearance of ChatGPT and Microsoft’s quick adoption of the underlying tech sent shockwaves through the search giant. CEO Sundar Pichai issued a “code red,” reorganized labor in an effort to come up with an answer, and founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin returned to assist.

    The company scrambled to unveil its Bard conversational AI, only to bungle the launch when Bard provided the wrong answer to one of the questions posed to it. That mistake, at least temporarily, wiped $100 billion from Alphabet’s value as investors dumped the stock in response.

    Read More: Google Bard Flubs Its Debut, Gives Wrong Answer in Company Ad

    From the outside looking in, it certainly appears that Google got caught off-guard and is scrambling to play catch-up and making mistakes it can’t afford to make.

    OpenAI’s founder, Sam Altman, seems to agree, likening Google to “a lethargic search monopoly.” He talks about what it would be like to be in Google’s shoes and “to think about a world where there was going to be a real challenge to the way that monetization of this works and new ad units, and maybe even a temporary downward pressure, I would not feel great about that.”

    What Happens Next

    Despite Google’s years-long dominance in the search market, Microsoft clearly has an advantage moving forward. The company is taking advantage of cutting-edge AI tech developed by the de facto leader in the space. What’s more, the company has invested billions to secure its ongoing, exclusive access to OpenAI’s innovations.

    In contrast, Google is clearly in a position it’s not used to being in: playing from behind. It is scrambling to catch up and making the kind of mistakes common to that scenario.

    Meanwhile, Baidu is similarly behind Microsoft and may face regulatory hurdles that cripple its ability to compete effectively.

    While Yahoo can’t be ruled out, the burden of proof is on it, as to whether it can compete any better in the AI Search War than it did in the original Search Wars.

    Ultimately, this will likely come down to a two-way battle between Microsoft and Google, the two companies that have the resources and expertise to drive this new era of AI-driven search forward.

    In addition to being first to the party, Microsoft has another major advantage over its rival: It is moving like a nimble startup, outmaneuvering Google. As we have written before, in instance after instance, Microsoft is moving forward in a decisive fashion while Google gets bogged down, acting like “a stodgy, risk-averse corporate entity.”

    Read More: How Microsoft Is Outmaneuvering Google

    Regardless of how much Google has dominated search to date, the future is wide open and may well be Microsoft’s to lose.

  • Microsoft Announces AI-Powered Bing and Edge Web Browser

    Microsoft Announces AI-Powered Bing and Edge Web Browser

    As expected, Microsoft has taken the wraps off of the latest version of Bing, one that relies on artificial intelligence to provide answers.

    Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft has been working to incorporate the technology in its search engine in an effort to challenge Google. Thanks to its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, Microsoft has access to the company’s tech, providing it with a major opportunity.

    The company unveiled the fruit of its labor today, integrating that AI into both Bing and its Edge web browser.

    Today, we’re launching an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser, available in preview now at Bing.com, to deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience and the ability to generate content. We think of these tools as an AI copilot for the web.

    “AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all – search,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Today, we’re launching Bing and Edge powered by AI copilot and chat, to help people get more from search and the web.”

    Microsoft confirmed that the AI technology it has incorporated into Bing and Edge is the next generation of OpenAI’s research.

    We’re excited to announce the new Bing is running on a new, next-generation OpenAI large language model that is more powerful than ChatGPT and customized specifically for search. It takes key learnings and advancements from ChatGPT and GPT-3.5 – and it is even faster, more accurate and more capable.

    The company also touted its “Prometheus model,” a proprietary way of interacting with the OpenAI model for best results.

    Users can experience the AI-powered Bing today in a limited preview.

    The new Bing is available today in a limited preview on desktop, and everyone can visit Bing.com today to try sample queries and sign up for the waitlist. We’re going to scale the preview to millions in the coming weeks. A mobile experience will also be in preview soon.

  • Sundar Pichai Unveils Google’s ChatGPT Answer: Bard

    Sundar Pichai Unveils Google’s ChatGPT Answer: Bard

    Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has unveiled Bard, Google’s conversational AI and answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

    Pichai previously signaled a company “code red” in response to ChatGPT’s popularity. Executives were so concerned about ChatGPT that founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin came back to help the company come up with an answer.

    In a blog post, Pichai took the wraps off of the company’s efforts:

    It’s a really exciting time to be working on these technologies as we translate deep research and breakthroughs into products that truly help people. That’s the journey we’ve been on with large language models. Two years ago we unveiled next-generation language and conversation capabilities powered by our Language Model for Dialogue Applications (or LaMDA for short).

    We’ve been working on an experimental conversational AI service, powered by LaMDA, that we’re calling Bard. And today, we’re taking another step forward by opening it up to trusted testers ahead of making it more widely available to the public in the coming weeks.

    Pichai touted the many ways Bard can be used:

    Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models. It draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses. Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a 9-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills.

    Pichai also makes clear the company’s intention to aggressively integrate Bard and similar tech into its core search:

    AI can be helpful in these moments, synthesizing insights for questions where there’s no one right answer. Soon, you’ll see AI-powered features in Search that distill complex information and multiple perspectives into easy-to-digest formats, so you can quickly understand the big picture and learn more from the web: whether that’s seeking out additional perspectives, like blogs from people who play both piano and guitar, or going deeper on a related topic, like steps to get started as a beginner. These new AI features will begin rolling out on Google Search soon.

    With Microsoft planning to unveil ChatGPT-powered Bing search and Google moving forward with Bard, the search industry is on the verge of a major evolution.

  • Google Invests $300M in AI Startup Founded by OpenAI VP

    Google Invests $300M in AI Startup Founded by OpenAI VP

    Google is continuing its quest to come up with an answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, investing in a rival founded by a former OpenAI VP.

    Google has reportedly invested $300 million in Anthropic, founded by Dario Amodei. Amodei previously worked at OpenAI, ultimately rising to VP of Research, before leaving to found Anthropic in early 2021.

    The injection of cash from Google is part of a partnership that will see Anthropic adopt Google Cloud.

    “We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Google Cloud on training and deploying useful AI systems,” said Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. “We’ve been impressed with Google Cloud’s open and flexible infrastructure. We are excited to partner with Google to scale-up our systems in the coming months.”

    “AI has evolved from academic research to become one of the biggest drivers of technological change, creating new opportunities for growth and improved services across all industries,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “Google Cloud is providing open infrastructure for the next generation of AI startups, and our partnership with Anthropic is a great example of how we’re helping users and businesses tap into the power of reliable and responsible AI.”

    As part of the deal, Anthropic will run its Claude AI model on Google Cloud. Claude’s capabilities are believed to be competitive with the much-hyped ChatGPT.

    The deal is reminiscent of Microsoft’s multibillion investment in OpenAI, albeit on a smaller scale. Microsoft and Google both see AI as a way to revolutionize search, as well as a plethora of other fields.

    With Microsoft already at work to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Bing, it’s not surprising to see Google invest in one of OpenAI’s rivals in an effort to catch up.

  • Microsoft Doesn’t Want Employees Sharing Sensitive Data With ChatGPT

    Microsoft Doesn’t Want Employees Sharing Sensitive Data With ChatGPT

    Microsoft may be going all-in on OpenAI tech and ChatGPT, but that doesn’t mean the company wants sensitive information shared with it.

    Microsoft is rolling out ChatGPT across multiple products and has no objection to its own employees using the tech. However, the company wants to make sure no sensitive information is shared with the AI.

    “Please don’t send sensitive data to an OpenAI endpoint, as they may use it for training future models,” a senior engineer wrote in an internal post that was reviewed by Business Insider.

    The memo demonstrates one of the biggest challenges moving forward with large language model AIs, namely controlling what information it has access to, and how that information will be used if it is shared.

    ChatGPT is a conversational AI that learns from its interactions and what people type into it. As such, it’s not surprising that Microsoft wants to make sure no sensitive information is shared with it, since the AI could then end up using that information in its responses to users.

    “Human beings sign NDAs and consequently have incentives to be careful in how they share information. But large language models such as ChatGPT do not have the ability to reason about such issues, at least by default,” Vincent Conitzer, Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor and director of its AI lab, told Insider.

    Microsoft’s caution is one other companies would do well to imitate.

  • Microsoft Officially Extends Its Partnership With OpenAI

    Microsoft Officially Extends Its Partnership With OpenAI

    Microsoft has announced “a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment” in OpenAI, extending its existing partnership with ChatGPT creator.

    Microsoft has been an investor in OpenAI for several years and has exclusive access to some of the AI firm’s technology. Rumors surfaced two weeks ago that the Redmond-based company was looking to invest another $10 billion in OpenAI.

    In a press release today, the two companies confirmed an extension of their ongoing partnership, although they did not disclose the exact amount.

    “We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “In this next phase of our partnership, developers and organizations across industries will have access to the best AI infrastructure, models, and toolchain with Azure to build and run their applications.”

    “The past three years of our partnership have been great,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “Microsoft shares our values and we are excited to continue our independent research and work toward creating advanced AI that benefits everyone.”

    The partnership will involve three primary areas:

    • Microsoft will continue to invest heavily in OpenAI’s research and development of artificial intelligence.
    • Microsoft will continue to deploy OpenAI’s AI tech across its platforms and products.
    • OpenAI will exclusively use Microsoft’s Azure as its cloud provider.

    Microsoft is believed to be working to integrate ChatGPT with a version of its Bing search engine in an effort to more effectively compete with Google. This extended partnership will no doubt open up additional opportunities for the company at a time when Google is trying to catch up.

  • Satya Nadella: ‘ChatGPT Coming Soon to Azure OpenAI Service’

    Satya Nadella: ‘ChatGPT Coming Soon to Azure OpenAI Service’

    Microsoft is working to bring ChatGPT to its Azure OpenAI service, according to a tweet by CEO Satya Nadella.

    OpenAI’s ChatGPT took the AI world by storm, quickly establishing itself as one of the most advanced chat AIs to date. As one of the main investors in OpenAI, Microsoft has access to the company’s technology, and has already incorporated it as part of its Azure OpenAI Service. The company is preparing to take it a step further by rolling out ChatGPT as well.

    Eric Boyd, Corporate Vice President, AI Platform, provided more details in a Microsoft blog post:

    With Azure OpenAI Service now generally available, more businesses can apply for access to the most advanced AI models in the world—including GPT-3.5, Codex, and DALL•E 2—backed by the trusted enterprise-grade capabilities and AI-optimized infrastructure of Microsoft Azure, to create cutting-edge applications. Customers will also be able to access ChatGPT—a fine-tuned version of GPT-3.5 that has been trained and runs inference on Azure AI infrastructure—through Azure OpenAI Service soon.

    Microsoft is clearly going all-in on OpenAI and ChatGPT. The company is preparing to invest $10 billion in the AI firm and is looking for ways to integrate ChatGPT into its Bing search engine in an effort to challenge Google’s dominance.

    Integrating ChatGPT into Azure OpenAI Service is a natural evolution of the company’s plans and investment.

  • Microsoft Looks to Invest $10 Billion in OpenAI and ChatGPT

    Microsoft Looks to Invest $10 Billion in OpenAI and ChatGPT

    OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the world by storm and Microsoft is not immune, with the Redmond giant set to invest $10 billion in the firm and its tech.

    ChatGPT is one of the most realistic AI-driven chat platforms available, providing answers with almost human-like responses. Researchers, students, writers, and more have tasked the AI with various written tasks, many of which are decently good.

    Microsoft has been a long-time investor in OpenAI, leveraging its investment to gain exclusive access to some of its AI tech. News broke late last year that Microsoft was looking to increase its investment, but the latest report says it plans to invest as much as $10 billion in the AI company.

    According to Semafor, this latest round of funding, which includes various venture capital firms, would see OpenAI valued at $29 billion. Once the deal closes, Microsoft will receive 75% of the company’s profits until its investment is paid off. After that, profits will be split according to ownership, with Microsoft accounting for 49%, other owners accounting for another 49%, and OpenAI’s parent accounting for the remaining 2%,

    Microsoft clearly sees ChatGPT as a way for it to better take on Google’s dominance in the search market. The company is looking to integrate ChatGPT into a version of Bing, but some analysts are not convinced the AI tool can help Microsoft make up ground.

    Brent Thill of Jefferies told CNBC:

    “There is incredible amount of promise, but today, in terms of real time, it’s not there.”

  • Microsoft Leveraging ChatGPT to Help Bing Take On Google

    Microsoft Leveraging ChatGPT to Help Bing Take On Google

    Google may be hesitant to deploy a ChatGPT-like version of its search engine, but Microsoft sees it as a way to better compete.

    According to The Information, via Reuters, Microsoft is working with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into a version of Bing in the hopes it will prove a greater challenge to Google’s search dominance. OpenAI and Microsoft have a long history of cooperation and partnership, with Microsoft investing in the AI company and gaining exclusive access to some of its technology.

    Google has already decided to play it much more cautious, calling ChatGPT and similar technologies a “reputational risk.” Given its dominance in the search industry, Google has to be much more careful about the results it provides.

    Read more: How Microsoft Is Outmaneuvering Google

    Microsoft clearly believes being second-place in the industry gives it more room to maneuver and take risks that Google is unwilling to take.

    The company’s approach is not unlike its approach to gaining Netflix as an advertising customer. While Google played it safe, hesitating to commit to Netflix’s needs, Microsoft showed an almost startup-like aggressiveness and willingness to do whatever was needed to secure the contract.

    Should Microsoft’s efforts to integrate ChatGPT into Bing prove successful, it could well be a way for Microsoft to make major headway against Google.

  • Google Moving Slowly on AI Chatbots Over ‘Reputational Risk’

    Google Moving Slowly on AI Chatbots Over ‘Reputational Risk’

    Amid the ruckus over OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google execs have made it clear they are in no hurry to jump on the chatbot bandwagon.

    ChatGPT is one of OpenAI’s most well-known innovations and has gained widespread recognition. According to CNBC, Google employees expressed concerns about ChatGPT, especially given Microsoft’s backing of OpenAI. Given Google’s background in AI, employees were concerned the company could be falling behind.

    “Is this a missed opportunity for Google, considering we’ve had Lamda for a while?” read one top-rated question at a company all-hands meeting.

    In response to, CEO Sundar Pichai and Google AI head Jeff Dean emphasized that Google already has similar capabilities as OpenAI and ChatGPT, but that the company needed to be extra careful since so many people rely on Google for quality answers.

    “This really strikes a need that people seem to have but it’s also important to realize these models have certain type of issues,” Dean said

    Interestingly, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman seemed to endorse Google’s caution, admitting ChatGPT was not production-ready.

  • Microsoft May Increase Its OpenAI Investment

    Microsoft May Increase Its OpenAI Investment

    Microsoft is reportedly considering another round of investment in OpenAI, beyond its initial $1 billion.

    OpenAI is the artificial intelligence company co-founded by Elon Musk in an effort to drive responsible AI research and development. Microsoft initially invested $1 billion in the company in 2019 and has an exclusive license to OpenAI’s GPT-3 model.

    According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft “is in advanced talks for a new round of funding in OpenAI.” No concrete details were provided, including the size of the investment, although the Journal’s sources say the amount could vary as negotiations proceed.

    A cash infusion from Microsoft would help fund OpenAI’s continued research, and could provide Microsoft with more exclusive access to OpenAI innovations.

  • Move Over Data: Tesla Looking to Create Humanoid Robot

    Move Over Data: Tesla Looking to Create Humanoid Robot

    Tesla is looking to create a humanoid robot that is sure to draw comparisons to Star Trek’s beloved android Data.

    Elon Musk has been a major critic of artificial intelligence, leading him to cofound OpenAI in an effort to ensure AI research and development is done in a responsible way. Tesla is working to build on that research with the Tesla Bot.

    The company’s describes the project’s goal:

    Develop the next generation of automation, including a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring. We’re seeking mechanical, electrical, controls and software engineers to help us leverage our AI expertise beyond our vehicle fleet.

    Tesla Bot Standing - Credit Tesla
    Tesla Bot Standing – Credit Tesla

    Recognizing the potential danger such a robot could pose (think I, Robot), Musk has said the robot is “intended to be friendly.” In addition, Tesla is designing the robot so that at “at a mechanical level, a physical level, you can run away from it [its top speed is 5 MPG] and most likely overpower it.”

    In the presentation announcing the company’s plans, Musk drew a direct comparison to Tesla’s vehicles, saying the company was already one of the biggest robotics makers on the planet. Taking its existing advancements and applying them to a humanoid robot was the next evolution of the company’s ambitions.

  • Microsoft Releases OpenAI-Powered Code Completion Tool

    Microsoft Releases OpenAI-Powered Code Completion Tool

    Microsoft is leveraging its agreement with OpenAI to radically change the nature of low-code development with its first AI-powered code completion tool.

    OpenAI is an AI research organization, founded on the principle of researching AI in a safe, responsible way. OpenAI’s GPT-3 is one of the leading natural language models, and it runs exclusively on Microsoft Azure. Microsoft also has an exclusive license to the GPT-3 code, giving it wide latitude to incorporate the model in its own products.

    The partnership is bearing fruit, with Microsoft incorporating GPT-3 in its Power Apps low code development platform, adding natural, conversational language to the programming process.

    The new AI-powered features will allow an employee building an e-commerce app to describe a programming goal using conversational language like “find products where the name starts with ‘kids.’” A fine-tuned GPT-3 model then offers choices for transforming the command into a Microsoft Power Fx formula, the open source programming language of the Power Platform, such as “Filter(‘BC Orders’ Left(‘Product Name’,4)=”Kids”).

    For the time being, GPT-3’s features are limited to use with Microsoft Power Fx, but the future possibilities are visually endless.

    “Using an advanced AI model like this can help our low-code tools become even more widely available to an even bigger audience by truly becoming what we call no code,” said Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s low code application platform.

  • OpenAI Launches the OpenAI Startup Fund

    OpenAI Launches the OpenAI Startup Fund

    OpenAI, one of the leading AI companies, has established a fund to invest in AI startups, in partnership with Microsoft.

    OpenAI was co-founded by Elon Musk. Musk has long been a critic of AI, believing it represents one of the biggest existential threats humanity faces. OpenAI was founded with the goal of developing AI in a safe, responsible way.

    The OpenAI Startup Fund is a $100 million fund to help AI startups that can have a profoundly positive impact on the world. The fund was announced by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman at Microsoft Build 2021.

    “This is not a typical corporate venture fund,” said Altman. “We plan to make big, early bets on a relatively small number of companies, probably not more than 10. And we’re looking for startups in fields where AI can have the most profound, positive impact, like healthcare, climate change and education. We’re also excited about markets where AI can drive big leaps in productivity, like personal assistants and semantic search.

    “We think that helping people be more productive with new tools is a big deal, and we can imagine brand-new interfaces that weren’t possible a year ago. These aren’t the only applications we’ll consider, but they’re at the top of our target list.”

  • Microsoft Integrates GPT-3 Into Power Apps Low Code Development

    Microsoft Integrates GPT-3 Into Power Apps Low Code Development

    Microsoft is integrating GPT-3 — a natural language model developed by OpenAI — with its low-code development tools.

    Microsoft Power Apps is the company’s low-code development platform, designed to allow individuals to create software with minimal coding experiencing. GTP-3 is a natural language model developed by OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company that was co-founded by Elon Musk.

    By combining GTP-3 and Power Apps, Microsoft hopes to revolutionize low-code development, alowing individuals to program using natural expression commands.

    Microsoft’s Jennifer Langston outlined the benefits in a company blog post:

    For instance, the new AI-powered features will allow an employee building an e-commerce app to describe a programming goal using conversational language like “find products where the name starts with ‘kids.’” A fine-tuned GPT-3 model then offers choices for transforming the command into a Microsoft Power Fx formula, the open source programming language of the Power Platform, such as “Filter(‘BC Orders’ Left(‘Product Name’,4)=”Kids”).

    Integrating GPT-3 into Power Apps will help the company’s development tools go from low-code to no-code.

    “Using an advanced AI model like this can help our low-code tools become even more widely available to an even bigger audience by truly becoming what we call no code,” said Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s low code application platform.

    “This will allow people to query and explore data in ways they literally couldn’t do before, and that will be the magical moment,” Lamanna added.

  • OpenAI Debuts AI That Draws Images From Text Prompts

    OpenAI Debuts AI That Draws Images From Text Prompts

    OpenAI has debuted DALL·E, an AI model that can draw images based on text prompts it receives.

    While AI is relatively good at duplicating things, it’s a significant leap for AI to create, and especially to create based on nothing more than a text prompt. DALL·E, “a portmanteau of the artist Salvador Dalí and Pixar’s WALL·E,” can do just that, drawing images from descriptions given to it.

    DALL·E is a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. We’ve found that it has a diverse set of capabilities, including creating anthropomorphized versions of animals and objects, combining unrelated concepts in plausible ways, rendering text, and applying transformations to existing images.

     

    Text Prompt - An illustration of a baby daikon radish in a tutu walking a dog - Credit OpenAI
    Text Prompt – An illustration of a baby daikon radish in a tutu walking a dog – Credit OpenAI

    This breakthrough opens the door to using language to manipulate visual images.

    GPT-3 showed that language can be used to instruct a large neural network to perform a variety of text generation tasks. Image GPT showed that the same type of neural network can also be used to generate images with high fidelity. We extend these findings to show that manipulating visual concepts through language is now within reach.

     

    Text Prompt - An armchair in the shape of an avocado - Credit OpenAI
    Text Prompt – An armchair in the shape of an avocado – Credit OpenAI

    The Holy Grail is the ability to engage in verbal communication with an AI, and having that AI understand and respond accordingly. OpenAI’s latest breakthrough is a step in that direction.

  • Google CEO Criticized For Response to AI Researcher’s Exit

    Google CEO Criticized For Response to AI Researcher’s Exit

    Google CEO Sundar Pichai has sent an email to Google employees in an effort to address backlash the company is facing over Dr. Timnit Gebru’s exit.

    Timnit Gebru is one of the leading artificial intelligence ethics researcher in the world, widely respected for her expertise. An issue arose as a result of a research paper Gebru and other researchers were working on. The paper tackled the ethical issues with large-scale AI language models (LLMs), and was approved internally on October 8. According to Gebru, she was later asked to remove her name from the paper because an internal review found it to be objectionable.

    As Gebru later pointed out in an interview with Wired, researchers must be free to go where the research takes them.

    You’re not going to have papers that make the company happy all the time and don’t point out problems. That’s antithetical to what it means to be that kind of researcher.

    Google’s head of AI, Jeff Dean, said the paper was not submitted with the necessary two-week lead time. Gebru’s team, however, wrote in a blog post supporting Gebru that “this is a standard which was applied unevenly and discriminatorily.”

    As a result, Gebru gave her supervisors some conditions she wanted met, otherwise she would work toward an amicable exit from the company. According to her team, the conditions “were for 1) transparency around who was involved in calling for the retraction of the paper, 2) having a series of meetings with the Ethical AI team, and 3) understanding the parameters of what would be acceptable research at Google.”

    Instead of working with Gebru, her supervisors accepted her “resignation” effective immediately. Gebru’s team is quick to point out that “Dr. Gebru did not resign,” (italics theirs) and was instead terminated.

    The company’s actions brought swift and vocal backlash. Some 2,351 Googlers, along with 3,729 supporters in academia, industry and civil society have signed a petition in support of Gebru at the time of writing. It seems Pichai and Company realize the situation is not going away without being addressed.

    In an email to employees, first published by Axios, Pichai attempted to do damage control, apologizing for what happened and vowing to do better in the future.

    So far, the email has not been met with praise. Gebru took to Twitter to criticize the lack of accountability, as well as the insinuation she was an “angry Black woman” for whom a de-escalation strategy was needed.

    Similarly, others are criticizing Pichai’s email for essentially being tone-deaf. Jack Clark, Open AIPolicy Director, is one such voice.

    In our initial coverage of this situation, we stated: “It goes without saying that Google is providing a case study in how not to handle this kind of situation.”

    In the aftermath of Pichai’s email, that statement continues to ring true.

    Here’s the email in full:

    Hi everyone,

    One of the things I’ve been most proud of this year is how Googlers from across the company came together to address our racial equity commitments. It’s hard, important work, and while we’re steadfast in our commitment to do better, we have a lot to learn and improve. An important piece of this is learning from our experiences like the departure of Dr. Timnit Gebru.

    I’ve heard the reaction to Dr. Gebru’s departure loud and clear: it seeded doubts and led some in our community to question their place at Google. I want to say how sorry I am for that, and I accept the responsibility of working to restore your trust.

    First – we need to assess the circumstances that led up to Dr. Gebru’s departure, examining where we could have improved and led a more respectful process. We will begin a review of what happened to identify all the points where we can learn — considering everything from de-escalation strategies to new processes we can put in place. Jeff and I have spoken and are fully committed to doing this. One of the best aspects of Google’s engineering culture is our sincere desire to understand where things go wrong and how we can improve.

    Second – we need to accept responsibility for the fact that a prominent Black, female leader with immense talent left Google unhappily. This loss has had a ripple effect through some of our least represented communities, who saw themselves and some of their experiences reflected in Dr. Gebru’s. It was also keenly felt because Dr. Gebru is an expert in an important area of AI Ethics that we must continue to make progress on — progress that depends on our ability to ask ourselves challenging questions.

    It’s incredibly important to me that our Black, women, and underrepresented Googlers know that we value you and you do belong at Google. And the burden of pushing us to do better should not fall on your shoulders. We started a conversation together earlier this year when we announced a broad set of racial equity commitments to take a fresh look at all of our systems from hiring and leveling, to promotion and retention, and to address the need for leadership accountability across all of these steps. The events of the last week are a painful but important reminder of the progress we still need to make.

    This is a top priority for me and Google leads, and I want to recommit to translating the energy that we’ve seen this year into real change as we move forward into 2021 and beyond.

    — Sundar