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- Humanoid Robot startup in talks with Microsoft and OpenAI for funding 🦾
Humanoid Robot startup in talks with Microsoft and OpenAI for funding 🦾
The New York Times is building a team to explore AI
Gina Acosta
January 31, 2024
Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,
Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly investing heavily in the humanoid robotics startup, Figure AI, a move that could accelerate the arrival of humanoid robots to assist us with a myriad of tasks.
Despite their legal battle with OpenAI, The New York Times is building a team to explore AI…
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Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI
Humanoid Robot Startup Figure AI in Funding Talks With Microsoft and OpenAI 🦾
The New York Times is Building a Team to Explore AI
AI Research: Amazon's New AI Tool "Diffuse to Choose"
Trending AI Tool of the day: GuidegGeek, your free personal AI travel assistant
AI Image of The Day🎨: Reader-Submitted Images
The Latest in AI and Tech 💡
AI News
FIGURE AI
Humanoid Robot Startup Figure AI in Funding Talks With Microsoft and OpenAI 🦾
Source: Figure AI
Robotics startup Figure AIis engaged in discussions with Microsoft and OpenAI regarding a substantial investment round, according to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg.
Details:
Figure AI is in talks to raise as much as $500 million in a funding round led by Microsoft, OpenAI, and other high-profile technology investors.
This new funding may value Figure at $1.9 billion or more depending on final terms.
While unconfirmed, investment talks align logically given OpenAI’s public robotics ambitions and Microsoft’s cloud/AI strengths.
The companies themselves have not commented publicly on any ongoing negotiations. However, a capital infusion of this magnitude could position Figure to make dramatic progress toward futuristic AI robotics applications.
THE NYT
The New York Times is Building a Team to Explore AI
The New York Times is assembling a team to explore the use of generative AI and machine learning in its newsroom.
Details:
The Times is hiring for several positions, including a machine learning engineer, software engineer, designer, and editors to focus on prototyping AI initiatives.
The Times states that while it is eager to implement AI tools, Times journalism will continue to be reported, written, and edited by its journalists.
The Times has had a rocky relationship with AI; it previously blocked AI systems from scraping its content and later filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT's creator, OpenAI, which is still ongoing.
It will be interesting to observe how American media brands integrate these advanced technologies into their newsrooms.
AI RESEARCH
Amazon's New AI Tool "Diffuse to Choose"
Amazon has developed an AI tool called "Diffuse to Choose" (DTC) that allows online shoppers to visually place clothing and furniture items onto photos of themselves or their homes. This technology aims to provide a more personalized and informed shopping experience.
Details:
DTC uses a diffusion-based image inpainting model to realistically render products, with accurate lighting and shadows
The goal is to provide customers with a better understanding of fit and spatial effect before they make a purchase. This could lead to fewer returns, creating a win-win situation for both shoppers and sellers.
Some limitations still exist around image quality and preservation of human poses
Amazon plans to open-source the code and launch a public demo soon. If DTC delivers on its promises, it would mark a major shift in how we shop online.
Trending AI Tool
GuidegGeek, your free personal AI travel assistant
Tell GuideGeek where you're interested in traveling and it will instantly advise you on the best places to stay, eat, party, and explore, giving you insights and tips along the way that can help you save money, avoid crowds, and get the most out of your travels. This tool is FREE and you can use it on WhatsApp and Instagram Messenger.
Check this AI tool here
AI Image of The Day
Our image of the day was submitted by our reader Oya A, Thank you!
Send your AI-generated images for a chance to get published
The latest in AI and Tech
Universal pulls songs from TikTok over AI and pay concerns
Universal Music Group announced it will remove its expansive catalog from TikTok starting January 31st after the company failed to reach a licensing agreement with the platform. UMG cited issues around compensation for artists and protecting musicians from potentially harmful AI technologies. Users will find themselves unable to use songs from top-tier talent in their TikTok videos and may find music removed from older videos.
Volkswagen Group establishes artificial intelligence company
Source: Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen is looking to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities by founding a new ‘AI lab’ aimed at rapid prototyping of forward-looking concepts. Volkswagen intends to simplify collaboration with tech companies and to make optimum use of the AI sector’s innovation potential. The company claims digital products based on AI will play a key role for the Volkswagen Group in the future.
Code Llama Closes In On GPT-4
Meta's latest update to its AI programming assistant Code Llama 70B now scores 53% accuracy on benchmark tests, surpassing GPT-3.5 and nearing GPT-4's reported 67% mark. This "largest and best-performing" version yet handles more queries and is more accurate, helping developers write and debug code. Code Llama 70B is available on three versions of the code generator and is still free for research and commercial uses.
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Gina 👩🏻💻