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- Sam Altman and Jony Ive's secret AI device
Sam Altman and Jony Ive's secret AI device
PLUS: Microsoft goes nuclear
Rowan Cheung
September 23, 2024
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Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
It’s official: OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Apple’s design legend Jony Ive have been secretly developing a new AI-powered device together.
Could the dream team finally deliver AI hardware that changes the way we interact with and use AI? Let’s get into it…
In today’s AI rundown:
Altman and Ive announce AI hardware device
Microsoft fuels AI ambitions with nuclear
Edit images in real-time with Krea and FLUX
EA reveals AI-powered video game creation
5 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
OPENAI
Image source: The Information / Getty Images
The Rundown: Former Apple design chief Jony Ive has officially confirmed he is collaborating with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on a new AI-powered hardware device, marking Ive’s first major tech project since leaving Apple.
The details:
Ive and Altman are developing an AI device aimed at creating a computing experience that is “less socially disruptive than the iPhone.”
The project has already raised private funding and plans to raise up to $1 billion in startup funding by year’s end.
Ive’s design firm, LoveFrom, is leading the device’s design with a team that includes former Apple executives Tang Tan and Evans Hankey.
While specifics are still confidential, the device aims to leverage generative AI’s capabilities to handle complex user requests beyond traditional software.
Why it matters: While OpenAI and Apple strengthen their ties with ChatGPT on the iPhone 16, Altman and Ive are building a relationship of their own. Combining Ive's iconic design with OpenAI's models, including o1, could (hopefully) create AI hardware that’s actually useful in our daily lives, unlike the majority of options currently available.
TOGETHER WITH STAIRCASE AI
The Rundown: Staircase AI by Gainsight scans millions of customer interactions—emails, tickets, chats—giving you 85x the visibility. Real-time customer insights. Zero manual input. Setup and results in just a few hours.
Staircase AI offers:
90% accurate sentiment analysis
Uncovers risks & opportunities humans miss
No CRM data or manual tracking required—it's truly effortless!
MICROSOFT
Image source: Constellation Energy
The Rundown: Microsoft just signed a landmark 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, aiming to fuel its data centers and AI operations with clean energy.
The details:
The 20-year agreement will provide carbon-free power for Microsoft’s data centers, which are crucial for running its AI and cloud computing operations.
This move highlights the substantial energy requirements of AI, as companies seek reliable and sustainable power sources to support AI expansion.
The deal aligns with recent trends in the tech industry, such as Bill Gates’ $1 billion investment in a nuclear plant in Wyoming, which will also power homes and AI operations.
The plant will be renamed the ‘Crane Clean Energy Center’ and is set to reopen in 2028.
Why it matters: Recent AI-driven power demands are leading tech giants to seek nuclear energy solutions. By securing a dedicated nuclear power source, Microsoft is strategically positioning itself to meet the increasing computational demands of AI development and deployment, without increasing its carbon footprint.
AI TRAINING
The Rundown: Krea AI is an AI-powered image editing platform that offers real-time image generation with Flux, allowing users to edit and enhance images on the fly — with a generous free tier.
Step-by-step:
Sign up or log in to Krea AI and go to the "Generate" section
Upload your starting image
Select "Flux" as your model and enter a prompt (e.g., "corgi with a red ball")
Use the brush tool to paint where you want changes
Adjust the AI Strength slider to fine-tune the transformation
Pro tip: Experiment with different AI Strength levels to find the ‘sweet spot’ between your vision and AI’s creativity.
PRESENTED BY CODESIGNAL
The Rundown: CodeSignal’s latest report compares top AI models with human engineers using real-world coding assessments and the same technical assessment relied on by major tech companies for hiring.
Key findings:
Advanced AI (o1-preview, o1-mini) outperforms average human engineers
Top human coders still edge out the best AI models
AI shows significant improvement with multi-shot attempts
ELECTRONIC ARTS
Image source: Electronic Arts
The Rundown: Electronic Arts (EA) recently demonstrated a new AI-driven concept for user-generated video game content, showcasing how players can create and modify games in real-time using natural language commands.
The details:
EA's "Imagination to Creation" concept video displays two players rapidly building a complex game world and gameplay rules through voice commands without coding expertise.
The system leverages EA’s vast proprietary dataset, including 3D assets, code, gameplay hours, and telemetry events, to train custom creation models.
Players can remix elements from existing EA games and asset libraries, potentially creating entirely new gaming experiences.
Why it matters: This concept could change EA's business model, creating a more interactive and dynamic relationship with their player base while possibly unlocking new revenue streams and extending the lifespan of games. However, it's just a concept video—only time will tell what the future of video game creation will truly look like.
NEW TOOLS & JOBS
QUICK HITS
Disney researchers developed an AI system allowing robots to learn complex movements from random motion data, improving robots’ versatility across industries.
Pudu Robotics unveiled PUDU D7, a 5’5” tall, 100-pound ‘semi-humanoid’ robot for service and industrial use, featuring 30 degrees of freedom and 8-hour battery life.
Google released new evaluations for long context reasoning in AI models, with their 1.5 Pro model outperforming others by 12.5% on tasks beyond simple information retrieval.
Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds significantly increased investments in AI startups, with funding up fivefold in the past year.
Researchers introduced AnySkin, a versatile, replaceable tactile sensor for robots that allows learned manipulation policies to generalize across different sensor instances.
Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 7B coder model reportedly matched GPT-4’s coding performance at a fraction of the cost, offering similar capabilities as an open-source alternative.
THAT’S A WRAP
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