- The Rundown AI
- Posts
- Midjourney's new AI image editor
Midjourney's new AI image editor
PLUS: OpenAI disbands its AGI Readiness team
Rowan Cheung
October 25, 2024
Sign Up | Advertise | Podcast | AI University
Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
The line between real and AI-generated images just got a lot blurrier, and it may be time to start questioning every image we see online.
Midjourney's new editor just put mind-blowing image manipulation tools at everyone's fingertips — but are we ready for the consequences? Let’s get into it…
In today’s AI rundown:
Midjourney launches new image editor
OpenAI disbands AGI Readiness team
Improve your website's SEO with Gemini
Biden orders AI push with new security safeguards
6 new AI tools & 4 new AI jobs
More AI & tech news
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
MIDJOURNEY
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: Midjourney just debuted a new AI-powered web editor that allows users to easily modify, retexture, expand, and stylize both generated and uploaded images using text prompts.
The details:
The anticipated update enables features like expand, crop, repaint, and modify for both Midjourney-created and uploaded images using natural prompting.
The new editor also works with Midjourney’s previous features like personalization, style references, and more.
A new re-texturing tool allows users to change aspects like lighting, texture, materials, and more while maintaining the original shape of the image.
Access is initially limited to yearly subscribers, 12-month members, and users with 10,000+ generations for testing before a broader roll-out.
Why it matters: If you were already concerned about discerning between AI and ‘real’ photos, things are about to get a lot more difficult. This new editor brings massive capabilities and use cases for creatives – but also unlocks a powerful deepfake and manipulation tool that makes nearly every image need to be questioned going forward.
TOGETHER WITH NORTHERN DATA GROUP
The Rundown: Northern Data’s generative AI cloud, Taiga offers immediate access to the same powerhouse hardware behind OpenAI, delivering up to 9x faster AI training on the largest models.
Experience the H100 Tensor Core advantage with:
State-of-the-art infrastructure for unparalleled performance
Enterprise-grade security for your most sensitive AI workloads
Optimized for efficiency, reducing operational costs
OPENAI
Image source: Miles Brundage (@Miles_Brundage on X)
The Rundown: OpenAI is reportedly dissolving its AGI Readiness team, marking the latest in a series of major division changes as senior advisor Miles Brundage departs the company and voices concerns about the industry’s safety direction.
The details:
Brundage announced his departure alongside a lengthy blog post about his role, future, and the industry at large.
He said that both OpenAI, other labs, and the world in general are not ready to handle increasingly powerful AI systems.
Brundage noted that part of the AGI Readiness team will be moving under new Chief Economist Ronnie Chatterji, with the rest distributed across other teams.
The move follows May's disbanding of the Superalignment team focused on AI control systems, coinciding with prominent safety researchers' exit.
Why it matters: For a company that claims to emphasize AI safety, the continued tension, disbanding, and departure of its safety-focused teams certainly sends very mixed signals. But if Brundage’s post is any indication, it's not just OpenAI that is unprepared for what is to come — it’s the entire world.
AI TRAINING
The Rundown: Google Gemini’s video input feature lets you use AI to analyze video recordings of your website and generate powerful SEO improvements.
Step-by-step:
Access Google AI Studio and select the "Gemini 1.5 Pro 002" model.
Record 5-10 minutes of video showing your website’s navigation, page load times, content structure, and key features.
Use this prompt: "Analyze these website videos. Provide SEO recommendations for meta elements, content, speed, UX, and keywords."
Follow up by asking it to give you insights on technical SEO and to suggest content strategy improvements based on the videos.
Pro tip: Include both desktop and mobile footage for more comprehensive SEO insights. Additionally, we have written detailed prompts that you can copy and paste here.
PRESENTED BY BRILLIANT
The Rundown: Brilliant transforms complex AI concepts into bite-sized, interactive lessons you can tackle anytime, anywhere — helping you master the fundamentals driving today's tech revolution in just minutes a day.
With Brilliant, you'll:
Decode AI jargon through engaging, hands-on challenges
Build a rock-solid foundation in math, programming, and data science
Develop a daily learning habit that fits your busy schedule
Join 10M+ learners worldwide and start your 30-day free trial today. Plus, enjoy a special discount on an annual premium subscription — exclusive to The Rundown AI readers.
GOVERNMENT & AI
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: The White House just issued a new national security memorandum directing federal agencies to accelerate AI adoption – while establishing clear boundaries for its use in sensitive government areas like defense and intelligence.
The details:
The memo outlined the government’s strategy for leveraging technology across national security departments while managing its risks.
The directive prohibits AI from tasks like making autonomous nuclear weapons decisions, targeting systems without human oversight, and privacy violations.
Biden highlighted the need for improvements to the U.S. AI chip infrastructure, also directing agencies to assist AI labs in defending against foreign espionage.
OpenAI published a blog alongside the memo explaining its stance on national security and the company’s partnerships and government initiatives.
Why it matters: AI safety and development are national security issues, and the US is finally acting on its most comprehensive attempt to craft guardrails to prepare for the evolution to come. The memo’s emphasis on protecting private sector innovations also signals a major shift in treating commercial AI as crucial national security assets.
NEW TOOLS & JOBS
🎬 Runway Act-One - Generate expressive character performances using simple video inputs
🛍️ Vidify - Turn Shopify product images into AI-shoppable videos
🎥 Overlap - Transform any long video into clips, blog posts, and more
🧠 Figflow - AI companion that turns Figma designs into user stories in minutes
🎙️ PodLM - Generate AI podcasts with any content
🛡️ Palantir Technologies - Physical Security Analyst
🛠️ OpenAI - Technical Program Manager, ChatGPT Infrastructure
🧠 Abridge - ML Platform Engineer (Staff/Senior)
🔬 Rad AI - Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist
QUICK HITS
AI chipmaker TSMC’S Phoenix plant reported superior chip yields compared to its Taiwan operations, boosting confidence in America's domestic semiconductor strategy.
Anthropic unveiled Claude's new built-in analysis tool, enabling its models to write and execute code directly in chat interactions.
Apple launched a $1M bug bounty ahead of its major AI cloud release next week, offering rewards to security researchers who can successfully hack and find vulnerabilities in its private AI infrastructure.
ElevenLabs added ‘Voice Design,’ a new feature enabling users to create AI-generated voices from natural text prompts.
OpenAI scientist Noam Brown revealed at TED AI that giving AI models 20 seconds to "think" can match the performance boost of scaling up training data 100,000x.
Chinese robotics startup EngineAI just introduced SE01, a life-size humanoid robot that has a much more human-like gait to its walk.
THAT’S A WRAP
That's it for today!Before you go we’d love to know what you thought of today's newsletter to help us improve The Rundown experience for you. |
See you soon,
Reply