At this year’s Google I/O, the tech giant unveiled an expanded 2M context window and its text-to-video model, Veo. However, attendees felt that the conference was more like a blog post stuffed with AI-related buzzwords.
What’s Inside
Staple Add-Ons
✦ The top news expanded!
Google I/O Showed Gemini Still Needs Time to Bake
Google’s AI improvements, especially Gemini, took center stage at I/O 2024 but most are still in progress.
- Gemini will bring AI Overviews to Google Search, extending answers into full pages with suggestions.
- Gemini can create audio “podcasts” from PDFs to help learners and provide Q&A within Gmail threads.
- The most transformative feature is Gemini Q&A in Gmail, which can summarize info like quotes into a sheet.
Top news of the day!
Daily Additions
Google’s gunning for OpenAI’s Sora with Veo
Google’s Veo, unveiled at I/O 2024, generates 1080p videos up to a minute long from text prompts. Veo can edit videos, capture visual styles, and shows Google’s serious move into AI-generated content.
Read Full Story →
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas takes shots at Google
Perplexity’s CEO took jabs at Google’s AI search, saying it’s the “biggest loser” as users get direct answers. He mocked Google’s marketing resets and ad-influenced results, touting Perplexity’s $1B+ valuation instead.
Read Full Story →
Amazon’s cloud unit CEO Adam Selipsky to step down
AWS CEO Adam Selipsky is stepping down next month amidst the cloud unit’s rapid growth to $100B. Matt Garman, SVP of sales and marketing, will take over as AWS navigates AI and pandemic challenges.
Read Full Story →
✦ The top news expanded!
OpenAI’s Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever Departs After Nearly a Decade
Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist, is leaving the company following ChatGPT’s emotional upgrade.
- Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder, voted to remove CEO Sam Altman in 2023 but later expressed regret.
- He was absent from the unveiling of ChatGPT’s emotionally expressive update at OpenAI’s headquarters.
- Sutskever hinted at a “deeply personal” future project and will share more details soon.
Curated media to add to your diet!
Common Denominators
Will AI replace doctors who read X-rays
AI is raising questions about replacing radiologists, but some see it as a tool to enhance accuracy. A Swedish study found AI-assisted radiologists detected 20% more cancers and reduced workload by 44%.
Read Full Story →
Google strikes back at OpenAI with “Project Astra” AI agent prototype
Google’s Project Astra, unveiled at I/O 2024, is an AI agent that can understand video and converse. Astra identified objects, explained code, found items, and may power “Gemini Live” later this year.
Read Full Story →
Google now offers ‘web’ search—and an AI opt-out button
Google rolled out a “web” search option that filters out content blocks like ads and AI overviews. The change boosts independent sites but still has self-promotion, and may not always be an improvement.
Read Full Story →
✦ The top news expanded!
Tesla Loses Top AI Lead Amid Talent Exodus
Tesla’s autonomous driving team lost a key AI engineer, Paril Jain, after 9 years with the company.
- Jain was tech lead for Tesla’s “Planning, Imitation Learning & RL team” working on autonomy foundation models.
- His departure comes amidst layoffs and low morale leading to a talent exodus at Tesla.
Best of Reddit today!
Reddit-Wrapped
r/midjourney • Average 90s anime edition
r/OpenAI • OpenAI Spring Update Discussion
r/ChatGPT • OpenAI’s new GPT-4o model can translate in real-time
r/singularity • It’s officially OpenAI vs Google. The new Apple vs Microsoft.
r/artificial • ChatGPT Gets a Snappy, Flirty Upgrade With OpenAI’s GPT-4o AI Model
Superb AI tools to add to your life!
Top-Up Your Toolbox
Stunning • The fastest way to build a website.
VoiceCheap • Translate any video in any language.
Synthflow • Human-like conversational AI voice agents.
Super • Turn your Notion pages into customizable web pages.
Salina • Turn videos into blog posts, social snippets, and newsletters.
AI news you might have missed!
Quick Maths
Macs just got a huge AI boost
These Jobs Are the Most Susceptible to AI
Google devises new watermark for AI-made text
GPT-4o gets flirty as users prepare to have ‘AI girlfriends’
Meta to shut down Workplace platform, underscoring AI focus
Do you want to stay current with the latest AI news?
At ai + u, we deliver fresh, engaging, and digestible AI updates.
Stay tuned for more exciting developments!
Let’s see what stories we can bring to life next.
See you next addition!