🗞 OpenAI's Massive Funding Round Nears Completion 💰

🔎 The Latest on the AI Frontier:

• OpenAI's Massive Funding Round Nears Completion 💰

• OpenAI's 'Strawberry' AI Model Promises Major Advancements 🍓

• Microsoft Revives Nuclear Plant for AI Energy Needs ☢️

• Meta Connect to Showcase New AR/VR and AI Innovations 🥽

• Apple Releases OS Betas with New AI Features 🍎

• Google Unveils AI Tool for Urban Development Tracking 🏙️

• YouTube Shorts to Integrate Google's Veo AI Video Model 🎬

• Nvidia's AI Aerial Platform Set to Transform Telecom Industry 📡

• Tech Giants Lobby for Softer EU AI Act Enforcement 📊

• Other news you might find interesting 👀

💰 OpenAI's $6.5B funding round nears completion, valuing company at $150B. Link

• Funding round is oversubscribed, with investor list to be finalized on Friday.

• Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple expected to participate alongside existing investor Thrive Capital.

• Valuation jumps from $86B in last round to $150B, not including new investment.

🍓 OpenAI's CEO previews major advancements coming for new 'Strawberry' AI model. Link

• Sam Altman says o1 model (codenamed Strawberry) is at early stages, comparable to GPT-2 in 2019.

• o1 has novel reasoning and planning capabilities, representing progress from "level 1" to "level 2" AI.

• OpenAI rates o1 as "medium risk", noting concerns about its persuasive abilities and potential misuse.

🔋 Microsoft's AI ambitions spark nuclear revival, partnering with Constellation to reopen Three Mile Island reactor. Link

• The 20-year deal aims to power Microsoft's energy-hungry AI data centers with 800 megawatts of clean, reliable nuclear energy.

• Constellation will invest significantly to restore and upgrade the plant, creating 3,400 jobs and generating over $3 billion in taxes.

• AI's growing energy demands are highlighted, with ChatGPT queries consuming nearly 10 times more electricity than Google searches.

🥽 Meta Connect to showcase new AR/VR tech and AI integration on September 25. Link

• Meta is expected to unveil a cheaper "Meta Quest 3S" headset, moving away from premium devices like Apple's struggling $3,500 Vision Pro.

• The company may introduce its first official AR glasses, "Meta Orion," alongside updates to its popular Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

• AI features will likely be a major focus, with expansions to Meta's chatbot offerings and deeper integration across apps and devices.

🍎 Apple releases public betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 with new AI features. Link

• The betas include Apple Intelligence capabilities like text rewriting tools, new Siri design, and a "Clean Up" photo editing feature.

• Only select devices can access Apple Intelligence: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPads/Macs with M1 chips or newer.

• Final versions of the updates are planned for release in October, with more AI features coming in the future.

🏙️ Google releases AI tool to track urban development in underserved regions. Link

• New Open Buildings 2.5D Temporal Dataset covers 32 million square miles across Africa, Latin America, South/Southeast Asia.

• Uses satellite imagery to estimate building presence, counts and heights from 2016-2023.

• Aims to aid urban planning, crisis response and infrastructure development as urban populations rapidly grow in these regions.

🎬 YouTube Shorts to integrate Google's Veo AI video model later this year. Link

• Veo will enable creators to generate high-quality 6-second video clips and backgrounds for Shorts using text prompts.

• New features also include "Jewels" for viewers to send gifts during livestreams and expanded automatic dubbing to more languages.

• YouTube is adding AI tools to help creators brainstorm video ideas, generate thumbnails, and respond to comments in YouTube Studio.

🤖 Nvidia's AI Aerial platform could revolutionize telecom, boosting eCommerce and supply chains. Link

• AI Aerial optimizes wireless networks, potentially reducing network downtime by 25% and enhancing efficiency.

• Platform could accelerate deployment of 5G, robotics, and autonomous vehicles, benefiting retail and logistics industries.

• Telecom companies may offer new AI-driven services like retail analytics and edge computing for logistics, creating new revenue streams.

📊 Tech giants lobby to soften EU's AI Act enforcement as implementation details remain uncertain. Link

• Nearly 1,000 applications received to help draft the AI code of practice, an unusually high number for stakeholder input.

• Companies push for less stringent rules on data transparency and copyright issues in AI training.

• Compliance with the AI Act will be measured against the code starting August 2025, with potential billion-dollar fines at stake.

More news you might find interesting:

• 🧠 OpenAI releases advanced o1 AI models to enterprise and education customers. Link

• ⚠️ Google warns UK risks falling behind in AI without policy changes. Link

• 🎬 Amazon launches AI-powered Video Generator for advertisers. Link

• 🛒 Amazon enhances Prime Day shopping with new AI-powered personalization features. Link

• 🔄 Samsung surprised users with an unusually fast global rollout of its latest One UI 6.1.1 update. Link

• 📊 AI's energy consumption skyrockets, raising sustainability concerns. Link

• 🎨 Kling AI unveils version 1.5 with enhanced video generation capabilities. Link

• 🤖 Researchers develop AI models to help robots perform tasks in unfamiliar environments. Link

• 🚛 Delivery robot collision at Arizona State University raises safety concerns. Link

• 🛰️ Starlink's new satellites emit 32x more radio interference, hampering astronomy. Link

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