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INTEL REPORTEDLY GAVE UP A CHANCE TO BUY A STAKE IN OPENAI IN 2017

Intel and OpenAI discussed several investment options but the deal was scuttled because Intel's CEO didn't see AI models hitting the broad market anymore soon.

MAJOR SHIFTS AT OPENAI SPARK SKEPTICISM ABOUT IMPENDING AGI TIMELINES

Several prominent figures have left OpenAI, leading some to question whether the company is really that close to achieving artificial general intelligence.

YOUTUBE BEGINS TESTING A NEW FEATURE SIMILAR TO TWITTER'S COMMUNITY NOTES

Approved notes will appear directly underneath videos and can include timestamps.

GOOGLE IS A VERY STRANGE MONOPOLIST

Google acts like a monopoly but without harming consumers, a fact that could pose some problems on appeal.

INSIDE THE COMPANY THAT GATHERS ‘HUMAN DATA' FOR EVERY MAJOR AI COMPANY

Staffing firm Turing's work played an important role in helping OpenAI create ChatGPT.

X OFFICIALLY KILLS ITS SAN FRANCISCO HEADQUARTERS, WILL RELOCATE WORKERS TO SOUTH BAY

X's engineering workers will share an office in Palo Alto with xAI while the remaining employees will be routed to existing offices in Santana Row.

GEMINI INTELLIGENCE IS COMING TO NEST CAMERAS, SMART SPEAKERS, AND SMART DISPLAYS

Google announced new Gemini AI-powered features for Google Home, including intelligent captions for Nest camera footage, natural language processing for Home routine creation, and an upgraded, more natural-sounding Google Assistant. The advanced features, primarily behind a Nest Aware subscription paywall, aim to enhance the smart home experience with the rollout commencing in beta and expanding next year. As part of the move toward smarter home automation, Google envisions an assistant that can proactively manage complex and dynamic home environments.

AS REGULATORS CLOSE IN, NVIDIA SCRAMBLES FOR A RESPONSE

Nvidia is facing increased government scrutiny from the EU, UK, China, and the US Justice Department over its dominant market share in AI chips and sales practices. The company is rapidly building its legal and policy teams to address antitrust concerns amid profitable growth, as it commands 90 percent of the GPU market essential for AI systems. Nvidia is also adapting to increased competition oversight, with recent attention turning to its planned acquisition of Run.ai and impact on the AI supply chain.

ZUCKERBERG SAYS META WILL NEED 10X MORE COMPUTING POWER TO TRAIN LLAMA 4 THAN LLAMA 3

Meta plans to significantly increase computing capacity for training its next-gen large language model, Llama 4, expecting a 10x compute increase over Llama 3. The investment in AI training infrastructure will drive up capital expenditures in 2025. Despite heavy spending, Meta doesn't foresee immediate significant revenue from Gen AI products.

SCALING TEST TIME COMPUTE OPTIMALLY CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN SCALING MODEL PARAMETERS

There is strong pressure to use compute at inference time to improve model performance. This paper showcases several methods that can be used and discusses the trade offs made between them. In general, this points towards a broader trend of squeezing performance out of smaller models.

LLAVA-ONEVISION: EASY VISUAL TASK TRANSFER

There has been a push in vision language models to make them easy to tune and transfer between tasks. This is reminiscent of computer vision a decade ago. Importantly, this can be done through careful data curation and architecture updates which are on display with LLaVA-OneVision.

AN OBJECT IS WORTH 64X64 PIXELS: GENERATING 3D OBJECT VIA IMAGE DIFFUSION

Treating 3D objects as UV wrapped images makes it simple to use a DiT model to synthesize novel objects based on textual inputs.

ABC INVARIANCE

muP is a way to tune your hyperparameters to transfer from smaller to larger models. This GitHub gist shows a great theorem in practice which states that you can change where you scale model outputs and it doesn't affect final transfer performance.

FLUX CANNY CONTROLNET (HUGGING FACE HUB)

XLabs has released the first Flux-Dev control net which allows for generation conditioned on Canny image inputs.

CREATE PRIVACY-PROTECTED TABULAR DATA

HARMONIC is a framework for generating and evaluating synthetic tabular data using large language models.

HOW GITHUB HARNESSES AI TO TRANSFORM CUSTOMER FEEDBACK INTO ACTION

GitHub is leveraging AI and machine learning to analyze and summarize customer feedback at scale, informing product improvements and feature prioritization with actionable insights. This automated approach enables the capture of multilingual feedback and drives data-driven decision-making, enhancing the responsiveness to developer needs. The initiative highlights GitHub's commitment to integrating AI to maintain a developer-centric product development process.

HOW DOES OPENAI SURVIVE?

This article presents a deep skepticism about OpenAI's sustainability, considering generative AI's lack of broad market utility and the prohibitive costs of developing and running large language models. The author questions OpenAI's long-term viability without significant technological breakthroughs or continuous, unprecedented fundraising efforts. Despite OpenAI's influence on the AI industry, the company faces challenges with profitability, high operational burn rates, and dependence on strategic partnerships, particularly with Microsoft.

AMD IS BECOMING AN AI CHIP COMPANY, JUST LIKE NVIDIA

AMD's Q2 2024 earnings show a significant shift toward data center products, with nearly half of its sales now in this area, thanks primarily to the Instinct MI300 AI chip. The company has committed to annual new AI chip releases, competing with Nvidia's offerings, despite supply constraints projected to last until 2025. Although Nvidia remains ahead in the data center market, AMD has seen growth in its CPU and GPU segments, including its Ryzen processors and Radeon 6000 GPUs.

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MICROSOFT IS LOSING A STAGGERING AMOUNT OF MONEY ON AI

Microsoft's AI investments surged to $19 billion last quarter, focusing on data centers for AI capabilities, but significant AI revenue remains uncertain.

TACO BELL'S DRIVE-THRU AI MIGHT TAKE YOUR NEXT ORDER

Yum! Brands is expanding its AI-driven Voice AI technology to hundreds of Taco Bell drive-thrus to enhance efficiency, aiming for broader rollout by year-end.

OPENAI INVESTS IN A WEBCAM COMPANY TURNED AI STARTUP

OpenAI is leading a $60 million funding round for Opal, the same company behind the high-end Tadpole webcam.

UK REGULATOR FCA HAS ISSUED OVER 1K WARNINGS TO CRYPTO FIRMS SINCE OCTOBER

Since new financial promotion rules took effect in October, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued over 1,000 warnings to crypto firms, leading to the removal of 48 apps from U.K. app stores. The FCA continues to crack down on unregistered crypto companies illegally promoting to the U.K. market while also providing guidance to ensure firms properly categorize their customers.

BITCOIN VOLATILITY HITS 20-MONTH HIGH, TRADERS HEDGE AGAINST FURTHER SLUMP

Bitcoin's volatility index has surged to a 20-month high, driven by recent price drops below $50,000, prompting traders to hedge against potential further declines. While some traders anticipate more downside, others see this as a buying opportunity, with expectations of a possible near-term recovery.

SYNTHETIC DOLLAR PROTOCOL ETHENA EXPANDS TO SOLANA, INCLUDES SOL AS BACKING ASSET

Ethena Labs expanded its synthetic dollar protocol, Ethena, to Solana to improve the scalability and stability of USDe. USDe aims to maintain a $1 peg and currently offers a 12.3% annual yield for staked assets. SOL will be used as a backing asset alongside other crypto, improving the financial strength of USDe and potentially unlocking billions in additional futures market interest.

ZORA UPGRADE

Zora has launched a major protocol upgrade, integrating with Uniswap to create on-chain secondary markets that allow creators to earn royalties from trades after a mint ends. This upgrade introduces new features like Secondary Rewards, efficient price discovery, and instant liquidity, enhancing the experience for both creators and collectors.

WHY ETHEREUM FEES WERE DOWN $679M IN Q2 (57%)

Ethereum's fees dropped by 57% in Q2 after the EIP-4844 upgrade, which increased block space and reduced costs, boosting L2 scalability. While this might look like a financial dip, it's actually a positive sign — L2 transactions and users have surged, showing Ethereum's network is scaling and improving.

PERFORMANCE OF TOKENS LISTED ON BINANCE YTD

Since the start of 2024, Binance has listed 30 new tokens, but the majority have experienced declines in performance. This trend indicates that most of these newly listed tokens are underperforming, reflecting broader market challenges or specific issues within the projects.

THE RACE TO DOMINATE STABLECOINS

Stablecoins could transform global finance by challenging banks and payment networks. As competition among issuers, banks, and tech companies intensifies, the race to dominate this new "operating system for money" could reshape the future of finance, with regulators playing a key role in determining the market's outcome. The likely result is a market with multiple stablecoins offering faster, cheaper payments, benefiting consumers but potentially sidelining current issuers.

THOUGHTS ON JUMP SUPPOSEDLY LEAVING CRYPTO

Jump Crypto might be exiting its "building" ventures, where it invested in crypto projects in exchange for token allocations, following a series of setbacks like Luna, Wormhole, and FTX. However, its core trading operations likely remain active and profitable, with recent wallet activity suggesting it is offloading its crypto holdings as it scales back its involvement in the space.

HOW IS FANTASY TOP DOING?

Fantasy is stabilizing, with consistent tournament participation despite a declining holder count and slowed market activity.

PACMOON MIGRATES TO SOLANA

Pacmoon is migrating from the Blast blockchain to Solana and rebranding as $ARMY.

JUDGE IMPOSES $125 MILLION CIVIL PENALTY ON RIPPLE

A federal judge has ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million civil penalty in its lawsuit with the SEC.

DECAF LAUNCHES US ACCOUNTS

Decaf Wallet now offers US accounts, allowing users to receive USD as $USDC with no fees during early access.

ETHEREUM ENTITIES LARGELY COMPLIED WITH TORNADO CASH SANCTIONS, NY FED PAPER SAYS

A New York Fed report found that most Ethereum block builders are complying with sanctions against Tornado Cash, although some activity persists.

INI ARCHIBONG DESIGNS PACKAGING FOR SNOOP DOGG AND DR DRE'S GIN & JUICE

The packaging for Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre's premixed drink brand, designed by designer Ini Archibong, embodies the spirit of 1990s West Coast hip hop. The design includes a hand-drawn lowrider by Los Angeles illustrator Wayne Johnson, who rendered the low-slung car in different colors to represent various drink flavors. Central to the can is a parental advisory logo, which captures the era's cultural impact. The minimal white can juxtapose the vibrant lowrider, reflecting the influence and aesthetic of Dr. Dre's music and album art.

X IS TESTING THE REMOVAL OF LIKE, COMMENT, AND REPOST BUTTONS FROM REPLIES

X is considering a controversial design change that would remove the like, comment, and repost buttons, as well as their counts, from replies to posts. This potential update, discovered in the X for iOS app code, would alter how replies appear without affecting engagement metrics when viewing the original post. The change could significantly impact the "ratio" culture, where replies to unpopular posts often outperform the original in terms of likes and reposts.

APPLE FINALLY PAYS OUT OVER ITS INFAMOUS MACBOOK DESIGN FAIL

MacBook users who suffered from Apple's problematic Butterfly Keyboard are finally receiving compensation after a $50 million settlement, marking the end of a frustrating chapter for many. Eligible users are getting payments of up to $400, depending on the number of keyboard replacements. The lawsuit covers laptops bought between 2015 and 2019 in specific U.S. states.

HOW HP POWERS UP DESIGN HANDOFF WITH DEV MODE

HP's design system team used Figma's Dev Mode to streamline collaboration and enhance consistency across its diverse product lines. HP reduced development time by 50% and minimized redundancy by implementing the Veneer design system. Dev Mode's features, like real-time design changes and code integration, have significantly improved efficiency, saving time and fostering better communication between designers and developers.

IOS 18 HAS FULFILLED MY DREAM OF DESTROYING ADS WITH A THANOS SNAP

Frustrated with the cluttered state of the mobile web, Apple has introduced a "Distraction Control" feature in iOS 18 that temporarily removes intrusive elements like ads and cookie prompts from Safari. Available in the latest beta and set for release next month, this feature mimics a "Thanos snap" and enhances readability without permanently blocking ads, ensuring website owners still receive ad views.

FLUX: THIS NEW AI IMAGE GENERATOR IS EERILY GOOD AT CREATING HUMAN HANDS

Black Forest Labs has launched FLUX.1, a suite of AI text-to-image models, aiming to outperform industry standards like Midjourney and DALL-E. Developed by ex-Stable Diffusion engineers, FLUX.1 uses a hybrid architecture combining transformer and diffusion techniques that excels in generating photorealistic images, including human hands. The startup has secured $31 million in funding and plans to expand into video generation.

SPECTRUM

Spectrum is a free library of 100 vector shapes that can be downloaded and edited as needed. The shapes range from simple to complex. More will be added regularly.

THE ESSENTIAL DESIGN

Digital archive of inspiring design from the world's best design agencies & creatives. Primarily focused on brand identity, graphic design, digital design, and editorial design.

WASITAI

Upload an image to Wasitiai and find out if it was created by a human or an AI.

TRANSFORM YOUR ARCHITECTURAL DIAGRAMS INTO INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES

Dezyn is a versatile tool for creating interactive and informative cloud architecture diagrams and flowcharts.

OPEN-SOURCE COLOR SYSTEM

Radix Colors offers an open-source color system for creating accessible and visually appealing websites and apps. The system allows users to generate custom palettes effortlessly.

PRECISE, TECHNICAL, BUT ALSO DARN WITTY: NEWKID CREATES A BRAND OF CONTRASTS FOR STANDARD EQUIPMENT

Standard Equipment's brand, created by newkid, combines utilitarian beauty with industrial precision, emphasizing "Tools for Non-Standard Living" through witty details and a mechanical logo design. The austere brand voice contrasts with humorous product descriptions.

STUDIO SHIZARU'S LOGO FOR IRANIAN ART AND HERITAGE PLATFORM SIMURGHNAMEH MIMICS BIRDS FLOCKING IN FLIGHT

Studio Shizaru designed the logo for Simurghnameh, an Iranian art and heritage platform, drawing inspiration from the mythical bird Simurgh, which symbolizes wisdom and transformation. The logo, which represents 30 birds in flight, aims to engage younger generations while blending centuries of Iranian tradition with contemporary aesthetics across various media.