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The coming holidays did little to diminish the pace of industry innovation. Instead, Christmas and the New Year provided opportunities for new products, services, and ideas.
Here are the headlines:
Google continued to dominate the industry with image-based prompts;
OpenAI's ChatGPT now has a 1-800 number for WhatsApp;
Apple is spreading its tentacles in China;
NVIDIA launched an AI supercomputer for the rest of us ;
Plus, indie content producers now have access to AI training royalties thanks to Cineverse;
And much more!
Of course, it's your Daily AI™!
The DWN AI Index™ Update
On 12/18/24, the index changed -127.14 points, or -3.55%, to close at 3453.99.
DWN/AI Index™ Individual Stock Closing Prices:
Amazon (AMZN) at $220.52,
Arista Networks (ANET) at $108.07,
C3.ai (AI) at $39.69,
CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) at $349.18,
Duolingo (DUOL) at $332.81,
iRhythm Technologies (IRTC) at $85.95,
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) at $437.39,
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) at $128.91,
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) at $71.51,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) at $195.56,
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) closed at $190.15, while Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) closed at $597.19.
Under the AI Hood
Google/DeepMind
Alphabet-owned Google continued to push the AI game further with 'Whisk,' an image-based photo generation tool. According to a December 16 post, ‘Whisk’ enables the creation of new AI images based on user depictions.
Additionally, the experimental product is currently available to U.S. residents.
In related news, Google unveiled new AI tools to protect its Gmail ecosystem from scams ahead of the holidays.
OpenAI/Meta
Industry convergence continued to improve with a ChatGPT-WhatsApp integration. WhatsApp's users now have access to 1-800-CHATGPT (1-800-242-8478).
Furthermore, the debut is a part of the '12 Days of OpenAI,' a holiday-based initiative.
Apple/Tencent/ByteDance/People's Republic of China/Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
To integrate its AI functionalities in China, iPhone maker Apple is (reportedly) discussing with ByteDance and Tencent. The move is part of a series of Apple's AI moves in the People's Republic.
Similarly, a global journalism nonprofit, Reporters Without Borders, called on Apple to roll back its recently released news generation feature following false headlines about murder suspect Luigi Mangione.
NVIDIA
AI chipmaker NVIDIA leveled the playing field for everyday industry operators with the 'Orin Nano Super Developer Kit,' a miniature supercomputer for AI activities. The mini-computer board has a 67 GenAI operations per second capacity.
In addition, it is also currently priced at $249.
Industry Dive
Salesforce/Mulesoft
Leading CRM Salesforce introduced 'Agentforce', an offering that complements sales teams. The offering has Slack integrations and preset deployments, offering quicker lead conversion times.
Additionally, Agentforce's integrations with Mulesoft enable the creation of low-code workflows across apps.
Ministry of Defense (MoD) (United Kingdom)/Amazon (AWS)
Recent research and assessment by the UK's MoD shows that an Amazon AWS-hosted tool has data breach risks. Amazon's AWS hosts the personnel data of the MoD's AI-powered Textio.
Furthermore, a December 17 post states that His Majesty's Government has deemed the risks 'low.'
GitHub
Leading code repository GitHub launched the free tier of its Copilot AI tool. Copilot free allows up to 2,000 code completions and 50 monthly chat prompts.
Moreover, the zero-cost option is available on the Microsoft Visual Studio Code editor platform.
Everything Else
Cineverse
Cineverse, the 'Terrifier' franchise owner, introduced 'Matchpoint Reel Visuals AI,' a profit-sharing initiative for indie content creators. Matchpoint connects content creators and rights brokers with the industry's most prominent players to provide compensation for training activities.
Consequently, Matchpoint has vertical integrations that enable ongoing conversations on the issue.
ESET
Bratislava, Slovakia-based cybersecurity firm ESET issued an alert about an AI-powered scam that harvests victims' data. The 'Nomani' fraud scheme also convinces targets to put funds in nonexistent investment platforms.
Furthermore, the bot-powered scheme deploys automated social media posts to pull in their targets.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA)/YouTube
The CAA and YouTube partnered to launch a program that allows artists to identify and delete AI deepfake versions of themselves. The collaboration gives the CAA's clients early access to the YouTube identification management platform.
YouTube has also indicated launching its identification program in 2025, improving reputation management for celebrities and popular personalities.
Following the Money
Perplexity AI/Carbon
Boutique AI-powered search engine Perplexity secured $500 million in a funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners. The move has enhanced Perplexity's valuation to $9 billion.
Perplexity also recently acquired data source startup Carbon.
Vultr
In related news, cloud AI center startup Vultr raised $333 million in a funding round led by AMD Ventures and LuminArx Capital Management. Vultr is (now) valued at $3.5 billion.
The event is Vultr's first outside funding round.
Databricks
On December 16, cloud-based AI platform Databricks raised $10 billion in a Series J funding round. Andreessen Horowitz, WCM Investment Management, Insight Partners, GIC and DST Global co-led the round.
The other investors are Wellington Management, ICONIQ Growth, Sands Capital, MGX, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
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