🤖 Fully functional AI robots are here 🫡 

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As we delve into the new year, AI continues to revolutionize every aspect of our lives, from how we interact with technology to the very fabric of our daily routines.

This week's newsletter is brimming with insights and developments that promise to redefine the future. Get ready for the grand unveiling of the AI Appstore, discover how Apple's AI journey is unfolding and see how the robotic innovations are set to transform our world.

Table of contents

• The Appstore of AI is launching next week 🚀

• Is Perplexity the new big boy on the block? 😤

• 🍏 Is Apple falling behind with their AI adoption? 🧐

• AI can now call 📞

• 🤖 The AI robots that are going to change our lives 👀

• Combating AI-generated images ⚔️

Updates

OpenAI is launching the GPT store next week

OpenAI plans to launch a store for GPTs, custom apps based on its text-generating AI models, sometime in the coming week. The store will be called the GPT Store and developers building GPTs will have to review the company’s updated usage policies and GPT brand guidelines to ensure that their GPTs are compliant before they’re eligible for listing in the store. GPTs don’t require coding experience and can be as simple or complex as a developer wishes. Developers can simply type the capabilities they want their GPT to offer in plain language and OpenAI’s GPT-building tool, GPT Builder, will attempt to make an AI-powered chatbot to perform those. It is still unclear whether the GPT Store will launch with a revenue-sharing scheme of any sort.

Speaking of revenue, OpenAI's annualized revenue has reportedly surpassed $1.6 billion, just two months after reaching the $1.3 billion mark. The company's sales momentum began after it launched the paid version of its ChatGPT service, ChatGPT Plus, in February 2023. OpenAI's run-rate reportedly grew more than 20% in the past two months, and some executives believe that its annualized recurring revenue will nearly quadruple, to $5 billion, by year's end. The company may be planning to launch new AI services to create additional revenue streams. OpenAI's rapid revenue growth could help it secure a higher valuation from investors in the coming year.

Perplexity valued at 520 mln dollars after new funding

Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence startup, has raised $73.6 million in its latest funding round from a group of investors, including U.S. chip designer Nvidia and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, valuing the company at $520 million. The round was led by Institutional Venture Partners, a San Francisco, California-based company. Perplexity AI previously raised $25.6 million in March last year in a round led by New Enterprise Associates. The company's search tools enable users to get instant, reliable answers to questions with sources and citations. The latest funding will help in customer adoption and global expansion, according to Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas.

Apple will have to play catchup soon

Apple's LLM gap is real, and it might not last much longer. The company has lagged in integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into its products and services, while competitors like Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and others have quickly adopted them. This delay is not just a matter of being a few steps behind; it's part of a paradigm shift in which Apple could find itself playing catch-up in a field it once led. LLMs, driven largely by OpenAI's GPT series, are altering how we interact with technology. They offer impressive capabilities but come with limitations, including biases in their training data, lack of true understanding, and potential privacy concerns. The over reliance on LLMs is already stifling tech solutions, as companies prioritize AI-driven approaches at the expense of human creativity and problem-solving methods.

Despite its relative silence on the LLM era, Apple has made strides in collaboration with Cornell University, releasing the open-source "Ferret" multimodal LLM. This model can use regions of images for queries, marking a small but potentially transformative step in AI research. The development has gone unnoticed in the broader tech community but has garnered attention within the AI community. Apple's strength lies in its ability to integrate new technologies without compromising its core principles, such as simplicity, user privacy, and intuitive user experience. The company has an opportunity to innovate in how LLMs are implemented, setting industry standards for AI data usage and privacy. If Apple decides to integrate GPT or any other LLM technology, it should do so with a thoughtful consideration of how it truly benefits the user, enriching the Apple experience.

🛠️ Tool of the week 🗓️

AI initially struggled with making phone calls, often sounding robotic and unconvincing. However, with the advent of Bland.ai, this technology has significantly improved. Bland.ai offers versatile applications in surveys, cold calling, inbound sales, and customer support. Its seamless, no-code integration with Zapier further enhances its accessibility and utility, marking a significant advance in AI telecommunication capabilities.

Check out their website to make a test phone call with their AI phone call agent.

More updates

The robot that is changing everything

Mobile Aloha AI is a groundbreaking innovation in the field of home automation, developed by a collaborative team from Stanford, Berkeley, and Google DeepMind. It is designed to seamlessly integrate into everyday life and perform a wide range of household tasks, including laundry, cleaning, gardening, pet care, and trash management. Some key features of Mobile Aloha AI include:

• Capabilities: Mobile Aloha AI can manage laundry, sort, wash, and fold clothes, vacuum, water plants, interact with pets, dispose of trash, wipe spills, and turn on lamps.

• Operating Modes: It offers both manual operation with sophisticated remote controls and autonomous functionality, allowing the AI to learn and adapt to new tasks.

• Cost and Accessibility: Priced under $20,000, Mobile Aloha AI is an open-source product, making it accessible for customization and enhancement by developers worldwide.

The introduction of Mobile Aloha AI marks a significant milestone in the journey towards integrating AI into our daily lives. It has the potential to transform lifestyles, impact the workforce, and raise ethical considerations related to data privacy and automation. As a community-driven product, Mobile Aloha AI encourages user feedback and adaptation, ensuring that the technology evolves in alignment with user needs and expectations.

Combating AI-generated images

Nikon, Sony, and Canon are developing camera technology to combat the rise of AI-generated fake images. The new technology will embed digital signatures in images, including information such as date, time, location, and photographer, making it possible to distinguish authentic images from sophisticated fakes. This initiative is a response to the increasing prevalence of realistic deepfakes, which have raised concerns among content producers and users. The digital signatures will be tamper-resistant and will adhere to a global standard shared by the three companies. Sony is set to release this technology in the spring of 2024, with plans to expand its compatibility to videos as well. Canon is also working on similar features and is developing technology to add digital signatures to videos. The companies are taking these steps to address the growing capacity for creating fake images, with various other technology companies also developing tools to fight the spread of fake content. The article also mentions the efforts of other organizations and companies, such as Google, Intel, and Hitachi, in developing technologies to address the issue of fake images and content.