The AI Rundown by Lightscape Partners - 08/26/24

Good morning and welcome back to another week of The AI Rundown by Lightscape Partners. We’re diving into some of the most impactful developments in AI, from industry giants making bold moves to emerging innovations in AI-driven hardware.

Let's explore the highlights:

• Procreate takes a stand against integrating generative AI tools, prioritizing human creativity and gaining praise from the creative community.

• Salesforce launches AI-driven tools to enhance sales pipeline management and provide real-time coaching for sales teams.

• NVIDIA’s new Mistral-NeMo-Minitron 8B model offers high accuracy and efficiency, optimized for edge devices and workstations.

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Top AI Stories of the Week

Procreate CEO pledges against generative AI features on the app. Link.

• Procreate has taken a firm stance against integrating generative AI tools into its products, with CEO James Cuda expressing concerns about AI's impact on the creative industry.

• The company emphasized its commitment to supporting human creativity and has been praised by the digital creative community.

• This decision contrasts with other companies that have faced backlash for adopting or experimenting with AI, reinforcing Procreate's reputation as a user-focused platform.

Salesforce introduces two autonomous AI-powered sales agents. Link.

• Salesforce introduced two new AI-driven tools within its Sales Cloud platform: the Einstein SDR Agent and the Einstein Sales Coach Agent.

• The SDR Agent autonomously engages with prospects to nurture sales pipelines, while the Sales Coach Agent helps salespeople rehearse pitches and provides real-time suggestions during meetings.

• These tools aim to improve sales efficiency and effectiveness, particularly appealing to tech firms and mid-sized businesses looking to automate aspects of their sales processes.

NVIDIA releases a compact high-accuracy language model for edge devices. Link.

• NVIDIA has introduced the Mistral-NeMo-Minitron 8B, a smaller version of its Mistral NeMo 12B model, designed for high accuracy and efficient performance on GPU-accelerated systems.

• By using pruning and distillation techniques, the model maintains strong accuracy while being compact enough to run on workstations and edge devices.

• This makes it accessible for organizations with limited resources, offering high-performance AI capabilities with reduced computational costs and enhanced security.

Video Models

Luma introduces Dream Machine 1.5 with advanced features. Link.

• After releasing out of stealth in June of this year, Luma Labs version 1.5 offers better realism, motion following, and prompt understanding.

• Try the model for free here.

• The text-to-image/video space is already very crowded, but Luma Labs has shaken up the space with its technology.

Robotics & Autonomous Systems

Chinese robotics company emerges with 5 humanoid models. Link.

• A former Huawei "Genius Youth" recruit has launched a new venture focused on developing humanoid robots that aim to compete with Tesla's Optimus.

• These robots are designed to have advanced capabilities in human-computer interaction and are targeted at various industrial applications.

• The move marks a significant step in China's robotics industry, positioning it to compete with major global players like Tesla in the rapidly evolving field of humanoid robotics.

Waymo unveils a more spacious ‘generation 6’ robotaxi in partnership with Geely’s Zeekr. Link.

• Waymo has introduced its Generation 6 robotaxi, developed in collaboration with Geely's Zeekr, a Chinese automaker.

• The new robotaxi is designed to be fully autonomous, featuring no steering wheel or pedals, with a focus on maximizing passenger comfort and safety.

• This vehicle marks a significant step in Waymo's efforts to expand its autonomous ride-hailing services, showcasing advancements in both design and technology.

Tesla is hiring humans to simulate labor tasks for humanoid training data. Link.

• The company is hiring workers for $48 an hour to wear motion-capture suits to humanoid datasets for training.

• Workers must wear motion-capture suits and VR headsets.

• Ideal applicants are between 5’7” and 5’11” and payment ranges between $25.25 and $48 an hour.

• A key hurdle in developing robotics and AI is data collection. Tesla illustrates a unique but capital-intensive solution to gain an edge.

Shield AI's Hivemind shows collaborative autonomy in Firejet drones

• Shield AI successfully demonstrated its Hivemind technology in a flight test with Firejet drones, showcasing the ability for multiple drones to operate autonomously and collaboratively.

• This advancement highlights the potential for AI-driven drone swarms in defense applications, where coordination and independent decision-making are critical.

• The test is a significant step forward in developing autonomous systems that can perform complex missions with minimal human intervention.

Hardware

AMD to acquire server builder ZT Systems in $4.9B deal. Link.

• AMD has announced plans to acquire ZT Systems, a company specializing in building servers for data centers, as part of its strategy to strengthen its presence in the server market.

• AMD is buying the server builder for $4.9 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, 75% cash / 25% stock.

• This acquisition is expected to enhance AMD's capabilities in providing high-performance computing solutions, further positioning the company as a key player in the data center industry.

• However, AMD plans to sell ZT’s manufacturing business after finalizing the acquisition.

South Korean AI chip makers Rebellions and Sapeon agree to merge. Link.

• Rebellions and Sapeon, two South Korean AI chip makers, have agreed to merge in a strategic move to strengthen their position in the competitive AI hardware market.

• The merger aims to combine their technological expertise and resources to better compete with global giants in the AI chip industry.

• This consolidation reflects the growing demand for AI processors and the need for collaboration to accelerate innovation and market presence.

Other

Wyoming mayoral candidate proposes OpenAI bot for governance, faces backlash. Link.

• A Wyoming mayoral candidate, Victor Miller, proposes letting an AI bot named VIC, created with OpenAI's technology, govern Cheyenne if he is elected.

• Miller claims this approach would make governance more efficient and objective.

• However, his plan has sparked controversy, including backlash from OpenAI, which shut down his access for violating its policies against using AI for political campaigning.

• Despite the criticism and legal challenges, Miller continues to advocate for his AI-driven vision of governance.

Market Map of the Week

The top 100 gen AI consumer apps according to A16Z. Link.

Thank you for reading the AI Rundown by Lightscape Partners. Please send any questions, comments, or suggestions to [email protected].