AI @ Noon | June 21

Canada needs AI adoption to narrow productivity gap, RBC says: Bloomberg reports generative AI has the potential to boost Canada’s economy by C$180 billion ($131 billion) per year by 2030, but 73% of Canadian businesses haven’t even considered using it yet, the report said, citing a Statistics Canada survey from earlier this year.

TikTok slams US in challenge to possible ban: Punishment ‘was the point’: WP reports the video app’s first legal brief challenges the Biden administration’s sale-or-ban law and accuses government officials of adopting a stance “unmoored from reality.”

YouGov: The share of Americans who think computers are more intelligent than people has doubled since 2022

+ Of 18 emerging technologies asked about, the one Americans are most likely to have heard a lot about is artificial intelligence, or AI (46%). Fewer have heard a lot about virtual reality (35%), 3D printing (33%), self-driving cars (32%), or cryptocurrency (28%).

+ The number of people who believe computers are already more intelligent than people has doubled since 2022, when 15% held this opinion.

+ 65% of Americans believe that computers are or will become more intelligent than people, including 47% who are very or somewhat concerned about the possibility of these computers of superior intellect attacking humanity.

Higher earners face greater AI exposure, study finds: Research estimates how much the fast-evolving technology hits various jobs, from software engineers to mechanics. FT

Can AI police itself? Experts say chatbots can detect each other’s gaffes. WP

A foreboding look at how game theory influences AI: In “Playing With Reality,” the neuroscientist Kelly Clancy both celebrates and critiques “how games have come to dominate modern thought.” WP

The AI scramble: Why SoftBank, KDDI, and others are racing for Sharp's LCD factory: As Japan aspires to be a major player in AI it is desperate for data centers. Nikkei

Nvidia’s explosive growth masks AI disillusionment: To avoid a painful correction, tech companies must start managing expectations properly. Parmy Olson

Anthropic releases ‘most intelligent’ AI model in rivalry with OpenAI: Bloomberg reports the startup introduced previous version just three months ago.

Bloomberg: OpenAI and Google focus chatbots on speed as AI hype fades

Perplexity is a bullshit machine: A Wired investigation shows that the AI-powered search startup Forbes has accused of stealing its content is surreptitiously scraping—and making things up out of thin air. Wired

WSJ: At Cannes Lions ad festival, sports and AI loom larger than ever

The danger of deepfakes is not what you think: Instead of wreaking political damage, AI-generated content can be useful for election campaigns. John Thornhill

American tech's growing electricity demand is a cause for concern: Le Monde reports the energy needs of digital giants have increased due to the rise of artificial intelligence. The sector's increased carbon footprint has worsened risks overwhelming the power grids in a country that hosts one-third of the world's data centers.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 20

How the world plans to stop American AI domination: Countries and startups around the globe are scrambling for a foothold in artificial intelligence, determined to avoid becoming dependent on US tech innovations—again. The Information

UK takes top spot in Europe for GenAI startups, Accel says: Reuters reports the United Kingdom is home to the biggest number of generative AI (GenAI) startups across Europe and Israel, followed by Germany and Israel, according to a study by venture capital firm Accel.

+ Accel analysed 221 GenAI startups and found that 30% were founded in the UK, 14% in Germany, and 13% in Israel, with France home to 11% and the Netherlands 6%.

India’s farmers are now getting their news from AI anchors: Bloomberg reports India's public service broadcaster Doordarshan — hardly the epitome of tech innovation — is delivering news to farmers via two realistic, soon-to-be multilingual AI avatars.

Silicon Valley steps up staff screening over Chinese espionage threat: Google, OpenAI, and Sequoia Capital push to improve security practices following high-profile spying cases. FT

Japan goes light on AI regulation to court investment: How business-friendly can Tokyo be as public concerns rise? Nikkei

The Biden admin has no firm plan to call out domestic disinformation in the 2024 election: NBC News reports experts expect a flood of disinformation and deepfakes, but federal officials feel limited in what they can do. “The FBI is not in the truth detection business,” one official said.

Gavin Newsom wants to take smartphones out of schools: The Democratic California governor told Politico of his plans hours after Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy argued Congress should compel tech companies to include warning labels similar to cigarettes and alcohol.

An AI bot for mayor? Wyoming election official says not so fast: A Wyoming resident says if he’s elected mayor of Cheyenne, he’d leave all the decisions to a customized ChatGPT bot. But there are legal hurdles. NBC News

+ @spectatorindex: TECH: ChatGPT 'produces incorrect answers more than 50% of the time' when it was asked 517 programming questions, according to a study by researchers at Purdue University.

Artificial intelligence is likely to displace more jobs across the banking industry than in any other sector, according to Citigroup. About 54% of banking jobs have a high potential to be automated, while an additional 12% of roles across the industry could be augmented with the technology, the bank said on Wednesday in a report. 

Ilya Sutskever has a new plan for safe superintelligence: Bloomberg reports OpenAI’s co-founder discloses his plans to continue his work at a new research lab focused on artificial general intelligence.

+ Sutskever is introducing a venture called Safe Superintelligence Inc. aiming to create a safe, powerful artificial intelligence system within a pure research organization that has no near-term intention of selling AI products or services. In other words, he’s attempting to continue his work without many of the distractions that rivals such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic face.

+ As the company’s name emphasizes, Sutskever has made AI safety the top priority. The trick, of course, is identifying what exactly makes one AI system safer than another or, really, safe at all.

+ “By safe, we mean safe like nuclear safety as opposed to safe as in ‘trust and safety,’” he says.

OpenAI expands healthcare push with color health’s cancer copilot: WSJ reports Color Health has developed an AI assistant using OpenAI’s GPT-4o model to help doctors screen and treat cancer patients.

Google DeepMind shifts from research lab to AI product factory: Bloomberg reports the company combined its two AI labs to develop commercial services, a move that could undermine its long-running strength in foundational research.

Sequoia backs AI startup that automates engineering tasks: Bloomberg reports Factory is using AI to help businesses generate software features, review code, and solve bugs.

For Apple’s AI push, China is a missing piece: WSJ reports ChatGPT and other Western AI models aren’t available in China, and that is likely to prompt Apple to turn to a Chinese partner to help offer its Apple Intelligence services there.

Most stocks hyped as winners from AI boom have fallen this year: FT reports artificial intelligence frenzy has powered Nvidia to peak of US equity market but elsewhere investors become more selective.

What a Japanese AI unicorn can teach Silicon Valley: The world doesn’t need more useless chatbots that generate bad poetry or perpetuate racist biases. Catherine Thorbecke

Reuters: Dell, Super Micro providing server racks for xAI's supercomputer

Amazon to invest an extra €10 billion in Germany: DW reports Amazon said it would also expand its local workforce. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the news and said it was proof that Europe's largest economy is still an attractive place to do business.

+ @JonErlichman: “By the year 2000, machines will be producing so much that everyone in the US will, in effect, be independently wealthy. How to use leisure meaningfully will be a major problem.” -- Time Magazine, 1966

How can AI help football coaches? Analyzing football matches using videos is time-consuming. Artificial intelligence can speed things up considerably, allowing trainers to analyze more matches, recognize the opponents' tactics, and focus on scoring goals. DW

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 18

Bloomberg: AI could transform UK’s public finances as Labour touts gains

+ Think tanks say AI could help inefficient public services

+ Labour says UK well-positioned to benefit from the technology

IMF warns of ‘profound concerns’ over rising inequality from AI: Fund says governments should do more to protect their economies in face of massive potential labour disruptions. FT

Surgeon general calls for social media warning labels: WP reports heavy social media use poses mental health risks to kids and teens, Vivek H. Murthy wrote in a New York Times essay.

Reuters: Appeals court to hear challenges to potential US TikTok ban on Sept. 16

Governor, lawmakers are already planning big revisions to Colorado’s first-in-the nation artificial intelligence law: The Colorado Sun reports Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, and a top Democratic lawmaker agree that Senate Bill 205 needs “additional clarity” and “improvements.” The proclamation follows a letter signed by 200 prominent technology executives and venture capitalists.

Japan’s chip equipment maker Disco catches AI fever: WSJ reports the maker of equipment for semiconductor manufacturing occupies important role in chip supply chain.

Bloomberg: Microsoft’s Japan chief sees country accelerating its use of AI

+ Software maker has grown into leader in pushing AI to masses

+ Beyond data centers, company sees untapped potential in Japan

Microsoft is planning to invest $7.16 billion to develop new data centers in Spain's northeast Aragon region, making a third major cloud computing hub in Europe. The company recently announced a 2.1 billion euro investment in data centers in Madrid. 

How AI is revolutionizing drug development: In high-tech labs, workers are generating data to train AI algorithms to design better medicine, faster. But the transformation is just getting underway. NYT

Google DeepMind shifts from research lab to AI product factory: Bloomberg reports the company combined its two AI labs to develop commercial services, a move that could undermine its long-running strength in foundational research.

Cannes Lions looks to laughter as ad industry feels threat of AI: New humour category highlights ‘human connection’ in a sector beset by a crisis in creativity. FT

McDonald’s will stop testing AI to take drive-thru orders, for now: The Verge reports the company is looking for other partners for AI chatbot-based ordering.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 17

Pope attends G7 summit in historic first, warns of dangers of AI: EuroNews reports speaking at a special roundtable, the Pope challenged them to keep human dignity foremost in developing and using artificial intelligence, warning that such powerful technology risks turning human relations themselves into algorithms.

Pope Francis tells G7 that humans must not lose control of AI: Reuters reports Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address a Group of Seven summit on Friday, warning world leaders that Artificial Intelligence must never be allowed to get the upper hand over humanity.

+ The pope said AI represented an "epochal transformation" for mankind, but stressed the need for close oversight of the ever-developing technology to preserve human life and dignity.

How Pope Francis became the AI ethicist for world leaders and tech titans: Francis on Friday became the first pope to address G7 leaders, joining a summit session dedicated to artificial intelligence. WP

Capital Journal Op-ed: South Dakotans have a unique opportunity to call for safe AI legislation from Congress: South Dakota is uniquely positioned to shape the future of AI policy in America. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) serves on the Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence working group, while Senator John Thune (R-SD) holds a key Senate leadership position. This means that South Dakota's elected officials have an outsized influence on the direction of AI legislation in Congress. South Dakotans should embrace this role and seize their unique position to make their voices heard and demand that your senators champion safe and ethical AI policies." Jason Green-Lowe - Op-ed

+ This is an opinion editorial submitted to the Capital Journal by Jason Green-Lowe, executive director at the Center for AI Policy (CAIP).

Voice assistants and AI chatbots still can’t say who won the 2020 election: With months to go before the US presidential election, some popular AI chatbots and voice assistants offer potentially harmful misinformation. WP

Bloomberg: Apple’s slow rollout of intelligence features will stretch into 2025

Even Apple cannot explain why we need AI in our lives: A souped-up Siri and personalized emojis are coming, but the most important question remains unanswered. Richard Waters

No matter how you package it, Apple Intelligence is AI: Apple is eager to show us that its approach to artificial intelligence is safer, better, and more useful than the competition. Maybe that's just a hallucination, but it's working. Wired

How British tech star Stability AI imploded with debt and lawsuits: Unpaid bills, key talent leaving — the fall of Emad Mostaque’s billion-dollar company is a cautionary tale of AI mania. The Times

Microsoft will no longer ship Recall, an artificial intelligence tool that tracks user activity, when the company releases the Copilot+ PC next week. Industry experts have expressed concern over the potential for hackers to develop tools that can retrieve user information.

Meta pauses AI models launch in Europe due to Irish request: Reuters reports the move by Meta came after complaints and a call by advocacy group NOYB to data protection authorities in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain to act against the company.

Clearview AI used your face. Now you may get a stake in the company. NYT reports the facial recognition start-up doesn’t have the funds to settle a class-action lawsuit, so lawyers are proposing equity for those whose faces were scraped from the internet.

Reuters: OpenAI CEO says company could become for-profit corporation, The Information reports

AI to erase abusive posts to athletes at Paris Olympics-IOC: Reuters reports the International Olympic Committee will deploy AI in order to block any abuse on social media directed at 15,000 athletes and officials at the Paris Olympics next month, President Thomas Bach said on Friday.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 14

Congress questions Microsoft boss after a ‘cascade’ of security errors: Microsoft President Brad Smith faced the the House Homeland Security Committee amid sharp criticism the company’s practices put government clients at risk. WP

US lawmakers take On Uber, Lyft rider surveillance in new bill: Bloomberg reports the proposed legislation from Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont would require companies to give customers the option of being paired with a new driver if they don’t want to ride with a driver using a recording device.

Lack of federal R&D support challenges AI innovation, White House official warns: OSTP’s Arati Prabhakar said funding for national labs and other federal institutions needs to be better for the government to meet its AI goals. FedScoop

OpenAI expands lobbying team to influence regulation: FT reports the ChatGPT maker beefs up global affairs unit as politicians push for new laws that could constrain powerful AI models.

+ OpenAI now has 35 in-house lobbyists, and will have 50 by the end of the year.

OpenAI adds Trump-appointed former NSA director to its board: WP reports Paul M. Nakasone joins OpenAI’s board following a dramatic shakeup, as a tough regulatory environment pushes tech companies to board members with military expertise.

There is broad skepticism about the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) in daily life: According to Pew, more than half of voters (55%) say this is bad for society, while 21% see this as a good thing (24% say it is neither good nor bad). There are only modest differences in these views between Trump supporters (59% say this is bad for society) and Biden supporters (51%).

Campaigns can now see what you watch on TV. It’s changing everything. Smart TVs that track what people watch and how they watch it give political campaigns a new trove of data to exploit, with little transparency on how it’s happening. NOTUS

Anthropic calls for AI red teaming to be standardized Fortune

A price war breaks out among China’s AI-model builders: It may stymie innovation. Economist

Bloomberg: Adobe jumps after results signal it’s part of AI boom

Bloomberg: Apple to ‘pay’ OpenAI for ChatGPT through distribution, not cash

Microsoft’s Nadella is building an AI empire. OpenAI was just the first step. After landing the deal that launched his company to the front of the artificial-intelligence race, the tech chief is spreading his bets. Will it be enough? WSJ

How AI may become the new offshoring: Companies must find a way to make the most of the new technology. John Thornhill

How Amazon blew Alexa’s shot to dominate AI, according to more than a dozen employees who worked on it Fortune

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 13

Kids and screentime: What the committee appointed by Macron recommends: Le Monde reports the report advises against exposing under-threes to screens and suggests waiting until the age of 11 for a cellphone and 13 for a smartphone with internet access.

G7 summit to include commitments on cyber, AI: A major agreement to enhance the cybersecurity of energy infrastructure equipment will be on the table, and Pope Francis will participate in an AI-focused event. Politico

Why Pope Francis thinks the Church should play a part in world leaders’ debate on AI CNN

Why G7 leaders are turning to a special guest — Pope Francis — for advice on AI: When leaders of the world's leading industrialized nations meet in Italy this week, they'll be joined by a unique guest to talk about the risks posed by artificial intelligence: Pope Francis. NPR

+ This is the first G7 summit to feature a pope as an invited participant. But it's not the first time that Pope Francis has weighed in on this emerging technology and how he believes it should be developed for the good of humanity.

Reuters: Four more states join US monopoly lawsuit against Apple

+ The Justice Department said that the four states are Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington. 

The challenges of regulating AI and the role of behavioral science Heather Graci

AI start-up sees thousands of vulnerabilities in popular tools: Haize Labs says tests found that popular generative AI programs produced violent or sexualized content and allowed for the automation of cyberattacks. WP

AI chatbots just can’t shake off gender stereotypes, here’s why: Many, whether they realize it or not, will gravitate toward a female chatbot voice because it’s perceived as less threatening than a male voice. FC

Apple passes Microsoft as the most valuable company.

Databricks and Shutterstock are trying to remove the copyright risk from AI image generation: The companies’ new model is trained only on content from Shutterstock, which gets paid for every image generated. FC

According to a Gallagher survey, over 80% of US business owners plan to maintain or increase their AI investments in 2024.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 12

Ukraine’s vision of robot assassins shows need for binding AI rules Bloomberg

There’s an AI candidate running for parliament in the UK: If it wins, “AI Steve” will be represented by businessman Steve Endacott in parliament. Endacott says he’ll merely be a conduit, and the AI will make the policy decisions. Wired

The Pope and Meloni join forces to warn G7 over the risks of AI: The pontiff will address world leaders this week about the ethical threats the technology may pose at the behest of the Italian prime minister. The Times

+ The chief executives of Microsoft Corp. and BlackRock Inc. will join Group of Seven leaders congregating at a summit in Italy this week to support Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s push to invest in developing countries.

AI's looming climate cost: Energy demand surges amid data center race: From Singapore to China, AI's appetite for electricity and water grows insatiable as models get larger. Nikkei

Bloomberg: US weighs more limits on China’s access to chips needed for AI

+ Restrictions would target novel ‘gate all-around’ technology

+ US officials are in early talks on high-bandwidth memory curbs

Axios: Congress wants Scarlett Johansson to testify on OpenAI dispute

+ In a letter released on Monday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), chair of the House oversight subcommittee on cybersecurity, invited Johansson to testify before the panel.

+ The hearing "will address the broader issues surrounding the uses and abuses of deepfake technology."

This is what it looks like when AI eats the world: The web itself is being shoved into a great unknown. Charlie Warzel

Fortune: Apple Intelligence solves one of Tim Cook’s biggest problems: finally giving customers a reason to upgrade their iPhones

Hey Siri! Help me get Apple out of an AI-shaped hole: Tim Cook’s prayer to the almighty. Economist

Apple Intelligence: iPhone maker takes control with its own AI vision: OpenAI’s Sam Altman stays in the background as Tim Cook reveals upgraded Siri with ChatGPT-powered features. FT

Only Apple would try to rebrand AI. Will it succeed? After a spectacular showcase comes the challenge of getting consumers to embrace ambitious new features that may be slow or buggy. Parmy Olson

Apple’s artificial intelligence makeover is not really about you: Companies are shoving AI at you, and a lot of it has been half-baked. Can Apple buck that trend? WP

Apple just unveiled the first rational theory of AI for the masses: A collaboration of Apple the geezer and OpenAI the chaos kid will benefit both companies. Josh Tyrangiel

How will Apple’s new AI change your phone? I asked Tim Cook. In an interview, Tim Cook explains how Apple’s new AI will enhance your work and life, with guardrails. Josh Tyrangiel

The iPhone is now an AI trojan horse: Generative AI has become truly inescapable. Matteo Wong + Charlie Warzel

Apple’s biggest AI challenge? Making it behave: Apple Intelligence will make apps and services smarter. But Apple’s most notable innovations focus on ensuring the technology doesn’t disappoint, annoy, or offend. Wired

How Siri made Apple cautious about AI John Herrman

What the Apple-OpenAI deal means for four tech titans: Deal strengthens OpenAI’s position, raises questions about startup’s relationship with Microsoft—and is a setback for Google. WSJ

Sam Altman’s OpenAI dilemma: Profit vs. ‘benefit of humanity’: When Sam Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015, the AI industry was niche. Here’s how he built the company into an $86 billion giant, off the back of Chat-GPT and splashy new products like Sora and GPT-4o. WSJ

Elon Musk drops lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman: FT reports no reason given for dismissal of breach-of-contract claims against the ChatGPT maker that Tesla boss split from in 2018.

CNBC: Elon Musk drops suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman

+ Elon Musk on Tuesday withdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI and two of the company’s co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, in California state court.

+ A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in San Francisco, in which the judge was going to consider whether the case should be dismissed as requested by the defendants — including Altman and Brockman, the current CEO and president of OpenAI, respectively.

+ Experts told CNBC in March that the case was built on a questionable legal foundation, because the contract at the heart of the suit was not a formal written agreement that was signed by all parties involved

Adobe says it won’t train AI on its customers’ work.

Mistral secures €600mn funding as valuation soars to almost €6bn: FT reports the price tag has tripled since December for Microsoft-backed AI start-up launched one year ago to challenge OpenAI.

Google to test AI phone theft features in Brazil: AFP reports Google said Tuesday it has chosen Brazil, a country where nearly two cellphones are pilfered every minute, to test a new Artificial Intelligence system to automatically block stolen Android smartphones.

AI tools are secretly training on real images of children: A popular AI training dataset is “stealing and weaponizing” the faces of Brazilian children without their knowledge or consent, human rights activists claim. Wired

Meetings in the metaverse: new tech draws workers to virtual offices: AI assistants, training simulations and data tracking boost developers. WSJ

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

AI @ Noon | June 11

From China to Singapore, Asia's AI policy 'gaps' pose headaches for business: Governments shy from common rules, creating uncertainty for business. Nikkei

AI legislation: According to MultiState, there are 643 bills in 45 states (plus another 113 congressional bills) related to AI this year, 54 of which have been enacted into law.

Apple jumps into AI fray with Apple Intelligence: The iPhone maker, which has been slow to embrace artificial intelligence, will weave it into the technology that runs on billions of devices. NYT

Apple partners with OpenAI as it rolls out new artificial intelligence system: FT reports the iPhone maker touts suite of ‘Apple Intelligence’ features as it aims to catch up with Big Tech rivals.

Apple introduces ‘Apple Intelligence,’ new OpenAI partnership as AI takes center stage: Under pressure to deliver new features, Apple showed off an AI system that can assist users in myriad ways, emphasizing privacy at WWDC event. WSJ

Apple jumps into the AI arms race with OpenAI deal: The iPhone maker has mostly stayed on the sidelines as the tech industry goes wild for AI. Not anymore. WP

Tim Cook controls the iPhone, So he’s the new AI kingmaker: Apple’s deal with OpenAI acknowledges the company is behind on artificial intelligence, but make no mistake, it’s temporary outsourcing. David Lee

Apple Intelligence: A guide to Apple’s AI-in-everything strategy: A bunch of AI features are coming to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and MacOS Sequoia in the fall. Meaningful upgrade or marketing glitz? Joanna Stern

The biggest announcements from Apple’s most important event of the year—and quite possibly ever Fortune

Bloomberg: Musk to ban Apple devices if OpenAI is integrated into OS

+ Apple announced partnership with OpenAI earlier Monday

+ Billionaire says the move would be a ‘security violation’

Musk to ban Apple devices from his companies over OpenAI deal: The Times reports the partnership will bring OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology to Apple devices, in a bid to make its apps increasingly personalised and useful for customers.

OpenAI hires former Nextdoor boss as CFO, taps new product chief: Bloomberg reports the artificial intelligence startup hired two execs with experience managing large social media platforms.

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc