Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we take a look at the last and biggest announcement from OpenAI at the “12 Days of OpenAI” event. Apple’s potential entry into the foldable market; And find out why Databricks is waiting to go public. Let’s get into it.
PS We went on vacation! Week in Review returns to your inbox in the new year.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made the announcement. The successors to the o1 family of inference models: o3 and o3-mini. The model is not yet widely available, but safety researchers can sign up for a preview. The reveal marks the end of the company’s “12 Days of OpenAI” event, which saw announcements of real-time vision capabilities, ChatGPT search, and ChatGPT’s Santa voice. You can catch up on anything you missed here.
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses I got a big upgrade this week. Members of Meta’s early access program can now download firmware v11, which adds “Live AI.” This feature allows the wearer to continuously converse with the Meta AI, referencing what was discussed earlier in the conversation, and even works on live video. v11 also includes real-time translation between English and Spanish, French, and Italian, as well as the Shazam feature.
UnitedHealth’s Optum left behind an AI chatbot. It is used by employees to ask questions about claims and is exposed to the Internet and can be accessed by anyone through a web browser. The chatbot does not appear to contain or generate any sensitive personal or protected health information, but it may have been negligent at a time when its parent company is under investigation for using AI tools and algorithms to override doctors’ medical decisions and deny patients’ claims. Exposure has occurred.
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tidings
Oura secured $200 million. The smart ring maker has closed a $200 million Series D funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $5.2 billion. Oura said the cash will help the company expand its product offerings and make further investments in products, science, AI and more. read more
You can now call ChatGPT from your landline. To make ChatGPT accessible to as many people as possible, OpenAI has released a 1-800 number that allows you to call the chatbot from a landline or flip phone as well. Users can call 1-800-CHATGPT and an AI assistant will answer the phone. read more
Tesla is trying to increase Model S sales. After stopping offering free lifetime Supercharging in 2018, Tesla will reintroduce it to select Tesla Model S vehicles later in the year. However, it’s important to note that Tesla has increased the price of the Model S by $5,000. read more
Google is looking to acquire Sora. Google DeepMind announced Veo 2, the next-generation video creation AI. Veo 2 can create clips longer than 2 minutes at up to 4K resolution. This is more than four times the resolution and six times the duration that OpenAI’s Sora can achieve. read more
Apple is paying attention to the foldable market. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Apple is aiming to release two types of foldable devices in the next few years. However, another report from Bloomberg claims that the company is focusing on a giant foldable iPad. read more
Bob Lee Verdict: A San Francisco jury found Nima Momeni guilty of fatally stabbing Bob Lee, Cash App founder and former CTO of Block, in 2023. Jurors determined that Lee’s murder was not premeditated and found Momeni not guilty of first-degree murder. read more
Perplexity gains Carbon. Perplexity has acquired Carbon, a small startup specializing in connecting AI systems to external data sources. The company said Perplexity will soon be able to search for files and work messages in Notion, Google Docs, or Slack as early as 2025. read more
Temu is still at the top. Temu is once again the most downloaded free app in the United States, according to Apple’s list of the best apps and games on the App Store. The shopping app took the top spot last year, unseating TikTok. read more
GitHub is releasing a free version of Copilot. GitHub now has a free version of the popular Copilot code completion/AI pair programming tool. Until now, developers had to pay a monthly fee, and only verified students, teachers, and open source administrators had free access. read more
Google launches its own “inference” model. Google has launched the Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental, which it calls a new “inference” AI model. It’s currently in an experimental phase, and simple testing shows there’s definitely room for improvement. read more
analyze
IPO or not: Databricks has closed one of its largest funding rounds ever, raising a whopping $10 billion. Naturally, tech investors were quick to wonder what this meant for the company’s highly anticipated IPO. In an Axios AI Summit interview, CEO Ali Ghodsi said “an IPO this year is stupid” and is instead waiting until at least 2025. Databricks is using this “Series J” to free up cash for its early employees and allow it to continue growing. Although 2024 was uncertain in many ways, the IPOs of ServiceTitan, Reddit, and other companies were largely successful. But as Maxwell Zeff writes, why take the risk when you can raise as much money as Databricks? read more
