Here are some of the AI news and developments from the past week or so (in no particular order):
Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro expands the AI context window to 2 million tokens. Google announced a major update to Gemini 1.5 Pro, which provides a 2 million token context window to handle large datasets, including hours of video, audio, and extensive codebases. The update is now available to all developers. Additionally, Gemini 1.5 Flash is generally available with a 1 million token context window, low latency, and competitive pricing. Google announces global availability of Gemma 2 and previews Imagen 3 for enhanced image generation.
Why it matters to marketers: This massive boost in AI processing power will revolutionize data analysis and content creation, unlocking new opportunities for marketing automation and insights.
Figma unveils major redesign and AI tools at Config conference. At its Config conference, Figma announced a major UI redesign and new generative AI tools to enhance user experience and project creation. The redesign includes a new toolbar, rounded corners, and 200 new icons. New AI features help kickstart projects and speed up small tasks. Figma also introduces Figma Slides for integrated presentation creation. The beta period runs until the end of the year and may have limited usage.
Why it matters to marketers: These updates streamline the design process, making it easier to create and present marketing materials efficiently.
OpenAI delays release of ChatGPT advanced voice mode. OpenAI has delayed the release of ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode by one month to meet safety and real-time response standards. Originally scheduled for late June, early access is expected to begin next month, followed by a broader rollout. The purpose of the delay is to improve content detection, user experience, and system scalability. This update is essential to enhance our conversational AI capabilities.
Why it matters to marketers: Advanced voice modes significantly enhance customer interaction and engagement in marketing campaigns by providing more natural and responsive AI communication.
The researchers proposed an AI model that doesn't use MatMul for efficiency reasons. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz and collaborators have proposed a way to run AI language models without matrix multiplications, which could reduce environmental impact and operational costs. The model, with 2.7 billion parameters, performs comparable to traditional models but with greater efficiency. The approach, detailed in a preprint paper, has the potential to revolutionize AI by making it more accessible and sustainable.
Why it matters to marketers: This innovation reduces costs, improves the sustainability of AI-driven marketing tools, and makes advanced AI capabilities more widely available.
Apple rejects Meta's AI partnership proposal. Bloomberg reported that Apple has rejected Meta's proposal to integrate its AI chatbot technology into Apple devices. The rejection came several months ago, and no talks have taken place since March. The decision highlights Apple's focus on developing its own AI capabilities.
Why it matters to marketers: This rejection could impact the strategic direction of AI integration in consumer technology, potentially impacting future marketing strategies and partnerships.
Amazon is developing an AI chatbot to rival ChatGPT. Amazon is secretly developing an AI chatbot called “Metis” to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. Powered by Amazon's in-house Olympus AI model, Metis aims to provide text and image-based answers, automate complex tasks, and get up-to-date information. The project, which includes Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, is expected to launch in September.
Why it matters to marketers: Amazon's entry into the AI chatbot market could also spur competition and innovation, providing new tools for customer engagement and automation.
AI dataset licensing companies form industry group. Seven companies, including Rightsify and vAIsual, have formed the Dataset Providers Alliance (DPA) to promote ethical data sourcing in training AI models. The DPA aims to protect intellectual property rights and ensure transparency in the use of training data. The move comes in the wake of growing concerns and litigation over AI-generated content.
Why it matters to marketers: The partnership could provide more ethically sourced data for AI models, ensuring compliance and strengthening trust in AI-driven marketing tools.
Character.AI releases voice calling feature for AI chatbots. Character.AI has introduced a new feature that allows users to have voice conversations with AI chatbot characters. The update, which follows the postponement of OpenAI's advanced voice mode, aims to increase user engagement by offering free two-way voice calling. The feature has already resulted in over 20 million calls from 3 million users.
Why it matters to marketers: Enhanced voice interaction capabilities improve customer experience and enable you to engage with your audience in more dynamic ways.
OpenAI signs multi-year content deal with Time magazine. OpenAI has signed a multi-year deal with Time magazine, granting it access to the publisher's news archives. The deal will allow ChatGPT to cite and link to Time.com in its responses, similar to its deals with other media outlets such as the Financial Times and Le Monde.
Why it matters to marketers: Access to trusted content sources can increase the reliability and authenticity of AI-generated insights and responses in your marketing strategy.
Amazon plans to charge for Alexa's advanced features. Amazon is developing a premium version of Alexa called “Remarkable Alexa,” which will offer enhanced features for a monthly fee of $5 to $10. The upgraded version aims to respond to complex prompts and provide a higher level of personalization. Amazon plans to release it around August.
Why it matters to marketers: Alexa's advanced AI-driven capabilities provide new ways to interact with customers and deliver personalized marketing, improving the user experience.
OpenAI and Anthropic ignore web scraping protocols. OpenAI and Anthropic, along with other AI companies, have reportedly circumvented the Robots Exclusion Protocol and allowed the scraping of web content despite it being explicitly prohibited, raising concerns among publishers that their content could be used without permission to train AI models.
Why it matters to marketers: Understanding these practices is crucial to using AI data ethically and maintaining trust with content creators and publishers.
Typing into an AI assistant is becoming more popular. Apple's iOS 18 update allows users to type into Siri instead of using voice commands, addressing privacy concerns and awkwardness of using the voice assistant in public. The update is expected to make the AI assistant more user-friendly and versatile.
Why it matters to marketers: Tailoring AI interactions to user preferences can increase engagement and acceptance of AI-powered marketing tools and customer service.
Synthesia introduces AI-generated multilingual video presentations. AI startup Synthesia has announced new features that allow users to create AI avatars and multilingual video presentations using just their phone and webcam. These updates aim to democratize video production for businesses, making it more accessible and efficient.
Why it matters to marketers: Synthesia's tools dramatically streamline video content creation, making it easy for marketers to create compelling, multilingual promotional materials.
OpenAI acquires video collaboration platform Multi. OpenAI has acquired Multi, a video-first collaboration platform, through an acquisition-and-hire deal. The acquisition aligns with OpenAI's strategy to strengthen its enterprise solutions and integrate collaboration capabilities into its products. Multi will be closed from July 24 onwards, and most of its team will join OpenAI.
Why it matters to marketers: Integrating advanced collaboration tools into your AI platform can improve the productivity of your remote teams and improve management of your marketing projects.
Emergence raises $97.2 million to develop AI agents. Emergence, an AI startup founded by former IBM executives, has raised $97.2 million to develop agent-based AI systems that automate complex tasks. The company aims to build AI agents that handle advanced planning and reasoning to enhance enterprise workflows.
Why it matters to marketers: Capable of complex automation, AI agents can streamline marketing operations, reduce costs, and improve the efficiency of managing marketing tasks.
Google introduces Gemini AI sidebar to Gmail and other apps. Google is introducing Gemini AI features in Gmail that allow you to summarize email threads and draft new emails, and is also rolling these features out to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive, though these tools are only available to paid users.
Why it matters to marketers: The Google Suite's enhanced AI capabilities will improve productivity, streamline content creation, and help marketers manage communications and documents more effectively.
Music record company sues AI music generator for copyright infringement. Major record companies including Sony and Universal have sued AI music startups Suno and Udio for copyright infringement for unauthorized use of artists' work, highlighting ongoing tensions between the music industry and AI developers over intellectual property rights.
Why it matters to marketers: Ensuring compliance with copyright laws in AI-generated content is essential to avoid legal issues and maintain ethical standards in your marketing campaigns.
Shopify is expanding its AI-powered features to attract more businesses. Shopify is expanding access to AI tools, including a sidekick assistant and image generation capabilities, to power its e-commerce platform and attract more users. The tools aim to help retailers gain customer insights and create promotional materials.
Why it matters to marketers: Shopify's enhanced AI tools can provide deeper insights into customer behavior and streamline marketing efforts to boost ecommerce sales and engagement.
Stability AI appoints new CEO amid financial difficulties. Stability AI has appointed Prem Akkaraju as its new CEO, an appointment that comes with a capital injection from investors including Sean Parker to help stabilize the financially struggling company.
Why it matters to marketers: Changes in leadership and financial stability in AI companies may impact the development and reliability of AI tools used in marketing strategies.
Apple delays rollout of AI features in Europe due to EU technical regulations. Apple is delaying the release of three new AI features in Europe due to regulatory uncertainty related to the EU's Digital Markets Act. These features include Phone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing and Apple Intelligence.
Why it matters to marketers: Regulatory compliance is essential for the deployment of new technologies and will impact the availability and functionality of AI-driven marketing tools in different regions.
You can find last week's AI update here.
Editor's note: GPT-4o was used to compile this week's AI update.
