AI Agenda by Stephanie Palazzolo — The Information

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AI Agenda

By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

Photo via Getty.

Why Coding Assistants Are Improving; OpenAI’s ‘Russian Doll’ Data Center

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 18, 2024 7:20am PDT

While everyone waits for OpenAI’s next flagship large language model, developers have been eking out more gains from today’s LLMs with some engineering elbow grease, as we covered here. That’s especially true for artificial intelligence-powered coding assistants, which are getting a lot better. Ofir Press, a postdoctoral researcher at ... While everyone waits for OpenAI’s next flagship large language model, developers have been eking...

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty.

A Reality Check on AI With Chevron’s CIO

By Anissa Gardizy · Jul 17, 2024 7:00am PDT

A few days ago I grabbed a cup of coffee in San Francisco with Bill Braun, chief information officer of oil giant Chevron, to talk about his company’s spending on new artificial intelligence and Nvidia’s forthcoming AI chips. I came away believing that the conversations happening about AI inside the C-suites of the largest companies are very... A few days ago I grabbed a cup of coffee in San Francisco with Bill Braun, chief information...

Photo via Adobe Stock.

The Problem with Meta’s Llama 3 Launch; JD Vance Likes Open-Source

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 16, 2024 7:00am PDT

While sports fans gear up for the Summer Olympics later this month, artificial intelligence enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating another major event: the July 23 release of Meta Platforms’ flagship Llama 3 large language model, which the company offers for free.Meta already released smaller versions of Llama 3, which AI app developers have raved... While sports fans gear up for the Summer Olympics later this month, artificial intelligence...

Sam Altman. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty.

Why Smaller Could Be Better

By Kalley Huang · Jul 15, 2024 7:00am PDT

Sam Altman. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty.

Why Smaller Could Be Better

By Kalley Huang · Jul 15, 2024 7:00am PDT

While some developers are racing towards superintelligent AI technology, others are focused on building cheaper, more practical models. Over the past six months, several big tech companies including Google and Microsoft have released small language models, in a bid to stake their ground in a burgeoning area of artificial intelligence... While some developers are racing towards superintelligent AI technology, others are focused on...

Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images.

AWS Doubles Down on Practicality; The Loopholes of AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 11, 2024 7:00am PDT

A year ago, when Amazon Web Services executive Matt Wood told developers that the firm aimed to be “neutral” in the large language model market, by offering several options that excel in different ways, many saw it as an excuse for being late to the AI race.Now, AWS might be having the last laugh. Microsoft is increasingly adopting a... A year ago, when Amazon Web Services executive Matt Wood told developers that the firm aimed to...

Jonathan Ross, CEO of Groq. Photo by Getty

Groq, an Nvidia Rival, Nears $2.2 Billion-Valuation BlackRock Deal; Musk’s Mystery Company Revealed

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 10, 2024 7:25am PDT

The startups developing specialized artificial intelligence chips face some heady challenges—most obviously that they’re taking on entrenched giant Nvidia. One challenge they don’t face, though, is a lack of funding. Groq, a startup that develops chips that are specially designed to run large language models, expects to finalize a... The startups developing specialized artificial intelligence chips face some heady challenges—most...

Volley co-founders Max Child and James Wilsterman. Photo courtesy of Volley.

Startup Volley Raises $55 Million to Create Voice-Powered AI Games

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 9, 2024 7:00am PDT

If you’ve ever wanted to play “Jeopardy” with Scarlett Johansson, you might soon get your chance.Volley, a startup that develops AI-powered games that you can play by giving voice commands to your Amazon Alexa, Fire TV or Roku TV, has raised $55 million in Series C funding. The round is led by Microsoft’s M12 Ventures and Lightspeed Venture... If you’ve ever wanted to play “Jeopardy” with Scarlett Johansson, you might soon get your chance....

Art by Mike Sullivan via Midjourney

Venture’s Big Bet on Open-Source LLMs

By Julia Hornstein · Jul 8, 2024 7:15am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan via Midjourney

Venture’s Big Bet on Open-Source LLMs

By Julia Hornstein · Jul 8, 2024 7:15am PDT

One constant over the last year has been how much money large language models makers such as OpenAI and Anthropic need for their development work—and how eager venture investors are to fund them. Last week we published this report showing that a cluster of venture firms are responsible for many of those bets, even as doubts simmer over whether... One constant over the last year has been how much money large language models makers such as ...

Harvey's Gabe Pereyra and Winston Weinberg. Photo: Harvey.

Harvey Nears New, Smaller Deal With GV After Its Acquisition Plans Collapse

By Kate Clark and Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 3, 2024 7:05am PDT · 1 comment

One month ago, we broke the news that Harvey, a startup that sells AI-powered legal software, was looking to raise $600 million in funding at a valuation of at least $2 billion. The firm told investors that it planned to use some of the capital to acquire vLex, a 25-year-old legal research firm majority-owned by private equity firm Oakley... One month ago, we broke the news that Harvey, a startup that sells AI-powered legal software, was...

Photo via Getty Images.

What Counts As Open-Source?

By Kalley Huang · Jul 2, 2024 7:00am PDT

When Meta Platforms’ chief artificial intelligence scientist Yann LeCun last month posted on LinkedIn about Meta’s strategy of releasing its large language models for free, some commenters praised its approach, saying it was “reshaping industry collaborations.” Others disagreed with LeCun’s description of the strategy as “open-source.”“They... When Meta Platforms’ chief artificial intelligence scientist Yann LeCun last month posted on...

David Luan, cofounder of Adept. Photo via Greylock.

With Adept Deal, Amazon Copies Microsoft; Do Businesses Really Need GPT-5?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 1, 2024 7:00am PDT · 6 comments

I never thought I’d say this about a nearly 50-year-old company, but Microsoft is turning out to be a trendsetter.First, Microsoft’s $10 billion investment and partnership with OpenAI early last year prompted rival cloud providers to team up with conversational artificial intelligence developers—namely, Amazon Web Services’ similar pact with ... I never thought I’d say this about a nearly 50-year-old company, but Microsoft is turning out to...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images.

A Peek Behind OpenAI’s Financials; Don’t Underestimate China

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 27, 2024 7:20am PDT · 1 comment

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images.

A Peek Behind OpenAI’s Financials; Don’t Underestimate China

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 27, 2024 7:20am PDT · 1 comment

We repeatedly heard two questions following our report on OpenAI’s staggering revenue growth earlier this month: What percentage of revenue comes from ChatGPT subscriptions versus OpenAI’s application programming interface, through which app developers can access its models? And what are OpenAI’s computing costs?This morning’s in-depth piece... We repeatedly heard two questions following our report on OpenAI’s staggering revenue growth...

Alexandr Wang, co-founder and CEO of Scale AI. Photo by Getty.

What Scale AI Tells Us About Humans and AI

By Laura Mandaro · Jun 26, 2024 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

We’re in the throes of artificial intelligence fever, but lessons from the last AI hype cycle still linger. Nearly four years ago, my colleague Amir published two stories detailing how businesses were starting to use artificial intelligence in meaningful (if sometimes rarified) ways, from checking the health of a Norwegian fish farm’s stock... We’re in the throes of artificial intelligence fever, but lessons from the last AI hype cycle...

OpenAI Ceo Sam Altman. Photo by Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images.

Businesses Want Slower AI Models—And That Might Hurt Nvidia

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 25, 2024 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI isn’t normally an acquirer of other companies but it has announced two purchases in the last week, of search and analytics firm Rockset and collaboration startup Multi. Both highlight how OpenAI is focused on enterprise offerings, and features that big business appreciate such as retrieval augmented generation, despite the attention... OpenAI isn’t normally an acquirer of other companies but it has announced two purchases in the...

Klarity co-founders Nischal Nadhamuni (left) and Andrew Antos (right).

Startup Klarity Raises $70 Million to Automate Document Reviews

By Kalley Huang · Jun 24, 2024 7:00am PDT

Read through enough contracts, invoices or purchase orders—any business documents, really—enough times, and your eyes probably glaze over. Ondrej Antos experienced it as a law clerk nearly a decade ago. When Antos met Nischal Nadhamuni at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016, the pair went on a three-hour-long walk in... Read through enough contracts, invoices or purchase orders—any business documents, really—enough...

Chart by Shane Burke

A New (and Better) Approach to Measuring LLMs’ Intelligence Has Arrived

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 20, 2024 7:45am PDT · 1 comment

Chart by Shane Burke

A New (and Better) Approach to Measuring LLMs’ Intelligence Has Arrived

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 20, 2024 7:45am PDT · 1 comment

Finally, there’s good news from the never-ending quest to evaluate how good a large language model is. LMSYS, an organization that benchmarks LLMs, released findings last month on how the performance of LLMs changed between normal queries and harder ones that require more reasoning capabilities. LMSYS uses “Elo rankings,” a measure of... Finally, there’s good news from the never-ending quest to evaluate how good a large language...

Shanghai's skyline. Photo by Qi Yang via Getty Images.

Americans Are Impressed with China’s AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 18, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

American pundits like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt like to say China is behind the U.S. in artificial intelligence by several years. But American AI researchers increasingly tell me that these people underestimate Chinese researchers. Instead, by restricting Chinese access to American tech, the U.S. has pushed the country to forge its own path... American pundits like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt like to say China is behind the U.S. in...

Photo via Adobe Stock.

The Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry You’ve Never Heard Of And The Startups Working To Take It Down; A Look into the Mind of Vinod Khosla

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 17, 2024 7:00am PDT

The old adage that you should never get into a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel load doesn’t resonate in the digital age as well as it used to. But there’s no doubt news publishers’ complaints about AI startups pirating their copyrighted material has drawn plenty of coverage. There may be a solution. A growing number of... The old adage that you should never get into a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel load...

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OpenAI’s Revenue Surprise; Nvidia Could Spark a Talent War with TSMC

By Aaron Holmes and Qianer Liu · Jun 13, 2024 7:00am PDT

The biggest question our team has faced upon reporting OpenAI’s revenue growth in the past year or so was whether Microsoft was a critical contributor to the startup’s sales. Most people we talked to had assumed Microsoft was, but the definitive answer is actually “No.”While Microsoft sells OpenAI models to its own Azure cloud customers, the ... The biggest question our team has faced upon reporting OpenAI’s revenue growth in the past year...

Photo via Getty Images

What On-Device Models Mean for Open-Source AI

By Kalley Huang · Jun 12, 2024 7:45am PDT

Photo via Getty Images

What On-Device Models Mean for Open-Source AI

By Kalley Huang · Jun 12, 2024 7:45am PDT

When Apple on Monday showed off the artificial intelligence that will soon land in some of our iPhones, some developers praised the company for running many of the new features directly on the iPhone, rather than in the cloud as other companies do. Like Apple, which has made user privacy and security central to its marketing, these developers... When Apple on Monday showed off the artificial intelligence that will soon land in some of our ...