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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Nvidia’s GPUs Have a Weakness: Video Generation

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 6, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

There’s no question that Nvidia has benefitted the most from the AI wave so far. So much so, in fact, that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating complaints that the chipmaker is engaging in anticompetitive behavior, Anissa, Amir and I reported last week.But luckily for the host of rivals hoping to take a slice of Nvidia’s lucrative... There’s no question that Nvidia has benefitted the most from the AI wave so far. So much so, in...

Character AI co-founders Daniel De Freitas and Noam Shazeer. Photos by Winni Wintermeyer for The Washington Post via Getty.

Did Google Just Pay $2.5 Billion to Hire Character’s CEO?

By Amir Efrati and Kalley Huang · Aug 5, 2024 7:20am PDT · 5 comments

Google may have just paid one of the biggest signing bonuses in the history of Silicon Valley to hire two artificial intelligence researchers who left the search giant three years ago. On Friday, after chatbot developer Character announced that its founders and some other employees were going back to Google, Character told its roughly 130... Google may have just paid one of the biggest signing bonuses in the history of Silicon Valley to...

Photo via AP.

XAI Eyes Chatbot Maker Character.AI; Meta Spends Big on AI—Now, How Can It Make Money?

By Kalley Huang · Aug 1, 2024 7:00am PDT

The big fish of artificial intelligence are again circling a minnow. Elon Musk’s xAI has considered buying Character.AI, which makes chatbots for hyperrealistic roleplay, my colleagues Natasha and Stephanie and I reported yesterday. Such a purchase would give xAI new avenues for testing and improving its models, as well as additional... The big fish of artificial intelligence are again circling a minnow. Elon Musk’s xAI has...

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How an Old Google Search Trick is Solving AI Hallucinations

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 31, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

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How an Old Google Search Trick is Solving AI Hallucinations

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 31, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

If you’ve kept up with this newsletter, you’ve likely learned a lot about retrieval augmented generation, a commonly-used technique that reduces bad results from large language models by providing the models with access to data whose accuracy has been vetted.Artificial intelligence developers have improved traditional RAG (otherwise known as ... If you’ve kept up with this newsletter, you’ve likely learned a lot about retrieval augmented...

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How OpenAI's Smaller Rivals Are Developing Their Own AI That ‘Reasons’

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 30, 2024 7:00am PDT

To expand the market for artificial intelligence, developers must create large language models that can reason through customers’ problems, not just parrot answers based on what’s in the models’ training data.While OpenAI and Google are throwing tons of capital at developing AI that solves problems it hasn’t seen before, small startups and... To expand the market for artificial intelligence, developers must create large language models...

Vienna, Austria. Photo via Shutterstock.

The Hottest AI Research: Cutting Costs; OpenAI Director Says AGI in Five to 15 Years

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 29, 2024 7:00am PDT

Machine learning conferences used to be about pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box. These days, they’re focused on practicality and helping businesses cut the cost of running artificial intelligence.Take the International Conference on Machine Learning, or ICML, in Vienna last week, where the desire to lower AI costs seemed front of... Machine learning conferences used to be about pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box....

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Is OpenAI a Good Business?

By Amir Efrati · Jul 25, 2024 7:00am PDT · 5 comments

In April this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked during a talk at Stanford University about our report that his company had lost more than $500 million in 2022, just as it was releasing ChatGPT, and whether he was generally concerned about losses. His answer: "Whether we burn $500 million a year or $5 billion or $50 billion, I don't... In April this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked during a talk at Stanford University about...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

What Meta's Largest Llama Model is Missing

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

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

What Meta's Largest Llama Model is Missing

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

If you haven’t caught our analysis of OpenAI’s finances in a story we published this morning, it’s worth a read. My colleagues Amir and Aaron have gone deep on how much the ChatGPT creator is spending on computing capacity and other expenses, based on previously undisclosed internal data. Paired with estimates of revenue, they’ve put a... If you haven’t caught our analysis of OpenAI’s finances in a story we published this morning, it’...

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez. Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Getty Images.

Why Cohere’s $5.5 Billion Valuation Isn’t What It Seems; Perplexity’s Data Sources Draw Questions

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 23, 2024 7:00am PDT

On Monday, Cohere, a Canadian large language model developer, announced it had raised $500 million in a deal led by Canadian pension fund PSP Investments at a $5.5 billion valuation, confirming our report from March.That valuation isn’t cheap. Around the time of the investment, the startup was generating $35 million in annualized revenue,... On Monday, Cohere, a Canadian large language model developer, announced it had raised $500...

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AI VCs Go Green

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 22, 2024 7:00am PDT

Silicon Valley VCs don't exactly have the best rep when it comes to putting causes like helping the environment or fixing income inequality ahead of financial returns and technological advancements.But the artificial intelligence boom has forced these investors to focus on clean power. More sources of renewable energy are necessary to power... Silicon Valley VCs don't exactly have the best rep when it comes to putting causes like helping...

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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...

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A Reality Check on AI With Chevron’s CIO

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

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

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...

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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

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

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

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...