👨🏻‍💼 Consultants surviving (and winning) with AI

Here is the teaser of Toys”R”Us’ first brand film.

It’s created using OpenAI’s text-to-video tool, Sora.

It’s at Pixar quality, very impressive.

AFFECT YOU AND ME

📖 Listen to yourself reading to you

ElevenLabs has introduced a new Reader App that converts text content into high-quality audio using their AI voices. Key features include:

1. Ability to listen to any text content, including articles, PDFs, ePubs, and newsletters on mobile devices.

2. Access to ElevenLabs' extensive voice library, allowing users to choose voices that suit different content types and moods.

3. Initially available for iOS users in the US, UK, and Canada, with plans for global expansion and Android support.

👨🏻‍💼 Consultants surviving (and winning) with AI

Consulting firms might have become early beneficiaries of the AI boom:

1. Major consulting firms like Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey, IBM, and Accenture are experiencing significant growth in AI-related projects and revenue.

2. Companies are seeking guidance on how to leverage generative AI in their operations, leading to increased demand for consulting services.

3. IBM has secured over $1 billion in sales commitments for AI consulting services and its watsonx system.

4. Accenture reported $300 million in AI-related sales last year, while McKinsey expects 40% of its business this year to be linked to generative AI.

5. KPMG has rapidly transitioned from no AI revenue a year ago to targeting over $650 million in AI-related business opportunities in the US within six months.

💬 Amazon develops its own AI chatbot

Amazon is reportedly developing a consumer-focused AI chatbot codenamed "Metis" to compete with ChatGPT and other AI assistants.

The web browser-based service will be powered by a new foundational model and could be unveiled later this year.

Amazon's chatbot will join offerings from tech giants like Microsoft and Google. The company is also working on "Remarkable Alexa," a new version of its voice assistant with a paid tier.

🚀 Israel builds its first super computer

Israel plans to launch a tender next month to build its first supercomputer, aiming to maintain its global leadership in AI technologies.

1. The project is part of a $250 million national AI program, with 60% to be executed in 2024 and completed by 2027.

2. Israel's tech sector accounts for 20% of its economic output, with over 2,200 AI startups among 9,000 total startups.

3. The country ranks third globally in the number of generative AI firms, with 73 companies.

4. The supercomputer will provide local resources for training large AI models, reducing reliance on cloud services.

5. It will be available to researchers and companies at below-market costs, supporting Israel's AI ecosystem.

AI INSIDER

🖥️ OpenAI buys a screen-sharing platform

The acquired platform Multi (formerly Remotion) offered features like simultaneous screen sharing for up to 10 users and automated deep links.

This acquisition aligns with OpenAI's focus on enhancing enterprise offerings, following its ChatGPT success with 600,000 corporate users.

The acquisition suggests potential integration of video conferencing and remote collaboration features into future ChatGPT versions for corporate environments.

💃 TikTok is going to make chips, too.

ByteDance is collaborating with U.S. chip designer Broadcom to develop an advanced 5nm AI chip. 

This partnership aims to secure a stable supply of high-end chips amid US-China tensions. The chip will comply with U.S. export regulations and be manufactured by Taiwan's TSMC.

This collaboration is the first publicly known partnership between Chinese and US companies on advanced chip technologies since U.S. export controls were implemented. 

The alliance is expected to reduce costs and ensure a steady supply of premium chips for ByteDance.

🔲 Harvard dropout challenges NVIDIA’s monopoly

Etched, a startup founded by Harvard dropouts, has raised $120 million to develop an AI chip called Sohu, aiming to challenge Nvidia's dominance. 

Led by CEO Gavin Uberti, the company is creating specialized ASIC chips for AI's computational needs, focusing on transformer architecture used in models like ChatGPT.

Despite Nvidia's $3 trillion market cap, Etched remains determined, backed by investors including Peter Thiel and Stanley Druckenmiller. 

🗿 Rising demand of AI avatar creation for companies

Nvidia-backed Synthesia has introduced a new feature called "Instant Avatar" to make AI avatar creation more accessible for enterprises.

1. The feature allows users to create custom AI avatars in minutes using a single photo.

2. Instant Avatar aims to simplify the process of creating AI presenters for corporate videos and training materials.

3. Synthesia's technology uses generative AI to produce realistic digital humans that can speak in multiple languages.

4. The company has seen significant growth, with its platform now used by over 50,000 companies.