5 things about AI you may have missed today: Amazon invests in AI Startup, Getty Images unveils AI tool, and more

Amazon commits $4 billion investment in AI Startup Anthropic to compete with other tech giants from Microsoft to Google; Differing opinions emerge among experts on the impact of artificial intelligence; AI becomes mainstream in South Korea, from K-pop to sales assistants; Accenture’s AI Chief says generative AI could boost Europe’s competitive edge against the US- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look.

1. Amazon commits $4 billion investment in AI Startup Anthropic

Amazon is set to invest $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic, intensifying its competition with Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Nvidia in the rapidly expanding AI sector. Initially, Amazon will invest $1.25 billion for a minority stake in Anthropic, with an option to increase it to $4 billion. Anthropic, backed by Google, aims to raise $5 billion in the next two years. The startup plans to create a “frontier model,” named “Claude-Next,” ten times more powerful than current AI, requiring a $1 billion investment over 18 months. Anthropic will leverage Amazon’s AWS for cloud services and computing power, according to a TechCrunch report.

2. Differing opinions emerge among experts on the impact of artificial intelligence

Some AI experts foresee a looming watershed moment in artificial intelligence, with concerns about “God-like” AI that could surpass human capabilities and evade control. Ian Hogarth, the chair of the UK AI safety taskforce, and Max Tegmark suggest that sort of AGI may be imminent, with some Californian tech professionals believing it could arrive in a few years. However, there are also voices dismissing AGI concerns as a ploy to regulate the market and benefit major players like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, according to a report by the Guardian.

3. AI becomes mainstream in South Korea, from K-pop to sales assistants

South Korea’s Pulse9 is at the forefront of AI’s mainstream integration, creating virtual humans like Zaein for major conglomerates. The global market for such AI creations is projected to reach $527 billion by 2030, according to a France 24 report. AI humans have taken on various roles in South Korea, from university students to TV personalities. Pulse9 aims to expand AI human applications and coexistence with humans in various capacities. Zaein’s reaction involved deep learning analysis of K-pop stars’ faces, and she’s brought to life by overlaying deepfake technology on a human actor.

4. Generative AI could boost Europe’s competitive edge against the US

Accenture’s Europe data and AI lead, Matt Prebble, believes that generative AI could give Europe an opportunity to regain a competitive edge against the US especially as Europe faces challenges like technical debt and a shortage of technology-skilled individuals at the board level. AI, particularly generative AI, can boost productivity in Europe, which lags behind the U.S. in tech innovation. Prebble sees AI as a means to drive greater productivity and achieve more with fewer resources in the region, Fortune reported.

5. Getty Images unveils generative AI tool trained exclusively on licensed images

Getty Images has collaborated with Nvidia to introduce Generative AI by Getty Images. This tool enables users to create images using Getty’s licensed photo library, providing full copyright protection. It utilises Nvidia’s Edify model and specialises in generating realistic photos from the Getty Images database. While the tool excels in rendering lifelike human figures, its illustration mode produces more simplistic 2D renderings. Overall, it offers an innovative approach to image generation, the Verge reported.

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