Meta Starts Work on Potential Twitter Rival

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March 13, 2023

Meta starts work on potential Twitter rival — Image Credits: Meta

It was announced on Friday that Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is developing a brand-new “text sharing” social media platform that could pose a threat to Twitter. Twitter has experienced layoffs, outages, and the exodus of advertisers because of a lack of content moderation after Musk‘s takeover in October.

In response to reports by Moneycontrol and Platformer, Meta said on Friday that it has already started working on the new platform. ‘We’re developing a separate, decentralized social network for sharing text updates,’ Meta said in a brief email statement.

“We think there is a need for a separate platform where creators and public personalities may communicate timely updates about their interests,” the statement continued. According to media sources,

Meta’s new app will employ technology to enable it to be compatible with the niche social network Mastodon and other platforms, enabling users to broadcast posts to individuals on other networks.

This would represent a clear departure from the way internet corporations typically operate, which keeps websites like Instagram or YouTube behind technological barriers and governed by business servers. According to Moneycontrol, Meta’s brand-new project is being evaluated with features like tappable links, user bios, verification badges, and shareable videos and pictures.

Silicon Valley Bank collapse leaves startups devastated

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Sahil Pawar

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March 13, 2023

Silicon Valley Bank collapse startups devastated — Image Credits: SVB

The shocking announcement that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) would shut down on Friday rocked the financial community. Since the collapse of Washington Mutual more than ten years ago, the fall of the 16th largest lender in the United States is regarded as the biggest bank failure.

Almost 10,000 startups and small businesses with accounts at Silicon Valley Bank may not be able to pay their employees in the next 30 days, according to a petition sent to the US government on Sunday by Y Combinator. The collapse is expected to have an impact on about 1 lakh jobs.

One-third of the Y Combinator community businesses utilize Silicon Valley Bank as their sole bank account, according to the petition sent to US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. The petition stated that if the average small firm or startup employs 10 employees, over 100,000 jobs in the most dynamic sector of innovation in our economy would be immediately affected by furloughs, layoffs, or shutdowns.

The president and CEO of YCombinator, Garry Tan, stated earlier this week that startups might be forced to shut down or lay off employees as a result of the SVB upheaval. According to the CEO of Y Combinator, this can set startups and innovation back by almost ten years.

According to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the Biden administration will not save the closed bank but is working to assist the depositors worried about their money. Deposits up to $250,000 (about 2.04 crore) are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, most businesses and wealthy customers of the bank had accounts beyond that level.

The SVB shares experienced their largest loss since 1998 on March 9, falling 41%. Its stock fell after SVB said that it had sold all of the securities in its portfolio that were on the market for sale and revised its annual outlook to reflect a more significant fall in net interest income.

On March 10, a California regulator closed Silicon Valley Bank and named the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as the receiver. After falling 66% in premarket trading, the bank’s shares were halted.

Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance announces campus in the metaverse

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Sahil Pawar

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March 11, 2023

Bahrain Institute of Banking Finance campus metaverse — Image Credits: BIBF

The opening of its campus in the metaverse was recently announced by the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF). Students and professionals in the financial and business sectors can benefit from an extensive and immersive learning experience provided by this digital platform.

It will also act as a “holistic platform” for collaboration, idea generation, and innovation between students, professors, and alumni. The BIBF is the first educational institution in Bahrain to open its campus on the metaverse, entirely created and built by Bahraini experts.

The BIBF Metaverse will be launched in two stages, the first of which is already in place and focuses on setting up the BIBF infrastructure and some facilities, and the second of which launches the auditorium and classrooms where live sessions will be held.

The BIBF Metaverse is an online simulation of the BIBF building that enables users to communicate with one another in a virtual setting. Users can participate in interactive learning activities, including videos and tutorials, attend events, work together on projects, and attend events.

For students pursuing various degrees and certificates, the metaverse provides immersive learning environments, augmented reality capabilities, and digital media laboratories. Users can connect with colleagues and experts in the field, attend virtual conferences and events, and develop the skills necessary for success in the banking and finance sector with this networking and professional development platform.

GPT-4 arriving next week with video support

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Sahil Pawar

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March 10, 2023

GPT-4 arriving next week video support — Image Credits: ChatGPT

After much speculation, it appears that GPT-3’s replacement, the language model that drives the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, will be available soon. The GPT-4 language model would be introduced the following week, according to Microsoft Germany CTO Andreas Braun.

According to Bruan, the new language model will introduce “multimodal models” to provide entirely new possibilities, such as videos. When GPT-4 is released, it may be utilized to enhance Microsoft’s Bing AI-based services and ChatGPT.

The GPT-4 filing should be confirmed by Microsoft’s global staff next week. Nonetheless, the corporation has booked a virtual talk with CEO Satya Nadella on the “Future of Work Rethinking Productivity with AI” for March 16.

On March 9 during an event focusing on “AI in focus,” Microsoft Germany CTO Braun disclosed the creation of GPT-4. Marianne Janik, the CEO of Microsoft Germany, spoke during the event about how AI is causing business disruption.

Clemens Sieber, a senior AI specialist, and Holger Kenn, a lead AI technologist for business development and emerging technologies, were also present and spoke about the application cases for GPT-4.

Starbucks introduces collectible NFTs in metaverse loyalty program

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Sahil Pawar

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March 10, 2023

A digital addition to the Starbucks Rewards loyalty programme is transitioning from a trial to a full launch. Starbucks Odyssey offers Starbucks Rewards members and employees in the United States the chance to earn and buy digital collectible NFT assets. It was first announced in September 2022 and released in beta form in December 2022.

Members of Starbucks Odyssey can participate in “journeys”—a collection of omnichannel activities—after logging in, including challenges and interactive games. Members will receive a digital collectible “journey stamp” as payment for completing journeys.

The journey stamp is an NFT (non-fungible tokens). The Starbucks Odyssey web app offers a built-in market area where Starbucks Rewards members can buy “limited-edition stamps” (NFTs). For Starbucks Odyssey members, the first set of 2,000 limited-edition stamps are now available.

The Starbucks Odyssey marketplace will offer stamps for purchase for $100 each. Also, Starbucks Odyssey programme participants will receive extra points that can be used to access the program’s premium benefits.

Each digital collectible stamp will have a point value dependent on how rare it is. Members of the marketplace can buy or sell the stamps, and ownership is verified on a blockchain. Starbucks Odyssey members will be able to access experiences that have never been made available before using bonus points from stamps, such as a virtual espresso martini-making class, one-of-a-kind products and artist collaborations, and invitations to exclusive events at Starbucks stores and coffee farms.

US Chamber of Commerce advocates for AI Regulation

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Sahil Pawar

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March 10, 2023

US Chamber Commerce AI Regulation — Image Credits; US Chamber Commerce

In a change from the business lobbying group’s usual anti-regulatory stance, the US Chamber of Commerce advocated for regulation of artificial intelligence technology on Thursday to guarantee it does not harm growth or pose a national security danger.

The rapidly expanding artificial intelligence program ChatGPT, which has garnered praise for its ability to write answers to a wide range of queries, has raised concerns among US lawmakers about its effects on national security and education even though there isn’t much-proposed legislation for AI.

According to the Chamber research, lawmakers and corporate executives need to act rapidly to intensify their efforts to build a “risk-based regulatory framework” that will guarantee AI is used responsibly.

It further stated that by 2030, AI is expected to contribute $13 trillion to the growth of the world’s economy and that it has already made significant contributions, such as reducing the lack of nurses in hospitals and mapping wildfires to expedite emergency response times. The importance of being prepared for the technology’s impending pervasiveness and its risks was underlined in the paper.

According to the research, “almost every” business and government organization will employ AI within 20 years. The report is a result of a commission on AI that the Chamber established last year. The Chamber acknowledges the crucial role the business community will play in the deployment and management of AI.

Discord Announces New AI Chatbot and Messaging Features

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Sahil Pawar

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March 10, 2023

Discord AI chatbot messaging features — Image Credits: LOGO

In the newest effort by tech companies to create generative AI tools, chat app Discord announced on Thursday that it would roll out new artificial intelligence features that can summarize lengthy chats or add decorations to a user’s avatar.

Discord, which enables group chats via text, video, and audio, announced it would update the Clyde bot with OpenAI technology. According to the business, Discord users can ask the AI-powered Clyde to provide trivial answers, assist with meeting scheduling, or suggest songs.

Users will be able to “remix” the avatars of their friends using another AI function that uses generative picture models. For instance, to commemorate a person’s birthday, the feature might put a crown on their head in their profile picture.

The AI tool will be able to summarize the dialogue if users have been away from Discord and have missed a stream of messages, allowing users to rapidly return to certain points in the message thread to catch up on the chat. According to the company, the feature will start to roll out in a few select Discord groups the following week.

In order to enhance a current content moderation tool that helps automatically reject damaging or undesired communications from discussions, Discord announced it would also explore OpenAI technology. According to the firm, the updated technology can flag communications for moderators and comprehend the context of the dialogue.

BharatGPT, a rival to ChatGPT by CoRover.ai

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Sahil Pawar

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March 9, 2023

BharatGPT rival ChatGPT CoRover — Image Credits: Pxfuel

The conversational AI platform CoRover, located in Bengaluru, has announced the release of BharatGPT, a large language model (LLM) that supports over 120 international languages in addition to more than 12 Indian languages.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in contrast, only supports 95 languages and mostly accepts English-only commands. Unlike ChatGPT, CoRover’s chatbot can run rich data in addition to text, including graphics, audio, video, and even maps.

BharatGPT has an accuracy rating of 90%, according to CoRover. Moreover, CoRover’s BharatGPT makes use of the enormous quantity of data and knowledge that is accessible online as its foundation while simultaneously giving users a chance to customize and enhance its content.

Including contextually relevant information based on variables like area, sector, domain, client, business, and particular use cases allows the system to do this, thereby ensuring that customers receive relevant and up-to-date information in answer to their questions.

Additionally, it has the capacity to link with any ERP/CRM systems and support Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for real-time transactions. It also offers the option to build a customized knowledge base.

Top AI News of the Day | 9 March 2023

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Sahil Pawar

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March 9, 2023

top ai news of the day 9 March 2023 — Image Credits: AD

DuckDuckGo’s Search Engine introduces AI-generated responses

The most recent search engine to implement artificial intelligence is DuckDuckGo. The company has introduced a brand-new feature called DuckAssist that will automatically gather and summarize data from Wikipedia in response to specific queries. Nevertheless, only through DuckDuckGo’s mobile apps and browser extensions is DuckAssist’s beta available on the search engine at this time. If the experiment “runs well,” according to DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg, the service will be made available through the website-based search engine.

Conversational AI platform CoRover announces the release of BharatGPT

The conversational AI platform CoRover, located in Bengaluru, has announced the release of BharatGPT, a large language model (LLM) that supports over 120 international languages in addition to more than 12 Indian languages. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in contrast, only supports 95 languages and mostly accepts English-only commands. Unlike ChatGPT, CoRover’s chatbot can run rich data in addition to text, including graphics, audio, video, and even maps.

Indian Meteorological Department to use AI to improve weather predictions

To provide greater forecast accuracy, the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, wants to gradually extend its observational network. In order to improve weather forecasting methods and evaluate radar data, S. Balachandran, Assistant Director General of Meteorology, RMC, Chennai, stated, “We are aiming to employ artificial intelligence. By providing a nowcast, artificial intelligence and machine learning would be employed to enhance projections over a shorter period of time.”

AI-powered system developed to translate Japanese manga to English

AI research graduates from University of Tokyo have introduced a machine translation system, Mantra Engine, that can recognize text placed in the manga and translate it into English by identifying its proper order. It was introduced in the most recent issue of “Kizuna,” the official e-magazine of the Japanese government. With this breakthrough, readers won’t have to wait as long for translated editions of manga, and there won’t be any need for piracy.

Mirror and Express owner publishes first articles written using AI

The Daily Mirror and Express’s owner has published its first stories produced by artificial intelligence, but the boss of the company insists that journalists shouldn’t worry that they will soon be replaced by robots. Reach’s CEO Jim Mullen claimed that after a working group studied the potential applications for AI, the company allowed a bot to create three articles last week.

Crypto-focused lender Silvergate announces collapse

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Sahil Pawar

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March 9, 2023

Silvergate announces collapse — Image Credits: Silvergate

After being financially devastated by the instability in digital assets, cryptocurrency-focused lender Silvergate announced that it is ceasing operations and would liquidate the bank.

Silvergate stated on Wednesday that it thought a voluntary liquidation of the bank and winding down of operations was appropriate given the recent regulatory and industry developments. “Full repayment of all deposits” is part of the bank’s plan.

The stock of Silvergate has dropped 97% from its high in November 2021; this trend is consistent with that of the overall crypto market.

The cryptocurrency sector has been rocked by a spate of scandals and bankruptcies in 2022, including the unexpected collapse of Sam Bankman-corporate Fried’s empire in November. The market as a whole is now only worth roughly $1 trillion, down from a $3 trillion valuation.

The announcement on Wednesday comes a week after Silvergate warned that it would cease operations and postponed its annual filing with the SEC. The bank’s largest cryptocurrency industry clients, including Coinbase and Paxos, withdrew their deposits in response to that revelation.