Microsoft has finally announced a new version of the search engine Bing, powered by an upgraded version of the AI technology powering chatbot ChatGPT. The company is launching the product promising that it would provide a new experience for browsing the web and finding information online.
Today, the company demonstrated how “the new Bing” operated in a variety of settings. One of them allows users to interact directly with the Bing chatbot by asking it questions in a chat interface like ChatGPT, while another mode displays conventional search results alongside AI annotations.
Microsoft demonstrated several sample searches, including looking for travel advice, recipes, and Ikea furnishings. Bing was instructed to “prepare an itinerary for each day of a 5-day trip to Mexico City” in one demonstration. The chatbot provided the complete response, including a general itinerary and providing links to more resources.
The new Bing, unlike ChatGPT, can also find news about recent events. The search engine was even able to respond to inquiries regarding its own launch by identifying news articles that had been posted within the previous hour.
According to Microsoft, the AI OpenAI language model that underpins ChatGPT, GPT 3.5, has been updated to power all of these functionalities. Microsoft refers to this as the “Prometheus Model” and claims that it is more capable than GPT 3.5 in providing search queries with current information and annotated results.
The new version of Bing is live today for a desktop limited preview. However, users can only ask one of the few preset queries and receive the same results each time. There is a waitlist to sign up for full access in the future.
Microsoft announced the general availability of its Azure OpenAI Service in a blog post. This service enables companies to use large-scale AI models like GPT-3.5, DALL-E 2, and Codex to power their apps.
Accessibility is “limited to clients that fulfill and adhere to the norms for responsible and ethical AI principles that Microsoft has developed and published,” states a news release. Before being granted access to the service, customers must submit an application detailing their intended use case or application.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted, “ChatGPT is coming soon to the Azure OpenAI Service, which is now generally available, as we help customers apply the world’s most advanced AI models to their own business imperatives.”
ChatGPT is coming soon to the Azure OpenAI Service, which is now generally available, as we help customers apply the world’s most advanced AI models to their own business imperatives. https://t.co/kQwydRWWnZ
OpenAI tweeted, “We’ve learned a lot from the ChatGPT research preview and have been making important updates based on user feedback. ChatGPT will be coming to our API and Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service soon.”
Microsoft is in talks to invest about $10 billion in the owner of ChatGPT, OpenAI, which may increase the valuation of the San Francisco-based firm to $29 billion.
Just two months after its launch, ChatGPT, a well-known artificial intelligence chatbot, has gained 100 million users, according to analysts.
According to an estimate by data company Similarweb, it received 590 million visits from 100 million unique visitors in January. According to analysts at the investment firm UBS, the growth rate was unprecedented for a consumer app.
One UBS analyst said, “In 20 years of watching the internet space, we cannot recall a faster rise in a consumer online app.”
Compared to Instagram, TikTok took more than two years to achieve 100 million users following its global launch, according to data from app intelligence company Sensor Tower.
OpenAI introduced a $20 monthly subscription on Thursday, initially available to users solely in the United States. The company said that it would offer a faster, more stable service as well as the chance to test out new features in advance.
In order to compete with ChatGPT, Google has released its own chatbot Bard, which uses its own Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA). Only a few days prior, Google CEO Sundar Pichai provided an update on the company’s progress on an earnings call.
Google executives referred to ChatGPT as “code red” before the call since the AI-powered platform had gotten positive feedback from users worldwide.
In a blog post, Google stated that it is releasing Bard to “trusted testers” before making it generally accessible to the public in the upcoming weeks.
Similar to ChatGPT, Google Bard is an AI-powered chatbot that can answer a variety of questions in a conversational style. Google claims that Bard uses web resources to provide insightful, up-to-date responses.
Google’s chatbot is powered by Transformer, a neural network architecture, and LaMDA, Google’s language model. Unexpectedly, Transformer and the GPT-3 language model are both the foundations of ChatGPT. 2017 saw the development and release of Transformer by Google Research.
Only a few people have access to Google Bard now; the general public cannot test it. A far more energy-efficient “lightweight model version of LaMDA” is being created by Google.
The Korean mobile company Samsung announced that it would soon enter the metaverse and virtual reality headset markets. The company revealed that it is already developing “extended reality” gear, which may be considered a reference to the creation of a VR headset.
TM Roh, the head of Samsung’s mobile experiences division, confirmed work on such a gadget but didn’t provide a timeframe for its release. However, he did, mention Google and fabless semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm as partners.
“Many different companies have been making these pronouncements about different realities. Therefore, we have also been making similar preparations, no less than any others,” Roh said.
Ro clarified why Samsung had delayed entering the market, claiming that the market and other comparable products introduced by rivals had not met with the anticipated success.
Samsung joins the ranks of those who have already released metaverse products, including HTC and Meta, and, as well as those who have plans to do so soon, like Apple.
According to Ro, Samsung’s new product would employ a Qualcomm CPU that was made specifically to perform better in virtual reality applications and a Google-powered OS.
In the modern world, companies can access information from a wide range of sources, such as websites, mainstream social media, publications, emails, etc. Using relevant data from multiple sources enables enterprises to make informed and effective decisions. Data extraction is the process of gathering data from a given data source and shifting it to a different location, which might be on-site, cloud-based, or a combination of the two. Although it might appear to be a tedious undertaking, the right tools can help boost efficiency while delivering vital insights.
Here is a compiled list of some of the top data extraction tools. This list includes different types of data extraction tools (web-scraping, email scrapping, free, no-code, etc.).
Apify
Apify is a reliable tool for data extraction from several sources. With various connectors, it also enables you to scrape apps, e-commerce sites, and more. Apify, unlike other tools, does not have a point-and-click interface, allowing users to scrape any page, no matter how complex it could be. Users can evaluate and transform data even while it is being retrieved because of Apify’s high degree of flexibility. Another intriguing feature is that Apify enables you to scrape the web with your customized filters.
Bright Data
Bright Data is one of the top favorite data extraction tools since it offers a cost-effective method to carry out extensive, quick and reliable public online data collecting, and easily transform unstructured data into structured data.
Bright Data employs adaptable, trustworthy, and effective data extraction techniques that provide a variety of features, such as no-code data tools and a robust infrastructure. Regardless of collection size, it offers automated, tailored data flow on a single dashboard through its Nextgen Data Collector. The tool supports a variety of data extraction techniques, including parsing tables on a page, extracting data straight from the source code of select pages or entire pages, and scanning image files for text.
DocParser
DocParser is a prominent no-code data extraction tool designed specifically for extracting data from business documents. This flexible tool uses a specialized parsing engine to handle various application situations. Using zonal OCR technology, pattern recognition, and anchor keywords, it extracts and transfers all crucial information from business documents to the appropriate location, whether it is a spreadsheet or a cloud application. Through non-disruptive process automation, DocParser lessens the need for human data entry and streamlines the user’s organization.
Hevo
Another great data extraction tool is Hevo, which enables you to duplicate data from more than 150 sources, including Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks, and Firebolt, in near real-time. Hevo optimizes the data, converts it into an evaluation format, and sends it to the relevant data warehouse without writing a single line of code. Even if you’re not familiar with coding, you should be able to utilize the tool effectively because of its user-friendly interface. In order to monitor the state of the pipeline, it also provides logical dashboards that display statistics for each pipeline and data flow.
Import.io
Import.io is a popular data extraction tool that can be used to extract data from many sources, including emails, documents, social media, websites, and more. It supports the conversion of semi-structured or unstructured data from websites into structured forms that could be used to make business decisions or connect with other applications. Users can easily obtain the data they want using Import.io’s features, such as an email extractor, webhooks, and APIs, without having to write code or employ third-party’s tools. With the help of its streaming and JSON REST-based APIs, Import.io offers the option of real-time data retrieval. By importing data from a specific website and exporting the data in CSV format, this data extraction tool also aids in the training of your datasets.
Mailparser
With the help of Mailparser, an email data extraction tool, you can automatically import data into Google Sheets or Excel by extracting it from an email, PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, or CSV document and using your own parsing algorithms. In contrast to web scraping, which uses a program to extract data from HTML webpages, email parsing uses emails as the source of its data.
You can extract information from the email content, the topic, the sender information, and even from any attached files using Mailparser. It provides pre-made templates for the most typical email processing jobs. While the templates will get you started quickly, they also make it simple to develop unique parsing rules that are 100% suited to your requirements. Your data is immediately available in spreadsheet form after it has been parsed. You can export the scraped data using either file downloads/native integrations or the standard HTTP Webhooks.
OctoParse
Among the existing top data extraction tools, OctoParse stands out as a popular intuitive, no-code Web Data Extraction tool. With this cloud-based web crawler, you can quickly and simply extract online data without knowing any coding. Additionally, OctoParse offers cloud storage for the data that has been extracted as well as automatic IP rotation to prevent IP blocks. Users can scrape as many web pages as they wish using this tool. In addition to being very user-friendly, Octoparse is packed with cutting-edge features like a scrape scheduler and a cloud platform that is accessible around the clock. You can save the extracted data straight to your database or download it as CSV, Excel, or API files.
OutWit Hub
One of the most popular data extraction tools available today is OutWit Hub. Before browsing from page to page to extract crucial data from the internet, it usually separates web pages into discrete segments. This tool is simple to use and offers extensions for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. It is primarily used to extract URLs, email addresses, data tables, photos, and other information.
OutWit Hub incorporates both basic and advanced capabilities, such as web scraping and data structure identification. This tool has a broad range of applications, from performing website SEO analysis to extracting data in real-time for various research subjects.
ParseHub
ParseHub is a free web data extraction services application for extracting data from websites. To extract data, all you need to do is open a website and click on the desired data. It is capable of scraping not just websites built with JavaScript and Ajax, but also websites with infinite scrolling or login-required information. ParseHub has more functionality than most other top data extraction tool scrapers, such as the ability to scrape and download files and photos, as well as CSV and JSON files. Apart from scraping, its ML relationship engine can quickly deliver the needed data by screening the page or site to comprehend the hierarchy of data elements.
ScrapingBee
ScrapingBee is a web data extraction tool that was built with the goal of making online scrapping simple. The tool reduces the hassle of dealing with headless browsers and proxies that slow you down, just like other internet scrapers that take up time, CPU, and RAM.
By rendering your website as a browser, ScrapingBee speeds the data extraction process and enables you to manage several headless instances. It enables the user to access the raw HTML page without being blocked by running Javascript on the sites and rotating proxies for each request, thereby allowing you to drastically minimize your chances of being blacklisted.
Additionally, Scrapingbee offers a dedicated API for extracting Google search results. This can be accessed straight from Google Sheets and Chrome web browser.
Scrapy
Scrapy is a collaborative open-source platform for extracting data from web pages. It is a web scraping and web crawling framework for Python programmers who wish to create web crawlers that can scale. This data extraction tool provides you with all the resources you need to effectively extract data from websites, process it, and save it in the structure and format of your choice. Basically, Scrapy frees you from having to worry about the intricate internal components of how spiders are intended to function and lets you concentrate on the data extraction using CSS selectors and selecting XPath expressions. With Scrapy, users can quickly create spiders, run them, and save data by effortlessly scraping them. Scrapy can also be used to monitor and automatically test web applications and handle multiple requests simultaneously.
Following extensive testing for the proof of concept, Disney Star, the Indian division of the media behemoth Walt Disney Company, is ready to debut its Starverse metaverse platform.
As per ET, the Starverse launch has been coordinated with the start of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The metaverse platform will assist Disney Star in improving its online sports fan experience.
According to Disney Star Head of Sports Sanjog Gupta, the sports genre naturally lends itself to a multi-platform, multimodal, and communal experience. “The name of our metaverse is Starverse and the first version of it is a 3D immersive environment for sports fans,” he said.
“We will open the Starverse to users at scale for the first time at this time,” said Gupta. He added that Disney Star wanted to release the final version after examining user behavior in a 3D ecosystem and evaluating features.
Because it will offer an always-on experience, Starverse will primarily set itself apart from other metaverse ventures now underway in India.
Gupta added that Disney Star is collaborating with a number of organizations to create the Starverse. According to ET, three different agencies are working on the tech backend, 3D models and environments, and gamification of the experience.
Microsoft will host a major news conference on February 7th. Right after Google made its ChatGPT rival official, the software behemoth is today formally announcing an in-person event that will take place at the company’s Redmond headquarters. Invitations to the event were mailed out last week.
Microsoft isn’t giving many hints about the event, which begins on February 7th at 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern. However, it’s likely that the business will concentrate on its alleged ChatGPT integration into Bing and its more extensive cooperation with OpenAI.
One can expect a number of significant announcements since the invitation states that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will discuss some progress on a few exciting projects.
The invitation comes just after Microsoft extended its collaboration with OpenAI in a $10 billion deal, making it OpenAI’s sole cloud partner. Microsoft’s cloud computing resources will power all OpenAI workloads across products, API services, and research.
Additionally, Microsoft’s event comes shortly after Google unveiled Bard, a rival to ChatGPT. Only a small group of people are now testing the “experimental conversational AI service,” but Google pledges to make it more widely available to the public in the upcoming weeks.
Interpol, a global police body, is now looking into how it can investigate crimes that take place in the metaverse. According to the BBC, Interpol has created its own virtual reality environment to aid users in training and participating in virtual meetings.
Jurgen Stock, the secretary general of Interpol, stressed the need for the organization to not fall behind because today’s criminals are tech-savvy and seasoned professionals who swiftly adopt any new technology to commit a crime.
Police officers can experience the metaverse through this new virtual reality environment that can only be accessed through secure servers. This will help them have a better understanding of the kind of crimes that might occur and how they might be handled.
When discussing crimes that might occur in the metaverse, Interpol’s innovation and technology head, Dr. Madan Oberoi, noted that there have been instances of sexual harassment in the virtual world. Nevertheless, he continued, applying the notion of crimes that take place in physical space to the metaverse is challenging.
Oberoi continued by stating that one of the significant difficulties Interpol faced was raising awareness of the issues. He suggested that law enforcement authorities educate themselves about the metaverse before trying to assist those who have been injured there.
According to the secretary general of Interpol, the investigation of future Metaverse crimes will be crucial. He continued by saying that because almost all cybercrimes have an international component, it is by nature international crime.
A US court has granted Meta permission to proceed with the acquisition of VR firm Within despite the US Federal Trade Commission’s continuing antitrust case against the tech giant.
The court rejected the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction against the acquisition following a seven-day hearing.
After carefully examining the evidence and the parties’ arguments, the court said that it is not “reasonably probable” that Meta would enter the market for VR dedicated fitness apps if it couldn’t complete the acquisition.
The FTC attempted to prevent the acquisition of Within by Meta in July of last year since Meta is already a significant player at every level of the VR industry.
The agency claimed that Meta and Zuckerberg intended to “illegally buy a dedicated fitness software that illustrates the value of virtual reality to consumers” in order to grow Meta’s virtual reality empire.
The FTC now has time to appeal after the US court decided in favor of Meta. The well-known fitness software “Supernatural” is a property of the Within VR firm.
A-list artists like Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga, and Coldplay are featured among the high-caliber workouts available on Supernatural, which are virtually set in stunning, lifelike locations like the Galapagos Islands.
