news-digest

Bytes to Insights: Weekly News Digest for the Week of November 3, 2024

This week’s Bytes to Insights Weekly News Digest is also available as a podcast if you prefer to listen on the go or enjoy audio format:

Welcome to this week’s edition of Bytes to Insights Digest, your curated guide to the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. In our commitment to simplify AI for everyone, we bring you the latest news in advancements, trends, and ethical considerations in a concise, easily readable format. Whether you’re sipping your morning coffee or taking a quick break from your day, our digest is designed to enrich your understanding of AI’s impact on our world without overwhelming you and presented in a way that is accessible, relevant, and respectful of your time and curiosity.

OpenAI has introduced a search functionality within ChatGPT, enabling the AI to access real-time web information. Initially available to ChatGPT Plus and Teams subscribers, this feature is set to expand to other users in the future, enhancing ChatGPT’s utility by providing up-to-date responses.

AI startup Perplexity announced a new funding round of $500 million, elevating its valuation to $9 billion — tripling its valuation from earlier in the year. This significant investment underscores the growing interest in AI-powered search technologies.

Microsoft reported a 16% increase in quarterly sales, reaching $65.6 billion, attributed to substantial investments in AI. CEO Satya Nadella highlighted that AI products are projected to contribute $10 billion annually, marking a rapid milestone in the company’s history.

News Corp entities, including Dow Jones and the New York Post, filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity for alleged copyright infringement. The lawsuit claims that Perplexity’s AI search engine utilized their journalists’ work without permission, raising concerns about AI’s use of proprietary content.

The New Yorker published an article examining the increasing automation in American politics, tracing its origins to the 1960s and highlighting its evolution through data-driven campaigns and artificial intelligence. The piece explores how AI has been integrated into political strategies, influencing voter engagement and campaign dynamics.

HeartLung Technologies received an FDA “Breakthrough Medical Device” designation for AutoChamber, an AI-powered tool that analyzes cardiac chamber volumes from CT scans. The tool can detect enlarged hearts and flag high-risk patients for cardiovascular disease, potentially saving lives through early intervention.

Research on OpenAI’s Whisper model has uncovered issues with its use in medical transcription tools by over 30,000 clinicians. The model was found to occasionally hallucinate and fabricate information, raising concerns about its application in healthcare settings.

Google is reportedly developing “Project Jarvis,” an AI system designed to automate web browsing tasks in Chrome. Powered by Google’s Gemini 2.0 language model, it could potentially handle tasks like online shopping and flight booking. The project is expected to debut in December.

Asset managers are launching new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) focused on artificial intelligence, capitalizing on the growing interest in AI investments.

Researchers discovered ways to manipulate digital watermarks generated by AWS Bedrock Titan Image Generator, potentially allowing threat actors to apply or remove watermarks from AI-generated images. AWS has since patched this issue.

Google Gemini for Workspace was found to have prompt injection flaws, allowing the AI assistant to produce misleading responses or distribute malicious content when asked about email messages or document summaries.

A new form of attack called LLM hijacking has emerged, where threat actors use exposed AWS credentials to interact with large language models on Bedrock, in some cases using them for unauthorized applications.

These developments highlight the rapid advancements in AI technology across various sectors, as well as the ongoing challenges in ensuring AI security and reliability.

Thank you for being a part of this fascinating journey.

Bear Net AI is a proud member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and a signatory to the Asilomar AI Principles, dedicated to the responsible and ethical development of AI.

BearNetAI. From Bytes to Insights. AI Simplified.