Innovations in Robotics: The Rise of Semi-Humanoid Designs

Our 184th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news! With hosts Andrey Kurenkov and guest host Jon Krohn.

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In this episode:

• OpenAI, Meta, and Google are enhancing their AI assistants with advanced voice modes, while Meta released Llama 3.2, an open-source model capable of processing both images and text.
• Significant AI infrastructure developments include Grok's partnership with Aramco for a massive data center in Saudi Arabia, and Microsoft's plan to power data centers using a reopened Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
• Recent research shows chain-of-thought prompting is most effective for math and symbolic reasoning, while OpenAI's GPT-4 with vision capabilities is being integrated into Perplexity AI's search platform.
• AI is being rapidly integrated into various sectors, with examples including ChartWatch reducing unexpected hospital deaths, Snapchat and YouTube introducing AI video generation tools, and Lionsgate partnering with Runway for AI-assisted film production.

Timestamps + Links:

• (00:00:00) Intro / Banter
• (00:04:45) Response to listener comments / corrections
• Tools & Apps
  • (00:07:46) OpenAI rolls out Advanced Voice Mode with more voices and a new look
  • (00:13:32) Meta’s AI can now talk to you in the voices of Awkwafina, John Cena, and Judi Dench
  • (00:17:11) Gemini’s chatty voice mode is out now for free on Android
  • (00:21:30) AI video rivalry intensifies as Luma announces Dream Machine API hours after Runway
  • (00:23:35) Copilot Wave 2 supercharges productivity with AI across all your Microsoft 365 apps
  • (00:25:56) Perplexity introduces new 'Reasoning' focus powered by OpenAI's o1
• Applications & Business
  • (00:33:47) OpenAI Execs Mass Quit as Company Removes Control From Non-Profit Board and Hands It to Sam Altman
  • (00:41:46) Sam Altman departs OpenAI’s safety committee
  • (00:43:04) Chip Startup Groq Backs Saudi AI Ambitions With Aramco Deal
  • (00:46:29) Grok’s image generator, Black Forest Labs, is raising $100M at a $1B valuation, say sources
  • (00:48:05) Pudu unveils super semi-humanoid robot with 8-hour battery, 10kg lift power 
  • (00:50:56) Amazon introduces Amelia, an AI assistant for third-party sellers
• Projects & Open Source
  • (00:52:58) Meta Releases Llama 3.2—and Gives Its AI a Voice
  • (00:56:52) Alibaba Unveils Ovis 1.6 – A New Multimodal Language Model
• Research & Advancements
  • (01:00:35) To CoT or not to CoT? Chain-of-thought helps mainly on math and symbolic reasoning
  • (01:06:14) LLMs Still Can't Plan; Can LRMs? A Preliminary Evaluation of OpenAI's o1 on PlanBench
  • (01:10:15) Norwegian Startup 1X Unveils AI World Model for Robot Training
  • (01:12:44) AI tool cuts unexpected deaths in hospital by 26%, Canadian study finds
• Policy & Safety
  • (01:15:47) Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers
  • (01:18:23) Governor Newsom signs bills to combat deepfake election content
  • (01:20:12) Governor Newsom signs bills to protect digital likeness of performers
  • (01:22:20) Startup behind “world’s first robot lawyer” to pay $193K for false ads, FTC says
• Synthetic Media & Art
  • (01:24:49) Snap is introducing an AI video generation tool for creators
  • (01:25:57) YouTube Shorts to integrate Veo, Google’s AI video model 
  • (01:26:56) Lionsgate Signs Deal With AI Company Runway, Hopes That AI Can Eliminate Storyboard Artists and VFX Crews

(01:28:01) Outro