Hugging Face launches free personalized AI chatbot creator

Today’s Highlights:

📰 News: Hugging Face launches Hugging Chat Assistants, an open-source AI assistant maker to create personalized AI chatbots for free

💰 Funding: Dexa AI get $6M to build a podcast search engine

⚡️ Top News Stories:

1. Hugging Face launches Hugging Chat Assistants, an open-source AI assistant maker, as a direct competitor to OpenAI's custom GPTs.

• The new product allows users to create personalized AI chatbots for free, contrasting with OpenAI's paid subscription models.

• Hugging Chat Assistants can be powered by a variety of open-source LLMs, offering flexibility in model selection.

• The launch represents Hugging Face's commitment to open-source AI development, providing an alternative to proprietary models like GPT-4.

• Users can customize their AI assistants with specific capabilities, making the tool versatile for different applications.

• Hugging Face's approach emphasizes user choice and cost-effectiveness, allowing for experimentation with different models.

• The central repository for Hugging Chat Assistants enables users to share and discover custom AI assistants.

• Despite its advantages, Hugging Chat Assistants currently lack features like web search and retrieval augmented generation (RAG).

2. UK government unveils a £100M+ initiative to fuel 'responsible' AI R&D

• The UK government will emphasize a light regulatory approach based on existing laws and sector-specific guidance.

• Plans include over £100M (~$125M) in funding to boost AI regulation and innovation

• The funding aims to support homegrown AI development in sectors like healthcare, math, and chemistry, with a focus on responsible innovation.

• The government's approach avoids new AI-specific legislation, preferring to empower existing regulators to manage AI risks.

• This strategy highlights a divergence in regulatory approaches between the UK and EU.

• The announcement includes additional funding for AI safety research and projects aimed at defining responsible AI across various sectors.

• Regulators, including Ofcom and the CMA, are tasked with publishing their AI management approaches by April 30, detailing risks and regulatory plans.

• The UK's focus on agile, sector-specific regulation aims to balance rapid response to AI risks with fostering an environment conducive to AI development and innovation.

3. The White House AI Council reviews progress on AI safety and innovation, following President Biden's landmark AI Executive Order

• Agencies have completed all 90-day actions from the Executive Order, advancing safety and security measures for AI.

• Actions include using Defense Production Act authorities to require developers of powerful AI systems to report safety test results to the Department of Commerce.

• A draft rule proposes U.S. cloud companies report when foreign clients train powerful AI models, aiming to prevent malign activity.

• Risk assessments for AI use in critical infrastructure sectors have been completed, ensuring the U.S. is prepared for AI integration.

• The National AI Research Resource pilot launches, providing broad-based innovation and equitable access to AI research resources.

• An AI Talent Surge accelerates federal hiring of AI professionals, with flexible hiring authorities and government-wide tech talent programs.

• The EducateAI initiative funds inclusive AI educational opportunities, prioritizing AI-related workforce development.

• New Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) focus on advancing AI, with significant funding for projects like the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine.

4. A finance worker at a multinational company was deceived into transferring $25M to scammers who used deepfake technology to impersonate the company's CFO during a video conference call, highlighting the dangers of sophisticated AI fraud.

5. Russia and China held talks in Beijing to discuss the military use of AI, aiming to deepen coordination under the UN-backed Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS).

6. Meta to deploy custom AI chip 'Artemis' into data centers in 2024, aiming to cut costs and lessen Nvidia dependency.

7. Mastercard's new AI model boosts bank fraud detection by up to 300%, leveraging proprietary technology and vast transaction data.

8. Huawei reallocates factory resources to boost AI chip production over its bestselling Mate 60 phones, betting big on AI's future impact.

9. Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted at an upcoming AI announcement from Apple later this year, aiming to compete in the rapidly evolving AI space alongside major players like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

10. AI-related lobbying saw a record increase in 2023, with over 450 organizations participating, marking a 185% rise from the previous year, as companies and various industries seek to influence emerging AI regulations.

11. Google Bard, is set to undergo a significant rebranding to "Gemini" on February 7, with a new Android app, expanding AI access and capabilities, and aligning with the name of its underlying model.

12. Microsoft launches Copilot for Sales and Service, leveraging AI to boost sales and customer service efficiency through Microsoft 365 and CRM integration w/ systems like Salesforce and ServiceNow. 

13. AI successfully deciphered an ancient papyrus scroll from Herculaneum, buried by Mount Vesuvius's eruption in AD 79, revealing new writings from a Greek philosopher on pleasure, winning the $700K grand prize in the Vesuvius Challenge.

14. Bumble introduces a new AI-powered feature named Deception Detector, aimed at identifying and blocking spam, scams, and fake profiles on its platform.

15. Microsoft and Semafor collaborate on AI-assisted journalism, integrating ChatGPT to enhance news story development.

16. Meta's Oversight Board criticizes the company's 'incoherent' policies after not removing a misleadingly edited video of President Biden, highlighting the need for clearer guidelines on manipulated media.

💰 Top Funding News:

1. Investors from Kleiner Perkins' discusses how over 80% of new startup pitches they hear now involve AI, highlighting the sector's booming influence.

2. Starship Technologies, an early mover in the delivery robotics space specializing in sidewalk delivery robot services, raised $90M, co-led by Plural and Iconical.  

3. Jua, a startup aiming to build a large "physics" model for the natural world starting with weather and climate patterns, raised a $16M Seed round, co-led by 468 Capital and the Green Generation Fund w/ Promus Ventures, Kadmos Capital, Flix Mobility founders, Session.vc, Virtus Resources Partners, Notion.vc, and InnoSuisse.

4. Podcastle, an AI platform that democratizes professional content creation, raised a $13.5M Series A led by Mosaic Ventures, w/ RTP Global, Point Nine, Sierra Ventures, and Andrew Ng’s AI Fund. 

5. Wisedocs, a ML SaaS platform specializing in medical record review, indexing, and summarization, raised a $9.5M Series A led by Information Venture Partners, w/ Thomson Reuters Ventures and ManchesterStory.

6. Roofer.com, a company leveraging advanced AI algorithms and drone technology to conduct roof scans, raised a $7.5M Seed round, led by Mucker Capital, w/ Soma Capital, HF0, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, HustleFund, The Council, GoAhead Ventures, Mirada Capital, and several prominent angels.

7. Dexa, a company enhancing podcast search by leveraging AI to allow users to query specific questions across its database, raised a $6M Seed Round, led by Abstract Ventures and The General Partnership, w/ Maple VC and Guillermo Rauch.

8. Coris.ai, a risk platform leveraging LLMs to focus on modernizing SMB risk infrastructure, raised $3.7M in funding co-led by Lux Capital and Exponent Founders Capital, w/ Y Combinator, Blank Ventures and angels.

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