OpenAI launches suite of new audio tools

Today’s Highlights:

📰 News: OpenAI launches suite of new audio tools + Anthropic upgrades Claude with web search and thinking mode 

💰 Funding: Perplexity targets $18Bn valuation in new raise

⚡️ Top News Stories:

1. OpenAI has launched a new suite of audio models, including high-accuracy transcription and expressive text-to-speech tools, enabling developers to build realistic and responsive AI voice applications through its API.

• Models include gpt-4o-transcribe and gpt-4o-mini-transcribe for speech-to-text conversion, and a text-to-speech model capable of generating speech with customizable styles

• The transcription models offer high accuracy and fast performance, with gpt-4o-mini-transcribe optimized for lower-latency use cases and both models fine-tuned from Whisper 3 for better multilingual and noisy-audio performance.

• The text-to-speech model supports multiple voice styles and can mimic expressive, humanlike intonation, making it suitable for uses like narration, voice assistants, and real-time dialogue.

2. Anthropic has upgraded its chatbot, Claude, by enabling web search capabilities for paid US users, allowing it to access current information and provide source citations, with plans to expand to free users and more countries soon.

3. Anthropic's new 'think' tool empowers its AI assistant, Claude, to incorporate mid-response reasoning steps, significantly enhancing performance in complex, multi-step tasks by allowing the model to pause and evaluate information before proceeding.

4. Meta has launched its AI assistant, Meta AI, across 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, initially offering text-based chat functionalities in six languages within WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, following extensive regulatory collaboration to ensure compliance with local data protection laws. 

5. Perplexity AI has proposed to acquire TikTok and transform it into a transparent, user-centric platform by open-sourcing its recommendation algorithm, enhancing search functionalities, and hosting data within the United States to address security concerns.

6. Apple has moved Siri under the leadership of Vision Pro executive Mike Rockwell in a major AI shakeup, aiming to revive its struggling AI assistant strategy after missed deadlines and stalled feature development.

7. Hugging Face has responded to the White House AI Action Plan RFI, emphasizing the critical role of open source and open science in advancing AI performance, efficiency, and security, advocating for policies that support open and collaborative development. 

8. Zapier's new Model Context Protocol (MCP) empowers AI assistants by providing direct, secure access to over 8,000 applications and 30,000 actions, enabling seamless execution of tasks like messaging and data management without complex API integrations.

9. OpenAI and MIT Media Lab's collaborative research indicates that interactions with ChatGPT can significantly influence users' emotional well-being, with outcomes depending on both AI behavior and individual user engagement.

10. Microsoft is launching six AI-powered agents for its Security Copilot platform to automate threat triage, vulnerability monitoring, and incident prioritization, while integrating with third-party agents from partners like OneTrust and Aviatrix.

11. Deloitte and EY have launched new agentic AI platforms, Zora AI and EY.ai Agentic Platform, built in collaboration with Nvidia, designed to deploy autonomous AI "digital workers" that can perceive, reason, and act across functions like finance, tax, and customer service.

💰 Top Funding News:

1. Perplexity AI is in early talks to raise between $500M and $1Bn, potentially doubling its valuation to $18Bn, just months after rapidly increasing its value through multiple funding rounds.

2. The United Arab Emirates has pledged $1.4 Trillion in new U.S. investments over the next decade, targeting AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, and manufacturing, as part of a deepened economic partnership with the U.S. government.

3. Browser Use, a startup enabling AI agents to navigate websites via text-based transformation, raised a $17M Seed round led by Felicis with participation from Paul Graham, A Capital, and Nexus Venture Partners.

That's all for today's email! If you want more please follow us at the social channels linked below, or check out our website!

Share our newsletter: If you like our work please share/forward this email with your friends, colleagues, and family. It's the best way to support us!

If this email was forwarded to you please sign up here to continue receiving them.

Want your content, product, jobs, or event featured in our newsletter? Reply to this email with the details, and our team will reach out to you.

Do you use AI for work? Tell us how, and you could be featured in our newsletter!

Check out our website for more resources, including a list of AI investors, products, events, and twitter follows.

For an archive of all our posts, click here.

We'd love to hear from you! You can always leave us comments or feedback by replying to this email!

Powered by AI. Curated and edited by Humans.