Sam Altman shares his grand-vision for the ‘Intelligence Age’

Today’s Highlights:

📰 News: Sam Altman shares his grand-vision for the ‘Intelligence Age’ + Jony Ive confirms rumors he is collaborating w/ Altman on an AI device

💰 Funding: OpenAI looks to finalize $6Bn in funding

⚡️ Top News Stories:

1. In a new blog post, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, outlines a grand vision for AI's role in global progress, claiming it will solve hard problems and usher in an "Intelligence Age," following the Stone, Agricultural, and Industrial Ages, driven by the success of deep learning.

• He predicts superintelligent AI could emerge within a few thousand days, transforming industries like healthcare, education, and software development.

• Altman warns of complex challenges ahead, stressing the importance of infrastructure, warning that without sufficient energy and compute, AI could become a resource fought over by the rich,  but focuses mainly on labor market disruptions while omitting concerns about existential risks posed by AI in his latest vision.

• Critics and skeptics, including commenters and AI experts, argue that Altman’s projections oversell AI's potential and downplay environmental, workforce, and ethical challenges .

2. Jony Ive, famed former Chief Design Officer for Apple, confirmed he is collaborating with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on an AI hardware project that has currently shared minimal details but is backed by Ive, the Emerson Collective, and may raise $1Bn by year-end.

3. Amazon introduced Amelia, a generative AI assistant for third-party sellers, aimed at helping with tasks like filing claims, troubleshooting account problems, and accessing sales and inventory data through Seller Central, all in an effort to potentially automate tasks that previously required human support, and enhancing seller efficiency.

4. IBM and NASA unveiled a new open-source AI foundation model for weather and climate applications, designed to be highly flexible and scalable, which can address challenges in both short-term weather forecasting and long-term climate projection.

5. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is developing two AI GPUs for training and inference, set to enter mass production by 2026 through TSMC, as it aims to reduce its reliance on Nvidia GPUs, spurred by high costs and shortages. 

6. Three Mile Island nuclear plant will be reopened in 2028 to power Microsoft’s data centers, focusing on cloud computing and AI.

7. 26 US states have passed or are considering laws regulating the use of generative AI in election-related communications to prevent voter manipulation or misinformation.

8. Russia and Iran are using AI to influence the 2024 U.S. election, generating synthetic content aimed at polarizing voters and boosting specific candidates.

💰 Top Funding News:

1. OpenAI is finalizing a $6Bn funding round, valuing the company at $150Bn, with major investors like Thrive Capital and Microsoft involved.

2. Black Forest Labs, which specializes in building generative AI models focused on image generation, one of which currently powers image creation for Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot on X.ai, is reportedly raising $100M at a $1Bn valuation. 

3. Akur8, which uses AI to optimize insurance pricing strategies and streamline rate deployment, raised a $120M Series C, led by One Peak.

4. Qure.AI, whose platform utilizes AI to detect and manage critical diseases and is deployed at over 3,000 imaging sites globally, raised a $65M Series D led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and 360 ONE Asset Management, w/ Merck's Global Health Innovation Fund, Kae Capital, Novo Holdings, Health Quad, and TeamFund.

5. Scribenote, which utilizes AI to create an automated medical scribe for veterinarians, raised a $8.2M in Seed Round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Inovia Capital, the Velocity Fund, and several angel investors.

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