xAI/Grok Raising $1B

Plus OpenAI COO says AI for biz is overhyped

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
December 06, 2023

The AI Breakdown First Five - Wednesday December 3, 2023

Today on the First Five:

  • 5. Jimmy Stewart Brought Back with AI for a Bedtime Story

  • 4. Washington D.C. Gets Excited About AI Efficiency

  • 3. AMD Launches Nvidia Chip Competitor

  • 2. OpenAI COO Says AI for Biz Overhyped

  • 1. Grok/xAI Raising $1B

5. Jimmy Stewart Brought Back with AI for a Bedtime Story

One of the event horizons of generative AI is whether or not society decides to bring back the dead. Well, Calm is bringing back It’s a Wonderful Life actor Jimmy Stewart (who has been dead for 26 years) for “It’s a Wonderful Sleep Story.”

Calm’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Sleep Story’ will star Jimmy Stewart’s AI-generated voice

Jimmy Stewart may be dead, but Calm is resurrecting him with AI to read a new sleep story.

www.theverge.com/2023/12/5/23989106/its-a-wonderful-life-jimmy-stewart-ai-voice-calm

4. Washington D.C. Gets Excited About AI Efficiency

Axios reports that the mood in DC around AI is shifting. From fear of world-ending possibilities, a new optimism about exciting efficiency improvements is gripping the district. If nothing else, it sounds like a procurement bonanza.

3. AMD Launches Nvidia Chip Competitor

While Nvidia remains the AI chip leader (and frankly seems more concerned about Huawei than domestic competitors), AMD is finally releasing their MI300 data center GPU accelerator. With shares flat, it appears the market has some skepticism.

AMD To Launch AI Chip Wednesday That Could Heat Up Competition With Nvidia

AMD is to launch a chip designed for artificial intelligence (AI) systems on Wednesday that could help it compete with Nvidia.

www.investopedia.com/amd-to-launch-ai-chip-wednesday-that-could-heat-up-competition-with-nvidia-8410872

2. OpenAI COO Says AI for Biz Overhyped

For as transformative as generative AI will be, one prominently placed executive says the change isn’t going to happen overnight or all at once. OpenAI CEO Brad Lightcap related to CNBC that businesses were coming to OpenAI with fairly wild expectations.

1. Grok/xAI Raising $1B

It takes big bucks to compete in the frontier model space, and Elon is out on the hunt for capital for his xAI. According to SEC Filings the company is looking to raise up to $1B, of which about $135m has been raised so far from four unnamed investors.

Bonus: Image Generator for Creatives

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