OpenAI unveiled major updates at its DevDay conference with the focus largely on making AI more accessible, efficient and affordable. Included were four innovations: Vision Fine-Tuning in the API, Model Distillation, Prompt Caching and the public beta of Realtime API. The approach underscores OpenAI’s effort to empower its developer ecosystem even as it continues to compete for end-users in the enterprise space. The Realtime API gives developers the option of building “nearly real-time” speech-to-speech app experiences, selecting from among six OpenAI voices. Vision Fine-Tuning for GPT-4o enables customization of the model’s visual understanding of images and text. Continue reading OpenAI Showcases Latest Updates for Voice, Picture and More

Accenture is forming an internal Nvidia Business Group staffed with 30,000 global employees trained to help clients “reinvent processes and scale enterprise AI adoption with AI agents,” the consulting firm announced. Accenture will also use its AI Refinery platform to help companies customize AI models and agents using the full Nvidia AI stack including AI Foundry, AI Enterprise and Omniverse. “With generative AI demand driving $3 billion in Accenture bookings in its recently closed fiscal year, the new group will help clients lay the foundation for agentic AI functionality,” Accenture said. Continue reading Accenture Has Plans for Scaling Enterprise AI with Nvidia Unit

Reuters and CNN are among the global news services that will be charging those who want access to their digital content beyond a free quota. Reuters plans to add $1 per week pricing in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe in the weeks ahead, while CNN is beginning to ask visitors for $4 a month or $30 per year. Vox Media’s popular tech publication The Verge is also said to be considering subscription fees. The outlets are pursuing digital monetization strategies as ad-supported models are increasingly challenging for those who aren’t Google, Meta or Amazon. Continue reading CNN, Reuters Roll Out Consumer Subscriptions and Paywalls

AI startup Liquid, founded by alums of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), has released its first models. Called Liquid Foundation Models, or LFMs, the multimodal family approaches “intelligence” differently than the pre-trained transformer models that dominate the field. Instead, the LFMs take a path of “first principles,” which MIT describes as “the same way engineers build engines, cars, and airplanes,” explaining that the models are large neural networks with computational units “steeped in theories of dynamic systems, signal processing and numeric linear algebra.” Continue reading MIT Spinoff Liquid Eschews GPTs for Its Fluid Approach to AI

Snap Inc. is leveraging its relationship with Google Cloud to use Gemini for powering generative AI experiences within Snapchat’s My AI chatbot. The multimodal capabilities of Gemini on Vertex AI will greatly increase the My AI chatbot’s ability to understand and operate across different types of information such as text, audio, image, video and code. Snapchatters can use My AI to take advantage of Google Lens-like features, including asking the chatbot “to translate a photo of a street sign while traveling abroad, or take a video of different snack offerings to ask which one is the healthiest option.” Continue reading Snapchat: My AI Goes Multimodal with Google Cloud, Gemini

TikTok is updating its Live subscription offering, renaming the monetization offering simply “Subscription,” opening it up to eligible non-Live creators in regions including the U.S., Japan, Brazil, France, the UK and Germany. Like the third-party subscription platform Patreon, TikTok’s Subscription allows fans to pay creators for exclusive content and other perks. In participating regions, creators can offer fans monthly subscriptions at three price tiers, each with its own parameters and perks. TikTok launched Live subscriptions in 2022 and announced in March that it would be revamping the feature to allow more users to monetize. Continue reading New TikTok Live Subscriptions Help More Creators Monetize

DirecTV has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Dish Network from EchoStar, realizing a long-time goal. The deal sees DirecTV paying Dish Network $1 for video distribution assets including Dish and Sling TV, and taking on $9.75 billion of Dish’s $20 billion in debt. The agreement does not include EchoStar’s wireless spectrum investments. Concurrently, AT&T has agreed to sell its 70 percent DirecTV stake to private equity firm TPG, which holds the other 30 percent. That deal is valued at $7.6 billion and is not contingent on the Dish acquisition, which is expected to close in Q4 2025. Combined, DirecTV and Dish will serve more than 18 million customers. Continue reading EchoStar Agrees to Sell Dish Network, Sling to Rival DirecTV

The Allen Institute for AI (also known as Ai2, founded by Paul Allen and led by Ali Farhadi) has launched Molmo, a family of four open-source multimodal models. While advanced models “can perceive the world and communicate with us, Molmo goes beyond that to enable one to act in their worlds, unlocking a whole new generation of capabilities, everything from sophisticated web agents to robotics,” according to Ai2. On some third-party benchmark tests, Molmo’s 72 billion parameter model outperforms other open AI offerings and “performs favorably” against proprietary rivals like OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini 1.5 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Ai2 says. Continue reading Allen Institute Announces Vision-Optimized Molmo AI Models

Google has updated its AI assistant, NotebookLM, allowing the AI note-taking and research tool to find summaries of audio files and YouTube videos. First released at the Google I/O developer conference in 2023, NotebookLM even creates sharable AI-generated audio discussions and podcasts. It allows users to upload file formats including PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides and websites. The items, including text, can be stored in shareable “notebooks,” organizing material in a central location, and users can ask Google’s Gemini AI questions about the notebook material. Initially embraced by students and educators, it has become equally popular among business users. Continue reading Google Unveils New Updates to Its AI-Powered NotebookLM

Artificial intelligence platform Runway has launched The Hundred Film Fund to help finance 100 projects that use its AI to tell stories. Created by the company through its Runway Studios, the Fund is starting with $5 million, “with the potential to grow to $10 million.” Runway is presenting the Fund as “an open call to all creative professionals who have AI-augmented film projects in the pre- or post-production phases and are in need of funding.” Directors, producers and screenwriters are among those invited to apply. The program will consider all formats, from features to shorts, documentaries, experimental projects, music videos and more. Continue reading Runway Launches $5M AI Film Fund as Open Call to Creators

Visual effects studio Digital Domain has brought its Autonomous Virtual Human project to Amazon Web Services, which will provide generative AI and machine learning tools and provide Digital Domain’s creations and processes a home in the global cloud. The collaboration “aims to propel the evolution and global reach of Digital Domain’s AVH technology and expand its use for multiple industries, including entertainment, gaming, healthcare, hospitality, and commercial applications,” Amazon said in a statement that emphasizes “AWS cloud services, particularly Amazon Bedrock,” as providing the infrastructure and adaptability “to drive AVH’s growth.” Continue reading Digital Domain Leverages AWS for Its Virtual Human Initiative

The Tor Project has merged operation with Tails, a Linux-based portable operating system that uses Tor to protect users from digital surveillance. Tor, a global non-profit that develops tools for online privacy and anonymity, will incorporate Tails into its structure for simpler collaboration, “better sustainability, reduced overhead, and expanded training and outreach programs to counter a larger number of digital threats,” according to the Tor Project. The move comes as regulatory forces heighten efforts to break end-to-end encryption. Tor emphasizes the alliance will “strengthen both organizations’ ability to protect people worldwide from surveillance and censorship.” Continue reading Privacy-Focused Tor Platform Absorbs Linux-Based Tails OS

The European Commission has released a list of more than 100 companies that have become signatories to the EU’s AI Pact. While Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are among them, Apple and Meta are not. The voluntary AI Pact is aimed at eliciting policies on AI deployment during the period before the legally binding AI Act takes full effect. The EU AI Pact focuses on transparency in three core areas: internal AI governance, high-risk AI systems mapping and promoting AI literacy and awareness among staff to support ethical development. It is aimed at “relevant stakeholders,” across industry, civil society and academia. Continue reading Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI Join the EU’s AI Pact

Meta’s Llama 3.2 release includes two new multimodal LLMs, one with 11 billion parameters and one with 90 billion — considered small- and medium-sized — and two lightweight, text-only models (1B and 3B) that fit onto edge and mobile devices. Included are pre-trained and instruction-tuned versions. In addition to text, the multimodal models can interpret images, supporting apps that require visual understanding. Meta says the models are free and open source. Alongside them, the company is releasing “the first official Llama Stack distributions,” enabling “turnkey deployment” with integrated safety. Continue reading Meta Unveils New Open-Source Multimodal Model Llama 3.2

California’s “click to cancel” bill has become law, making it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. Companies that offer online or in-app sign-ups will now have to make canceling or unsubscribing available online or in-app as well. Assembly Bill 2863 was signed into law this week by Governor Gavin Newsom, though companies have until the middle of next year to comply. Consumers have long complained about companies making it easy to sign up but difficult to cancel services. This law ensures consumers can easily exit from services “without being trapped by confusing processes or hidden fees.” Continue reading California Enacts Laws for Sub Canceling, Digital Downloads