Amazon has updated its Nova model series, with Nova Reel 1.1 now able to generate AI videos of up to two minutes as well as gaining a new ‘multi-shot’ feature. Announced in December, Nova Reel marked Amazon’s initial foray into generative video. AWS developer advocate Elizabeth Fuentes says that Nova Reel accommodates user prompts of up to 4,000 characters that can generate a series of six-second shots for a sequence totaling two minutes. The company also introduced the Nova Sonic real-time voice model that supports third-party enterprise development. Continue reading AWS Updates Nova Reels and Adds Nova Sonic Voice Model

Amazon is formally rolling out its new Nova family of foundation models. Teased at the re:Invent conference hosted by AWS, details of the new multimodal series began leaking out this month. As part of the move, Amazon is diving into the agentic AI business with a new model called Nova Act, which is now in research preview. Nova Act is designed to control Web browser actions and independently tackle simple tasks. A Nova Act SDK is also being made available to allow developers to customize their own agents using the general-purpose Nova. The company is pushing for agents to help streamline business productivity. Continue reading Amazon’s Nova Model Series Includes Nova Act for AI Agents

Amazon is ramping up its AI activity, reportedly planning to release its own advanced reasoning model as part of the company’s Nova family. The Nova line was introduced in December at re:Invent and the new addition could debut as early as June. Its reasoning prowess is being compared to the abilities of OpenAI’s o3-mini and DeepSeek-R1. But reports say Amazon is taking the hybrid reasoning approach embraced by Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet (Amazon has a 10 percent stake in Anthropic). The e-retail giant is also preparing for an agentic AI push, having established a dedicated unit, reports say. Continue reading Amazon Plans an AI Push with Nova Reasoning Model, Agents

Amazon is predicting more than $100 billion in capital expenditure for AI in 2025. The majority of that will be invested in the AWS cloud division, according to Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy, indicating Big Tech is not planning to back down on AI. Amazon’s Q4 profit hit $20 billion, an 88 percent increase over the same period in 2023, and full year profit was $59.2 billion, a 94 percent increase, on revenue of $638 billion, an 11 percent rise. On an earnings call, Jassy said the $26.3 billion in Q4 2024 capex spending “is reasonably representative” of what the company can be expected to spend on an annualized basis this year. Continue reading AWS Cloud Computing Generates Half of Amazon’s Q4 Profits

After years of focusing on AI infrastructure, Amazon is plunging into the frontier model business with the Nova series. The new family of generative AI models includes the text-to-text model Amazon Nova Micro and Amazon Nova Lite for fast, mobile-friendly apps, and at the upper echelon the multimodal Amazon Nova Pro and Amazon Nova Premier for processing text, images and video. Amazon, which is heavy into production via Amazon Studios and MGM, is also launched two specialty models focused on “studio quality” output — Amazon Nova Canvas for images and Amazon Nova Reel for video. Continue reading Amazon Dives into Generative AI with Nova Foundation Models

The sluggish consumer adoption of virtual reality has pointed to a broader hesitation with immersive technologies that separate the user from their environment. In response, a niche market has evolved for technologies that unobtrusively live on the body while contributing an augmented sensory experience when needed. (See earrings that also offer directional audio from a company called Nova, for instance.) The Japanese exhibit section of the CES Eureka Park startup arena, however, showcased a more environmentally integrated — although still individualized — vision of immersion. Continue reading CES: Targeted Sensory Immersion at the Japanese Exhibition

China is furthering its protectionist goals by accelerating a plan to replace non-native technology with local suppliers. Reports surfaced this week that Beijing’s Information Technology Application Innovation Working Committee (ITAIWC) will be vetting and approving everything from cloud services to semiconductors for sensitive sectors like banking and government data centers, a market projected to be worth $125 billion by 2025. The secretive, government-backed committee formed under Xi Jinping in 2016 will also have a decisive role in setting industry standards and training personnel to operate approved hardware and software. Continue reading Chinese Committee Is Drafting Plans to Replace Foreign Tech

A new NOVA special, “Rise of the Drones,” features the Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System, or ARGUS-IS. The sensor uses 368 imaging chips similar to those found in cell phones to capture separate videos and piece them together to form a 1.8 billion pixel video. This means that the surveillance drone can capture images of birds flying, people walking on streets and cars traveling — all from 17,500 feet above the earth. Continue reading HD Surveillance System Capable of 1.8 Billion Pixel Video