Strange Daily: Issue #3

Meta releases AI chat companions and a new text-to-music generator. Fast food giants get into AI.

August 03, 2023

Welcome to Strange Daily Issue #3, where we cover the latest news, partnerships, and projects in AI and human creativity.

Listen to the bulletin

Latest news

  • Meta plans to release AI chatbots with different personas, which are designed to have humanlike conversations with users on its social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram [Link]

  • Google enhances its generative search feature with contextual videos and images, serving related visual content directly in the search results [Link]

🤝 Partnerships

  • Bandai Namco Ventures, creators of Pac-Man, teamed up with gaming blockchain network Oasys to launch an AI-powered virtual pet game around a series of NFT-based digital creatures known as RYU [Link]

  • Chipotle partners with restaurant technology solution provider Vebu: Introduces Autocado, an AI-driven guacamole-making robot [Link]

  • Fast-food chain White Castle partners with SoundHound AI: Delivering a voice AI-enabled drive-thru experience to customers [Link] Editor’s note: have we reached peak AI?

🎓 Recent Academic Papers

  • UC Berkeley researchers introduce Video Prediction Rewards (VIPER): An algorithm that leverages pretrained video prediction models as action-free reward signals for reinforcement learning [Link to abstract/full-text]

  • Google scientists show how GPT-4 can outwit AI-Guardian, a defense against adversarial attacks on machine learning models [Link to abstract/full-text]

🔧 Cool Tools and Experiments

  • AudioCraft: An open-source AI code by Meta that produces realistic audio sound and music from text-based inputs [Link]

  • Youtube tests AI-auto generated video summaries [Link]

  • Google looks to revamp Google Assistant with generative AI [Link]

  • TranscribeGlass: AI glasses developed by Stanford students that transcribe speech in real-time for deaf people [Link]

  • Tinder tests AI photo selection feature to build user profiles [Link]

đź’° Latest Startup Fundings

  • Inworld AI, maker of an AI-based character engine for games, raises a $50M round led by Lightspeed Venture at $500M valuation [Link]

  • AI-driven video editing platform Wisecut raises $1M from Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper [Link]

  • Ad verification platform DoubleVerify acquires Scibids, an AI-powered platform for optimizing and customizing marketing campaigns [Link]

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