The Apple Siri AI icon appears on a smartphone, with Apple Intelligence on … [+]
“Siri Gets an AI Brain Transplant,” wrote Brian X. Chen of the NY Times. With the “Apple Intelligence” upgrade this fall, Siri will understand us better and “learn” our preferences. It will also be able to “see” the smartphone screen for the environment. Apple added “Playground,” where users can create images from text messages and create animated “Genmojis.” For more complex requests, Siri will call ChatGPT. Other Gen-AI tools, such as Google Gemini, may be similarly connected in the future. AI features will only be available on iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max and iPad or Mac with an M1 chip or later, and only when their language is set to English. The features will begin rolling out this fall on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
Influencer iJustine wears the Vision Pro at the Apple Vision Pro launch at Apple The Grove in … [+]
Vision Pro added some much needed updates. It will now be available worldwide. Among the new features, users can now upgrade 2D photos to 3D photos. The guest mode also received the necessary attention. There have been some nice upgrades in the Apple ecosystem. A new feature allows smartphone screens to be captured on other devices
French founder of artificial intelligence start-up Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch participates in a discussion … [+]
Paris-based AI startup Mistral raises $600 million Founded last year by former Google Deepmind engineers, the company is working on core models aimed at competing with today’s best-performing models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude 3, and Meta’s Llama 3. The long, long list of investors includes Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and Salesforce Ventures. The investment values the new company at the upper end six billion dollars.
The hot nightlife ticket was the Sandbox party where Paris Hilton DJ’d a set.
The $1B Ethereum Game ‘The Sandbox’ With New Funding. Driven by partnerships with more than 400 celebrities and brands, including Snoop Dogg, Gucci and Paris Hilton, The Sandbox is one of the most visible blockchain games. However, the price of NFT plots has dropped from 3.9 ETH ($11,700) in 2022 to 0.08 ETH ($300) today. The money will fund improvements to creator tools, new social and game features, and a mobile version, due to time.
VR Chat publicity photo.
VR Chat lays off 30% of its staff. The Metaverse gives, and the Metaverse takes away. The popular VR social platform cited slow growth, over-hiring during the pandemic and slow adoption of a “more conventional corporate structure”. Founded in 2014, VR Chat has secured $80 million in Series D funding led by Anthos Capital, bringing its total outside investment to $95.2 million and valuing the company at over $1 billion. Their plan to implement a Roblox-style virtual economy like Roblox with the investment has yet to materialize.
Spiideo Raises $20M to Automate Sports Broadcasting The Swedish startup says it will revolutionize sports broadcasting with its AI-based camera system. The technology mimics professional camera operators. It is trained to fully automate broadcasting for 15 different sports. Spiideo reports that more than 6,000 venues and 4,000 teams (including major soccer clubs and NBA franchises) already use advanced live game data and video analytics products.
Luma Labs He launches his awesome text-to-video AI to challenge Sora and everyone. And it’s open to the public now, with a generous free trial. “Artificial intelligence can be very time-consuming, but by the time I grab a coffee and come back, Luma’s Dream Machine turns hours of work into quick, game-changing brilliance,” he said. AI filmmaker and creator of the Mermaid Toast in Cinematic AI course. “The speed and realism of Dream Machine is a game changer for quickly creating materials on the playing field. Just exciting!”
Text-to-video scene created by China-based Kling.
Kling, China’s answer to OpenAI’s Sora. In addition to Luma Labs, another Chinese competitor to Sora, Kling, has been showing off its AI technology that creates text-to-video, and it’s impressive. Registrations are limited to Chinese email addresses. Earlier this year, Vidu AI made waves as the country’s inaugural rendition of Sora, capable of producing 16-second videos in pristine 1080p resolution.
Award Winning ‘Body Of Mine’ VR Experience On Gender Identity Launches In Quest Store For Pride Month. The winner of the SXSW 2023 Special Jury Prize is now available.
This column, once called “This Week in XR,” is also a podcast hosted by author Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Jeri Ellsworth, founder and CEO of Tilt5. We can meet at Spotify, iTunesand YouTube.
What We Read
Playing MR Chess (Upload)
Can Apple save the Vision Pro? (New York Times)
