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Technology |
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How Big Tech is advancing on AI |
Tech companies are leaning further into artificial intelligence (AI) advancements as they race to stay on the cutting edge. |
OpenAI and Google, in back-to-back announcements last week, unveiled new features focused on how generative AI can be used in daily life. At the same time, announcements from other companies, including Meta and Microsoft, and expected announcements next month from Apple, highlight how the industry is leaning into AI.
The updates released by OpenAI and Google both largely focused on new use cases of their respective generative AI chatbots, ChatGPT and Gemini. Rather than announcing a new, more advanced AI system, both companies showcased updates to their chatbots and how they could be used, as well as tweaks to more advanced audio and visual features.
"Big tech is flexing its muscles," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said. "2023 was exploratory. 2024 is AI going to prime time," he added.
With the new features and expanded access to ChatGPT, the website is on track to hit a new record of monthly traffic — beating its previous high in May of last year before traffic dipped, according to data from Similarweb. Still, visits to Google far outrank traffic to ChatGPT's website. In the last three months, total visits to ChatGPT reached 1.8 billion, versus Google's 83.5 billion in the same time span, according to Similarweb's data.
ChatGPT, though, is also backed by a veteran tech industry giant: Microsoft. The Washington-based tech giant invested billions of dollars into OpenAI and has incorporated OpenAI's generative AI tool into its products, including Bing search.
During an announcement Monday, Microsoft revealed Copilot+, a new category of personal computers that will have AI features already built in.
"We have completely reimagined the entirety of the PC — from silicon to the operating system, the application layer to the cloud — with AI at the center, marking the most significant change to the Window platform in decades," Microsoft's executive vice president and chief marketing officer said in a blog post.
In coming weeks, the Copilot+ PCs will give users access to latest models of AI, including the GPT-4o model released by OpenAI, Microsoft said. GPT-4o was showcased at OpenAI's demo last week, where the company highlighted its advancements with audio and visual interactions.
"I think Microsoft and [CEO Satya Nadella] are way ahead in this AI arms race. Not just from Microsoft, what they're doing, but also the OpenAI partnership," Ives said. But Ives said Google is "narrowing the gap." Read more in a full report at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, we're Rebecca Klar and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. |
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: |
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The House passed legislation Wednesday laying out a new framework for when cryptocurrencies should be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The lower chamber voted 279-136 to pass the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT 21), despite opposition from SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Seventy-one Democrats joined 208 Republicans to … |
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| Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) filed a suit against TikTok on Wednesday, accusing the social media giant of being "addictive and harmful to teens and children," adding that the app is "fueling a youth mental health crisis." The suit claims that TikTok's algorithm and content distribution structure provides minor users with harmful content without proper consumer protection warnings. "TikTok is fueling a youth … |
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A group of nearly 100 tech workers from Kenya wrote a letter to President Biden ahead of Thursday's Kenya state dinner at the White House, urging him to end "modern day slavery" in the country’s tech sector. The authors of the letter work as data labelers, content moderators and artificial intelligence (AI) workers for American companies like Meta's Facebook, ScaleAI and OpenAI. "US Big Tech companies are systematically … |
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Media conglomerate News Corp has struck a deal with OpenAI to share content from the company’s various media properties with the artificial intelligence company. The multiyear agreement, announced Wednesday, will mean OpenAI has permission to display content from News Corp mastheads, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Post and The Sunday Times in response to user questions. The goal of the partnership is to “enhance” … |
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: |
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Mark Zuckerberg creates AI advisory council |
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has created a new product advisory council — featuring top executives from Stripe, GitHub, Shopify and Microsoft -— to offer guidance on AI and other technological advancements, Bloomberg reported. |
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US charges man over AI child sex abuse material | The Justice Department has charged a Wisconsin man for allegedly using an AI image generator to create explicit images of children, in what appears to be a first-of-its-kind case, The Washington Post reported. |
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Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: |
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a mark up of the Kids Online Safety Act and the American Privacy Rights Act on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill: |
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Nvidia's profit soars, underscoring its dominance in chips for artificial intelligence |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chip-making dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom. Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion … |
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Longtime Apple executive Phil Schiller on Wednesday acknowledged a court-ordered makeover of the U.S. payment system in its iPhone app store hasn’t done much to increase competition — a shortcoming that could result in a federal judge demanding more changes. Schiller, … |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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Former President Trump falsely claimed in a fundraising email Wednesday that President Biden was "locked & loaded and ready to take me out" — twisting … Read more |
| A farmworker in Michigan is the second human to be infected with the current H5N1 bird flu virus, health officials said. The farmworker had mild symptoms … Read more |
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Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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