AWS is investing $100 million to bring generative AI to customers

Jun 23, 2023

⚡ Today’s Highlights

📰 News: Amazon Web Service is investing $100 million to drive gen AI innovation
💰 Funding: Captions, Getduos, and Kibsi
🦾 Tools: Check out this all-in-one tool for empowering customer service teams

AWS invests $100 million to help customers succeed with generative AI

(4 min read) (Source: VentureBeat)

TLDR: AWS is committing $100 million to establish the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, a program designed to expedite generative AI innovation, deployment, and success for enterprise customers and partners worldwide.

The center will house a specialized team that will guide customers through a process to develop tailored solutions utilizing AWS generative AI services.
Key services offered through the center include Amazon CodeWhisperer and the recently announced AmazonBedrock cloud service. These services enable developers to build and scale generative AI chatbots and other applications in the cloud as well as access to leading pretrained large language models from reputable providers like Anthropic, AI21, Stability AI, and Amazon's own Titan model family.
With over 100,000 customers already utilizing AWS for AI and machine learning, AWS aims to extend support for customers to explore the potential of generative AI within their existing AI/ML initiatives.

Inflection debuts its own foundation AI model to rival Google and OpenAI LLMs

(3 min read) (Source: TechCrunch)

TLDR: Inflection, an AI startup, has revealed its large language model called Inflection-1, which is comparable to GPT-3.5 in size and capabilities.

The model performs well on various benchmarks, including middle- and high school-level exam tasks and common sense questions, but lags behind in coding compared to GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.
Inflection plans to publish results for larger models in the future, indicating ongoing development and improvement in their AI capabilities.

YouTube is getting AI-powered dubbing

(2 min read) (Source: The Verge)

TLDR: YouTube is leveraging AI to make it easier for creators to dub their videos in other languages. The company is incorporating the team from Aloud, an AI-powered dubbing service from Google's Area 120 incubator.

Aloud transcribes, translates, and produces dubs, initially supporting a few languages with plans to expand. YouTube is testing the tool with creators and aims to improve the translated audio tracks to match the creator's voice and improve lip sync in the future.

Hugging Face CEO tells US House open-source AI is ‘extremely aligned’ with American interests

(4 min read) (Source: VentureBeat)

TLDR: Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue testified before the U.S. House Science Committee, emphasizing the importance of open science and open-source AI in advancing innovation and aligning with American values and interests.

Open dissemination of AI models, such as Meta's open-source LLM LLaMA, has raised concerns about potential misuse and abuse, leading to questions from senators.
The testimony highlights the ongoing debate surrounding open-source AI and the concerns raised about the potential misuse and abuse of AI models.

💰 Funding Alerts

1. Captions, an AI-powered software for creating studio-grade videos, raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Kleiner Perkins (Everett Randle, Partner) , with participation from Sequoia Capital (Mike Vernal), Andreessen Horowitz (Bryan Kim), SV Angel, and other investors. This brings their total funding to $40 million.

With the new funding, Captions plans to further develop their AI-powered platform and expand their capabilities. They aim to level the playing field for creators by offering an inclusive and diverse environment for developing and publishing studio-grade content using the power of AI.

2. DUOS, a company providing a suite of tech and engagement products to address the needs of aging adults, raised an additional $10 million in funding led by Primetime Partners, SJF Ventures, and CEOC's Aging Innovation Fund, bringing their total funding to over $33 million.

With this funding, DUOS plans to invest in technology and tooling to enhance their efforts in identifying and resolving the needs of aging adults, providing support and independence, and delivering value to their health plan and employer partners

3. Kibsi, an AI platform that turns security cameras into computer vision apps using an easy low-code drag-and-drop environment, raised a total of $9.3 million in pre-seed and seed funding from investors including GTMfund, NTTVC, Preface Ventures, Ridge Ventures, Secure Octane, and Wipro Ventures.

Kibsi plans to use the funds to continue developing its product and expand its operations. The company also announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services and joined the ISV Accelerate Program, aiming to deliver exceptional outcomes for joint customers.

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👀 More Reading:

The people paid to train AI are outsourcing their work… to AI (MIT Technology Review)
U.S.-China tech battle entering its ‘primetime’ — and generative A.I. could be the next frontier (CNBC)
US-based generative AI job postings up 20% in May, Indeed data show (Reuters)
What Roles Could Generative AI Play on Your Team? (Harvard Business Review)
Europe takes its fight against Big Tech to CEOs’ turf: San Francisco (The Washington Post)
Today's AI models flunk EU's draft rules, study finds (Axios)

🌎 Fresh Content

1. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spoke with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang at the Bloomberg Technology Summit where he discussed the benefits and risks of AI as well as what it holds for the future. He emphasizes that global cooperation is required for the regulation and safe implementation of AI. (YouTube)

2. The Freakanomics Podcast had Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the show to discuss the current state of AI, Google vs. Bing, the Microsoft succession plan — and why his favorite use of ChatGPT is translating poetry. (Spotify)

3. Greylock general partner Jerry Chen joins the Greymatter podcast to discuss an essay that he wrote in which he suggests that tech startups can use AI to build defensible moats. With the recent AI boom, he revisits this essay and discusses what it means for the startup ecosystem. (Spotify)

🧠 Prompts

Maximize the potential of ChatGPT to tap into the collective ingenuity of your community with these inspiring prompts. This prompt will shepherd you through the creation of a crowdsourcing hub tailored to collecting ideas and innovations from your customers and community. Tailor the prompt to your specifics, and unearth effective tactics to kindle participation and keep the ideas pouring in.

Crowdsourcing Ideas and Innovations Hub Creation

Prompt: "ChatGPT, let’s dive into community-driven innovation. Assist me in devising a platform that crowdsources fresh ideas and innovations from our customer base and broader community. How can we foster engagement and offer incentives to ensure an unceasing flow of inventive concepts? Initiate the conversation with 'Ready to unleash community creativity' and then query me for further information necessary to fine-tune the platform."