Huge week for AI as tech giants Meta, Amazon, Microsoft all make big plays

The past week has been marked by several significant advancements in AI, with tech giants and startups pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished.

From OpenAI’s groundbreaking update to its popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, to Meta’s announcement of AI-powered smart glasses, the landscape of artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly, fueling competition and innovation.

OpenAI’s multimodal overhaul to ChatGPT and access to current information promises to revolutionize how users interact with AI. Meta’s AI-integrated smart glasses, Ray-Ban Stories, present an exciting turn for wearable computing. Meanwhile, Amazon’s substantial investment in AI startup Anthropic signals the tech giant’s assertive move into the AI market.

These events form the center stage of this week’s AI news, setting the tone for a forward leap in AI technology.

ChatGPT Gets Multimodal Support and Access to Current Information

Microsoft-backed OpenAI has announced critical updates to its popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, which will now have access to current information and gain multimodal capabilities.

In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared that ChatGPT “is so back” as it will no longer be limited to data before September 2021 and “can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information.” This change will allow the chatbot to have more up-to-date knowledge.

OpenAI also tweeted that ChatGPT is slowly rolling out support for processing images, video, voice, and text. This multimodal functionality will enable more natural conversations that incorporate visuals and audio.

Early users shared examples of ChatGPT generating code based on screenshot inputs, demonstrating the potential of multimodal AI. The additions come as OpenAI aims to improve ChatGPT’s accuracy and usefulness.

Meta Announces AI-Powered Smart Glasses

Meta unveiled its latest Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses integrated with Meta AI capabilities for hands-free computing.

In a launch video, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg highlighted AI-enabled features, including understanding objects the user is looking at and providing step-by-step instructions audibly. Zuckerberg demonstrated by asking the glasses for help fixing a leaky faucet and having them walk him through the repair process.

The glasses can also translate text seen through the lenses in real-time. Meta is issuing a software update to add multimodal abilities so the glasses can comprehend visual information as users ask questions.

The Ray-Ban Stories glasses will also have live streaming capabilities to share videos with friends and followers hands-free. Meta is marketing the glasses as an evolution of smart devices that keep users present.

The second-generation Ray-Ban Stories start at $299 and launch October 17 in the U.S. The AI integration signifies Meta’s push into wearable computing powered by artificial intelligence.

Amazon Invests $4 Billion in AI Startup Anthropic.

Amazon has agreed to invest up to $4 billion in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, fueling competition with other tech giants in the AI space.

Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI researchers, has developed its own AI chatbot, Claude. Amazon is making an initial investment of $1.25 billion for a minority stake.

The partnership will provide Anthropic with cloud infrastructure to advance its “frontier model” Claude-Next, projected to be 10 times more powerful than today’s top AI.

In return, Amazon Web Services customers will get early access to Anthropic’s models. The deal allows Amazon to compete with Microsoft, Google, and others in generative AI.

Anthropic aims to develop safe artificial general intelligence. Unlike ChatGPT’s limited context, Claude can ingest up to 100,000 tokens of information for more nuanced conversations.

The collaboration signals Amazon’s aggressive expansion into AI, an emerging sector dominated by rivals. With Anthropic’s cutting-edge research and Amazon’s resources, the startup has the potential to shape future AI capabilities.