Plus: Microsoft offers to relocate some China-based AI workers.
| For May 16, 2024 |  |
| Here’s a look at today's AI briefing: - OpenAI's superalignment leaders are leaving.
- OpenAI strikes deal to bring Reddit content to ChatGPT.
- Stability AI held talks with at least one potential buyer.
- Microsoft offers to relocate some China-based AI workers.
- IBM and Palo Alto Networks partner on AI-powered security services.
- GrubMarket acquires Butter to incorporate more AI into food distribution.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | OpenAI executive Jan Leike and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever both resigned this week. Leike and Sutskever co-led OpenAI's "superalignment" team, dedicated to making sure highly advanced AI systems align with human interests and intentions. More: - OpenAI first announced the superalignment team in a post last summer.
- The company said scientific and technical breakthroughs are needed "to steer and control AI systems much smarter than us."
- To solve the issue "within four years," OpenAI said it would form the team, co-led by Sutskever and Leike, and allocate 20% of its compute to the effort.
Departures: - Leike, formerly of Google's DeepMind, announced his resignation Tuesday, hours after Sutskever said he was leaving.
- Last year, Leike was named one of Time 100's most influential people in AI.
- Sutskever, an OpenAI cofounder, wrote he's "confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial."
- Multiple people have left OpenAI in recent weeks, including executives Diane Yoon and Chris Clark, along with superalignment team members Leopold Aschenbrenner and Pavel Izmailov, as reported by The Information.
|     | |
| 2 | | OpenAI partnered with Reddit to bring content from the social network into ChatGPT. With the deal, OpenAI gains access to Reddit's data API, allowing ChatGPT and its other products to incorporate real-time discussions from Reddit. More: - The deal “will enable OpenAI’s AI tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics,” the companies said.
- Reddit will provide its users and moderators with new AI tools powered by OpenAI's models.
- OpenAI will also become a Reddit advertising partner.
- No financial terms were disclosed. OpenAI, whose CEO Sam Altman holds a large stake in Reddit, confirmed that the deal was brokered by its COO Brad Lightcap and approved by its board.
Zoom out: - Earlier this year, Reddit signed a reported $60M deal to supply its content to Google for training AI models.
- Google also gained access to Reddit's data API for real-time content.
| | | |
| A message from our sponsor, JobsOhio. |  | | Reshoring America’s Future Depends on Rethinking America’s Workforce The re-industrialization of America is critical to secure supply chains for critical products. Still, the manufacturing facilities that existed in the 1960s through the 1990s before they were offshored will look completely different because of the technological breakthroughs of the early 2000s and the age of acceleration that we’re currently in. A robust pipeline of qualified workers - and the commitment to invest in their futures - can make or break a company's plans for growth. Attracting, developing, and retaining highly qualified talent for your company just got easier. JobsOhio is here to help you and your team solve your toughest talent challenges, now and into the future. Get the Power | |
|
| 3 | | Stable Diffusion Stability AI, facing a cash crunch, has recently discussed a sale with at least one potential buyer, according to The Information. London-based Stability is behind the Stable Diffusion open-source AI image generator. The report says Stability is struggling financially amid increased competition from rivals such as Midjourney. 
More: - In 2022, Stability raised $101M at a $1B valuation and has partnered with AWS, Google Cloud, and others,
- Despite the success, Stability has had trouble monetizing its products and experienced dwindling cash reserves as computing power and other costs outpace revenue.
- In Q1 2024, Stability AI made under $5M in revenue and lost over $30M; it now owes nearly $100M to cloud providers and others, The Information reported.
Zoom out: - In April, Stability AI cut 10% of its staff after CEO Emad Mostaque resigned and some key researchers announced their departures.
- Since 2022, Stability has released its AI image-generation models, including Stable Diffusion 3.0 in February.
| | | |
| 4 | | Microsoft has offered to relocate hundreds of China-based AI employees out of the country amid U.S.-China tensions, per The Wall Street Journal. The employees, primarily engineers of Chinese nationality, work on machine learning and cloud computing. More: - Microsoft gave between 700 and 800 staffers the option to relocate to the U.S., Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand.
- The company confirmed offering voluntary relocations to some employees, adding that internal transfers are routine in its global operations.
- Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D group, primarily based in China, employs about 7,000 engineers.
- The company said it remains committed to operating in China.
Zoom out: - The move comes as the U.S. government restricts China's access to advanced AI chips and technology, slowing Beijing's military development and fueling tensions between the countries.
| | | |
| 5 | | IBM and Palo Alto Networks partnered to provide AI-powered security services amid the surge in AI-driven cyberattacks. Palo Alto, a cybersecurity company, will incorporate IBM's watsonx large language models into its AI-supported services. More. - Under the terms, Palo Alto becomes IBM’s “preferred cybersecurity partner.”
- Palo Alto is acquiring IBM’s QRadar, its cloud software that analyzes data to help organizations fight cybersecurity threats.
- Once the deal closes, Palo Alto and IBM will transition QRadar clients to Palo Alto’s AI-driven security operations platform.
Zoom out: - IBM and Palo Alto will also form a joint security operations center.
- IBM will train over 1,000 security consultants on Palo Alto's technology.
- The companies said organizations are prioritizing comprehensive, AI-driven security platforms to tackle "increasingly sophisticated threats," many of them driven by AI.
| | | |
| 6 | | Farm-to-table e-commerce firm GrubMarket acquired Butter, a SaaS provider using AI to digitize food distribution. GrubMarket, a food-tech company, will integrate Butter's software and team into its business. More: - Butter offers a platform with genAI tools for small and medium-sized food wholesalers to streamline inventory, ordering, and customer relations.
- GrubMarket provides software and services connecting food suppliers with customers.
- Through the deal, San Francisco-based GrubMarket plans to further digitize and streamline its distribution.
Zoom out: - Financial details of the deal weren't disclosed.
- Butter's last valuation was $39M following a $9M fundraising in November 2022.
- GrubMarket last raised $120M in 2022 at a valuation of over $2B from General Mills' venture arm and other investors.
| | | |
| |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
| |
 | JobsOhio exists to help companies and their people thrive and make Ohio your competitive advantage. | |
|
| |
RE:
RE ALL:
FWD:
