Our 184th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news! With hosts Andrey Kurenkov and guest host Jon Krohn.

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In this episode:

• OpenAI, Meta, and Google are enhancing their AI assistants with advanced voice modes, while Meta released Llama 3.2, an open-source model capable of processing both images and text.


• Significant AI infrastructure developments include Grok's partnership with Aramco for a massive data center in Saudi Arabia, and Microsoft's plan to power data centers using a reopened Three Mile Island nuclear plant.


• Recent research shows chain-of-thought prompting is most effective for math and symbolic reasoning, while OpenAI's GPT-4 with vision capabilities is being integrated into Perplexity AI's search platform.


• AI is being rapidly integrated into various sectors, with examples including ChartWatch reducing unexpected hospital deaths, Snapchat and YouTube introducing AI video generation tools, and Lionsgate partnering with Runway for AI-assisted film production.

Timestamps + Links:

• (00:00:00 ) Intro / Banter


• (00:04:45 ) Response to listener comments / corrections


• Tools & Apps
  • (00:07:46 ) OpenAI rolls out Advanced Voice Mode with more voices and a new look
  
  
  • (00:13:32 ) Meta’s AI can now talk to you in the voices of Awkwafina, John Cena, and Judi Dench
  
  
  • (00:17:11 ) Gemini’s chatty voice mode is out now for free on Android
  
  
  • (00:21:30 ) AI video rivalry intensifies as Luma announces Dream Machine API hours after Runway
  
  
  • (00:23:35 ) Copilot Wave 2 supercharges productivity with AI across all your Microsoft 365 apps
  
  
  • (00:25:56 ) Perplexity introduces new 'Reasoning' focus powered by OpenAI's o1
  
  
  
  


• Applications & Business
  • (00:33:47 ) OpenAI Execs Mass Quit as Company Removes Control From Non-Profit Board and Hands It to Sam Altman
  
  
  • (00:41:46 ) Sam Altman departs OpenAI’s safety committee
  
  
  • (00:43:04 ) Chip Startup Groq Backs Saudi AI Ambitions With Aramco Deal
  
  
  • (00:46:29 ) Grok’s image generator, Black Forest Labs, is raising $100M at a $1B valuation, say sources
  
  
  • (00:48:05 ) Pudu unveils super semi-humanoid robot with 8-hour battery, 10kg lift power 
  
  
  • (00:50:56 ) Amazon introduces Amelia, an AI assistant for third-party sellers
  
  
  
  


• Projects & Open Source
  • (00:52:58 ) Meta Releases Llama 3.2—and Gives Its AI a Voice
  
  
  • (00:56:52 ) Alibaba Unveils Ovis 1.6 – A New Multimodal Language Model
  
  
  
  


• Research & Advancements
  • (01:00:35 ) To CoT or not to CoT? Chain-of-thought helps mainly on math and symbolic reasoning
  
  
  • (01:06:14 ) LLMs Still Can't Plan; Can LRMs? A Preliminary Evaluation of OpenAI's o1 on PlanBench
  
  
  • (01:10:15 ) Norwegian Startup 1X Unveils AI World Model for Robot Training
  
  
  • (01:12:44 ) AI tool cuts unexpected deaths in hospital by 26%, Canadian study finds
  
  
  
  


• Policy & Safety
  • (01:15:47 ) Three Mile Island nuclear plant will reopen to power Microsoft data centers
  
  
  • (01:18:23 ) Governor Newsom signs bills to combat deepfake election content
  
  
  • (01:20:12 ) Governor Newsom signs bills to protect digital likeness of performers
  
  
  • (01:22:20 ) Startup behind “world’s first robot lawyer” to pay $193K for false ads, FTC says
  
  
  
  


• Synthetic Media & Art
  • (01:24:49 ) Snap is introducing an AI video generation tool for creators
  
  
  • (01:25:57 ) YouTube Shorts to integrate Veo, Google’s AI video model 
  
  
  • (01:26:56 ) Lionsgate Signs Deal With AI Company Runway, Hopes That AI Can Eliminate Storyboard Artists and VFX Crews
  
  
  
  

(01:28:01 ) Outro