Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Google unveils Gemma 2.2B – a tiny AI model that punches above its weight
Google on Wednesday expanded its Gemma family by unveiling a new compact AI model Gemma 2.2B. Even though Gemma 2.2B compromises of only 2.6 billion parameters, it still managed to outperform much larger LLMs including OpenAI’s GPT 3.5 and Mistral AI’s Mixtral 8 X 7B. This was verified by an evaluation test carried out by independent AI research organization LMSYS, with Google’s new compact AI model scoring 1130 in the test. Due to Gemma 2.2B’s compactness and its surprising efficiency, it has the potential in revolutionizing AI applications in smaller devices like mobile phones and wearables. Gemma 2.2B is available on Hugging Face. It directly competes with Microsoft’s very own compact AI model Phi-3.
2)
Runway launches Gen-3 Alpha Turbo – A faster but cheaper model
It has been barely weeks that video generation AI startup Runway launched Gen-3 Alpha Model that showed the ability in generating incredibly realistic videos. However, on Wednesday, Runway surprised many by launching a new model Gen-3 Alpha Turbo. The company claims that its new model can generate videos 7X faster than original Gen-3 Alpha but it will come at a much cheaper price. Although the model’s price has still not been announced, Runway is hopeful is that its affordable pricing will make its new AI model more accessible to smaller businesses and individual creators.
3)
Microsoft is discontinuing Ads from Skype
If you’re someone who still uses Skype then get ready for an ad free experience. Microsoft has announced that it is dropping ads from its video and voice messaging platform. The company said that it is doing this to make Skype cleaner and more user-friendly. Notably, ads will be removed not only from Skype channels but also chat interface. Separately, Microsoft is also updating Skype with AI image creation feature. Skype users can access AI image creation feature directly from the chat window or the top bar. However, this feature is currently only available for desktop app. Even though Skype exactly hasn’t been a profitable venture for Microsoft, these are still welcome changes.
4)
Google Maps gets new navigation features
Pretty soon your Google Maps will offer new features that will hopefully make your navigation much easier. Firstly, it will be making incident reporting much easier for drivers who will have to tap a yellow triangle icon to report any hazardous incidents like car crash or any law-and-order situation. Secondly, it has also made much easier in finding building entrance as you approach a building. It will also help in spotting nearby parking lots. The Incident reporting will be immediately available for Google Maps on Android and IOS apps as well as in cars that have Android Auto and Apple Carplay.