Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
OpenAI acquires data analytics startup Rocketset
Amid its booming profit, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has taken a bold bet by acquiring data analytics startup Rocketset. The financial details or size of the deal is still not known. Last year, the startup raised $105 Mn from several investors. Rocketset transforms raw data into actionable intelligence, which is likely to improve the speed and accuracy with which OpenAI access and processes the information. The entire team of Rocketset will now integrate with ChatGPT’s parent company. Overall, this acquisition clearly underscores OpenAI’s commitment to build a robust AI system amid intense competition in the generative AI space.
2)
According to The Information, UK based generative AI startup Stability AI, which is best known for its image generation model Stable Diffusion, has hired Prem Akkaraju as its new CEO. He will replace Stability AI’s co-founder and former CEO Emad Mostaque, who left the company a few months back following a serious dispute with investors. In the past, Akkaraju was the CEO of visual effects company called Weta Digital. Separately, Stability AI has raised undisclosed amounts of funding from several investors at a much lower valuation. The new funding round is expected to give a much-needed financial boost amid company’s declining revenue.
3)
X is soon making live streaming a paid service
In what will come as bad news for the users of X, microblogging platform has decided to make live streaming exclusive only to premium subscribers. This means free users soon won’t be able to access live streaming feature. X has now become the first major social media platform to make such a move as live streaming is still freely available on all other leading platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. The move clearly reflects the growing monetization pressure on ‘X,’ which has recently seen many top advertisers and brands leaving the platform over its controversial policies on free speech.
4)
Perplexity’s CEO responds to Plagiarism Allegations
Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas has blamed third party crawlers for allegedly ignoring robots.txt and illegally scrapping content from websites. However, he neither named any specific third-party crawler nor gave any commitment that scrapping of content will be stopped all together. What he did assured is that his company would take steps to improve transparency including improved content review and process and stronger legal framework to avoid future issues. The backlash against Perplexity, which is an AI based search engine that competes directly with Google, started after media reports claimed that it was accused of lifting content from websites without proper attribution and bypassing restrictions set by websites to prevent data scrapping.
5)
Apple is Delaying the launch of its AI features in Europe
Apple had recently launched its slew of AI features including its native AI system called Apple Intelligence. However, the tech giant won’t be able to launch these features in Europe in 2024. The primary reason being the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which aims to regulate big tech companies and prevent them from stifling competition. According to reports, Apple will have to make certain changes in its features to align with DMA act. Apple has said that it is working out issues with European Commission to find a middle path where it can fully align with DMA act and also provide fully functional AI feature to its European customers.