The Apple Siri AI icon appears on a smartphone, with Apple Intelligence in the … [+]
“Siri is getting an AI brain transplant,” wrote the NY Times’ Brian X. Chen. With the “Apple Intelligence” upgrade this fall, Siri will understand us better and “learn” our preferences. It will also be able to “see” the smartphone screen for context. Apple has added ‘Playground’, where users can generate images from text prompts and create animated ‘Genmojis’. For more complex requests, Siri calls on ChatGPT. Other Gen-AI tools, such as Google Gemini, could be connected in a similar way in the future. There were some nice upgrades to the Apple ecosystem. A new feature allows smartphone screens to be captured on other devices. The AI features will only be available on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max and iPads or Macs with M1 or newer chips, and only if their language is set to English. The features will roll out this fall in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
Influencer iJustine wears her Vision Pro at the launch of the Apple Vision Pro at Apple The Grove … [+]
The Vision Pro has added some needed updates. It will now be available worldwide. One of the new features is that users can now upgrade 2D photos to 3D photos. Guest mode also received some much-needed attention.
The French founder of artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch, takes part in a debate … [+]
Paris-based AI startup Mistral raises $600 million Founded last year by former Google Deepmind engineers, the company is working on foundational models with the aim of rivaling today’s best-performing models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude 3 and Meta’s Llama 3. Investors include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and Salesforce Ventures. The investment values the new company well six billion dollars.
The hot nightlife ticket was the Sandbox party, where Paris Hilton played a set.
Ethereum Game ‘The Sandbox’ Valued at $1 Billion with New Funding. Powered by partnerships with more than 400 celebrities and brands, including Snoop Dogg, Gucci and Paris Hilton, The Sandbox is one of the most visible blockchain games. However, the price of the NFT land plots has fallen from 3.9 ETH ($11,700) in 2022 to 0.08 ETH ($300) today. next year.
VR Chat publicity photo.
VR Chat is laying off 30% of its staff. The Metaverse gives and the Metaverse takes away. The popular social VR platform cited slow growth, over-recruitment during the pandemic and the slow adoption of a “more conventional business structure.” Founded in 2014, VR Chat has secured $80 million in Series D funding in 2022, led by Anthos Capital, bringing its total external investment to $95.2 million and valuing the company at more than a billion dollars. Their plan to implement a Roblox-like virtual economy has not yet come to fruition.
Spiideo raises $20 million to automate sports broadcasts. The Swedish startup says it will revolutionize sports broadcasting with its AI-powered camera system with technology that mimics professional camera operators. It has been trained to fully automate broadcasts for 15 different sports. Spiideo reports that more than 6,000 venues and 4,000 teams (including major soccer clubs and NBA franchises) are already using its advanced video analytics and live game data products.
Luma Labs Launches impressive text-to-video AI to challenge Sora and everyone else. And it’s now open to the public, with a generous free trial period. “AI can be very time-consuming, but by the time I grab a coffee and get back, Luma’s Dream Machine transforms hours of work into rapid, groundbreaking brilliance,” says Ellenor Argyropoulos, AI filmmaker and creator of the Mermaid Toast course in Cinematic AI. “Dream Machine’s speed and realism are game-changing for quickly creating field materials. Simply stunning!”
Text-to-video scene generated by China-based Kling.
Kling, China’s answer to OpenAI’s Sora. In addition to Luma Labs, another Chinese Sora competitor, Kling, has dropped samples of its generative text-to-video AI, and it’s stunning. Signups are limited to Chinese email addresses. Earlier this year, Vidu AI made waves as the country’s first rendition of Sora, capable of producing 16-second videos in pristine 1080p resolution.
Award-winning ‘Body Of Mine’ gender identity VR experience launches at Quest Store during Pride Month. The winner of the 2023 SXSW Special Jury Award has now been announced.
This column, once called ‘This Week in XR’, is also a podcast hosted by author Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio director and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Jeri Ellsworth, founder and CEO of Tilt5. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube.
What we read
MR Playing chess (Upload)
Can Apple save the Vision Pro? (New York times)