The AI Act is officially active, starting the clock to apply its obligations; Meta released the SAM 2; Runway announced Gen-3 Alpha Turbo; Black Forest Labs launched the FLUX.1 suite of models; Google finally released Lens for desktop; Canva acquired Leonardo AI; and more
Google has introduced three new AI-powered features for Chrome desktop: Lens for visual search, Tab Compare for easier content comparison, and a conversational browsing history recall function. The new features enhance user experience and search capabilities within the browser.
Character.AI has partnered with Google, licensing its LLM technology while continuing to deliver personalized AI experiences. Key talent from Character.AI and its founders will join Google, as the company adapts to the evolving AI landscape and prepares for the next stage in its journey.
Healx, an AI-driven biotech company, has secured $47 million in Series C funding and FDA clearance for a Phase 2 clinical trial of its rare disease treatment HLX-1502, showcasing the potential of AI in accelerating drug discovery for underserved patient populations.
Black Forest Labs, a new generative AI company founded by distinguished researchers, has launched with $31 million in funding and introduced FLUX.1, a suite of cutting-edge text-to-image models to advance the field of AI-generated media.
Hedra, an AI startup founded by Stanford PhDs, has emerged from stealth with a $10M seed funding round, introducing Character-1, the fastest video foundation model on the market, which has already generated 1.6 million videos for over 350,000 users.
The EU's AI Act, which came into force on August 1, 2024, introduces a risk-based classification system for AI applications. In preparation for the full enforcement of the AI Act, the European Commission has launched a consultation for the first General-Purpose AI Code of Practice.
Sybill distinguishes itself in the AI-powered sales assistance market with its holistic, context-aware approach that leverages in-house developed models to analyze entire deal cycles and provide comprehensive insights to amplify human capabilities in B2B sales rather than replace them.
Google has expanded its Gemma family with three new offerings: Gemma 2 2B, a lightweight yet powerful model; ShieldGemma, a suite of safety classifiers; and Gemma Scope, a tool for model interpretability, all designed to advance responsible, safe, and accessible AI development.
OpenAI has launched two alpha programs: GPT-4o Long Output, which extends the output token limit to 64K tokens, and Advanced Voice Mode, a carefully tested voice feature for ChatGPT Plus users, both of which are being rolled out gradually to selected users for testing and feedback.
Meta has launched AI Studio, a platform built on Llama 3.1 that allows users to create, customize, and share AI characters across its apps, enabling anyone to develop personalized AIs for various purposes and allowing creators to extend their reach through AI-powered interactions with fans.
Perplexity AI has announced a Publisher's Program offering revenue-sharing and other benefits to partner publishers, amid controversy over its web scraping practices. Still, details of the revenue-sharing mechanism remain unclear and the company appears unlikely to stop its web scraping practices.