Tech's Child Safety Pledge, AI Consulting Booms
24 April 2024: BigTech's commitment, BCG's 20% AI revenue, Putin AI biopic, Microsoft's Phi-3 Mini, Salesforce's AI emissions warning, Coca-Cola's $1.1B AI deal
Good Morning,
Latest in AI,
1. 1-Minute Roundup
2. Headlines
3. AI Investment Deals
4. Other AI News
1-Minute Roundup
Headlines:
Major AI companies unite to protect children from exploitation through AI tools
BCG expects AI consulting to generate 20% of its 2024 revenue, reaching 40% by 2026
AI Investment Deals:
Prime Intellect raises $5.5M for a decentralised AI ecosystem
Sorted raises £1.65M for AI-driven recycling sorting technologies
Octomind secures $4.8M for its AI-driven web testing platform
MokSa.ai raises $1.5M for AI-enhanced store security
Perplexity AI seeks over $250M at a $2.5-3 billion valuation
HappySignals raises €12M for its AI-powered IT Experience Management
Others:
AI-rendered Putin film set to premiere, exploring controversial aspects of his life and politics.
Microsoft unveils Phi-3 Mini, a compact AI model tailored for companies with smaller datasets.
As the sector's energy consumption and carbon footprint grow, Salesforce urges AI emissions regulations.
Coca-Cola commits to a five-year, $1.1 billion deal with Microsoft for cloud computing and AI services.
Headlines
BigTech Commit to Child Safety Measures
Major AI companies have joined forces to incorporate new safety principles and measures to protect children from exploitation through their AI-powered tools.
Why it Matters: The proliferation of generative AI has significantly increased predators' ability to create sexualised images of children and other exploitative content. Implementing robust safety measures is crucial to prevent further harm to children.
Zoom In:
Fundamental principles include avoiding datasets with child sexual content, investing in regular testing, and removing links to "nudifying" services.
Tensions exist between safeguarding AI tools and the push to advance AI technology rapidly.
Current automated image detection systems are less effective for novel AI-generated content.
In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 36 million reports of child exploitation.
How it Works: AI models can combine parts of different images to create new ones, potentially enabling the creation of child pornography by combining nonsexual pictures of children with adult sexual content.
Reality Check: Implementing some outlined steps will require technical breakthroughs and possibly new agreements with child-safety regulators to allow for more rigorous testing.
AI to Drive 20% of BCG's Revenue in 2024
BCG anticipates AI consulting will generate 20% of its 2024 revenue, with the share expected to reach 40% by 2026 as the firm helps corporations integrate AI at scale.
Why it Matters: The significant revenue share from AI advisory work underscores the impact of technology and how consulting firms capitalise on the generative AI boom.
Zoom In:
BCG is partnering with tech giants like Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic to integrate AI tech into company operations.
The firm also trains board directors and executives who see AI as a business priority.
BCG's AI division helped offset a slowdown in other parts of the business last year.
Numbers:
BCG's revenues grew 5% in 2023 to $12.3bn, the weakest growth in at least seven years.
Sales are growing "in the teens again" percentage-wise in Q1 2024.
BCG has about 3,000 employees in its BCG X technology and design division.
Reality Check: Despite the AI boom, advising on climate change and sustainability projects remained BCG's fastest-growing practice in 2023.
AI Investment Deals
Prime Intellect raises $5.5M in seed funding to develop a decentralised AI ecosystem, promoting collaborative model ownership and development.
Sorted raises £1.65M to boost AI-driven recycling sorting technologies.
Octomind secures $4.8M to advance its AI-driven, autonomous web testing platform.
MokSa.ai, an AI startup that enhances store security, raised $1.5M in pre-seed funding to advance its technology for detecting shoplifting.
Perplexity AI, an AI search engine startup, seeks to raise over $250M at a valuation between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.
HappySignals, an AI-powered IT Experience Management company, raises €12M for global expansion, led by Mandatum Asset Management.
Others
AI-Rendered Putin Film Set to Premiere
Polish director Besaleel uses AI technology to create a film portrayal of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The biopic includes unique footage from Ukrainian filmmakers and explores controversial aspects of Putin's life and politics.
Microsoft Unveils Compact AI Model Phi-3
Microsoft introduces Phi-3 Mini, a compact AI model trained with an innovative 'bedtime stories' approach, enhancing coding and reasoning capabilities.
The significance of Microsoft's Phi-3 lies in its tailored efficiency for companies with smaller internal datasets. It offers a more suitable and cost-effective AI solution. Its reduced computing power requirements lower operational costs and enhance the performance of custom applications.
Salesforce Urges AI Emissions Regulations as Carbon Footprint Concerns Grow
Why it Matters: As AI adoption proliferates, the sector's energy consumption and carbon footprint are increasingly worrying. Transparent disclosure and regulation could drive efficiencies and help users make informed choices regarding AI and energy use.
Zoom In:
Salesforce wants the environmental impact of AI systems to be considered a risk factor in classifying high-risk models.
Sen. Ed Markey introduced a bill to develop standards for measuring and reporting AI's environmental effects.
Chip maker Arm's CEO warns that AI's energy thirst may become unsustainable.
Numbers:
Data centres represent ~1.5% of power generation, potentially rising to 4.5% in the coming years.
10-50 ChatGPT-3 prompts require the equivalent of a half-litre water bottle for cooling.
AI-enabled use cases could reduce carbon emissions by 5-10% by 2030 (BCG report).
Reality Check: While AI can help analyse data and predict patterns to mitigate climate change, its rapidly growing energy consumption poses a significant challenge.
Coca-Cola's $1.1 Billion Microsoft Deal
Coca-Cola commits to a five-year, $1.1 billion deal with Microsoft for cloud computing and AI services.
The collaboration includes testing Azure OpenAI to develop advanced AI solutions and enhance productivity tools.
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