• Get AI Superpowers
  • Posts
  • Microsoft Invests $650 Million in AI Startup Inflection for Licensing and Talent Acquisition

Microsoft Invests $650 Million in AI Startup Inflection for Licensing and Talent Acquisition

This arrangement allows Microsoft to enhance its Azure cloud service with Inflection's innovative AI technologies.

Welcome back, AI Enthusiasts!

In today’s AI summary rundown:

  1. Financial Times Unveils Advanced AI Chatbot to Enhance Subscriber Experience: The Financial Times has introduced a new AI chatbot, Ask FT, designed to provide answers from its vast archive of articles to subscribers' questions. Unlike other AI chatbots, Ask FT utilizes the publication's historical data to generate responses, ensuring that users receive information that's both reliable and rooted in the outlet's extensive journalistic history. However, it's not designed to handle queries outside its expertise, like cooking recipes.

  2. Apple Forms Strategic Partnership with Baidu for AI Services in China Amid Mixed Reactions: Apple is reportedly joining forces with Baidu to bring generative AI technology to its devices in China, according to China Star Market. This collaboration could significantly enhance Baidu's AI revenue streams by aligning with China's strict tech regulations. It marks a significant step for Apple in complying with Chinese laws to tap into the local market, potentially giving Baidu an edge similar to Google's role in the US and Europe, despite the mixed reactions it has received.

  3. Microsoft Invests $650 Million in AI Startup Inflection for Licensing and Talent Acquisition: Microsoft has sealed a deal with AI startup Inflection, paying around $650 million to license its models and recruit its key staff, including co-founders. This arrangement allows Microsoft to enhance its Azure cloud service with Inflection's innovative AI technologies. The deal also benefits Inflection's investors, offering them a 1.5x return on their investment. This move highlights Microsoft's aggressive strategy in bolstering its AI capabilities and talent pool.

  4. MidJourney to Transform Digital Creation with New AI-Driven 3D, Video, and Real-Time Models: MidJourney, known for its AI-driven image generation, is set to revolutionize its platform by introducing new capabilities in 3D, video, and real-time world simulation. Revealed during an "office hours" session on Discord, this expansion aims to provide a comprehensive model of the world. This ambitious move is part of MidJourney's efforts to broaden its scope beyond static images, suggesting a significant leap toward creating a highly immersive and interactive digital world.

    Read time is 4 min..

Insight: Anguilla's AI Domain Boom, A Digital Gold Rush

Anguilla has struck gold in the digital era. While countries like the United Kingdom, China, and Brazil have their country codes as “.uk,” “.cn,” and “.br” respectively, Anguilla, a small Caribbean island nation with a population of just 16,000, situated to the east of Puerto Rico, has been blessed with “.ai.” This seemingly random assignment of country codes in the internet’s infancy has turned out to be a boon for Anguilla, especially with the rising tide of artificial intelligence (AI).

  • The demand for ".ai" domains has surged recently, with numerous tech startups eager to associate their AI-driven products with this domain. Anguilla benefits financially every time a “.ai” domain is registered, receiving a cut from each transaction.

  • The cost for these domains can range significantly, sometimes fetching anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. As reported by the New York Times, this revenue stream has become substantial for Anguilla, bringing in $32 million last year, which accounts for about 10% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

  • This influx of funds has been transformative for Anguilla. After suffering from a devastating hurricane in 2017, the island has been able to recover at an impressive pace.

  • The revenue from domain sales has enabled the provision of free healthcare for its senior citizens aged 70 and above, as well as funding renovations for the island’s airport and sporting facilities.

  • Premier Ellis Webster has been quoted saying, “Some people call it a windfall. We just call it God smiling down on us.”

Looking ahead, Anguilla is positioned to maintain this lucrative income stream. The ongoing craze among AI startups for ".ai" domains promises a steady flow of revenue. This puts Anguilla in a favorable position, potentially outpacing other countries with popular domains, such as Tuvalu.

The Pacific island nation earns around $10 million annually from its “.tv” domain, but Anguilla’s earnings from “.ai” are already significantly higher.

AI Training: Tutorial of the Day

Today, let's dive into a quick and fun tutorial on how you can harness the power of AI to spark your creativity. We're going to create a personalized work of digital art using AI!

  1. Select a Theme: Choose a theme that sparks your interest, be it a tranquil beach or a futuristic metropolis.

  2. Craft a Prompt: Develop a detailed prompt, like "A still life watercolor painting of a vase of tulips on a table, a window in the background, soft afternoon light."

  3. Pick an AI Tool: Explore user-friendly AI art generators like DALL-E to bring your prompt to life.

  4. Input Your Prompt: Feed your crafted prompt into the chosen AI tool and watch the creativity unfold!

  5. Admire Your Art: Within moments, revel in your unique artwork. Share it in your community or use it as inspiration for your projects! Remember, the more detailed your prompt, the more impressive the AI-generated results!

Remember, the key is to be as descriptive as possible in your prompts. AI tools are great at following detailed instructions, so the more vivid your description, the better your results!

Quirky AI Tools

  1. Bit.ai: 📝✨ Bit.ai is your digital superhero in the world of document collaboration! 🦸‍♂️ Imagine an online space where crafting notes, wikis, and documents feels like painting on a vast digital canvas. 🎨 Bit.ai brings this vision to life, offering a playground for teams to weave together ideas, knowledge, and digital content with ease. 🌐 Its powerful features, including smart document tracking and seamless integrations, transform Bit.ai into a one-stop documentation hub. Whether you're orchestrating a symphony of ideas or building a knowledge fortress, Bit.ai is the tool you need to make collaboration effortless and efficient. 🚀📚

  2. 6sense: 🎯💡 Enter the world of 6sense, where marketing is not just about catching attention but about precision and timing. 🕰️ With its revolutionary Revenue AI™, 6sense cuts through the noise of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) by zeroing in on the accounts that truly matter. In a digital age where potential buyers roam the internet anonymously, 6sense's AI talents shine by decoding digital footprints 🐾 and unveiling the intentions and behaviors of unseen buyers. It's like having a crystal ball 🔮 that reveals the future of sales opportunities, ensuring your marketing efforts are always in the right place, at the right time. 🌟

  3. Dialpad: 📞🌍 Dialpad redefines the essence of business communication, merging it with the intelligence of AI to create a powerhouse of customer interaction. Imagine every call, video chat, or team meeting supercharged with insights that elevate conversations to new heights. 🚀 Whether you're a startup or a global enterprise, Dialpad tailors its communication wizardry to fit every need, ensuring your voice travels not just across the room but around the world with clarity and purpose. 🌐 With Dialpad, every interaction is an opportunity to impress, engage, and understand, making it the ultimate tool for business communication. 💼🔊

  4. Owkin: 🧬🔍 Owkin is the beacon of hope in the complex voyage of healthcare innovation. Merging the realms of AI and biology, Owkin is on a quest to unravel the mysteries of human health, propelling drug discovery and diagnostics into a new era. 🚀 Their platform is a treasure trove of data, AI prowess, and biological insight, empowering researchers and healthcare professionals to find life-saving answers within the data's depths. 💡 With a noble mission to make better healthcare a reality for all, Owkin is not just changing the game; it's redefining the future of medicine. 🏥✨

Trending AI Startups

  1. Mendel: 🌟 Imagine a future where medicine is not just an art but a precise science, where decisions are made not on hunches but on hardcore data. That's Mendel's dream! 🚀 Founded by a visionary duo of a physician and a computer scientist, Mendel is revolutionizing healthcare with its advanced AI. Since its inception in 2017, this Silicon Valley gem 💎 has developed a novel technology to decode patient journeys, enabling discoveries at lightning-fast speeds. 🌩️ With over 100 experts, top-tier investors, and leading life sciences companies on board, Mendel stands as the top-funded clinical NLP pioneer, bringing the "Jarvis" of healthcare to life. 🏥✨

  2. Topaz Labs: 🎨🖌️ For the creatives out there, Topaz Labs is your magic wand! 🌈 Empowering over a million artists and creators with AI-driven tools, Topaz Labs ensures that the latest tech advancements are at your fingertips. Whether you're designing at Apple, producing at Netflix, or exploring the galaxies with NASA, our software is your ally in pushing the boundaries of image and video quality. 🎥💫 Join us on a mission to democratize innovation, making cutting-edge AI accessible to creatives across the globe. 🌍

  3. Orbo AI: 📸✨ Orbo AI is on a mission to redefine the limits of camera technology. By integrating advanced computer vision and deep learning, Orbo AI elevates camera and imaging applications to new heights. 🚀 From enhancing mobile phone cameras to empowering drones and surveillance systems, our suite of AI innovations includes everything from AI-based semantic segmentation to super-resolution and night vision. 🌙💡 Our cutting-edge algorithms ensure that every snapshot and video is a masterpiece, pushing beyond hardware constraints to deliver breathtaking visuals. 🌆🔍

  4. WithMe.ai: 🌈📱 WithMe.ai is your digital companion in the journey towards mental wellness. Leveraging AI, this therapeutic mobile app is designed to be by your side, offering guidance and support for depression and anxiety. 🧠💖 Through personalized communication and innovative techniques, WithMe.ai aims to alleviate symptoms, providing a beacon of hope and relief. Let WithMe.ai accompany you on your path to recovery, transforming the way we approach and treat mental health challenges. 🌟🕊️

These startups are at the forefront of AI innovation, offering a range of services and technologies that are shaping the future of various industries.

AI-Generated Image of the Day

Generated by DALL - E

Prompt: Imagine a serene scene in the heart of a dense, lush green rainforest. The atmosphere is filled with the gentle sounds of nature: a distant bird's chirp, the soft rustle of leaves, and the faint, soothing murmur of a nearby stream. Sunlight filters through the dense canopy above, casting dappled light and creating a mosaic of shadows and highlights on the forest floor. In the foreground, a young, fluffy baby panda, with striking black and white fur, is playfully hanging from a sturdy branch of a towering, ancient tree. Its small, round eyes are full of curiosity and wonder as it gazes into the distance, its paw playfully reaching out toward a fluttering butterfly. The panda's posture is both clumsy and endearing, capturing the innocence and playful spirit of youth. Surrounding the panda, the tree's bark is richly textured, with moss and small orchids accenting its ancient surface. The background is a tapestry of varying shades of green, with ferns, vines, and exotic flowers adding depth and complexity to the scene. This digital painting should capture the moment with photorealistic detail, from the individual fur on the panda to the intricate patterns of the rainforest foliage, all bathed in the soft, golden light of the morning sun.

Tip: the more specific the better

Question of the Day

How Do You Think AI Can Play a Role in Enhancing Emotional Intelligence?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Today’s Meme 

That’s a Wrap 

That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!

If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @dthareja or email me at [email protected]

How was today's newsletter?

Feedback helps us improve!

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

p.s. if you want to sign up for this newsletter or share it with a friend or colleague, you can find us here

Try Thareja.AI: Time Tracking Software with Screenshots Capture

Automate: So you can focus on GROWTH! 

  • Project Management

  • Employee Tracking

  • Desktop Screenshot Capture

  • Productivity Coaching

  • Proof of Work

  • Timesheets

  • Approvals

  • Invoicing