OpenAI and Google present their competing AI visions

Welcome back to JS’s weekly roundup.

This week had two big events from OpenAI and Google. OpenAI’s spring update event unveiled its new model, GPT-4o, which has voice and vision capabilities that can turn ChatGPT into a virtual assistant that seemingly aspires to be “Her.” Google’s I/O conference, right behind OpenAI, featured a few announcements and integrations for its flagship model, Gemini.

This week also saw some major shakeups at AWS and OpenAI. AWS CEO Adam Selipsky is stepping down and will be replaced by AWS sales chief Matt Garman. And co-founder of OpenAI and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever has left the company together with Jan Leike. Sutskever will be replaced by Jakub Pachocki, research director of OpenAI.

A significant shift also took place at Meta. JS exclusively reported that the company is closing its enterprise communications business, Workplace. It makes us wonder if Meta was ever really serious about her entrepreneurial ambitions.

News

120+ AI entries: How much AI is too much AI? For Google: none. They mentioned it non-stop during their I/O speech, and we have the tapes to prove it. read more

Talk to me, ChatGPT: OpenAI’s latest ‘omni’ model GPT-4o can talk to you, change the tone to sarcastic and even perform language translations in real time. It also sounds suspiciously like Scarlett Johansson. read more

Microsoft’s Cobalt 100 chips: JS has learned that the company will launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips in public preview to customers at the Build conference next week. And we also discovered a number of other firsts 👀 read more

Sony Music is cracking down on AI: Sony Music Group has sent letters to more than 700 tech companies and music streaming services warning them not to use their music to train AI without permission. Sony Music says it has “reason to believe” that these companies “may have already made unauthorized use” of its content. read more

SIM swap attacks: Since mid-2023, an interception operation called Estate has allowed hundreds of members to make thousands of automated phone calls to trick victims into entering one-time passcodes, giving attackers access to their bank accounts. read more

Project IDX is now in open beta: Announced at Google I/O, the company’s next-generation AI-focused browser-based development environment is now in open beta. Google says more than 100,000 developers have already tried the service. read more

AI to save the birds: Wind is the largest source of renewable energy in the US, but wind turbines can wreak havoc on bird populations. Spoor is a startup that uses AI to help wind farms limit that risk. read more

Apple is expanding accessibility: Apple is bringing new accessibility features to iPads and iPhones, including the ability to control your device with eye tracking, create custom shortcuts with your voice, and experience music with a haptic engine. read more

ThreadsDeck?: Instagram Threads is testing pinned columns across the web, which could be a good replacement for TweetDeck. In 2023, X rebranded TweetDeck as X Pro and put it behind a paywall. read more

Analysis

Has Meta given entrepreneurship a fair chance?: Meta pulled the plug on its enterprise product Workday on Tuesday, bringing the curtain down on the enterprise experiment nine years after its launch. Ron Miller writes that it’s fair to wonder whether Meta was ever serious. read more

Mark Zuckerberg, style icon: Recent photos of the Meta CEO have gone viral as users noticed a sudden change in his personal style. Gone are the gray shirts and jeans, replaced by gold chains and graphic T-shirts. Amanda Silberling investigates whether his new makeover is a carefully crafted rebrand. read more

Tesla’s Supercharger is in limbo: Despite being the undisputed king of electric vehicle fast charging – and being profitable – Tesla CEO Elon Musk has scrapped the entire Supercharger division. Tim De Chant investigates how the network came about and what the future holds now that it is in limbo. read more