Elon Musk's xAI Raises $6 Billion for AI Showdown with OpenAI

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, just scored a cool $6 billion in Series B funding, gearing up for a showdown with Sam Altman's OpenAI. Announced in a Sunday blog post, this hefty round saw big bucks from Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding. Musk, never one to shy away from theatrics, hinted at more juicy updates coming soon. This cash infusion is set to turbocharge xAI’s product development, infrastructure upgrades, and R&D, putting them on the fast track to compete with AI industry leaders.

Since Musk's dramatic exit from OpenAI in 2018, he's been on a mission to build a formidable rival. Enter xAI, launched just last year, already having an impact with its chatbot Grok. Inspired by "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy," Grok aims to be the witty, know-it-all assistant we all need. While Grok has had its fair share of quirks (hello, hallucinations), it’s still outpacing models like Llama-2-70B and GPT-3.5 in benchmarks. With this fresh funding, Grok is poised to get even groovier, aiming to challenge top-tier models like GPT-4 and Claude 3.

But that’s not all. Musk’s grand vision includes building a supercomputer, dubbed a "gigafactory of compute," by 2025. This monster machine, powered by Nvidia’s H100 GPUs, would be four times larger than any existing GPU clusters, setting the stage for some serious AI power. As Musk continues to stir the pot, we’re all on the edge of our seats to see how this rivalry with OpenAI and others unfolds. Stay tuned—this is going to be one wild ride.

PwC Signs 100K Workers to ChatGPT Enterprise Tier

OpenAI has teamed up with consulting giant PwC to cover 100,000 employees under ChatGPT’s enterprise tier, marking a seismic shift in AI's workplace revolution. This partnership doesn’t just boost OpenAI's user base—it makes PwC the first-ever reseller of ChatGPT’s enterprise offerings. Launched in August 2023, ChatGPT's enterprise tier offers faster, unlimited interactions and customizable models, aiming to weave AI deeply into business processes.

PwC’s embrace of ChatGPT underscores a shift in how AI can turbocharge business efficiency without axing jobs. Bret Greenstein, PwC’s “generative AI leader” (seriously, how cool is that title?), highlighted that AI tools like ChatGPT will help the company grow without the need for more hires. Instead of threatening jobs, these AI marvels will allow PwC to focus on outcomes, transformation, and workflow improvements. With 90% engagement in their AI training tools, it’s clear PwC is fully on board the AI train.

While financial details are kept under wraps, Reddit rumors suggest a possible $60 per seat per month, making this a potential mega-bucks deal. OpenAI’s strategy now includes leveraging partners like PwC to scale their solutions across industries. As Richard Hasslacher, OpenAI’s global head of alliances, noted, this partnership is just the beginning, with more ecosystem expansions on the horizon. Buckle up, folks—AI is hitting the big leagues.

Anthropic Unveils Claude's New Tool Use for Personalized AI Assistants

Anthropic is releasing a new feature for its chatbot, Claude, that lets users create custom AI assistants for tasks like managing emails or buying shoes.

Dubbed “tool use” (or the geekier “function calling”), this feature connects Claude to any external API, turning it into a versatile helper. Whether it's crafting personalized product recommendations based on purchase history or providing instant customer support, Claude is ready to do it all. This new tool even handles images, allowing applications like virtual interior design consultants to analyze room photos and offer decor advice. Available through Anthropic’s Messages API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI, the tool's pricing depends on the volume of text processed, with affordable options like Haiku making it accessible.

Since April, Anthropic has been beta testing Claude's tool use with a few thousand customers, and the feedback has been stellar. Dianne Penn, a project lead at Anthropic, highlights innovative uses like Study Fetch’s personalized AI tutor, Spark.E. The AI assistant trend is growing, with companies like Google and OpenAI unveiling their own advanced solutions. Anthropic’s latest feature empowers users to create unique assistants tailored to their needs, offering an exciting glimpse into the future of AI-powered convenience.

Important Bits

• New Feature: Claude's "tool use" connects to any external API for custom AI assistants.

• Versatile Applications: From managing emails to buying shoes and providing decor suggestions.

• Image Handling: Enables applications to analyze visual data for tasks like virtual interior design.

• Available On: Anthropic’s Messages API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI.

• Affordable Pricing: Options like Haiku cost around 25 cents per million input tokens and $1.25 per million output tokens.

• Beta Testing Success: Positive feedback from a few thousand customers since April.

• Innovative Uses: Examples include Study Fetch’s AI tutor, Spark.E.

• Trend: AI assistants are becoming more prominent with solutions from Google and OpenAI.

Perplexity AI Unveils Pages: Turn Searches into Shareable Reports

Perplexity AI is shaking up the search game with its latest feature, Perplexity Pages, transforming simple search queries into detailed, shareable web pages.

Whether you’re a free or paid user, you can now easily create visually appealing reports, articles, or guides. Head to the library section, enter a prompt like “Information about Sahara Desert,” and watch as the AI spins up a beautifully formatted page. You can tailor the content’s tone by selecting the audience type—beginner, advanced, or anyone—making it perfect for various readers. Plus, you can refine the sections, add subtopics, and even insert relevant media to make your page pop.

The brains behind this innovation, Henry Modisett, Perplexity's head of design and former Quora product designer, explains that the tool harnesses Perplexity’s core technology to curate information into a more presentable format. “We observed our users were already sharing their search pages, so we wanted to enhance that experience,” Modisett shared with TechCrunch. The tool starts creating the page instantly, but it takes a couple of minutes to complete, during which users are treated to pleasant animations designed to make the wait enjoyable. This feature is more about curating information than generating content, giving users control over the page's organization and content.

Initially rolling out to a select group, Perplexity Pages aims to revolutionize how we interact with and share information. Once live, these pages can be published, searchable via Google, and shared with others who can engage with follow-up questions.

This blend of AI efficiency and human curation could reshape blogging, journalism, and beyond, making Perplexity AI a game-changer in the way we create and share knowledge online. Stay tuned for when this feature becomes available to all users, and get ready to turn your searches into sharable masterpieces!