90s nostalgia app Epik hits number 1 on App Store

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Welcome back, Superhuman

It’s back to the future as a viral new AI photo editing app taps into 90s nostalgia to go number 1 on the App Store.

But it’s not all fun in games in AI, as a new study highlights the potential environmental impact of AI, with upper estimates putting electricity consumption near that of entire countries by 2027.

TODAY’S MENU

• 90s nostalgia app Epik uses AI to top app charts

• Study: AI could use as much electricity as the Netherlands

• Governance and Policy: AI and the elections

• 5 AI tools to supercharge your productivity

• Tutorial: Generate knolling style images using DALL-E 3

• AI-Generated Images: Pet Pirates

TODAY IN AI & TECH

• Firefly 2: Adobe releases new AI image-generation model with more photorealistic images and designs.

• Booming: Github Copilot is potentially the first generative AI product to reach $100 million in annual revenue.

• New chip on the block: Microsoft could unveil a new AI chip next month.

• Hola: ElevenLabs is developing a new AI dubbing machine that could use an actor’s voice to dub in any language.

• Code that: Replit brings open source AI developer tools to all users.

NEXT IN AI

Epik tops App Store charts with AI-generated 90s style yearbook photos

Pom poms, denim jackets and curly long hair. Epik is the new AI app riding a wave of 90s nostalgia and viral yearbook photos to hit number 1 on the App Store.

The app takes your photos and uses AI to generate dozens of lifelike yearbook-style photos with various outfits.

Epik follows in the footsteps of previous AI photo apps like Lensa that tap into a trending theme to generate a wave of virality.

But virality doesn’t equal longevity. The app graveyard is full of viral hits that couldn’t get users to stick around for long enough. Epik has a long way to go if it wants to keep its spot at the top of the app charts.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

New study measures the impact of growing AI usage, raises some concerns

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that AI is going to consume a substantial amount of energy. But how much, and how soon, is still up for debate.

A new peer-reviewed study from Alex de Vries from the VU Amsterdam School of Business and Economics tries to answer that question by mapping and forecasting AI’s electricity consumption.

By looking at the current electricity consumption of GPU chips used for AI and the number of GPUs expected to be shipped by 2027, the study approximated an energy consumption range of 85-134 terrawatt-hours of electricity each year.

"You would be talking about the size of a country like the Netherlands in terms of electricity consumption." de Vries told the BBC.

5 AI Tools to Supercharge Your Productivity

Dorosi: Generate personalized visually stunning stories in just one minute.

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Airparser: Extract structured data from emails, PDFs, and documents. Export the parsed data in real time to any app.

Moonbeam: Helps you write long-form content like essays and articles from scratch.

GOVERNANCE AND POLICY

The most notable developments in AI governance and policy

Saudi-China collaboration raises concerns about access to AI chips

Saudi Arabia and China are strengthening their partnership in the AI sector, notably in the area of AI chip access, which could create geopolitical risks. Read more →

G-7 plans to ask AI companies to agree to watermarks, audits

G-7 nations want to establish voluntary AI standards for IT businesses in order to harmonize European and American approaches. However, member nations are divided on the issue of monitoring conformity, with the US opposing it and the EU in favor. Read more →

AI-Generated ads could damage 2024 election, Lawmakers say

Senators Klobuchar and Clarke of the US are concerned about AI-generated advertisements impacting the 2024 elections. They've enquired with Meta Platforms and Twitter about precautionary steps. Clarke supports marking AI-altered campaign advertisements, while Google wants to require similar disclosures for election advertisements beginning in mid-November. Read more →

China plans big AI and computing buildup in boon for local firms

In the face of US sanctions, China intends to raise its computer capacity by more than a third by 2025, helping local suppliers and increasing digital self-reliance. This involves the construction of 20 smart computing centers. Read more →

Brussels warns against ‘paranoia’ when regulating generative AI

The European Commission warns against the paranoia of regulating generative AI, highlighting its potential benefits. They emphasize the necessity of transparency, accountability, and ethical issues, and advocate for a risk-based regulation strategy. Read more →

AI TUTORIAL

How to generate knolling style images using DALL-E 3

Access Bing in creator mode and try the prompt below:

Knolling product photo of [object], surrounded by [objects] arranged on a clean background.

You can modify the image based on what products you want in the image.

Source: @chaseleantj on X

AI-GENERATED IMAGES

Pet Pirates

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Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

Zain

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