The battle to build the new iPhone

ALSO: AI startups raise over $500 Million this week

Author

Zain Kahn
October 03, 2023

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Welcome back, superhuman

Big tech companies might be dominating software when it comes to AI. But a new wave of upcoming startups are focused on building AI hardware in their elusive quest to create the device that finally replaces the smartphone.

And fundraising in AI shows no signs of cooling down, as Character AI looks to raise funds at a $5 Billion valuation for its wildly popular AI chatbot app.

TODAY IN AI

  • A new wave of AI devices looks to replace the smartphone

  • Funding Roundup: Character, OpenAI, and more

  • 5 new AI tools to boost your productivity

  • Infographic: User retention for AI apps vs incumbents

  • AI Generated Images: Superheroes in old age

TODAY IN AI & TECH

Source: Onleaks

  • Sam’s a Fan: A reportedly leaked image of the new Samsung S24 looks a lot like the iPhone.

  • Pretty Picture: OpenAI’s new Dall E 3 image creator is now available to everyone in Bing Chat.

  • Big Byte: Apple’s work on search and generative AI could create a Google competitor.

  • On the Offensive: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified against Google and argued that the company is blocking competition by locking up data.

  • Vision-ary: Check out these 10 ways people are using ChatGPT’s new Vision feature.

NEXT IN AI

A new wave of AI devices looks to potentially replace the smartphone

After the surprise launch of the AI Pin by Humane on the Paris Fashion Week runway last week, AI startup Rewind announced Rewind Pendant yesterday. The wearable gadget captures everything you say and hear and then transcribes and stores it so you can do things like:

  • Recall what someone said in an earlier conversation

  • Take meeting notes and share them with your team

  • Generate to-do lists and bookmark things for later

The Pendant is a new device in a growing list of AI-powered hardware that includes Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and Tab by Avi. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and legendary iPhone designer Jony Ive are also reportedly in talks with SoftBank to raise $1 Billion for a new AI hardware device.

The recent flood of reports and announcements signals a subtle shift: As tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Amazon either build their own mega AI models or buy significant stakes in other major models, a growing number of startups are shifting their focus from software alone to building hardware.

Some like Humane’s AI Pin emphasize their standalone features which could signal their intent to replace smartphones completely. And rumors around the new OpenAI x Jony Ive device also indicate a similar potential to replace smartphones with a new type of hardware.

But hardware is notoriously hard to build. Tech giants like Meta and Microsoft have seen very limited success with some of their hardware projects. And time will tell if these new devices can do any better.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUAI

In an interview with Craig Smith of the New York Times, YouAi CEO Dmitry Shapiro shares his vision to democratize AI creation, and eventually index the human mind.

Key Takeaways:

  • No-code AI builders could be the key to personalized AI.

  • Human-centric design will help unlock AI's full potential for education, content creation, and more.

  • Mind indexing may just be the personalized interface we need to utilize these powerful tools to their full potential.

5 AI Tools to Supercharge Your Productivity

Capsules: An AI-powered video editor for content and marketing teams.

Briefy: Turn lengthy texts, audios, and videos into structured, easy-to-digest summaries with 1 click.

Zupyak (sponsored): Get more customers from search engines without freelancers or SEO tools. Check if your content will rank with our SEO score now

Fill 3D: Render realistic staging photos in minutes with AI.

SlideSpeak: Ask any question about your PowerPoint slides. Get summaries, generate action items, and more.

FUNDING AND ACQUISITIONS

A Roundup of the biggest deals in AI this week

  • Character.AI in early talks for funding at more than $5b valuation. Read more →

  • OpenAI is reportedly raising funds at a valuation of $80b to $90b. Read more → 

  • Tencent-backed Chinese AI chip maker Enflame closes $274m Series D. Read more →

  • French billionaire Xavier Niel to invest €200m in artificial intelligence. Read more →

  • AI chip company Kneron raises $49m to scale up its commercial efforts. Read more →

  • Sam Altman-backed Slope raises $30m for AI-powered B2B payments platform. Read more →

INFOGRAPHIC

User Retention — AI apps vs incumbents

AI-GENERATED IMAGES

Superheroes in old age

Source: u/logical_haze on Reddit

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