The ChatGPT of video is here 🎬️

ALSO: AI girlfriends are on the rise

Author

Zain Kahn
July 25, 2023

Read time: 2.5 minutes

Welcome back, superhuman

Lights. Camera. AI-ction.

But in reality you won’t need any lights or cameras to create the action anymore as Runway Gen-2 releases AI image-to-video creation — and it looks amazing.

There’s lots more action packed into today’s issue. Let’s get right to it.

 TODAY’S MENU

  • The Big Picture: Runway Gen-2 image-to-video is the next big step in AI video

  • 5 AI tools to supercharge your productivity

  • The Big Insight: The rise of AI girlfriends

  • Funding Roundup: Saudi Aramco join hands with Peter Thiel

  • AI-Generated Images: DC characters as Renaissance paintings

TODAY IN AI & TECH  

Image: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

  • iSight: Apple Vision Pro headsets now available for developers.

  • Big moves: After releasing a music streaming service to rival Spotify, TikTok adds text-only posts to compete with Twitter.

  • New flavors: Bing AI chat is coming to Chrome and Safari browsers.

  • Slumdog Billionaire: Analysts say Nvidia could generate $300 billion in AI revenues by 2027.

  • Served cold: UK developers seek $1billion in damages from Apple in class action lawsuit.

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Its innovative software has helped users slash PR and marketing costs, garnering an average ad value of $60,000 for every $1,000 spent.

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THE BIG STORY

Runway Gen-2 image-to-video is the next big step in AI video generation

Source: Javi Lopez on X (Twitter)

Runway Gen-2 released its text-to-video feature recently, and the results are pretty spectacular. In case you didn’t know, text-to-image lets you upload an image and turn it into a video, similar to how you can generate images with text in Midjourney.

While this isn’t about to give Hollywood a run for its money anytime soon, the progress is still quite incredible when you consider that we could barely even generate images with AI a year ago:

In fact, many early users are using images generated with Midjourney as inputs for Gen-2 videos.

Take a look at Javi Lopez's Twitter feed to see some interesting examples:

TOOLS

5 AI Tools to Supercharge Your Productivity

Voice Swap: Change your singing voice by swapping your voice with one of the featured artists.

Blozum AI: Create an AI chatbot assistant for your business that answers queries, sells products, and settles grievances.

ChatGPT Skool (sponsored): Go from beginner to mastering ChatGPT and boost your productivity at work.

AI Form Builder:  Turn any PDF, text, or doc into an online form using AI.

Slazzer: Remove backgrounds from your images and get instant and accurate cut-outs of subjects in photos.

THE BIG INSIGHT

When clicks turn into (virtual) kisses — The rise of AI girlfriends  

If you’ve been keeping up with the generative AI space over the last few months, you’ve probably heard of Replika - the AI chatbot that acts as a companion.

But what you might not have heard is that the app now has over 10 million downloads and users have spent nearly $60 million on subscriptions and customized add-ons.

The app might remind you of the Oscar-winning movie Her from 10 years ago that depicts a romance between a lonely professional (Joaquin Phoenix) and his AI voice assistant (Scarlett Johansson).

While critics highlight the many potential downsides of humans developing relations with AI, the market for AI companionship looks set to grow. Investors are hungry to invest in this new application, and celebrities and entrepreneurs alike are keen to capitalize on the growing trend of digital companionship.

FUNDING AND ACQUISITION

The biggest deals in AI this week

  • Saudi Aramco VC fund joins Peter Thiel to back AI-powered emissions monitor. More details →

  • China's OpenAI challenger Zhipu AI gets Meituan funding. More details →

  • Intel Capital backs Figure’s Humanoid robot to the tune of $9 million. More details →

  • Preply, the language app known for its live tutors, closes out Series C at $120M and doubles down on AI. More details →

  • Runway raises $27M to make financial planning more accessible and intelligent. More details →

  • FedML raises $11.5M to combine MLOps tools with a decentralized AI compute network. More details →

AI-GENERATED IMAGES

DC characters as Renaissance paintings

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