OpenAI is reportedly in talks to back a humanoid robot maker

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Welcome back, Superhuman

Robots could be walking our streets sooner than anyone might have imagined. At least that’s the bet OpenAI is making. After investing in a Norwegian robotics company earlier this month, OpenAI is now reportedly in talks to back another robot maker.

TODAY’S MENU

• OpenAI and Microsoft in talks to back humanoid robot maker Figure AI

• How to use Midjourney’s new Niji mode to generate images

• Chart: Apple is scooping up AI startups

• The biggest funding deals in AI this week

• 5 new AI tools to boost your productivity

• AI Generated Images: The Lord of the Rings (but with cats)

NEWS

Today in AI & Tech

• That’s Gotta Hurt: A Delaware judge ruled yesterday that Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package from Tesla is unfair, voiding the largest compensation deal in corporate history.

• Living Large: Microsoft recorded its highest profit growth in more than two years thanks to surging demand for AI-related cloud services, taking the company’s market cap past $3 Trillion.

• Robo Writer: After taking OpenAI to court, the NYTimes is reportedly hiring a new team to experiment with generative AI.

• Breakup Song: Music from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and others will vanish from TikTok after Universal Music fails to reach agreement with the social media platform over compensation and use of AI.

• Binge Worthy: Suits, the hit legal drama, was the most streamed show in 2023 with a total of 57.7 billion minutes watched on Netflix, beating The Office's previous record of 57.1 billion minutes.

NEXT IN AI

OpenAI and Microsoft are reportedly in talks to back humanoid robot maker Figure AI

What started as a chatbot might end up as a robot. AI is moving fast from software applications like ChatGPT to physical applications like robots. According to a new report from Bloomberg, humanoid robot maker Figure AI is in talks with Microsoft and OpenAI to lead a funding round that could raise as much as $500 million, at a valuation of $1.9 billion.

If you haven’t followed our previous coverage of Figure and the robotics space, many in the field believe that 2024 will be the year that we see a significant breakthrough in robotics. Senior Research Scientist & Lead of AI Agents at Nvidia Jim Fan recently opined that we are on the cusp of a robotics breakthrough on the scale of ChatGPT, thanks to rapid recent progress in hardware and AI.

Figure AI calls itself “the first-of-its-kind AI robotics company bringing a general purpose humanoid to life.“ The company claims that its robots will help increase productivity, address labor shortages, and reduce the number of people in unsafe jobs. According to its website, the company wants to target three markets: physical labor, consumer household, and space exploration.

Other companies are also making rapid progress in the space. Tesla is working on a humanoid robot of its own called Optimus. And Norwegian robotics company 1X Technologies also announced a $100 million funding round earlier this month.

TOGETHER WITH NOTION AI

AI-empowered people will accomplish more (if they know how to get the most out of prompts)

Do your resolutions for 2024 include writing better? You can do amazing things with artificial intelligence — if you know how to write (and rewrite) great AI prompts. Check out tips from Notion on how to get the most out of prompts with Notion AI.

Notion is the connected workspace for your docs, projects, and knowledge, where better, faster work happens. Check out our prompting tips →

AI AT WORK

How to use Midjourney’s new Niji mode to generate images

Midjourney, the popular AI image generation app, has introduced a new mode called Niji V6 Alpha that generates Anime-styled images. Here’s how to use it:

• Create a Midourney account on their website and log in through the Discord app or website

• Write /imagine in the text box to open up an image prompt

• Describe what kind of image you want and add --niji 6 to the end of the prompt to enable the anime-themed mode and press enter

For the example above I used the following prompt:

prompt: A poster for a beautiful mountain village with the headline "The Shire" in big stylized font at the top --niji 6

CHART

Apple is scooping up AI startups

FUNDING & ACQUISITIONS

The biggest funding deals in AI this week

• Bret Taylor, OpenAI Chairman and former Salesforce CEO, is securing an $85 million investment for his startup Sierra, valuing it at nearly $1 billion.

• Kore.AI, a startup specializing in conversational AI for enterprises, has raised $150 million in a funding round to develop and scale its AI products and workforce.

• Codeium, an AI coding startup, raised $65 million and is valued at $500 million.

• Rebellions, a South Korean AI chip startup, has raised $124 million in Series B funding to develop its new AI chip, Rebel, in collaboration with Samsung.

• Publicis Groupe, a French multinational advertising and public relations company, is investing €300 million in their new CoreAI platform for insights, strategy, media planning, creative and production, software development, and operations.

PRODUCTIVITY

5 AI Tools to Supercharge Your Productivity

Opus Clip: Convert your long talking videos into shorts in one click.

Huudle AI: Connect all your meetings and messages around the same topic in a single space, track key points, and video message short updates on any progress.

Deepgram*: Looking to elevate your voice apps with speech-to-text? Get ahead and find the right fit for your use case with this quick self-assessment. Try it now.

Letterly: Turn your speech into well-written text.

Shakker: Create images, change styles, combine components, or inpaint any part, with prompt suggestion and precise designs.

^{* indicates a promoted tool, if any}

AI GENERATED IMAGES

The Lord of the Rings (but with cats)

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Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

Zain

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