🤺Baidu Challenges Meta’s AI

Baidu challenges Meta with new AI-powered smart glasses

Key Points 

• Baidu is launching AI-powered smart glasses with built-in cameras and voice interactions. 

• Baidu aims to rival Meta’s Ray-Bans by integrating with services like Baidu Maps and Baike, and priced more affordably.

☕News - Baidu Inc. is set to debut its own AI-powered smart glasses, marking a Chinese competitor to Meta's Ray-Ban product line, which has achieved rare success in AI hardware. 

The Chinese tech giant, known for its search engine and AI advancements, plans to showcase its glasses at the Baidu World event in Shanghai next week. According to sources, these glasses will feature cameras to capture photos and videos and support voice-based interactions powered by Baidu’s Ernie foundation model.

🕶️AI hardware scene - This year has seen a wave of AI hardware rollouts, with varied success. While some, like Humane’s AI Pin, flopped, others, like Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs, found an audience. 

Meta's smart glasses, built with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, are a noteworthy success story, with demand outpacing supply. Baidu aims to compete by  integrating its glasses with its suite of services like Baidu Maps and Baike. The glasses are expected to be more affordable than Meta’s $299 model, with a launch as early as 2025.

📒See also - Several Chinese companies have introduced AI-powered glasses focused on features like translation and navigation. Across the Pacific, Apple is rumored to be exploring the category, studying current products for potential future development.

First artwork by humanoid robot sells for over $1 million

Key Points 

• The sale marks the first time artwork by a humanoid robot has been sold at a major auction.

• Ai-Da’s painting A.I. God sold for $1.08M at auction, far surpassing its expected value of $120,000-$180,000.

🤓News - A painting created by the AI robot Ai-Da, reported on by OpenTools last month, sold for a remarkable $1,084,800 (£836,667) at auction.

The piece, titled A.I. God depicts World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing and was initially expected to fetch between $120,000 (£9,252) and $180,000 (£139,000).  Sotheby’s, the auction house handling the sale, reported 27 bids, calling the sale "a new frontier in the global art market." It also highlighted that Ai-Da Robot’s painting is the first by a humanoid robot artist to be sold at auction.

🎨Why this matters - This historic sale marks a significant moment in both the art world and the ongoing fusion of AI with the creative industry. Sotheby’s described the sale as a reflection of the growing intersection between artificial intelligence and the art market.

Ai-Da Robot, who uses an advanced AI language model, said her work aims to provoke dialogue on emerging technologies. The robot emphasized that the artwork invites viewers to reflect on the god-like nature of AI, while considering the ethical and societal implications of AI advancements, echoing Alan Turing’s recognition of AI’s potential.

Aidan Meller, director of Ai-Da Robot Studios, further pointed out that A.I. God raises questions about the role and agency of AI as it continues to evolve.